"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

greenbee

CBA to have breakfast this morning, so had some coffee and juice and then filled up the kindling and log baskets, swept the patios, found a support for a clematis and got the parasol stand and folding chairs out of the garage. Patios really need washing, but that'll have to wait until it's warmer!

Identified two tiny shrubs (no clue what they are) that I can relocate to the hedge, and remembered that lots of mail order shrubs are miniscule so would probably work for filling the gaps.

One load of laundry is done, so have had a smoothie and am going to hang out the washing and do another hour in the hedge (or until it rains too much for me to cope!).

I've got a long list of outdoor, indoor and work stuff to get done over the weekend so plenty to keep me occupied - including making more soup before all the veg composts itself.

Karmacat

Love the relocating of a shrub - you know it likes your soil, makes a lot of sense

I can't believe you managed to do that lot by 10am, and CBA to have breakfast :rotfl:

greenbee

I haven't actually relocated it, and it may not like the soil under the hedge, despite the fact I've added some fertiliser and mulched it.

I've also found what looks like an oak seedling in the pot with a donated bay tree that I really need to plant at some point...

I've weedkilled the lawn, which I feel terrible about, but I need to give the grass a chance. Mostly it's creeping buttercup. It means it'll probably look awful for a few weeks, but hopefully will recover. I must remember to put the next lot of grass clippings (Wednesday/next weekend depending on the weather) into garden waste.

Now making leek, asparagus and pea soup. I need to do something with a lettuce and cucumber, and the make broccoli and blue cheese soup and some cauliflower cheese (between now and Tuesday evening). My list is still hugely long as the jobs on it are fairly time consuming and tiring.

I also need to get a grip on diet and exercise - stop eating sugary crap and start actually getting some exercise. The dentist says I can run, the outdoor pool is open, so I have no excuses. And I don't need the calories from sweet stuff - soup only would have been a huge bonus if I'd stuck to it over the last couple of weeks!

greenbee

Despite a slow start to the day I've got quite a bit done this afternoon. I've emptied one compost bin, sieved all the compost and put it on the raised beds (the soil level in them was way too low as they've settled) after weeding them.

I've sieved another two buckets of compost from the next bin ready for tomorrow. The compost is really good, and all the lumps are going back into the last bin. I want to build some bigger compost bins and have a pile of pallets in the garden ready to do this when I'm feeling brave.

I've also dug a hole for an apple tree that has been in a bucket for a year. I thought it was dead, but it isn't, so I've dug a hole and am soaking it overnight. I'll plant it first thing tomorrow.

The robin has been following me around the garden and sitting on my compost buckets shouting at me

I'm now shattered, and am still only on the first page of this weekend's list - house and work lists haven't been touched yet! Tomorrow is the village fete, which I don't plan to go to, but I won't do anything more on the hedge as too many people will be going past. I need to do some weeding in the lane at the back as grass and weeds are growing through the fence into the flowerbed, plus the climbers need tying up, so that should keep me occupied.

I'm going to light the fire, have some supper and probably head off to bed early!

greenbee

I managed to get the weeding in the back lane done, and tidied up some of the roses & clematis growing through there too.

Apple tree is planted, lots of sieved compost in with it, and the soil from the hole sieved too (stones are in the stream, so there's a lot less in the bucket!).

Busy week at work - away for two nights, back around 9ish last night with masses to do before next week's return visit on Thursday. The milkman is turning out to be a good thing - milk and juice were on the doorstep last night so I had coffee and juice at breakfast and don't actually need to go out food shopping this weekend. So hopefully I can concentrate on the garden.

It looks as if the weedkiller has worked - creeping buttercup is looking sick - so as the binmen have just emptied the garden waste bins, I'll mow (on a high cut) today if it stays dry for long enough and dispose of the cuttings, and then on a lower cut on Monday or Tuesday and compost that lot. After that I think I should be OK to start using the clippings as mulch for the hedge again.

I also need to do some weeding and keep going with clearing and feeding the hedge, plus sort out some bills (mooring fees, boat insurance) and arrange for the boat to go in the water before my brother's holiday.

My mouth is starting to feel better, so I'm hoping to start taking the plastic mouthguard out soon - I really need to do this if I'm going to start running again as it makes my mouth dry. And I need to make time for the running and swimming as I have a lot of travel coming up so need to keep the jet lag under control, and I also need to keep fitting into my clothes, which is may be a problem ...

juliejim

So between 9pm and 9am this morning you've done the weeding and planted an apple tree!! Do you ever stop!

greenbee

Nope, that was last monday! Between 9pm last night and 9am this morning I brought in the milk, ate ice-cream while watching TV, made a hot waterbottle, went to bed, got up, made coffee, put the bin out (forgot last night) and caught up on the forums and social media.

Today I've mowed the lawn, strimmed and done a lot of laundry. And evicted the robin from the house after it decided to follow me indoors...

I still have plenty of things on my to-do list, but I'm resting between loads of laundry - four more to go, but will save bedding for tomorrow as they're long loads and they need plenty of time on the line as well.

I'm currently trying to source some new travel stuff. If I can move away from liquids for shampoo, shower gel, conditioner, toothpaste etc. it frees up room in my liquids bag (and weight in my backpack as they can go in the wheely). But I'm having trouble locating a decent non-plastic travel soap dish. I thought it would be easy enough to find something that worked either in metal or bamboo.

greenbee

Lots done in the garden last weekend - sieved masses of compost and fed lots of roses as well as clearing round all the fruit trees and shrubs and mulching them.

I finished off the last of them yesterday, and mowed again today (as well as spraying the roses - just in time, as they're about to open - as they are covered in bugs and have signs of blackspot).

It's been a busy week - conference in London and one-night trip to Stockholm (got the late flight back on Thursday so was shattered). Went to a friend's wedding on Friday so had to drive down mid-afternoon and do my last meetings from the hotel.

Otherwise this weekend has been laundry/ironing. I'm away a lot over the next few weeks so need to plan packing and food. I'm definitely not eating enough vegetables at the moment. Too many smoothies and too much frozen yogurt and ice cream. Also not enough exercise (none really apart from mowing).

Work is good, but I need to get myself organised as I'm going to be very busy and need to make sure I keep on top of the money situation - particularly as I'll be running up a lot of expenses. Mind you, that means my own costs for food/water/electricity/oil etc should be low. But expenses tend not to be paid particularly quickly and I'll need to do some maths and juggling at month end - and also sign up for a new mortgage fix. I've left it as long as I can as the rate is going up.

The milkman is proving a godsend, as at least milk/juice/yogurt are being delivered and it saves me going food shopping (and buying stuff I don't need). There's still a certain amount of stuff in the freezer, but veg supplies are low. Not much point doing any shopping as I'm only here for a day this week and back for a day before going off for another week.

greenbee

Oops... it's been well over a month, but then again I've been very busy. Two trips to the US (one west coast, one east coast), a conference in London and a trip to the office in Sweden.

Expenses are still not sorted - I've got agreement to submit weekly, but the process is still causing issues and I'm owed a lot of money at the moment. I may decide not to do any more travel until the problem is fixed.

In between trips I've been doing laundry, repacking, seeing family and friends (briefly) and managing to potter in the garden a bit. The garden is actually looking pretty good, so I need to bite the bullet and get the guy who is going to install the waterbutts and sort out the paving by the front door to come and do the work. I'll also get him to put some more 12ft posts and wire along the back fence so I have a full height screen for the whole length of it.

I found a 'zero waste' shop last week. Not particularly close, but it is on the way to a friend's place. So it won't need a special trip. I have plenty of glass jars, as I've always decanted stuff anyway, and when (one day) the kitchen is done, I'll offload the excess on to them as they always need jars apparently.

New mortgage rate starts in July, so I need to remember I'll have a bit less cash each month. Sadly, due to the fact that I'm owed a significant chunk of cash by work, I don't think I'll manage to get another OP in before the remortgage starts.

greenbee

I really must make more effort to keep up to date!

I've now been paid back most of my expenses (although my last report has just been returned for date discrepancies, so that's another week's delay) so hopefully things will get back on a more even keel soon. I'm also due a bonus this month, but my boss has failed to mention it so far. I'm getting a little fed up of my 1-2-1s all being about her and not about me. Particularly when her kids/home life really aren't of any great interest to me and we only get 30 minutes a week assuming she doesn't cancel. I miss my old boss

I'm home for a few weeks now, and have just taken a couple of days TOIL of travel as I've missed a lot of weekend time. As I had friends staying on Thursday night it motivated me to get a lot of things sorted out, so I did lots of tidying and clearing up. The result is a house that now looks as if someone lives in it rather than just packs/does laundry/unpacks. And I have food in the fridge and have been cooking! It made me realise that I really do need to get on and get the rest of the work on the house done. Life will be a lot easier with a kitchen as then I won't have to search through boxes to find stuff. And new doors before winter would be lovely, as would better UFH controls and having the porch paving done, water butts installed and last bits of fencing done. I just don't want the disruption when I'm finally enjoying being at home!

I've been offered share options by work which I'm finding hard to understand, so I need to print out the paperwork and read through it carefully. I think I'll have questions - I may start off asking them on MSE before I go back to our legal team. Although I doubt there's any drawback in agreeing to the options, the agreement is backdated to my start date, so I think I'm entitled to exercise some of the options now and need to work out whether I can afford it and what the tax implications might be.

I also have my P11D so really should finish and submit my tax return...