My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

Well that was a very productive day in the garden, I have chopped down most of the lilac bush but the bottom of it is too thick so will need a saw, it had got very thin and spindly so I'm hoping that if I haven't killed it it will start to sprout from the bottom now instead, I chopped it down once before several years ago now and it regrew,I did promise myself I would keep on top of pruning it but of course that didn't happen and it got way out of hand, the pro of cutting it back is that I will get more sun from that side of the garden now, the con of cutting it back is  I can now see into my next door neighbours garden from my kitchen window and it's a mess, it could be a lovely garden,I spent at least 10 minutes planning what I would do with it if it was mine 😂and if I was more able I would offer to help them with it but I can only just manage mine 

I also took the loppers to the tree outside my back door, it's a bay tree that was grown and pruned into a shape and planted in a pot, I in my wisdom decided to plant it in the garden instead and it's now really tall,it reaches the bedroom windows 🙀🙀 today I've trimmed the lower branches so it is more streamlined and doesn't stick out over the patio so much, next time I attack it I'm going to trim some more branches in the middle and I'm going to take the top off, this was also supposed to be regularly pruned but didn't get done, luckily the branches are quite thin so I'm hoping my loppers will do the job,I do have a pruning saw but my hands and arms aren't really strong enough to saw anything nowadays, if I can persuade DD2 to go up the ladder she might be able to do it for me 😀 but she is very scared of spiders and there are usually a few hiding in this tree 🙀🙀

Next up was the wall on the opposite side of the patio that faces the window, its got ivy growing on it but that also needed a good trim, I have a Green Man plaque on the wall and he was totally hidden, I can see him again now, I've also swept the patio so there are no seeds anywhere now, I think most of them come from the bay tree so when I do trim it I will try and shake them off, I also brushed down the fences on either side of the patio,because they had old cobwebs with seeds stuck to them so they are now clean,I'm determined to get the garden properly usable by my birthday at the beginning of June and so far I am ahead of the game ,as far as the patio goes I just need to finish pruning the bay tree and paint the table and chairs, we can sit out there now without being surround by leaves and mess

I came in the house at 8pm for a nice hot shower and then at 9pm I watched The A Word and I must say this series is shaping up to just as good as the first two, some tv series seem to go down hill after a couple of seasons but this just gets better every time 

Tomorrow I'm not sure what I'm doing, I was thinking of going to Wilkos to see if they have any compost for my Azalea, the pot that its in is broken on the side so I need to repot it, I thought it had died back in the winter because it was very neglected, but i moved it to a sheltered spot on the patio and pruned it right back and it's looking lovely and green now, it even has a few flowers 
I might wait until Friday though and spend the day at home again tomorrow, if my muscles allow I could do some tidying in the middle section of the garden where the 🐓🐓live, the path up there needs sweeping because it's still covered in leaves, I also mustn't forget to sow the grass seeds that I bought for them, I have some pots that hang on the fence to clear out as well so could do that tomorrow 

I have really enjoyed my day out in the garden today, it made a nice change from being stuck indoors all the time and really took my mind off the current situation, I'm trying and failing to cut down my use of FB at the moment because so many posts on there are winding me up,I'm like a moth with a flame though and keep going back, gardening is a good distraction though 😊 

Willowtree222

I love it when I can get into the garden too and it starts to look nice. The weather is not the best here this week, but I have heard it will pick up at the end of this week and next week as well. That will be good for me as I will be in work next week and love coming home and just taking to the garden for an hour to relax. 

How are the chickens? How is Babs? Have a lovely day and hopefully you manage to get the compost. x

Onebrokelady

Nicnak said:

I love it when I can get into the garden too and it starts to look nice. The weather is not the best here this week, but I have heard it will pick up at the end of this week and next week as well. That will be good for me as I will be in work next week and love coming home and just taking to the garden for an hour to relax. 

How are the chickens? How is Babs? Have a lovely day and hopefully you manage to get the compost. x

The weather here today is cloudy then sunny but windy and cold so I'm glad I got my garden jobs done yesterday, The 🐓🐓are good, Babs seems ok now, I think it's mainly old age, it popped up on my memories on FB the other day that I got them three years ago so they are 3.5 years old now, they can live up to 6 years but that's old for a hen, I think the oldest one I've had was about four and a half 

I'm not going to go out today now so will get my compost on Friday instead 😊

Onebrokelady

So after working really hard yesterday I felt very tired at bedtime so was looking forward to a good nights sleep .......erm  no that did not happen, I fell asleep almost straight away for about an hour and then woke up and couldn't get back to sleep for ages, I tossed and turned all night and didn't wake up until 10.30 this morning 🙀🙀

The Weather today is sunny,cloudy,very windy and cold so I'm glad I did my garden yesterday, it's still ok enough to go out in but I think I might have a relaxing day today, I was supposed to be going to get compost but I'm going to leave it until Friday now as I don't feel like going anywhere, I was also going to do a bit more in the garden but my muscles are protesting so I think I should give my arms a rest 

Ive taken B out for her walk and been up to let the 🐓🐓out so I'm now going to catch up on here and also do some sewing 

HairyHandofDartmoor

Well done on all you gardening efforts 🌳🌲🌿 it is very satisfying . It's weird how sometimes you can't sleep even if you're really tired. It sounds like a relaxing day would be in order .

Onebrokelady

Thanks Hairy, I am enjoying my relaxing day, it's gone very cloudy outside so a good day to stay indoors 😊

Willowtree222

I keep.going cold and needing warming. It's strange weather 

foxgloves

A cold wind here today, OBL. I went out to do a bit of gardening feeling very sensible in my tights, boots & jumper..... then had to go straight back indoors to fetch an even warmer jumper. Temperatures set to drop below freezing here again tonight!
F x

Sun_Addict

Sounds like you had a very productive day indeed in the garden. Doing something like that does take your mind off things. I hadn’t really thought about how long hens lived for I didn’t realise it was only 6 at the most. I get fed up of all the opinions on FB, my cousin is the worst she’s like a female version of Piers Morgan. I try to quickly scroll on.

enthusiasticsaver

Onebrokelady said:

Of course this evening I watched the announcement by Boris and I must say I'm confused by some of the rules, they don't make sense to me, he is telling people to go back to work but then didn't say that grandparents could look after their grandchildren, a lot of working people depend on grandparents for childcare so what should they do, we can go and sit in the park but can't invite our families round to our homes to visit us in private 

Im actually going to carry on as I have been for the last 6 weeks,I'm still going to limit the amount of time I go out, I'm already going out more than the average person by going to work and seeing as nothing is actually open there's no where to go anyway 😊

I agree with you OBL and much as I am normally a rule follower and have been up until this week, my DD has now started sending my two little granddaughters to us to look after them for a few hours on a couple of days a week so they can get some work done.  It has been incredibly difficult and stressful for her and her husband to work from home in demanding jobs with a  2 year old and a 4 year old and I don't think any account has been made for parents who are working from home with pre schoolers. The final straw was when Boris announced childminders could work from yesterday and nurseries are opening on 1st June.  My DD said why would she send her daughters to a childminder or nursery who has maybe been exposed via other children or her family when they could come to us who have been isolating (online food deliveries) except for exercise in fields with no one else around and we are healthy, under 70 and willing to look after them. So  that is our plan until July now. 

From now on we are just using a common sense approach to limit our exposure but I will be seeing a friend in our or her garden rather than sitting on a possibly contaminated park bench amongst other people.  When our DD comes round they sit in our garden and we socially distance and when she drops the girls off she drops them at the door and does not come in.  Lots of people I know are starting to risk assess things for themselves now rather than following the rules full stop which seem to be more about kick starting the economy than keeping people safe.