Cheery's path to fulfilment - finishing the DIY, looking after myself, appreciating the garden 🌻

Baileys_Babe

ladybird1106 said:

What the heck is a harmonium?
love 🐞

Something to keep cobwebs behind 🤭

redofromstart

Oh @Baileys_Babe that made me laugh a lot 

Watty1

I have now had to google harmomium!

Cheery_Daff

you lot! 

Er. we actually have two harmoniums... Well, the one I was referring to is technically an American organ, I believe, and looks very like this

Daft thing to have in a house

Mr Cheery was actually talking about getting rid of it the other day, it looked great in the old house, but it feels a bit out of place in this one, there isn't really anywhere sensible for it. 

The other one, I have been told, is a 'travel harmonium', but I don't believe that for a second It looks like this: 

Slightly more reasonable but still ridiculous

It came from Freegle, and was an absolute menace to get in both the car and the house. Certainly won't be travelling anywhere else. 

Needless to say, neither of us can play a harmonium. One is festooned with fairy lights and cobwebs in the living room, the other currently acting as a bookshelf on the landing... 

Anyway, my mum has now gone, and made it home in one piece. I have lazed around, and done a row of scything - for which I neglected to cover myself in insect repellent and am now paying the price. Won't be a late night, I don't think. 

I've booked swimming for tomorrow morning, and I can't be late (as I usually am) as it's only a 30 min session Then to B&Q for some mortar, so I can FINALLY get these wretched green tiles laid in the kitchen. Then more scything, and a colleague is coming for lunch, and we are due rain later, so I'm going to try and focus on some decluttering and sorting in the house, and some financial shenanigans. 

greenbee

We used to have a harmonium Cheery! It came out of the local church. I’m not sure how we disposed of it in the end!

I now have a scythe… but I’m struggling with it. I can get it to work on the short grass, but it doesn’t seem to cut through the long grass (which has been rained on and flattened, and is very tussocky). Any recommendations? Other than going on a course (there is somewhere near me that does them so I thought I might book myself in for a lesson!).

Greying_Pilgrim

Cheery your "daft thing to have in the house" picture took me straight back to the harmonium that we used to have in the Sunday School room when I was little.  It was ancient then (possibly late 1800's/early 1900's), and I remember it was matt black, very dusty with probably a whole army of spiders lodged within it.  There were 2 of the ladies who could actually 'play' it, but it was a wheezy auld thing, out of tune and you got a work out pumping the peddles!  It had originally been in the Methodist Chapel, but had moved to the 'school' room when a 'new' organ (possibly only by 10 years - as I think someone still had to pump air into it 🤣) had been purchased.  

Daft how there was very little money in the hamlet we lived on the edge of, but the Sunday School always managed to put on a Summer Fair - think an excuse for a homemade tea, and lots of games - including a..... coconut shy (how exotic 🤣)  And they always put on a day trip each year by coach.  Took longer to get there and back than you had at the location, mind 🤣  But I still find it amazing how much these little communities did for us kids.  

Thanks for the trip down memory lane 👍

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

Sounds like lots of good community activities in your youth Greying! How lovely 😊

Greenbee - I'd definitely recommend a course if that's a viable option. Long grass is theoretically easier than short, but tussocky grass (which my whole field is) is a pain in the bum. What type of scythe and blade do you have? I have an Austrian scythe, currently with a 65cm ditch blade - shorter blades (65 and below) are generally considered more suitable for anything that isn't beautiful long swishy grass. 

You might also be trying to cut too much grass at once - you're aiming for cutting forward no more than an inch at a time really, otherwise you scoop up too much with the blade and it's hard to finish cutting the whole sweep of it. Tiny bits, tiny steps forward. And make sure your scythe is properly sharp - you should be stopping to sharpen it every 5 minutes or less, I do every few strokes sometimes if I'm cutting particularly tough stuff.

It's also easier if it's bent away from you as you're cutting, but obviously that's not always practical depending on hilliness and convenience! But it's MUCH harder to cut if it's bent towards you. 

Overall, the more flattened etc it is, the harder it is, so you just have to go slower, take more breaks, make sure the blade is properly sharp, and accept that you won't be winning any scything competitions any time soon 😂 It gets easier the more your body gets used to the motions, although I find it takes me a while to get back into it each year... 🙄😂

But I'm no expert, so a course is your best bet for more practical tips. I had an hour with the guy who sold me the scythe, and bought a video course from Beth Tilson (I think) which was helpful in making sure I had the scythe set up right, but everything else I've learned has mostly been trial and lots of error over the last 5 or 6 years 😂

Cheery_Daff

So, a morning of errands and pottering so far. Swimming, picked up prescription, then met Mr Cheery for a cuppa. He's still not feeling well so was going to have a nap in the cafe car park - I assume he's still there as I've just got home and he's not here...

I've filled the car with diesel, picked up mortar for the tiles, popped to the zero waste shop for some green loo cleaner, and to the little supermarket for milk and a bit of veg. 

Got an hour and a half now before colleague turns up, then hopefully Mr Cheery will feel well enough to go to band practice this evening, so here's my plan: 

AFTERNOON
* quick tidy round before colleague arrives
* clear raspberries so plumber can get at flue (this sounds like a delicate job but they're in a field and taller than me, like a large thickey)
* put mortar down ready for tiles

EVENING
* 15 mins tidying in bedroom (I'm following flylady zones so have now abandoned the craft room til next month 😂)
* batch cook something else for the freezer
* quick check of banks
* set up new regular savers before they're withdrawn 🙄
* blog post
* get my flute out - it's been ignored for a couple of weeks and I promised myself I'd practice over the summer! Flute playing friend is arriving tomorrow and bringing hers, so this is an ideal time to get mine out.
* IPL in front of a film

That'll do i think!

Raspberry clearance is actually in the hay field, so I'm definitely counting it as part of the scything tally 😂

rtandon27

Cheery - just love the thought of abandoning a room for a month!  Wish I could convince my OH of the merits of leaving a tidy partially done!

I'm in zone three this week - bathroom & laundry area.  Our laundry machine is actually in the kitchen but the dehumidifier sits in the mini-hall between the two rooms.  In my ideal world, the bathroom would have all things water related, including a utility sink, but atm the kitchen sink does double duty.  For cleaning, I lump these things in with the bathroom, which tbh only needs a deep-clean because of the hard-water stains!  Daily swish & swipe gets the worst of it on a regular basis.

greenbee

Thanks Cheery! My mum bought it - I know it's a lightweight one, possibly Austrian, because her gardener is complaining that it's too light (he apparently learned with a traditional heavy scythe, but I'm not convinced that he isn't just making excuses!). My brother tried, and couldn't get much of a result in the long grass, but it was fine on the lawn! So I think it is technique. And possibly the fact that while the gardener has been sharpening it, he hasn't been peening it. 

I'm going to get the details from my mum of exactly what she ordered (it's in my shed, but that won't necessarily help), and then send an inquiry to the local guy about a 1-2-1 session. Which I think will cost nearly as much as the scythe did, but if it means I can convert about 1/4 acre of the garden to wildflower meadow I'll be happy. I hate mowing with the petrol mower, so do a very small bit with the battery one (my niece did it yesterday, which was a bonus!), and want to minimise how much is done by the gardener. I want him to do the difficult stuff

ETA - it's an Alpine Grass Scythe with a 60cm grass blade and a 45cm bramble blade!