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

Cheery_Daff

Definitely worth a lesson if it means you'll then be able to do your own scything. And yes, being able to cut the lawn but not the long grass definitely sounds like a technique issue - grass is grass and the scythe doesn't know whether it's long or short, just whether you're trying to cut too much at once! 

I can't talk - my scythe has had a right battering this afternoon cutting through a thicket of raspberries 😱



The after photo doesn't show a dramatic enough change so I won't bother, but you can see what I was up against here right next to the house...



I didn't do this bit with the scythe,of course, but a pair of secateurs 🙄 The bathroom is much lighter now and you can see the view again! 😂



At least the plumber can get at the flue now. 

Booked a hairdresser appointment for Friday, they're doing 10% off this week 😊

Had a nice visit with colleague, and the rain stopped for long enough for me to whizz him on a tour round the fields, and then to finish off the raspberries when he left. Wind has definitely picked up now, and there's the odd splattering of rain against the windows again. 

Mr Cheery has gone out to band practice, and I am stiff and sore from my raspberry bashing, so I'm going to run a bath and gaze at the sky that I can now see out of the bathroom window 😂

While it's running I'll get that layer of mortar on the floor ready for the tiles...

greenbee

You've motivated me Cheery! I'm going to get the scythe out tomorrow morning and have another go. I'm also going to contact the local guy for a lesson. I also have booking my car in for an MOT on my to-do list. However, I'm shattered today after a long weekend of visiting family (staying with my mum, not me, but requiring my involvement every day), eating all the wrong food, and the carpenters continuing to drag the shed/summerhouse repairs on and on... so I might well go and read a book in the bath!

Cheery_Daff

A good option - I did that myself this evening 😂 Do report back on your scything experiments! I don't actually know anyone else who's doing it so it'll be good to hear how you're getting on.

Nice long bath for me, read a book, and I've also watched several ancient episodes of Kim & Aggie which spurred me on nicely to tackle the cobwebs in the bedroom 😮 Not braved behind the harmonium yet - saving that for when we're back in the living room zone 😂 Cant get through all the excitement at once, and I will rapidly feel overwhelmed if I feel like EVERYTHING that needs doing is on the table as an activity. 

Instead I set the timer for 15 mins, tackled bedroom cobwebs and also sorted a couple of clothes shelves - got a few more things for the charity shop, and sorted trousers into 'fit now' and the next size down. Haven't kept anything below that - if and when I get back below that I'll have a celebratory trip to the charity shop! 

Friend is coming to stay tomorrow night, so on the list before then is...

* scything (depending on weather) , my shoulders are quite stiff so no more than 1 row I think)
* maybe aquarobics at lunchtime
* 15 mins in the bedroom - there were quite a few live cellar spiders that I confess I went round rather than scooping up... Will get Mr Cheery to help me relocate out if the window tomorrow, and I might tackle the 'single sock basket' 😂😂
* check banks
* sign up for flipping regular saver before they withdraw it!

That'll do I think. Off to collect friend about 4, so will try to think of something interesting for tea before then too.

beanielou

Used to love Kim & Aggie! 

rtandon27

Cheery - you are braver than I am  - K&A scare me!

EssexHebridean

K&A were the precursors of the viral cleaning content on inst@gram and the like weren't they - and allowing what compulsive viewing most of us found them back them, it's hardly surprising that cleaning videos have turned into a proper internet rabbit-hole now!  Cobwebs behind things that people have no business to be peering behind are absolutely fair game for being ignored anyway! As for your cellar spiders they sound terrifying - I'm guessing they are a bit like our shed spiders - large, black and ugly?! 

Cheery_Daff

I never watched K&A originally - I've been surprised by both how utterly rubbish and utterly compulsive it is Anyway, it has spurred me on to do some cleaning, so that's no bad thing! 

More on the IPL machine this morning. I've been messing about with this since Christmas, and not sticking to the proper regime. There's been a bit of an effect near my ankles, but not the rest of my legs. But I've barely been doing it once a fortnight, because it takes so darn long, and because there's no immediate effect so there isn't the satisfaction of the epilator. 

So, from now on, all of both legs, twice a week, until it's done, or until Christmas, at which point we stop and go back to the epilator unless there has been considerable progress. Sick of shaving them in between if nothing else! 

Bit of a wild night with the wind, and a dreary morning, but the sun's come out now, so I'm just having a quick cuppa then out into the field for a row of scything. At this point I've been bitten so many times on arms and face that I'm basically using bite cream as moisturiser I've got two on one eye, right in the corner, one on the top lid and one on the bottom - VERY irritating. So insect repellent on top of the bite cream and hopefully that's enough noxious chemicals to put everything off me. 

Cellar spiders fortunately are NOT those big nasty black ones - there's no way I'd be going to sleep with even ONE of those visible in the bedroom, let alone 12! Cellar spiders are the ones that are almost invisible, tiny bodies and long spindly legs, usually hiding in corners. We've had a bit of an explosion of them lately, you can't really see them when you walk into a room, but get closer to the corner and they're everywhere. But they don't tend to run about, and they're pretty small, so I don't mind them so much. But not in their current numbers! 

Right, out into the fields. 

greenbee

I've got the scythe out, but not attempted anything yet as I probably need to go and do some work soon! However, I will be testing out your tips while I get myself booked in for some training! Not sure I'm thrilled about the idea of all the bites though!

Cheery_Daff

It was just one unwise session without insect repellent... so you should be ok if you remember to put some on! Good luck!

Another row done, they're taking about 45-60 mins each. This is grass I didn't cut last year (or the year before... or possibly the year before that) so it's tussocky and wild and difficult. I disturbed a frog I don't *think* I hurt it - I covered it over with some cut grass and moved on a few feet to leave that bit uncut. Poor thing. It wasn't too far from the edge of the field so it can head over there (and it's so tussocky there are wild dips and troughs it can live in anyway). 

It was surprisingly warm out there! I took my shirt off and was just out there in a vest top for a while (at which point I remembered I hadn't put any deodorant on as it was still in my swimming bag )

Collecting a friend in a couple of hours, so time for a quick lunch and another row, I think. I was prompted by @Greying_Pilgrim to put some washing on too, so that'll need pegging out. 

themadvix

Just seen your treasure hunt map on your blog Cheery - it’s brilliant!