Monday 23 March 2020

Flowers, Washing and Fresh Air


We've been blessed with a few gloriously sunny days here at the caravan park.  

The flowers are all looking glorious, blossom is appearing on trees and the birds are singing their little heads off each morning and evening … as well as some nest squabbles but we won't go into that!!

My £2.49 replanted pot of Primulas from Aldi are looking gorgeous and have been flowering away here for three weeks now.  Picking the spent flowers off as they go limp means they flower for a  l o n g  time.


The little Tete a Tete daffodils planted in the old bread bin are just starting to look a little tired, but their cheery yellow heads are still making me smile every time I walk back up to the Van.  Beneath them I can see the first stirrings of the Mint that is also planted in the bread bin, ready to come up in a couple of weeks.


The tulip bulbs that I planted in the little tin bath are looking so strong and chunky but with no sign of flower heads yet.  Once my Courgette seedlings come through in the polytunnel back home in Wales I will bring a couple of plants to add to this bath, maybe by then there will be a bit of colour in  here.  Although what colour I don't know as I can't find the label that went with the tulip bulbs!!  


The grass needs cutting again, and I'm hoping that it will stay dry until tomorrow so I can give it another cut without struggling too much.  The dogs really don't like this grass when it's even slightly long for some reason, I think perhaps the soil beneath it is just very cold and wet.


Today I'm taking advantage of the sunshine and getting a bit of handwashing dried.  A day in the sunshine means that by teatime when I bring it in it should be almost dry.  It takes a long time to drip dry indoors in the Van because it's only wrung out by hand, so a day when it can sit in the little garden is always a bonus worth snapping up.

There are lots of folks splitting their days into timetables and trying to keep themselves busy, I had an urge to do this .... but thank goodness it passed!!  Instead I have decided each day try to do four things, something productive, something in the fresh air, something cooked or made from scratch and something I love to do.

If I were to make myself a list each day then, this is what todays list would look like -

Productive - the washing.

Fresh Air - 2 doggy walks.

Something Cooked or Made from Scratch - a big batch of hummus to last me the week.

Something I Love - watch a film on DVD this afternoon.


Some days it could be four really good things, other days it could simply be - wake up, open a window, stick a potato in the microwave and watch television.  It doesn't really matter but I'm just trying to give myself a little bit of encouragement to do something.


Suky says -  Hello … and what would your four things be?

Productive / Fresh Air / Cooked or Made from Scratch / Something you Love


Sue xx


20 comments:

  1. I use my salad spinner to take a lot of water out of hand washing. Obviously large things can't be spun but shirts and smalls are fine

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    Replies
    1. That's a good idea for the 'smalls' but todays washing included two big jumpers and a pair of jeans … I don't eat THAT much salad :-)

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  2. Hello Suky! :) My 4 things today are:
    Productive: Morning spent with housework and checking emails
    Fresh Air: French doors open to the sun
    Cooked: I will be making cherry flapjacks later on when the oven is on for the evening meal
    Something I love: Reading
    I have managed a couple of hours on and off with my new book....bliss...
    Stay well x

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    Replies
    1. Love your list (and so does Suky). Aren't we lucky with all this sunshine at the moment.

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    2. Does anyone have a recipe for flapjacks which are soft please? Every time I make them they are far too hard and chewy; I worry about losing my fillings! Many thanks.

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    3. The trick is to use your favourite recipe but to put your oat mix into a smaller baking tin. Take it out of the oven slightly earlier too. It took me years and talking to a fellow trader at the Farmers Market to learn this 🙂

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    4. Thanks Sue, I bought jumbo oats. Do you have a recipe you could share with me please? We are self isolating due to husband and son's underlying cardio and lung conditions so I'm going to be doing a lot of cooking and baking so that we can avoid going to the shops. Many thanks and stay safe xx

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  3. My four for today would probably be

    1. Taking a couple of walks outside (pretty deserted out there for my first walk of the day).

    2. Doing the regular Monday household tasks.

    3. Ironing some preshrunk fabric.

    4. Cutting out a pattern or two.

    God bless.

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    Replies
    1. Your list sounds much more productive than mine!!

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  4. Everthing is looking beautiful Sue, I have several of the Primulas, I am always out snipping the dead heads to keep them coming. I have done 3 of the four things so far, Productive - housework (lots of it), it helps when I have a cd playing in the background. Fresh Air - I had a quiet walk before anyone was up and about, and spent time in the garden today, which has been blis. Cooked - this will be trying a new veggie dish later. Something I love - Um well probably putting my feet up with a nice cuppa enjoying a bit of tv, because I have been going flat out all day and I am knackered now. xx

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    1. Oh and forgot to say hello to your gorgeous girl.
      Hello Suky.x

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  5. Hello Suky.
    Your Primulas look lovley!

    Productive - Made some handmade cards, one for my cousin in Plymouth, just saying hello. An Easter card for my cousin in New York and another 3 Easter cards for other relatives.

    Fresh Air - Does it count going in and out to the shed? Would love a walk, but no time yet, maybe tomorrow.

    Something cooked made from skratch - I have made a chicken curry in the slow cooker and made some oat, banana and sultana biscuits. (Very healthy no fat no sugar). I am being so good, lol.

    Something I Love - Later on to-day doing some more family history research.

    To-morrow I am thinking of trying the Joe Wicks exercise. Helen S.

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  6. Productive...stripping beds, thorough clean.
    Fresh air....Bertie walks across the farm fields.
    Something made from scratch...soup.
    Something I love...my latest audio book.

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  7. How lovely you are back at the van, pleased for you 😉

    Love your “four things” schedule. I sort of do that without realising. Every day my aims are:
    a) Morning tasks (clean bathroom, lay woodburner for evening, make bed, clean sink, defrost whatever I want to cook tonight)
    b) Try to get outside, garden or a walk
    c) Some sit down time either sewing or reading
    d) Cook us a healthy supper

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  8. I can't work out how time is still flying by without any plans.
    This is my day so far - they are all things I love!
    #Cooking from scratch - does an omelette count? (with gathered wild ramsons)
    #Bringing into the garage and sorting out a delivery of wild bird food - just in time, they were on the last fat ball
    #Cutting some more grass with the small mower
    #Sorting the threads for another cross stitch
    #re-sowing basil and sowing pumpkin and squash seeds
    #taking photos for the blog

    I suppose I'd better now do some housework ;-(

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  9. Hi Sue. This is Ivy. I used to follow your old but but then I stopped blogging but now I'm back and I found your new space and I lOVE IT. Those baby daffodils are too cute. Love that. I work from home so to be here is easy for me. There's lots of projects too, that need done. Spring here as well. And I'm getting the garden ready for what's the come. We rent our land but own our trailer and thankfully, we have landlords that encourage gardens. Very cool. Stay well and be safe.

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  10. Ooh - I like the 4 things idea.
    Today mine would be:
    Productive - 3 loads of washing all on the line. Some ironing done. Will vacuum downstairs shortly.
    Outside- a walk up the hill (passed one couple) with 3 of the children for over an hour in the lovely Spring sunshine.
    Made from scratch - dinner tonight is homemade Nandos- style chicken with flatbread. (Although am very low on flour)
    Something I love - spending 'quality' time with the kids up the hill was good. I also like ironing - it soothes my mind. And I plan on catching up on some threads on mse later - haven't had time to for over a week.

    Hoping this weather continues so I can get some gardening done later in the week - that will satisfy outside/ productive AND something I love all at once! :D

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  11. Today's four for me were:
    something productive: knitting
    fresh air: a walk down the road and back plus some time in the garden
    something cooked or made from scratch: I'm starting a skirt (made from scratch) - does that count?

    xx
    something I love: continuing to watch The Crown on Netflix
    and I would add
    something physically active: doing Joe Wicks PE lesson on YouTube (and the walk, I suppose)

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  12. We are in compulsory quarantine for two weeks, having just returned to Australia from a truncated visit to England. My four things for yesterday (it's Tuesday morning here) were:
    * Cleaned the bathroom and caught up with the washing
    * Weeded the flower garden (Only small so didn't take long)
    * Made crumbed cutlets with mashed potato, green beans and cauliflower and broccoli cheese for dinner
    * Watched the last couple of episodes of Griff Rhys Jones' Rail journey around Australia. And went to bed early

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  13. I love Suky's little face! Productive-cleaning, cooked a stir-fry, played with Lukas, got a bit of sun outdoors and still reading a book I enjoy. Best to you.

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