Gardening, baking and soaking

1. Another 20 minutes or so clearing weeds in the back garden. This time I pulled a few bramble roots and a couple of nettles, but I'm guessing it won't take long for them to grow back... It's the furthest I've reached yet though.

2. He made his first loaf of bread - very nice! (With a hint of rosemary worked through for extra flavour)

3. A bath to relax at the end of the day.

Clearing out and making something new

1. It was light and (just) warm enough when I got home to do a little more gardening. Only half an hour or so, but it all helps.

2. A relaxed evening meal before a week (month?) of busyness.

3. Trying out a new knitting technique. It felt very clumsy at first, but I'm beginning to get the hang of it now. I'm not making anything fancy, so it doesn't matter that the tension's quite random.

A cold start and warm finish

1. A very frosty start to the day meant the daffodils in the garden looked sad and droopy; by the time I got home the sunshine had perked them up again.

2. Housegroup was at ours tonight. We'd not had time to plan and chose to use the children's version of the study guide. It was good to share the readings and prayers with everyone, even as young as 4.

3. We didn't need to drive home at the end of the day.

Sunshine at last!

1.  The sun was shining when we got home from work, so we took the chance to start dealing with some of the dead plants and brambles in the back garden.  There's a long way to go, but we can see some results from an hour's cutting and clearing.

2.  Looking back at some of the photos I've taken over the last few days, as well as some older photos.  I like the memories they bring...  Today's photo fun was trying to capture the beautiful narcissus bulbs I was given on Mothering Sunday at church; there are also some pretty pink cyclamen flowers in the background which we were given when we became godparents to our friends' daughter.

3.  Enjoying a meal from the leftover chicken tagine we made for Easter Sunday.  Perfect when we came in from the cold outside.

Surprises and catching up

1. I showed some people around the mill today - I love seeing the surprise at how big the machine is and how fast we run. I don't think anyone really knows what to expect when they see a papermachine for the first time.

2. Just me at Jenny's tonight for knit & natter, so we had a chance to catch up and admire each other's handiwork.

3. When I got home I noticed the lawn was covered in yellow flowers... maybe we'll have a wildflower garden after all.

Fresh air

1. weeding in the garden - still quite messy but much better than last year.
2. at Watchtree Nature Reserve on the old airfield at Great Orton. We met our friends there and had a good walk around the track.
3. in the car - the sun was shining so we drove with the top down. It's refreshing to feel the wind as we drive, although I was glad when I worked put how to stop my hair blowing everywhere.

More small steps, and some progress

1. The oil-drum is empty and back with our neighbour. I was amazed how quickly we could get through the garden rubbish, and we saved a few hours of shredding too.
2. I've finally put some wallpaper in the corner of our bedroom. Hopefully once it's painted it will blend in ok.
3. The moebius cowl is finished! It's turned out to be quite a good length and I'm pleased with how it looks. I don't think it can be blocked though... too tricky for a twisted loop.

Satisfying weekend

Thursday:
- I returned home from Sweden to 2 transformed gardens. A's dad has worked hard during the week (thankfully he seems to enjoy it!) and has: tidied the front garden, painted the gate, cut the grass in both gardens, cleared the triffid taking over the summer house, and dismantled the remains of the gazebo.

Friday:

- I took the day off after my travels, but caught up a bit on emails during the morning to make Monday easier.

- My in-laws came back to finish getting burning the rotten wood from the back garden. He also put a make-shift fence up to keep next door's dogs in their own garden.
- I went for a walk with a friend and her baby. I'm pleased that he's getting to be a bit less demanding so that she's got some more flexibility in her routines.

Saturday:

- haircut, then we popped into town for a short while. I had a very enjoyable time looking for yarn to make myself a wrap to wear to 2 family weddings this year. I've not bought anything yet, but I'm feeling a wee bit inspired.

- we had a lovely time at a party to celebrate our friends' 50th birthdays. A barbecue in the dark in March - very tasty - followed by a fab banoffee pie

Sunday:
- A beautiful sunny day so we drove to church and back with the top down; it was a bit chilly on the way there but glorious on the way home. What a treat!
- We finished burning the rubbish from the back garden - I smell of bonfire now...

- We watched our first F1 race of the year. I'm not sorry we weren't up early to watch the 50 min rain delay, and maybe the extended highlights will work out well; I didn't feel I'd missed much anyway.

- A helped me wash the car. It was absolutely filthy after a winter's driving and it's still not totally clean, but what an improvement.
- I enjoyed being outdoors and getting stuff done.

My knitting's coming on a bit too:
- I cast on for a pair of slippers for Andrew
- The moebius cowl is close to being finished; only about 3 rows left now (never mind that they're each 400 stitches...) It's been getting quite unwieldy to work with so I'm glad it's almost done.

restarting

1. The clearout continues... we took some more junk to the skip on Sunday (this time from the garage) and the brown bin is full of branches.
2. My own sorting-out has started too... I'm trying to relearn how much I should eat each day, and maybe lose the stone I've gained in the last year or so.  Not a diet (honest!) but "recalibrating" my thinking to know what a reasonable level is - I'm hoping it will help me to readjust so that I can stabilise at a good level.
3. And I've restarted knitting again after a long break over the Christmas holiday.  There's a 2nd mitt to finish after its friend was made last December, and the last piece of the garter stitch blanket when I don't want to concentrate on counting stitches.  And I've got 2 takers for handmade items in Pay it Forward 2012.

Productive Sunday

In the garden

• dilapidated gazebo mostly pulled down
• overgrown shrubs cut back
• pile of rubbish waiting for skip hire
• Destructive Sunday might have been a better description...
• Satisfying to feel that we're beginning to take control of things though

In the kitchen

• ginger cake baked for tea with friends tomorrow
• second chance to enjoy yesterday's sausage, tomato & lentil tagine tonight
• still delicious