Herbal teas

Image source: Twinings.co.uk

You can't beat a herbal tea for being a sly, deceptive creation. In the supermarket you examine the shelves looking at all the tempting flavours and hoping that your eyes will land on the one that may actually taste good. You take it home, boil the kettle and enjoy the aroma that fills the room as it brews. Three long minutes whilst the infusion sits steeping. Finally the bag is removed and you lift the drink to your lips. The aroma swims about your head, making sweet, sweet promises. Finally you take a sip, hoping that this time it really will taste as good as it smells.

Fruit Juice

images from tesco.com

What is up with Tesco fruit juice at the moment? We enjoy fruit juice but because of the price only have it occasionally but recently I've been stocking up. The Tesco value apple juice has been only 16p for a litre carton. 16p! Can it even be made that cheaply? I'm assuming that there must be a huge pile of this stuff sitting in a warehouse that needs using up.

Presents

Birthday gifts for twins

My eldest attended a birthday party on Saturday. But along with the party is the unspoken rule of having to purchase gifts for the child. I don't mind this, especially as I know that this is the only party that they have ever had. But how am I meant to know what to get 11 year old boys that I barely know?

Permaculture

Dead hedge, the brushwood will dry and rot down offering a
fantastic habitat for the wildlife and some kindling for the fire.

I've always been interested in permaculture though I have no idea of where I first heard of it. Growing up in the vicinity of Glastonbury probably meant that I could have picked up on the idea from anywhere! I've read a few books over the years and also enjoy a subscription to Permaculture Magazine (I love this magazine, you never quite know what the articles are going to be about, they cover a wide range of different subjects).

Irish dancing

image found in my 'clip art' folder, unfortunately I have no idea where it came from

A friend has recently started an irish dance school. My youngest son is a bit of a mover so I thought that it would be good to introduce him to a different kind of dance. It hasn't grabbed him but I keep dragging him in to watch the lessons whilst I dance instead.

Stuff

Not a picture of my junk room!

I should have guessed that I was going to get hit hard with a cold. And so I have. But it's nearly gone, hurray! I still feel lethargic but finally there is a bit of fight in me to get going again.

Feeling bleurgh.

It's been a few days of coughs and sniffles here. Both boys have been hit hard with colds, I'm not so bad or at least I wouldn't be if only they'd let me get enough sleep. So far they have felt the need to wake me each morning at 6 just so that I know that they don't feel good. Why??? I've been cuddling them late at night, at least let me sleep through to the alarm!

The result is that I've not got much done. And you know how it is, once you stop doing stuff it can be hard to get going again. But I have to. Despite still feeling lethargic (still lacking a few hours sleep here) I'm not ill and the boys are no longer so bad either. Tomorrow is a new day and we've got a lot to do. Fingers crossed that we get through it all with no tantrums from any of us.  

Enough.

What can I say? 

Rain. 

I'm fed up with it. 

Give me some sunshine.

Looking at the lawn

crocus

Spring is definitely on it's way. I cannot miss the crocus' that have pushed their heads out of the earth.

Good bye young oak tree

Damaged tree

This weekend we have had to say farewell to one of the prettiest trees on our property. It was a lovely oak that was damaged a few months ago in storms, we found that it had split down the middle. Since then it has been braced with ropes but that hadn't prevented the split from continuing down to the base.

January review, February planning

How did I do in January?

Wellbeing: Enjoy the outside
I didn't really achieve this. It's very muddy and claggy out there. Felling the tree last weekend meant lots of walking on the lawn with the results that I feared, compaction and loss of grass in some places.

Home and Garden: Kitchen, start garden planning
The kitchen has moved on albeit at a snails pace. The first few seeds have been sown for my garden this year

Health: Walk!
Update posted here, another one blamed on the weather

Celebrations: Grandmothers birthday
I missed her birthday but yet again due to weather and floods. But we did finally visit with gift in tow.

I'm not too happy with my list of excuses blaming the weather but none the less they stand. I do feel as if I've achieved a lot this month, but it isn't all visible and wasn't all planned.

And for February?
I usually consider February to be the coldest month though the longer days make it more enjoyable that January. I don't think that our wet weather is anywhere near over so I need to take this into account with my plans

Wellbeing: more music
Home and Garden: keep sowing seeds
Health: My son and I have started irish dancing, I want to get a lot of practice in.
Celebrations: Candlemas
Arts and Crafts: Yarn crafts
Self Learning: pick up guitar again

20 miles in January

Do you remember this post Health: Walk! My plan was to cover 20 miles in the month. I knew that it wasn't going to be easy to find the time, what I wasn't expected was a month of floods! I didn't succeed but I'm not beating myself up about it either. I achieved almost 16 miles which I think wasn't bad considering how limited my options have been for getting out and about. The land is still saturated so I'm going to let this one fall by the wayside for now and consider another challenge for February.