Saturday, May 12, 2007

Rubbish rant!

It's Saturday afternoon and I am exhausted after a de-cluttering session , throwing out loads of old papers, mags, rubbish and the general mess that has accumulated on just about every surface in my house. I should feel better, but it has made me feel mad - so much unsolicited stuff that comes into our lives every day. Just going thru the unwanted mail, emails and other junk can take ages. So I have promised myself to keep it a bit better under control and not let myself disappear under a deluge of stuff. The recycling bin is now full - and that's another thing... it takes much longer to clear our now cos we have to worry about what is to be recycled, which box to put it in and when to leave it out for the occasional bin collection.

OK, enough of the complaints! I chose this pic of A. Zorbing downhill (in NZ) in a big plastic ball filled with water, to illustrate how life can be scary and fun at the same time. He said this was the best bit of his visit. When I asked him if he was scared, he said, 'Oh, yes, but that was part of the fun!' And it is a fine line between things being scary but fun, and tipping over into real fear. I think it is to do with control. Although he was rolling down a hill he was in control of choosing to go in it and there was a path to follow. That can help to manage the fear.

Just at the moment, I am facing the fear of taking on something that I have not done before, ie an office, with no guarantee that it will turn out OK. But I guess I have to ensure that I am in control of some of the elements of this and minimise the risks, before rolling off downhill. So, if you are facing some scary choices just now, look at how you can control some of it - and then let go and enjoy the ride!

PS. Some of the the seedlings are doing really well, and others seem to be very reluctant to show their leaves. Today I have taken them out of their greenhouse - maybe they need more air?

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Seedlings

Well, I don't know what it is like with you but I do hope it's glorious - it is here! We are having the most amazing weather and as I live in Nth Lancashire, near the Lake District, we are not too used to hot, sunny weather, esp at this time of year...


Anyway, last week A. and I went to the garden centre in Ambleside. We spent a merry hour or two browsing amongst the luxuriant spring foliage, macho looking BBQ equipment, space-age garden furniture and endless cards and dubious looking gifts. We finally made our purchases; I got a pretty weeping cherry for the front garden and A. got a spiky little cactus in a monkey-shaped pot (hmm) and a bag of vegetable seeds.

So now we are very excited - well, OK, I am, a bit... cos we are going to plant them this evening. Last year we had a disaster with one of those green metal plastic covered greenhouse things, which fell over in the first breeze, spilling our seeds all over the garden. We then had carrots and lettuces popping up in the most unexpected places! This year I have got a nice little wooden heavy plant house to get them going and we are hoping for a bit more success.

And the bit that excites me is the simple pleasure of planing teeny tiny seeds and then having some lovely fresh veg a few months later. Just hope the wind doesn't get too strong.... I hope that any seeds you plant now, or have planted earlier, real or metaphorical, give you a really great crop. And remember - if you don't plant anything, you'll not get anything!