wagwaan?: Garden

I'm so thrilled! A bunch of volunteers came today and BLITZED my poor garden! There is still some stuff to do, like pruning and throwing out stuff, but it's a blank canvas now, and I can't wait to sort out the soil so I can plant stuff :)

One of the volunteers was looking after a friend's little boy, T, who is four years old, so he came too. He kept bringing me things to look at, like snails and ladybirds, and after a while he came in and hopped around the house, investigating. I think he'd had enough of gardening. He told me "I don't do planting with my mummy" lol. He asked if I could get these two wooden animals down off a shelf, and I was reminded how kids don't need sophisticated toys to enjoy themselves!

Then, spying the computer, he asked if I had any games. He asked if I had "Super Granny", because he played it "on a white computer, but someone has taken it now" (a DS?). We went online and found a demo, and he was good as gold and just got on with it. He really is a sweet little thing, and I told the volunteer lady to tell his mum I can babysit again if she's ever in a bind! I miss having little ones around.

Anyway, the garden looks fantastic, if rather bare, and the next step is to get the neighbour to mend his darn fence!!! (each house in the terrace owns the fence to their left). I don't feel TOO bad about the straw instead of grass as my friend Stéphie assures me her lawn looks like that too, thanks to the scorching beginning we had to the summer....

I need to go and have a little lie down now. Have a good weekend everyone!

Hello people! I'm sorry if you turn up here each day and find the same old same old.... I've been a bit reluctant to turn the PC on and get sucked into the worldwide web. It's so easily done isn't it? However, that does mean I don't update as often as I could. It's too much like hard work doing it from the iPhone, just so you know.

Anyway, the biggest news of course is that Claire came home from her little jaunt to the SW of France, of which I'm hugely jealous. She stayed with my sister and her family and they have a pool so, you know, it's rather better than sitting at home in Hertfordshire. I can't wait for it to be my turn. Even though I hate flying, I grit my teeth and think of the enjoyment of seeing my family and getting away from it all. I don't think we'll manage it before the pool gets shut up for the winter, but hopefully in the spring? Something to look forward to.

Today I got an exciting parcel: I've started doing Avon in order to satisfy my urge to shop without a hefty bill. It's pretty much free to become a "ding dong lady" and if I get enough orders, then I get a commission that should cover my own purchases. There was a lady I bought from locally, but she stopped doing our area because she moved away. Anyway, today I got my first order, including some samples of perfumes, lipsticks and foundations which I ordered so that I could test them out myself. It's much cheaper than buying a whole lipstick and then not liking the colour. You'll not recognise me - I'm going to be such a girl!!

The product I've really missed is the Skin So Soft dry oil spray. I love the smell, which really reminds me of summer for some reason (it's the blue one below):

Talking of parcels in the post, do you remember I recently won a gift voucher from Amazon? Well I ordered Season 7 of the Gilmore Girls (which is the last one ever and I'm going to cry when it ends), and a book called "Integrity is Everything" by John Lavenia. It's another self-help book, because I sometimes need a kick up the backside. The bit in italics below resonated with me today. It's from a bit called "Be Do Have":

"To identify who we are being, our innermost beliefs about who we are and what we're capable of and what we're expecting in our lives, we can ask ourselves one question, and that is "How do I feel?". (...) The answer to that question will reveal who I am being very reliably. So if I'm happy and peaceful and confident and having fun, then that's who I'm being. I'm a person who is in that flow, and the currents of life (...) flow to me with no force. But if I'm stressed out, anxious, pissed-off, resentful - then that's who I'm being. I'm a person who's going against the flow. I'm a person who's cutting off the currents in my life, who's short-circuiting my own energy. (...) By being this person, all the hard work in the world isn't going to bring me satisfaction. All the trying (and I get that there are a lot of people that are trying really hard to be successful) will not bear fruit. You can't be successful until you become successful!"

It comes back to what my mum always told me. She knew intuitively that I was a worrier, and she taught me to "think positive!" and to smile. She is such a beautiful person and an inspiration to me, as I might have told you before. So anyway, I got my Gilmore Girls DVDs and the book recently, and it really made my day. Thank you Alison!!

The last bit of exciting news that I got today is that a group of volunteers from the TimeBank are coming to blitz my garden on 4th September. They are going to dig it all up and get rid of the weeds and cut the grass, and then I'll be able to start from scratch in the borders. Before we know it, it will be time to plant Spring bulbs, and I'm going to have to start reading up on what other plants might do well in there. I would love a proper cottage garden with hollyhocks, stocks, lupins, delphiniums, foxgloves, rambling roses, sweet peas etc etc. In my mind's eye it's a riot of colour and hardly an inch of bare earth. The reality might be somewhat different! I'm hoping that with the hard work out of the way, I'll be able to cope with a bit of planting and some weeding with a long-handled hoe. I can dream, can't I?

So there you have it. Lots of plans and stuff to do. Meanwhile, I'm going to go and have a little rest now. Hope you are all well and enjoying some sunny weather like we are. Cheers!