Plantings and Plannings

For the past week or so, my life has been filled with cuttings and plantings, some rescues that I hope will make it (I hate when stores give up on plants and just stop watering them at all, poor things). Cuttings, we've been getting roses and honeysuckle, and I'll be doing some more gardenia as soon as I have space. I have to be careful with all my water-filled containers as the dogs like to get into stuff, and I'd be really mad (and have a BIG mess to clean up) if they managed to mess with my cuttings. Rescues, we've saved 2 lavender bushes and a lavender tree, got them planted in tubs, well-watered in but able to drain well. The other plant, I can't remember what it is, but it has leaves like gardenia and flowers red, so should look pretty. For now, it's happy having been watered, repotted, and given space for its poor roots to grow.

Today, I've also planted some snap peas and beans ... I only realised a couple of days ago that I'd forgotten to do so this year! I do love my peas and beans straight off the vine, they rarely make it in the house, we just eat them as we pick them.

My potatoes, in the potato grow sacks, are doing good. I have them on a low-level table, so they'll be easy to harvest once they are ready. The tomatoes are flowering, they are doing wonderfully.

So ... plannings. Well, hubby is charging the batteries on my old ridearound which was bigger and heavier than the one we take with us that breaks down into 4 parts to make it portable. The older one is definitely more rugged, and I used to go down the field in it years ago ... and that's the goal now. Get it back to running order so that I can go down the field again. Why? Because I hve decided to build a pond down there, with water features, so that I have my own tranquil place, rather than having to drive to my streams and villages for the sensory relaxation. Temu is my friend, and I'll be getting much of my supplies from them for it, pond liners, plant baskets, aerators, etc. I'm going to start collecting rocks, pebbles and stones now, so that once I can afford everything, I'll hae the wherewithal to make it look natural. 

Also, I'll have plants in amongst the rocks so that there's a nice fragrant aura around as well as some pretty colours, plus I'll have some water plants to help keep the water clear and oxygenated.

I've decided that, one of our side gigs, with hubby being semi-retired, will be for me to get plants and trees growing and sell some. We're planning on vining roses, gardenia and honeysuckle through the fencing down the field, to surround it in fragrance but also to block in the fence with them as a natural barrier to stop the dogs from trying to get out.

We're waiting on our first beehive arriving, and I've ordered special paint that is non-toxic to bees, so that we can get it painted and set up ready for getting our first bees. All of the flowers will provide plenty of pollen for them, and the pond will give them a natural non-chemicalled source of water.

I'm also thinking of trellis in one of the corners of the field, and then getting grape vines to intertwine up it, like I had in Florida many many moons ago.

I need to set up a couple of greenhouses down there as well, with some shelves/tables in to use for propagating, and hopefully the dogs will not be able to interfere with them then. And get about 5 100 feet hoses, to attach to the back faucet on the house, so that I can water everything. I'll have to learn irrigation as I go.

I'm excited. 

Sometimes I think I'm crazy

... Others, I know I am.

Like this morning.  

I'm lying down, relaxing, having just paid bills, bills and more bills ... and feeling GOOD about paying them!  There has to be something wrong with me that I'm feeling satisfied giving money away, no? I guess maybe it's just that I am thankful that I have the money to pay them? The opposite being that - if I didn't - I'd be stressed and worrying about how to do that (and trust me, for many years, it was that way). I've just learned to be more efficient with it, I suppose.  

First Week of Semi-Retirement Over

This week was hubby's first of his semi-retirement. He was going to retire, and then they offered him part-time, 2 days a week, so he took it. Those extra days of sleeping in do seem to be making him less stressed, which is good, and it's not as if all he's doing is sleeping. Just that I want him to be able to sleep as much as his body needs. Between the Long Covid and the Leukaemia, his body is almost permanently fatigued. This way, it's getting the rest it needs.

He's not being lazy, by any means. Today he's out mowing down the field, in preparation for building a berm alongside our fence. Just one of many long term projects ahead, including replacing the old barn, and the old trailer. Generally tidying up, neatening and organizing outside ... as well as the ptojects of remodelling inside. He loves the tractor and all its implements, it probably ranks as the best gift he ever received, surpassing even his flying lesson/ride in a WWII training plane.

The storms this week stopped some of the outdoor activities ... it was torrential, thunder and lightning, tornado watches, scary stuff. I ended up in the living room for some of the night as I worried I'd wake him up with my tossing and turning. I am deathly scared of thunderstorms, and have been since I was young, way before moving here where there's the possibility of tornadoes in them. That's just given me something else to worry about!

It's been a fairly good week though, so here's to the next.