After being so productive during Lockdown, it's having a knock on effect now I'm back at work. I can't just kick back and chill, I find myself getting on and doing things instead, which is progress I guess.
On Sunday, my first of two days off, I began the day by finishing my current read which is called 'The Rational Optimist' by Matt Ridley. It's a really good book and points out that despite general pessimism about the future, the future is probably going to be much better than we think, if the past is anything to go by. It was refreshing to read anyway.
After a long walk with the dog, I did quite a few small jobs that needed doing. Firstly, I went out into the garden and planted out the plants I bought at the garden centre a few weeks ago. I've put them down the bottom of the garden, where OH is going to build a hammock stand and put up a hammock for LB. I think it looks better with a few plants around the paved area, it looks much less stark. I might buy a few more when I've got some spare cash, but here's what it looked like after I'd finished:
They are still quite small plants, but I'm hoping that they will grow and fill out the space eventually.
I also cut back some of the growth of the climber that comes over from next door, as it starts to strangle everything if I let it get out of hand. I then proceeded to sweep up the decking and clean out the greenhouse, just to keep things looking tidy. It was nice to get out in the garden again especially after so much rainy weather and so many days spent at work in the last two weeks.
A couple of interesting things have happened in the garden in recent weeks. Firstly, this cactus flowered for the very first time:
I guess it must be happy to have flowered at all.
In addition, my orange dahlia has come back to life after being mauled by snails and slugs and is now flowering. I put it on top of a stool to protect it from said maulers and it seems to have done the trick. Here's a picture of it's first flower of the year:
Later, I made some fruits that I'd harvested a week or so ago into some more jam. It was mostly gooseberries from the allotment and a few blackcurrants from the garden. It made another jar and a half, which is all good.
I got my finances in order too, which I haven't done for a good few weeks. I gathered together all my receipts and checked them off my bank balance, closed a couple of bank accounts that I don't use any more and sorted out my expenses for work, as I've had to buy a number of things to help us re-open the shop.
I helped OH to move around some furniture in the front living room in the afternoon, so that he could sand and varnish the second half of the floor. I'm hoping we can move back into the room in the next couple of weeks, as it is a bit more spacious than the room we're currently using and a change is always good.
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Today, it was food shopping time again. The last two weeks have flown past now I'm back at work and it was time to venture out and top up supplies again. I prefer to go in the afternoons now, as in the mornings the store tends to be busy with staff collating online orders. It's never the less good to get the shopping done and know that there's food in the house for the next couple of weeks. I suppose that eventually, I should go back to weekly shops, but when I'm not at the gym on Mondays, fortnightly seems to work better. I popped into H&M whilst I was out and bought a few new basic t-shirts and vests for wearing during the hot weather.
When I got home it was a case of unpacking all of the shopping and then the rest of tonight was mostly about getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. I hope you guys had a lovely weekend.
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