Five minute sharpening, weeding, decorating and SHOPPING!
Hello friends!
This is a two-week double-whammy newsletter, because last week I was burnt out. Being in the garden has been a bit sanity-saving over the past couple of weeks, and it continues to be. When I began on this five minute project I had no idea how important it would become to my mental health!!
No special projects or gift-guides here, just a simple run-down of the sparse moments I've managed to grab, in the hope that you might read something here and be inspired to give something a go... I'm not expecting all of you to get to the end, so I'm going to say it here:
Merry Christmas to all of you, and thank you SO much for coming with me on my five minute journeys - I've so loved your messages and comments.
All the good things, always
xx Laetitia
Monday It's seriously cold so I rush into the shed and sharpen a few tools. For this I have a small sharpening stone (I got it with my Felco secateurs years ago and I still use it regularly. It's particularly good for me because I'm not keen on taking secateurs and shears apart, and this small stone allows me to get as much of the blade sharpened as possible without doing that.
Tuesday. Finally, FINALLY I drill a couple of holes in my kitchen wall and put up a small shelf for my ceropegia plant. This poor thing has been languishing in my bedroom for too long whilst I DON'T get around to making a space for it. It takes LESS than five minutes to put this shelf up...this shelf that I have been meaning to put up for about a year. I'm so thrilled with it in its new home...looking utterly gorgeous against a white wall, and I wonder what on earth took me so long.
Wednesday. It is raining, but not cold. I know it's strange, but I like being out in this kind of weather; rain makes the earth smell better. I do a bit of weeding with my new Hori-Hori knife (a gift). It's a japanese thing - basically a thin trowel with one serrated edge. I already use a long thin trowel (or 'widger') by Burgeon and Ball for most of my weeding, and this is a pretty good substitute, with the added benefit that you have a knife within the same tool. I use this knife to rip open a couple of bags of manure and spread them on the flowerbeds (the whole manure-spreading thing is still a work-in-progress in the five minute garden!) It's a lovely thing this Hori-Hori knife - doesn't quite replace the widger for delicate jobs like chasing bindweed roots through the soil, but for general weeding it's a brilliant all-round tool, and it looks pretty cool too.
Thursday: I cast my cursory glance over to the thermometer on top of my 'Hot Bin' (the inverted commas could not be more appropriate here...the pin on that thermometer refuses to budge) although the temperature within the bin proper is rather higher
Friday: I am struck down by Instagram malaise - my Christmas mantelpiece will never match up to everyone else's, so I may as well take myself to bed and do nothing. It happens to the best of us, (not saying I'm the best of us, just saying it happens to ALL of us), and when it does, it's time to STEP AWAY FROM THE DEVICE until it can serve as a source of inspiration again. Also, I have a very painful foot, for various reasons too boring to explain, but this pain, whilst not bad enough to stop me from walking, has entirely removed the joy of moving about. No gardening.
Monday: I'm still in pain, but I've got to get the soggy leaves off my lawn, so I charge up my new leaf-blower and blast them away in double quick time. Very satisfying. Pretty noisy. I'm a person who actually enjoys the act of sweeping, but a blower is a bit of a boon when you've got very little time or a hurty foot (or both!).
Tuesday: I've been meaning to order some Gladiolus callianthus bulbs, because I didn't have any this year, and that's a mistake I'm not going to repeat. They are sold out at all my usual places, so I buy some from here, which will arrive in the Spring, making me feel instantly happy. I also order some argyranthemum seedlings (see below)- those pink daisies which danced away for so many months and brightened my life. I must have more. And yes, ordering plants is DEFINITELY gardening!
Wednesday: I haul a bit of pruned apple tree into the house and manage (precariously standing on my hurting foot) to suspend it from the ceiling. I then tie baubles to it, which will hang very low over the Christmas table. It looks pretty, and although it's not exactly an essential thing, it oddly serves to make me feel less overwhelmed about Christmas. Difficult to get a picture of it but here it is from underneath!
Thursday: After two winters with a massive lawn I've finally realised that enough is enough. Children ARE important, yes, but so is beauty, and I suddenly realise that there is no earthly reason why I need this vast lawn, except to pitch massive tents (which can be pitched over plants), or host football tournaments (which can be done in the park). I take a few pictures and start scribbling shapes over the top of them, which confirms my suspicions that things will be so very much better once I have a few trees in my lawn. The three top contenders are Amelanchier, betula and prunus - all multi-stemmed. The only difficult part of this is working out a way of getting what I want without taking out selling a kidney...I'll keep you posted!
Friday: Defeated by too many children needing ALL of my time. No gardening
Merry Christmas everybody, and a happy, healthy new year to you all
xx Laetitia