Looking on the bright side

Today is Monday, much like any other Monday really when I meet up with one of my best friends for a knit/crochet and natter morning.  We take it in turns to visit each others house which gives us a chance to admire each others gardens, exchange gossip, drink coffee and generally have girl fun.  As we hadn't seen each other for about a month, we had lots to catch up on today.

Monday is also oil painting class day which is in the afternoon.  After a quick lunch, I decided to let the chooks out of their coop to have a wander in their run..  It has been raining and raining here and the ground is very sodden and slippery.  As I was returning to the house, I slipped in some mud and ended up on my bottom feeling rather sorry for myself as my jeans were not only soaked but covered in mud.  As I was sitting on the ground thinking that I was going to be late for my class, I began to think on the bright side.  Here is a list of things I came up with.

I wasn't hurt, a bit tender and bruised, but no broken bones or sprains.

My jeans and undies were the only items of clothing that were muddy and wet.
I had a fresh pair of jeans (and undies) to change into.  All they needed was an iron, the jeans that is.  I don't iron undies, life is too short.  :)

I had plenty of water to soak my jeans in.

I'm planning on washing tomorrow anyway.

While I was in the laundry putting my jeans in to soak, I remembered that the sheets I had put in to wash this morning from last weeks visitors, were ready to be put in the dryer.  No sun for drying clothes outside unfortunately.
The egg I had collected and was carrying in my left hand didn't break when I fell.

I thought it might be fun to blog about something that must have looked so funny when it happened.

I have an awesome camera to document where I actually fell.

When I was outside taking photos of my skid mark, I took the opportunity "to smell the roses" which actually means I looked at some of my winter flowers as there are no roses in bloom.

I photographed my flowers to share with you.
I thought about the wonderful fact that because we have had so much of rain, our dams are now at 60% capacity.  After more than 10 years of drought they did get down to 28% capacity which is quite scary.

How is that for for a list!  Now here are the photos.

My AWESOME skid mark.  :)

My soggy back yard and AWESOME skid mark!

Pretty candy pink Primulas.

 

 

 

Snapdragons hanging on by a thread.

Delicately coloured Hellebores.

Hellebore flowers and buds.

When was the last time you looked on the bright side of something because if you didn't you might just burst into tears?

Have a wonderful evening/day everyone.

Anne  xx

Progress, achievements and a little luxury

Hi everyone, I have  progress to report.  Firstly, my right hand that was stung by a European wasp on Sunday no longer looks like this.  It was red, swollen and hot to the touch, yucky.

After realising it was not going to improve without an antihistamine, I made a quick trip to the chemist Monday morning and came home with some non drowsy antihistamine tablets (I didn't want to fall asleep in art class that afternoon), and a cream to help with the itchiness and the heat the sting was generating.  Almost back to normal now with only a little itchiness.

The second area of progress is this.  More crochet triangles for bunting.

This seems like meagre amount to have made considering when I started.  How do you ladies who crochet get so much done?

My achievement today is gardening.  I now have one section of garden that resembles a garden rather than a scene from The Day of the Triffids. For those who are not familiar with triffids,  "a triffid is a tall, mobile, carnivorous, prolific and highly venomous fictional plant species—the titular antagonist in John Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids."  I had plenty of triffids in the wheelbarrow and used almost every gardening tool I could find in the garage to attack them.

 In between carting barrow loads of weeds, leaves and overgrown plants to the big garden rubbish bag that gets collected once a month, I sustained myself with this.  Hard work gives me an appetite.

This may be considered a good breakfast for some,  but for me it was a good lunch.  An egg from our own chooks with a few cherry tomatoes I found just ripened in the vege garden, on toasted homemade bread.  With a full belly, I was ready to get stuck in again.

 The reward for my 5 hours of gardening is this.

An area of garden almost free of weeds where I can now see the plants that are supposed to be there.  I grubbed out plants that had overtaken others and trimmed back those a bit too greedy for the sun to make room for those plants not quite so pushy.  It is so much better than it was.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo before I got stuck in.  Just use your imagination.  JUNGLE!

Little lost garden fairy/angel has been found again.

And can now see what he/she is doing.

Mr frog has discovered there is a world beyond the periwinkle that was obscuring his view and now has clear, fresh water to admire his reflection.

Can you guess what my little luxury is going to be after a hard day working in the garden?

Yes.  A nice BIG cold iced coffee!

Miss C. made dinner tonight so I have had the luxury of a big sit down.  I think it might be time for a shower and then doing something fun like make more crochet triangles for bunting.

See you soon.

Anne  xx