General Mish Mash

Today has been a day of general mish mash.  No one thing stands out as an achievement or something learned, just a general day of seemingly doing nothing very much.  So why do I feel shattered???

I woke as usual at some stupid time around six, walked the dog, fed him and the cats etc and finally settled down with a cuppa and my computer - big mistake and a habit I really need to get out of!

I looked out into the garden and decided something had to be done so set about tidying it up, moving the rabbit cages to their winter places (near the house for those torrential  rainy days when  a quick dash out to feed and water and collection for an indoor hugging session is all you want to do).  I have to admit it was a job well done and looks so much better now.  The turf Jack and I laid 2 weekends ago has taken nicely and is very green and lush making it a pleasant outlook from the lounge/playroom windows.  I'm so proud of Jack, he worked really hard to get that done and I'm sure he could have still done it if he was at school, but really question whether he would have wanted to give up his Saturday afternoon to help his Mum lay turf in the garden.

The boys both helped me walk the garden rubbish down to the tip - one of those times when a car would have been great but hey we don't have one so no sense in wishing...  Luckily it's not a long walk, lol!

Jack spent much of his afternoon reading Eragon.  He's read it all once but we saw the boxed set of hard-backed books in the Works for only £9.99 and I thought I'd treat him.  He does love to read, must take after his mum! ;)

Max has been playing on x box games.  I so wish he'd get fed up of them like so many of my HE acquaintances children seem to do, but no he's as stuck into them now as he was when we first started to HE so no change there then.

I went inside and started weeding out all the broken and damaged toys.  One of the hardest things about childminding is that the mindees seem to have no, or very little, respect for the toys, books and other equipment.    My requests of "Please don;t swing on that gate, you'll hurt yourself/break it" or " please pick up the toys you've just thrown on the floor" are often met with a firm "NO" or "I don't want to".  I must have thrown away hundreds of pounds of damaged or broken toys etc already this year and it's really beginning to get to me, especially as my own children have never behaved in this way.  :'(

I've now read all 5 books in the Twilight series and am quite sad to have finished.  Edward, Jacob, Bella and co. became a part of my life for a month or so and whilst I do not think the books are particularly well written, I did enjoy reading them on the whole.  Not sure what to read now as nothing seems quite 'right'.  I'm sure something will turn up that will captivate my imagination though. :)

I'm kinda wishing we had a bigger house right now, this place is getting awfully small with all the childminding stuff in it as well as our own.  Actually childminding stuff is beginning to take over!  I really do not want to move though as we have so many great friends locally, the area is fabulous for kids to grow up in, the people are so very friendly and kind, and we have built good lives for ourselves.  Of course my business is here too and whilst I could pick that up and move it anywhere it would mean starting again to some extent.  Not something I really want to do.  I'm sure the answer is out there somewhere and in time it will present itself just as this house did when we needed it most.  Maybe I just need to keep decluttering...

On, Off, On, Off...

That's the way the internet has been for the last few days! On one minute and gone the next - wonder if it will stay on long enough to write this post...

Working backwards...
This morning we have been up to our allotment.  It's looking slightly better this year than it did same time last year.  This morning we planted the runner beans and and courgettes we have been hardening off in the cold frame.  Hopefully we'll get a sprinkling of rain soon just to settle them in.  So far we have: Runner beans, Courgettes, Red Onions, 3 varieties of carrots, chives and so much more to do, best get our fingers out!!  I have cauli seedlings hardening off now, they don't look anything like I thought they would. We grew too many bean plants so are going to put some in the back garden enabling the LOs to see how they grow.

Yesterday Mum came up for a visit and very kindly did a 'tip run' for me allowing me to get a lot of the rubbish from the boys' new furniture (boxes etc) out of the garden.  Now the spring is here it's good to be able to get the little ones out in the fresh air so all important to have a nice, clean, tidy and safe garden.  Jack and I moved the shed to another part of the garden having the effect of opening up quite  large space that can be used when it's wet (ie it's paved/gravelled not grassed/muddy).  Max and Mum watched and kept the dog out of the way...

I finished reading The Time Travellers Wife.  It predictably jumped about a bit which was hard to get into at first but once into it I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now I can see it on film, wonder what I'll think of it.

On the subject of film, I notice Avatar comes out tomorrow, we never did get around to seeing it at the cinema so providing the internet lasts long enough I'm going to check how much it is on blue ray and think about pre ordering.

New router due on Thursday so if I don't 'see' you before, I'll see you then! ;)