Some days

Some days, I wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew, and wonder in which areas of my life I could cut back on the responsibility......

This week is stacking up with phone work, church meetings, school responsibilities and challenges, gym, and meeting the lady who will place the students with us - so some manic tidying up is on the cards tonight and tomorrow!

I desperately want to start knitting that sock, and just haven't got head space for it this week.....maybe next week will look more promising - I doubt it though.  The end of the month is looming in my mind already and the need to find another 100 quiz questions for the chapel quiz!  Next time I volunteer for something, I need a gob-stopper!

The EFG has been to the food bank today, but that's a tale for tomorrow x

Early days

Monday and Tuesday each week, I usually feel like I have a cliff face to scale, and then by Thursday, I am coasting, and the weekend is a breeze!  I can never really motivate myself to start work on a Monday - of course, I do eventually - but it is usually late in the morning or even in the early afternoon.  Today, it was about ten to two before I dialled a number......there is just so much else that I want to be doing and today I did two loads of washing, cleaned up the kitchen, watered the houseplants, finished the ironing and put it all away, enjoyed a cuppa whilst I did a few rows on the scarf I am still knitting,  had a chat with the EFG and prayed the YFG through a history exam......

Tomorrow the EFG is off for her first shift at the food bank: she isn't quite sure what to expect, but I am looking forward to hearing all about it when she gets home.  She's doing a double shift, which is two two-hour shifts, as she thought that would be more worthwhile since she has got to pay the train fare to get there.

She was disappointed to get an email this morning saying that her claim for a refund on her train tickets has been denied.  I was not happy, and told her to get Tweeting about it - she is a regular customer on the Virgin East Coast mainline and that is not the way to treat good customers!  She soon had a Tweet back telling her to ring a helpline, which we did, and had a helpful chat with a chap who is understanding and keen to progress her claim for her.  Watch this space on that one!

And my little circular needle arrived this morning - so I am all set to start my sockalong, as soon as I finish the scarf......which should be soon, I hope!

A lovely Sunday

A good day all round.  

Chapel this morning, preaching in the northern part of the circuit to a lovely crowd of friends who always make me feel very welcome.  Nipping into the town nearby there to buy a new curtain rail for the EFG's new room....lots of traffic up there and took some time to negotiate. 

Getting home in time to have a quick cup of tea before visitors arrived for the afternoon, the FH's cousin and his family.  Lovely chinwag with them all afternoon - and the chaps helped the EFG put up the new rail too!  

(image from mirror.co.uk)

BGT final [thought the choir should have won but loved the dog and the magician too so was very happy with the top three] and we also had a roast dinner, eventually! Well, the carnivores among us did, anyway - there was a potato and something curry that the EFG enjoyed... 

Tired but happy tonight - and the YFG is safely tucked up in bed for a relatively early night before she gets back to exams tomorrow: history, and the paper on Crime and Punishment - sounds like a joyful experience for her, eh?!

And that was May - who knows what June will bring?  Looking forward to finding out...

Garden tour

Today has mostly been spent in the garden, in between doing three loads of washing and hanging that out to blow.  I have also had a neighbour round to have a chat for an hour or so this morning.  She's got some problems and needed a listening ear for a while.

But let's have a look around.  If we go to the bottom of the garden, there's a gate.  Needs a touch of paint, I know...

and if we go through the gate, we can peep into this area

and then, around the corner, we find this splendid secret garden, hidden away behind the shed.

All the new lawn has been cut again this weekend, as well as the existing lawns - somehow, the new lawn is much harder to cut that the old stuff and I have to put all my weight behind the mower to get through the new stuff.  The poor recycling bin is full again.

And Shadow just l o v e s to luxuriate on the new lawn, stretching and twisting this way and that.

In the greenhouse, four cucumber plants are growing, freshly planted out this morning.  They are "Telegraph" so they should grow straight like the poles.

Plenty of lettuce growing on, getting bigger and moving towards being planted out in a week or so.  More seeds went in today for the next batch.

UJ brought me six tomato plants, and thinks that they are Gardener's Delight.  They are growing well and some have their first flowers just developing.

Five courgette plants out in the veg beds.

Freshly tilled earth, just right for the seed bed.  Spring onions, land cress, beetroot, radishes and spinach all went in there this afternoon.....hope they grow!

The potatoes were earthed up on Wednesday when UJ was here.  They are doing well and putting up some good leaves, so I hope that they are also doing the business under the ground and producing some tubers!

Now I have had a shower, put the supper on and I am about to work on the sermon for tomorrow.  About time I sat down for a while, I think.

Just one word

And the word is "passed" and it is the best word I have heard all week!  The local tutor for the Faith & Worship course has heard from Methodist HQ that I have passed the written assignments that I sent in for the end of March.  That means that I have passed the entire written course.......phew! The relief is amazing.  She is coming over on Wednesday to go through the results and the comments with me - I expect that there are things I could have done differently and better, but hey, to have passed?  Well, I am grateful.   The presentation at the preachers' meeting went well on Wednesday evening, and the meeting recommended me to continue forward. I now just have one more trial service to take at the end of June, in the presence of a minister and a preacher, and if they are happy, I am there.

Now, don't get confused - this is the course and practicalities which surround the Local Preacher appointment which I have been studying for for the last five years. It is nothing to go with the lay ministry assistant job which has still not been advertised.  That's a different story.....one we'll get to when the powers that be get the contracts and job description ironed out.  Hopefully that will happen in June.

It's been another full day here - I did an extra hour of overtime this afternoon, more than I had planned to do today, but it was bucketing down the rain this morning and I knew that the garden would be too wet to do what I had hoped, so I thought I might as well earn a few more pounds, and do the gardening tomorrow.  Once I had finished work, we went off to town to spend the Lidl voucher and stock up the fridge.  I also bought some spinach seeds as the EFG is eating it daily: it is not cheap and so I thought I had better grow some!  We're all sorted now for the week ahead.

Tomorrow is a house and garden day - so I had better get up a little earlier than I did today...

Have a good weekend, wherever you are xx

Been busy

Too busy!  Had a few sneaky lie-ins this week which has been lovely, and the EFG has been pottering about, moving her stuff in to her "new" room so that we can get the old room ready for the students.  The YFG has been hard at the revision, as well as watching old episodes of Torchwood for light relief.  We have watched some of the semi-finals of BGT, and wailed as favourite acts haven't made it through to the weekend's Final - but there are too many favourites for them all to get through!

I have done 5 and a half hours on the phone today, in an effort to get some time off tomorrow - I have just an hour and a half left to do in the morning and I will have done my allotted hours for the week and three hours' worth of overtime too.  It has been a hard slog today, and bum-numbing too so I got outside and did some lawn-mowing, plant-watering and general weeding whilst my dinner cooked tonight, just to m-o-v-e around a little.

My heart goes out to Jacqui at The Barefoot Crofter as she shares the news that John passed away last night.  I'm sure that Jacqui and her family will be in a lot of prayers tonight and in the days ahead, I pray that she will find strength in her faith.

Quick round up of the day

Last night, the YFG and her friend had a sleepover in a tent on the new lawn - I heard them in the house early this morning, watching tv - but I didn't realise until I got up at 8am and asked them, that they had been there since just about 5am when they woke up and got chilly!

In contrast, the EFG slept till nearly 11am - she's still getting back to regular hours...

Today, I have done four and a half hours on the phone as I am attempting to do my usual week's work in four days, and then I will get some overtime pay.

I've watered in the greenhouse, weeded a vegetable bed and planted the courgettes out, strimmed around the lawn and veg beds, and cooked the supper.

I've been sorting out the linen cupboard, and there is a heap to go to the rag-bag, the charity shop and the tip.  I have enough left for the students' beds as well as ours.  The linen has to be relocated as the EFG needs the cupboard as she is moving all of her things out of the room which will be for the students.....there's an awful lot of stuff finding its way to my room.

The presentation I have to give to the Preachers' Meeting tomorrow on one of Wesley's sermons has been written - finally!  I should have been called "Last Minute" for sure!  That is going to be a little daunting tomorrow evening, so think of me, please, and think positive thoughts/send up a little prayer.  

AND I booked a holiday!  Just a short weekend break at the camp site near Sheringham where my mum and dad first had a caravan when I was 9, and then my sister and uncle eventually took over the plot until a few years back.  Well, I can rent a caravan there for a Friday to Monday break in July, and so it is arranged - we'll pop down there on Friday afternoon after I finish work and enjoy the weekend.  I haven't had to take the Monday off work as the boss has agreed to me working the hours over the rest of the week, much as I am doing this week.  It will be before the prices skyrocket for the school holidays as the girls are both at home now, and we can take advantage of the cheaper prices this year as we are in the unique [for us] situation of them both being available before the school holidays kick off - and gymnastics finishes the previous weekend, so it has no impact on that at all.  This will be my holiday for the year, so I am looking forward to it!  A day out at Sheringham and Cromer, I hope, and then perhaps a NT property like Blickling Hall on the Sunday - that would be ideal for us.  Just have to hope the weather plays ball...

It is half term now and I am taking advantage of not having to get up early and taking an extra hour in bed each morning for a bit more sleep!