So that’s kinda half the sabbatical gone. Time really flys.

What have I been doing this last week?

Well, I’ve come to realise that the feeling that I wasn’t doing enough is down to the type of work changing over the last few weeks. Instead of big, epic projects, where I can see a massive change at the end, I’ve moved to quicker one-off pieces of work where each result is less impressive. So, yeah, I’m still doing things but I need to re-adjust my recognition of it.

I kicked off the week stripping. Lavender. I’d pruned a lot from the bushes out the front and they’d been drying under Lucie’s bed. I was now removing the lavender so that I could bag it up. It took me hours in the end, which I wasn’t expecting. By the end I had 6.3 bags on lavender, which are now (as is tradition) in clothes drawers, adding a nice scent to our socks n’ stuff.

I’ve continued to have problems with the camera that I bought for my cycle helmet. The manufacturer are continuing to work on it with me, which is great. Meantime, I spent nearly an hour one morning moving it from the top of my helmet to the side. Working out the right way to secure it, as well as the right accessories to put it where you want it, takes a little while.

However, it did manage to capture a driver pulling off a manoeuvre that, shall we say, was neither legal nor may have been good for my health, had I not spotted what he was about to do first. Let’s say, he turned into a junction in front of me without looking. That’s now been submitted to the Police – my local force has a really easy to use site for reporting crimes that involve your own video evidence.

Of course, the on-going work is at the bottom of the garden. I’ve trimmed a couple of the bushes down there, tidying as I go. To give you an idea, I filled both garden waste wheelie-bins in one day last week. Thankfully, they were due to be emptied the next day.

I’ve also added an overflow to the water butt that’s attached to my shed guttering. Right now, when it gets full it just spills over the top. I now have a hose (which is still to be properly secured) which runs anything over into the garden.

On Thursday I went to the cinema to see Thor: Love and Thunder. Excellent, of course.

On Saturday I decided to tackle the build of Lucie’s new wardrobe. Its ma-hoo-sive. I started it in the morning, around 9am, whilst Jen was around – I needed her to help me carry the larger section up the stairs, as well as lend a hand when it come to some of the construction and manoeuvring of the exterior of it.

Her and Lucie went out in the afternoon and I continued with the interior and adjusting the doors. I finished, after only a lunch break, at 3pm. I was exhausted and it was a hot day too. But it’s done and Lucie is very happy with the result (see photo above).

The Week Ahead

It’s due to a hot one this week and it’s important that it doesn’t stop me in my tracks. Is easy to just quick back and let the hot weather pass but then that will be a week gone.

I’ve already curated a separate list of “things to do” specifically for the hot weather, mainly jobs to do inside.

However, I don’t want to give up on the garden. I want to get down there in the morning, before it gets too hot, and do some work, if not a huge amount. Slow and steady and all that.