Today

I have just downed tools today and done nothing.  I am not feeling 100% with the rain we have had the past few days as well, everything is aching and life is not as comfortable as it should be.  All things will pass and with the wet-less weather things should go back to normal.  Rain and storms were forecast for today and as I am "heady" (storms have always affected me like this).  Sometimes though it is just better to "breathe" and just simply be in the moment.  Sometimes it does the Soul good to do nothing and let's face it things have been a tad busy around here just lately.

As I type this we are in the middle of a second thunder storm; a good old fashioned one where "Santa Claus" is turning over his toys vehemently and with passion.  It is chucking it down with rain and is a little "nippy".  There is a lot of noise going on between the clouds, with the occasional lightning and one cloud bumping into another full of BS and Bluster.  It should help clear the air a bit though overall.  Maybe my "headiness" will then go!  Thunder storm would you please leave the proverbial "building".

In-between everything else, I have a few projects on the go, which in themselves are virtually nothing, but fingers crossed will build up into something bigger over the course of a year.  Basically it involves a lot of preparation, plotting and planning, to make my life a little more-streamlined at the end of the day. I am having to work at things a little piecemeal at the moment as and when I have a few moments to pop something down. 

Chiefly this relates to the garden for next year.  I have not managed to do anything this year, but that does not mean that I cannot get some seeds and then plants ready in anticipation for next year.  However, so that I do not dip out on gardening season again overall, I want to get things in place that will hopefully prevent me from doing this again.  I want a yearly plan in place.  I want to get things started earlier in the year and underway so that I have things when I need to have them.  I am gearing up for a proper full on preserving season for next year.  I also want to get plants into the ground this year such as Broad Beans for an early crop for next year etc.  I really am missing my gardening this year as I find it so peaceful and so soothing.  However, because of what else was going on here it will have proved to be too much to do.  So therefore sacrificing this year, will hopefully amount for a better time next year.  My greatest pleasure comes from growing things from seed.  I will do what I can here, however it is not quite the set up required.  Will work with it while I can.

I love herbs, flowers, proper cottage garden type flowers and vegetables and a proper fruit garden.  I had a proper fruit garden set up for Raspberries, Blueberries, Gooseberries when we first came here, that is now covered in jungle and I am not sure that it can be reclaimed.  Will see what happens though.  A lot can happen in a little while if the right circumstances present themselves, either through luck or with a little pre-planning!

There is therefore a "big pot bubbling" in the background. Fired by lots of ideas and inspiration from seeing how other people go about things as well as being balanced with a need to have food on the table, and preserves on the Pantry shelves.  I have  to balance this with the fact that there is no capacity at the moment for a freezer of any sort. Preserves therefore have to be of the more traditional type.

Tea tonight is Chilli and rice.  Tomorrow it might be a Chicken Pot Pie as I have some chicken breasts to use up.

Now that we have had all this rain I cannot wait for some drier weather so that I can then start preserving some of my Bay Leaves and my Black Peppermint for the Pantry shelf.  Bearing in mind the current weather forecast that looks as though it is not going to be until the middle of next week.  It would appear that rain is forecast for every day up until Wednesday at the moment.  No doubt that will change but will see what happens.

I hope everyone has a lovely evening, wet weather or not.

Have a good one.

Pattypan

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