Taking the rough with the smooth and gearing up for spring
Things have been a bit slow here this month. I went on a work trip and managed to pick up the flu which knocked me out for just over two weeks. I then managed to pass it on to mum so between us we spent a lot of time feeling sorry for ourselves!
I’m very conscious that spring is on its way and there are a lot of jobs to do outside before birds start nesting and plants and trees start to come out in bud. When I go outside and look around it all starts to feel a bit overwhelming so I have to start breaking things down into manageable chunks and just accept that I will never get everything done. One of the biggest jobs is to take down some trees that are overhanging the house. Unfortunately, we’ve been waiting for the tree surgeons since December and there’s still no sign of them. Therefore, I’m still taking matters into my own hands with the saw and the ladder!
One thing I want for us here is to become more self-sufficient. We have the space, and it would be nice to not be so heavily impacted by the rising costs of living. As February draws to a close, I’ve been focusing on clearing a small patch of land just off the driveway where I can plant some apple and pear trees. It may take a while for them to bear fruit but every little helps!
With the storms in mid-February came water into the back of the house again. Now I’ve cleared the leaves from the back patio I can see that the problem is down at least in part to surface water run-off as it only happens when the ground is saturated. It is one of the downsides to living part way up a mountain I suppose. I’ve lifted a couple of patio slabs but unfortunately it doesn’t look like we have a soak away. Another item to add to the list of jobs. The house has a big bank behind it and the water comes through the bottom of the bank and then soaks into the ground and up into the house, so this is definitely going to be a big job that I’ll need to tackle at some point.
This property is a long-term project, so you definitely have to take the rough with the smooth. Spring is coming and the sun feels warmer. I’ll take that as a win.