Life

 Life always seems to get in the way. So much has happened since I last posted an update!

While I'm still living in the same place, my circumstances have changed drastically in the last two years. In some ways for the better, in other ways not so much.

I have been very ill this year (bedridden for the first 6 months, and no it isn't covid), and while I am not over it yet, I am definitely starting to feel better these past couple of months. 

I have started setting up my garden again - greenhouses are my friend! I've had issues with wildlife eating my broccoli and cauliflower and peas, but for the most part, everything seems to have survived.

I have a lovely little collection of English Cottage Garden flowers too, plus roses, geraniums and daisies, and for my birthday last month I got a dwarf sunflower, which is bringing great joy to my life currently.

My chickens are in the process of getting a new coop. I lost my beloved aracana hen in June, but gained a young leghorn girl who is somewhat distantly related to my big leghorn rooster, having come from the same farm. I still have my old english game hen and my isla brown hen too. The leghorn girl is giving me daily eggs, which is very much appreciated as there is nationwide egg shortage here at the moment.

I'm also slowly renovating the inside of my house, removing the carpet in the bedrooms and changing the walls over to wallpapered (peel and stick, but it looks fabulous!). 

I've also been adding solar powered lights to my garden, and rechargeable lights inside the house, to help with the rising electricity bills, and the general cost of living crisis. 

This week, the last week of Winter (and August), we are seeing temperatures in the mid 30s (celsius), which normally would require fans on through the day, but the work I've been doing inside the house has resulted in a much cooler environment, and fans are yet to be needed!

Did I mention I've been putting the privacy window film on the windows that face the road? Not only has it made a world of difference to life in general, but it has also considerably cooled my house. I will be adding them to all the windows in the house, slowly but surely!

Last year I lost my old horse. He was in his very late 20s. 

One of my dogs made it to 14 this year and is still going strong.

This year I have been trying to live by the seasons a little more, now that I have time to do so, and it has been interesting. I spend far more time out in the garden than I used to, and I am enjoying watching things grow. I'm also enjoying being able to eat home grown produce (cherry tomatoes and eggs so far, but come Summer there should be an abundance of edibles to chomp on!), especially as this illness I've had all year has resulted in my having to go gluten free. While I can still eat gluten to a point, my stomach doesn't hurt if I steer clear of gluten-filled products. So I am cooking interesting meals, and reading labels on every mortal thing I buy, but life is not meant to be stationary!