Gardening is CHEAPER than THERAPY…..and you get tomatoes.
Garden Therapy
Tee hee! Not exactly a huge crop, but it made me smile.
Our very own tomatoes – baby and plum
So far this year, our 2 raised veggie beds have produced mixed salad leaves, horse radish, spring onions, salad turnip and parsley. We’re still waiting on potatoes, beetroot and more Baby and Plum tomatoes to ripen and pick.
Hubby reckons there’s about 150 tomatoes in the greenhouse that have yet to ripen which isn’t bad considering we only have 6 tomato plants out there in the first place.
It’s funny, but we’d never have created a veggie garden if it hadn’t been for lock down. Now, I can’t imagine not having our own fresh produce.
Wow! We are nearing 5 months of lock down here in the UK, albeit many imposed restrictions have been lifted (in the meantime at least). Other countries where lock down has been loosened have reported rises in Covid-19 again, and I guess here in the UK will be no different—especially with foolish people flaunting the guidelines put in places to protect us. Makes it difficult to control the virus when such happens and is really frustrating and disheartening for those who have made an effort to do their part.
Holiday season
We have decided to stay at home this year. Not only has Covid-19 had an affect on our decision making big style, but we’ve spent a lot of money upgrading our home which we moved into last December and such doesn’t come cheap.
Having a haircut wearing a face mask was a new experience! The last time I’d sat my bot in a hairdressers chair was 5 months ago and my hair had outgrown all previous layers leaving it looking more like an 80’s bob at this stage! 😝 Ha ha, at least wearing a face mask hid my embarrassment.
The thought of going for my hair appointment was worse than the actual experience. There were only two stylists plus two customers present at any one time. Chairs, sinks, etc were sanitised before and after each client. It was fine, and even better walking out the door with a new style and looking human again. Hello world! 😘
The 3 great elemental sounds in nature after the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.
Henry Beston
Where we live, we are able to experience all three sounds in nature.
The sound of rain….well hey, this is Scotland and we practically have webbed feet!
The sound of wind in a primeval wood.
Scots Pine – Image from internet
The Scots pine has a natural range confined to the Highlands in Scotland. It’s native primeval pine woods cover approximately 17,000 hectares in a number of separate and isolated remnants—just over 1% of the estimated 1,500,000 hectare original area. The reason for its decline is unknown, although no doubt much of it was cleared away to make way for sheep farming and modern forestry throughout the years.
In winter, the sound of the trees’ dry twigs and old branches cracking and creaking whilst the wind howls down through the hills and across these ancient forests is one of nature’s hauntingly eerie orchestrated sounds—wild and creepy! Eeek 😱
You don’t have to go too far into the countryside in Aberdeenshire to see these unusual ‘wind sculped’ trees. I’ve never photographed the moors where they’re found but must add this to my photographic bucket list.
The sound of outer ocean on a beach—whilst we don’t live near an ocean, we do live on the edge of the North Sea. When the tide is coming in (and depending on the wind direction) we can hear the sound of the sea crashing against the rocks down on the shore.
Picked my car up from its service in town today (Saturday). Despite the car having been given a clean re: all the touch points, I brought my own sanitiser and gave the inside of the car a good wipe down myself before getting inside to drive the car home. But here’s a question….
A couple of months ago, I enrolled on a documentary workshop hoping it would help me record these historic times through photography.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to connect with this workshop for some reason or other.
Nature photography
When it comes to nature photography however, I could lose myself for hours shooting and editing this particular genre. It’s a real fine creative outlet and beautiful pastime—I’d be lost without it.
During the week, I stumbled across the video below. I remember watching a TV documentary about this great archaeological find quite a few years ago and found it intriguing then and still do today. Thought I’d share below—it’s worth a look peeps.
Just about fell off my chair when the last few words were spoken in this video—these words have been on my mind for the past week or so!!! 😲
Video 20 mins 47 secs and worth every second watching—seriously!
We were woken just before 5 am this morning (Saturday) to the sound of thunder. It lasted right up until 9 am before moving out across the North Sea. I haven’t heard thunder claps like it in quite some time. There wasn’t much lightening (at least not to be seen), because there was a mist over the whole area at the time which no doubt hid the lightening flashes to a greater degree.
During the storm, the heavens opened and we had torrential rainfall. At the moment (1.15 pm), the mist has risen and the sun is trying to break through the clouds; it’s a little cooler but still feels very moist and wet outside. I’ve got a thumper of headache, but that’s not unusual—I always seem to get a bad headache either before, during or after a thunder storm. Something to do with air pressure apparently.
Do you find these current times still feel strange? To be honest, three months on and I’m still struggling with how ‘weird’ things seems most days.
It feels like the carefree world we once knew has been disconnected and we’ve been plugged into a different world—one where we need to be vigilant and watch out for an invisible enemy.
This virus is in effect “an attack on all humanity;” there is no other way to look at it; the whole world is laid vulnerable. I believe it was Nicola Sturgeon who said, “things should not feel ‘normal’ during lock down” and she was right; things definitely do not feel normal!
