What to do today?

The sun is shining, the birds are singing. The boys, surprisingly ARENT whining!

I'll be off down the allotment then!

I hope the council have got off their backsides and had the water supply turned on at the allotments, because i have some rather dry seedlings at the moment that may die soon if they dont get a drink! My father has kindly lent me a rolling camping watter butt that i will be using to take some water from home with me, and (unusually for me) I am praying for some rain (lots of rain!) to fill the parched water butts on my plot.

Bed 3 is almost dug over, i will finish that today and rake it over, ready for planting. Legumes i think in bed 3 this year. I will have to check my planner.

The weeds are taking over at the moment, as they are prone to do. Every time i go down i spend half my time digging, and the other half weeding. Its a rare opportunity to actually plant anything!!

What are you doing today?

Its All About the Resolutions.

The blogging world seems to be buzzing with resolutions at the moment. Heck, most people IRL are making goals and plans for the year ahead, often to be forgotten by mid February or March, as the incessant daily grind fully takes hold.

I'll join in and play for a bit, as there things i would like to achieve this year.

• My Allotment. I would like to see this producing most of the veg we need throughout the second half of this year, continuing from there on producing the vast majority of our veg. I just need to get everything set up ready for the start of the growing season.
• Get Fit. This one is on the list every year, but this year i intend to follow through. DD also has this on her list, so we are going to do it together. Plus spending a lot of time down on the allotment will naturally add an extra element of exercise into our daily routine.
• Keep my house clean. Ahem, yes.
• To reduce our debt substantially. We don't owe a lot compared to most. In fact if we left it to tick over on minimum payments it would all still be paid off by Jan 2014, but i would like to give it a push. I reckon if we try, then we can get rid of ALL of it by mid 2012.

So the aim of the game this year is simple, frugal living and enjoying life with my babies before they are not babies anymore!

New Year, New Adventures.

Last year, i started growing vegetables in a small area of our back garden. It was good fun, we got a bit of veg to eat , and i managed to keep plants alive all summer long!

So this year i am going to upscale a bit.
In November i was offered an allotment (after being on the waiting list a year and a half). It is only a half plot, but its better than nothing.

This is what my plot looked like when i took it over on the 12th November.


And this is what it looked like after our last visit to the plot on the 11th December.


Unfortunately thanks to the awful weather we have had lately combined with the holiday season, we havent been able to get back up there since to continue work. But Keira and i will be heading back up there tomorrow weather permitting to continue the good work :)

I am looking forward to making lots of memories on the plot for me and the children

Disappointing Potato Harvest

They looked to be going great guns. Lush green foliage, lovely delicate purple flowers, and then dying back in just the right way. Textbook perfect potato growing.
Until the harvest that is. I think we may just have enough for a meal for the 5 of us from the 6 plants that were planted. I am a little gutted, if I am honest.

Some of them had scab, while while after peeling are still edible, the size of them means that there wouldnt be much left.

I sure hope they taste nice after all this!

The christmas potatoes are going in next week, so hopefully we will have more luck with them.

Mind your manners!

Oliver is such a polite little boy. It gives me such joy to hear the way he speaks to people.

Today i have been listening to him saying "you're welcome" every time someone thanks him for something.

Tristan is growing like a weed. He is crawling around everywhere now, he is so fast! He can cruise around the furniture, and likes to stand in front of the washing machine, watching it go around (which it seems to be doing permanently at the moment!).

Here are some pics of the boys i took recently.



And my messy little monkeys:





Oliver has since had a hair cut, i will try and take new pictures tomorrow.

Choconana Muffins!

Today i had a very silly mummy moment.
It was baking time for lunchbox treats, and choconana muffins were the order of the day. The batter was mixed, the oven was on and the 9yr old was trying to help.
In went the muffins, and came out looking delicious! The washing up was started. All going well, i hear you say.
Until. I picked up a cup to clean which i realised still contained a. whole. egg. Which was supposed to be in the muffins! Oops.
They still taste nice though.

Ok I'm Really Bad At This.....

Ok, i've had a baby. I'm not the first woman in history to have done this, and i am sure that most of them were a damn sight more organised than me at it.
The past 6 months have flown by! Tristan is growing like a weed, as is Oliver and Keira. I feel like it has gone by in a daze, and i certainly havent done much that is productive with the time.

Please hold me accountable. I must do SOMETHING, or i will be lost in a sea of nappies, feeds and toddler groups.

I hereby promise to update this blog at least once a week with an acheivement, however small, to anchor myself and show evidence that i have in fact existed. To show that it wasnt all a dream.