07.04.13. Honey bees and mad professors

Sunday – day of rest? Had walked the dogs and done a couple of ‘pink’ chores (washing and ironing) before 8am this morning. Then my studio had a clean and a tidy. It’s another incredible day. The cedar in Cedar Meadow, (yup, the name’s a clue) has, since yesterday, shed its seeds; they are thick on the ground and crunch when walked on.

 

Cedar Meadow

lots of cedar seeds

cedar seeds

 

After a late breakfast, I started on the ‘blue’ chores. You get it, pink = girls jobs, blue = boys jobs. It’s been many years now since B, because of his Parkinson’s, had to relinquish most of the blue jobs and I know it pains him.   When it became apparent that I would have to do most of the ‘blue’ jobs, I made a conscious decision to enjoy them and to glean satisfaction from them. I never did a thing in the garden until a few years ago when B got ill, but last year, with help from a couple of the Estate boys, Mark and Tom, I created a whole new garden for our new house, which this year should look wonderful. I do get pleasure and satisfaction from the garden, filling the car with fuel and enjoying it, and putting the bins out, need a little more work on the satisfaction and pleasure front.

In the garden in the sunshine, I could practically hear the grass grow. Out came my little battery operated lawn mower. The grass had got quite out of control without me noticing. As the battery on the machine only last about 40 minutes, it took very many charges to get all the lawns cut – at one point I even considered gravel! But there is nothing quite like the smell a freshly mown grass; the buzz of both bumble and honey bees, and sight of the lace wings, a sensual combination that makes my heart sing.

B who had been watching me, and offering a bit of (very annoying) advice – I personally don’t care if the lawns don’t have ‘stripes’, and mowing round and round is such fun, as each round is smaller and you’re left with a clump in the middle which is a great end to the task, it’s so satisfying to chop that last bit down.

fable was a great help, lying as she did, on the path and not the grass.

 

Fable helping to mow the grass

 

The next thing I knew B had left the garden; probably, I though, frustrated that I wasn’t doing it ‘right’. Fifteen minutes later came a cry, his frustration apparently lay with me having to do all the ‘blue’ jobs, and he had decided that, if he took just one log at a time, he could fill the log basket for me.

Rushing indoors, I find my beloved, on his back in the sitting room – like, as I afterwards told him, a beetle, all arms and legs flaying and unable to get up or turn over. This fall (he has had some terrible falls) has resulted in a bruised bottom, skinned elbow and a dramatic lump on the back of his head. It has also resulted in him promising to leave the ‘blue’ jobs to me, and he has taken on the ‘pink’ job of loading and unloading the dishwasher………………sounds good to me. B’s fine now, once off the floor and on his feet and given a dose of TLC he was okay, it’s just that these falls, although this one wasn’t serious, do knock his confidence.

B is very worried about the plight of the British honey bee, and wants to drill holes in the cottage wall to make a habitat for them – drill – electric – B, definitely a bad combination.

We had the delight of lunch in the garden, the first this year, and I picked a tiny bunch of garden flowers to cheer us.

Spring flowers from my garden

More mowing in the afternoon and some knitting, I’ve finished all the pieces for Valbonne and even blocked them out.

Valbonne blocked and ready to be sewn together

 

 

A candlelit bath at the end of the day; I felt incredibly tired, but incredibly happy…………………..