June ...ing

Well that's May 2020 done and dusted with and June well under way. What can I say? Time for another ... ing post.

Relaxing on my new garden bench, watching the clouds pass overhead.

Loving and appreciating our garden. It is glorious just now, the rambling rose is in full bloom and the scent is divine. I know now why it is a rambler and not a climber... it is completely wild and after two years in the ground, it covers half one side of our garage. The sparrows are loving it.

Eating a chicken and mushroom pie on a Monday evening. Also eating fresh salad from the garden and the occasional fresh strawberry. It is a race to beat the snails to those luscious strawberries.

Binge-listening to the last two instalments of Denzyl Meyrick's Detective Inspector Daley crime novels. The narrator is really good, he has a proper West of Scotland accent, which is very fitting as the series is set in the West of Scotland. He also does a good Highlands accents. I love local accents but I wonder how accessible this is for someone not familiar with the sound. I remember barely understanding a word when I first moved here...

Sewing t-shirts. I made three, all different and only one using tried and tested patterns. Today I cut another one out and hopefully I'll get it sewn up over the next week, one seam at the time. I might write a t-shirt post soon. I also made couple of masks for our infrequent outings to shops etc. I'll have to go to Tesco this week, not looking forward to that.

Blocking my Mailin jumper and tidying away knitwear for summer. It is just too warm for knitwear now and I doubt we'll be camping anytime soon.

Taking more breaks at work to avoid the daily mini burnout (it is not pretty) at the end of the day. I built in some more active learning into the final weeks of teaching to give me time to breathe. This is still labour intensive but does not require recording and editing.

Running ever so slowly. For about four weeks I have been really struggling and today I realised that my heart is pumping harder than it usually does when I am running (that fancy watch of mine tells me so). I noticed that my breathing is quite shallow when I run and I think I need to get back to my old routine of breathing in on two steps and breathing out on three. Or something like that.

Treating another ear infection. Not my lucky year (or should I say ear)...

Observing our 5 pet tadpoles develop into froglets. They are now frog shaped but so far have back legs only. Richard made an island in the tadpole tank for when they want to climb out of the water. Plans are under way for re-introduction into the wild, in the same spot where we caught them. They love to eat broccoli and the larvae that came with the canal water

Looking out for blue tit fledglings. We spotted one in our garden today. It was practicing flying I think. Very cute. I hope it makes it to adulthood. I don't know where there are nesting but it must be nearby because the little bird was on our garden fence.

Enjoying a second dog walk with my friend. Our first one was really enjoyable, we had planned it for late evening, when it is a bit quieter along the river paths. So much to talk about even though nothing much happens in either our lives.

Managing the mood of frustrated children - and failing more often than not. It is difficult and getting more difficult as isolation continues. Meeting a friend is a lifeline but with restrictions in place, it can't happen every day for all of us.

Calling the local police station to report two escaped council Highland cows only to be told I should have called the police when finally getting through to an operator. Eh? I was more successful on my second attempt. I am happy to report the cows are back in their paddock and yes, Glasgow city council has cows.

Looking forward to book group next week. We are reading "A man" by Keiichiro Hirano. I do rather enjoy Japanese fiction. 

Well, that's it for now. I know there is so much more to say and talk about but I don't have the words.

Thanks for visiting today x