February …ing

End of February, and not a moment too soon. I need March with its promise of spring and longer days, and the likelihood of drying laundry outside. Our tumble dryer has developed a teenage personality and is only working when it likes and never when it is needed. 

:: Taking joy in small things. Like sinking into freshly laundered sheets at bedtime or waking up during the night and dropping off to sleep again easily. Or buying bunches of daffodils to brighten up the gloomy days.

:: Despairing over the mess that is our house. The mess is jointly caused by James and Frankie. Frankie is a least cute and he doesn’t know any better. But James? 

:: Tidying and cleaning a lot but never enough. I find snail shells all over the place, and chunks of moss. Frankie got to meet the robot vacuum cleaner last week, it was fun to watch. I decided he could handle it and hopefully, a daily run will relieve some of the pressure on Richard and I. I am tempted to empty our recycling bins onto James bed. Taking the recycling out is one of his few regular chores but he never bothers and I am fed up. 

:: Listening to a variety of books, mostly crime fiction. I am binge listening to a series by Katrine Engberg, the Kørner and Werner series. I just noticed that I skipped book 2 because it is not available as audiobook in English but I found a German version, so will look out for that. I am also listening to podcasts, a lot of podcasts. Never my own of course, that would be weird. 

:: Watching Astrid on Channel 4. I like this crime drama and have been waiting for series 5 patiently. 

:: Volunteering with The Conservation Volunteers as often as I can. We planted about 500 trees on Valentine's Day. Our team leader made bundles of saplings with different species and we didn't follow a planting pattern so that the end result (a long time in the future) will look natural and organically grown.  On that day, all volunteers got flowers and chocolates, too and for the icing on the cake, it was sunny. We did regenerative work last weekend, which was also fun and necessary. I am just back from scything an old meadow. A bit late in the season but not too late. Removing the tall clumps of grass and flowers promotes regrowth and hopefully we’ll see a beautiful meadow later in the year. Not to brag but I think I am a natural with the scythe. It is fun but also a good workout. I might ask for one for my birthday. 

:: Fermenting... I made several batches of sauerkraut, using red cabbage, which is prettier than white cabbage. It is delicious, easy to make a cheap. I cut the cabbage into thin strips, massaged it with table salt until water was released, stuffed it firmly into a jar and topped-up with brine to avoid contact with air. Then all that is needed is patience and occasional "burping" of the jar until it smells just right (about 2 weeks). I also made fermented dill carrots, which are delicious, too. I tried my hands at kefir but that didn't work too well. I have a Kombucha scobie that is also fermenting away but my first batch was too sweet, maybe not fermented long enough. Our kitchen is quite cold, maybe 5 to 7 days is not enough at this temperature. 

:: Eating (in no particular order) courgette fritters, gnocchi with tomato sauce, stick tofu with jasmine rice, peanut butter and banana toast, tuna salad roll from the Cleveden deli. Just good honest food mostly, with some Jaffa cakes for special treats. 

:: Getting to know my new mentee. My previous one didn't engage much with the mentoring process and decided to leave the programme. I started a new mentorship relationship with a girl this month and so far, I am enjoying spending time with her. I look forward to developing our relationship and I hope I can be a good support for her remaining school years. 

:: Getting used to having only one teen living at home. There is certainly less laundry and I had to reduce our milk order to four bottles a week instead of 12. Iris seems to be well, although it is difficult to say really because they don't stop by for chats. However they are attending college and counselling, which I call a win.

That’s a wrap, I can’t think of anything else to write for the moment. Thank you for visiting 😊