So that was Easter

The kids are back at school. Easter came...

... and Easter went. Much like the beautiful pink blossom that screamed Spring is Here...

... all that is left is a little mess to clear up.

I had set myself a challenge to complete 40 minutes of the torturous planking exercise throughout the 40 days of Lent. Despite missing some days out completely and leaving myself with three minutes worth to do on the final day, I met my target. If you ever find yourself complaining that time is passing too quickly, put yourself into the plank position and hold it for a minute. Never have sixty seconds passed so laboriously slowly.

The planking challenge was part of my One Small Change for March, to improve my core strength. From a vanity point of view, I can't say I've really noticed much difference. My wobbly bits still bulge over the waistband of my jeans making me reluctant to abandon the baggy jumpers in favour of more weather appropriate attire. However, beneath the wobbly bit, if you should happen to prod, there are definitely abs waiting to reveal themselves should I lay off the chocolate, cake and beer long enough to give them half a chance. And I feel fitter - which has become a far greater incentive for me than chasing the perfect bikini body (a losing battle at my age I fear!).

My One Small Change for April has been to run more with my husband. This has never been very easy because one of us usually has to stay and look after the children while the other wears the high vis lycra and takes to the streets. With two of my daughters back home for the easter holidays from their places of education, it has been easier. We took advantage of the babysitting availability and put in a fair few miles together. And I loved it.

I used to feel a little bit anxious about running with my husband, He runs faster than I do and I worried that I'd hold him back or that I'd do myself a mischief trying to keep up with him. It hasn't turned out like that at all. By some happy coincidence, my 5K pace is not far off his 10K pace and my 10K pace is the sort of pace that he can just keep going and run marathons. We train together but with a different focus. He has inspired me to run a little faster which is reflected in a new Personal Best and slowing him down has made him less prone to injury. We have run some beautiful routes together in the sort of weather that makes you happy to be alive. It has been a wonderful shared experience.

One time, we ran together around Preston park in Brighton where he ran as a boy. It included a lap of the Preston Park Velodrome, the oldest cycle track in the country. It was especially nostalgic for my husband but it was lovely to be part of a new memory we were making. We have plans for lots more running in the south coast when we go on visits to see my father in law.

I never imagined that running would become such an important part of my life. As we were running in Brighton I did remark to my husband that it just was the equivalent of a nice stroll around the park for people who don't have much time. We certainly fall into that category of people. I hesitate to say that there is not enough time to do all the thing I want to do because to follow my own  advice, I would have to get myself into that plank position and hold it for sixty seconds. And to be honest, I've had enough of that for the time being!

Waging War on Conifers

Don't get me wrong - I love conifers - but I am rapidly coming to the opinion that they belong in settings like this....

Switzerland

... NOT in gardens.

My garden has an abundance of conifers.

This is a photograph taken a couple of years ago of my front boundary. There is an overgrown beech hedge beyond that bordering the road.

I think it looks rather lovely. You would not know that my house was in the middle of town (albeit a small market town). However, in the time between taking this photograph and now, the conifers were not content to remain unchanged. They grew. And they grew. And they grew.

The problem with conifers is that they are very difficult to tame. You can cut them back a little and you can top them but there is no hard pruning solution - no cutting them back to a manageable size and watching lush new growth spring from bare branches. 

The conifers had become massively too big, They were encroaching further and further into the garden, killing the lawn and forcing underplanted shrubs to grow straggly and untidy in an attempt to reach daylight.

I hadn't really noticed how bad it had become until a chap working in the area called round offering his services. He gave us a price for the topping and trimming of the three large conifers and as he explained what it would involve, it forced me to have a really good look. I thanked him for his time but suggested that I needed to rethink the whole border.

I did have a look at the trees he had been working on locally and generally started paying attention to the trees in all the neighbouring gardens, particularly the conifers. Now maybe it's just me but a large conifer that has had the top taken off looks so wrong. The top is the wondrous part - the part that shines brightest with life. Removing it seems like a castration. I would rather have no conifer than castrated conifer.

My husband agreed and bought two new chains for his chainsaw in readiness.

We started by tackling the beech hedge. We did have to cut back a substantial amount of shrub and tree growth to gain access from the inside. From the roadside, the hedge is neatly managed to the point that I could reach with the hedge trimmers and a stepper. I generally ignored the top of the hedge as branches merged together in a dense leafy muddle.

Summer 2012

Approaching the hedge from the other side, it was plain to see that the top had not been trimmed for many years before we took ownership of it. Thick branches of beech tree reached skywards upwards of 20 feet above the hedge in places. They had to come down. I keep thinking that if the hedge survives the drastic pruning, it can put all that energy into growing where I want it to grow - into a thick, healthy, manageable boundary. 

With ropes and the chainsaw, we managed to take down most of the branches without incident. There are still a couple that we are going to have to approach from the road side so will need extra help to do it safely. The hedge looks so much better already and I can't wait to see how well it recovers once the leaves begin to grow.

The next job was to assess the conifers. There were the three massive ones that the chap had quoted for, one of which I adore and want to preserve. We also discovered two more in the jungle that I hadn't even realised were there.

Getting inside the jungle

As much as it pains me destroy a tree, we had to be brutal. Before long, the smallest of the three large conifers and one of the bonus ones we hadn't know existed, were felled. 

Taking out the beech branches and cutting down the trees was relatively quick. Clearing up the vast amount of green waste the process generated was not so quick. Two trips to the dump, making good use of two neighbours' green bins as well as our own and spending several hours incinerating  did  just about stop us being completely overwhelmed by the task. We have piles of wood for chopping into logs for the chimenea and bags neatly filled with more green waste ready for disposal. It is going to be a long job clearing up completely before the next round of cutting can begin.

We have made some good discoveries - most notably we uncovered a beautiful old ornamental cherry tree that will hopefully soon reward us with boughs of pink blossom. 

Turning our attention to the conifers elsewhere in the garden, we realised that potentially we have a lot more work to do. We have a big decision to make about three massive conifers that I see from my kitchen window.   I have always loved the wall of green that they present but again, as they have grown, they have begun to deprive me of two precious commodities - space and light. I think we have reached the tipping point where the loss of these commodities outweighs any benefits. The garden will be completely transformed if we decide to get rid of them - and of course, once they are gone, there is no going back.

We have plenty of work still to do before we have to make our final decision and to commit to it with  the whirr of a chainsaw blade. I am hoping for lots of lovely sunny spring days over Easter to get on with it all. Maybe when those huge coniferous giants block that lovely spring sunshine I will stop seeing them as my beautiful wall of green and view them instead as 'the enemy'. Let battle commence!

Easter Days

The kids don't go back to school until next week but my husband is back at work already which definitely gives the feeling that Easter is over.

The Easter weekend itself was odd for me because two of my girls were in Portugal staying with their father. Although my eldest daughter joined us for lunch, our morning Easter Egg hunt was just for the two little ones, which is much how it will be once Taylor goes back to university and Charis goes off to boarding school. I viewed it as a little rehearsal for when that time comes. Life is going to be very different.

I made a chocolate fudge cake which Addy enjoyed decorating with mini eggs and everyone enjoyed eating.

To round off our Easter holiday festivities, we attended a special spring event at our local community owned organic farm. With the weather having drastically improved from the snow and icy winds of late, it was very well attended with people, possibly like me, desperate for signs of spring. What better 'sign of spring' than gorgeous little lambs playfully leaping onto hay bales. We were all enchanted by them, especially Dylan who just kept reaching in to touch them.

There were lots of activities for the children to get involved with:

Meeting the rescued Owls

Not too impressed with the sticky seed mix used for Making Bird Feeders

Enjoying the reward for completing the Easter Egg Trail

Wondering whether to dare entering the Straw Bale Tunnel

Certainly it was a stark contrast from shopping for designer clothes in Portugal but my girls seemed content enough drinking dodgy hot chocolate from chipped mugs and were massively enthused by the stall selling freshly made fudge in a baffling array of flavours (mars bar fudge was my personal favourite with chocolate and peanut butter being a high ranking contender for the accolade). Taylor bought a magic wand carved from a birch twig and her boyfriend demonstrated his manliness with some welly wanging.

Addy did threaten to spoil the whole experience by getting herself into the foulest of moods and insisting that we only liked 'boring fun' but it really was a lovely family day out to make up for my girls' absence the previous weekend.

Best of all for me though was a warm sunshiny day just before my husband had to return to work. We got out into the garden for a good session of weeding, pruning and preparing for the growing season with Dylan and Addy as willing 'helpers'. I was really excited to see that the snow had not damaged my rhubarb which was bursting into life with the promise of rhubarb crumbles to come. I can't wait to get back out there and start planning and planting. Happy days.

A Purple Post

The snow is retreating...

...which hopefully means that these little buds will burst open to welcome spring in all their purple glory.

Today is Purple Day - Global Day of Epilepsy Awareness.

I do not own any purple clothes to show my support (unless you count my purple bra that  I am wearing today with pride). Instead, I write my purple post and I do this for my nephew, Luke.

https://www.facebook.com/theepilepsynetwork

Spring Cleaning

It may feel more like the middle of winter with snow on the ground and school closures (and more snow forecast) but it doesn't stop me from getting excited about spring cleaning.

At the beginning of last year, my eldest daughter had just bought a house with her boyfriend and I put in a lot of time and energy helping with the decorating and cleaning. Of course we're not talking a quick wipe with a cloth sort of cleaning. We're talking scrubbing with an old toothbrush into every nook and cranny sort of cleaning. Blast it with every chemical cleaner known to man sort of cleaning. The sort of cleaning that leaves you exhausted, aching and with painfully tortured skin on your once soft, smooth hands.

My own home was sadly neglected as a consequence.

Not so this year. 

This year, armed with my weapons of choice - a micro-fibre cloth, Parazone spray bleach and the trusted old toothbrush - I am attacking the dirty corners of my home with great enthusiasm.

I have already used two whole bottles of bleach cleaner on window frames and skirting boards and two old toothbrushes have been rendered almost bristle-less. And I am loving it.

I love rinsing out my cloth and watching the filthy water swirl away down the sink. I love the smell of clean. I love taking control and creating order from chaos.

I am finding all sorts of minor (and major) repairs that will need to be attended to over the coming months and there are plenty of places that would benefit from a lick of paint. Rather than being daunted by the mammoth task ahead, I feel inspired and ready to tackle anything. It really is like seeing things with the fresh eyes of someone moving into a new home.

I would love to think that my rooms would stand up to inspection by the Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners of the Channel 4 series - that I could be worthy of joining their bucket wielding army, making Britain a cleaner place one house at a time. Any illusions I may have had about that were shattered when my eldest daughter run a finger over a forgotten shelf in my kitchen to reveal more than a little dust! 

My battle against the dirt and disorder continues. Every shiny surface a triumph for me. Whether I will ever make enough headway to compensate for the tireless mess makers that are my children (and husband), I don't know... but I will persevere. And love every minute of it.

My top tips for Spring Cleaning:

1) Invest in good rubber gloves to protect your hands. I use bizzybee multipurpose gloves. They are comfortable, easy to get on and off and are still going strong after a serious amount of scrubbing!

2) Keep your cleaning equipment clean and well organised. When you are trying to create order from chaos in your home it helps to start with order in your brushes, sprays and cloths.

3) Never underestimate the power of elbow grease. No matter what claims the cleaning products make about 'simply wipe clean' or 'rinse away for a sparkling finish', a bit of elbow grease invariably gives a better result. 

4) Don't be afraid of the dirt. Dive in and deal with it.

5) Vacuum walls and ceilings as well as floors. It might look a bit crazy but it is amazing how much dust can accumulate on those surfaces.

6) Remember that the more effort you put into your cleaning, the more calories you are burning. A good work out with the bonus of a clean home - perfect.

What I did this weekend

What an absolute treat the glorious weather has been this weekend.

My next door neighbour's Magnolia looking lovely against the cloudless blue sky

Unable to go out anywhere because my poor little lad is suffering with chicken pox, we had a day in the garden.

Both my little ones love to be outdoors. We have built a large, enclosed decked area for them to play safely with minimal supervision but they yearn for the grass beyond.

I have two ponds in my garden. Tragic news stories regularly remind me about the dangers of water in gardens. I have been giving much thought on how to make the ponds safe so that the children can have the freedom to explore the whole garden. I have plans for garden parties over the summer and I don't want to be constantly worrying about where the children are in between serving drinks and decorated cakes.

We have decided that the best option is to fence off both ponds.

Whilst the ponds were very much front of mind, I also realised how in need of some work they both were. Our fish population has been decimated by the recent cold winters, a cat with far too much interest in them and a visiting heron that, although stunning, is really not welcome to use my garden as a handy snack bar. There are also a couple of ducks that occasionally come for a swim and bob down under the water. I'm not even sure if they eat fish but they are certainly enjoying something in there.

Our filter systems needed a bit of a rethink to get them working efficiently and one pond was overrun with lilies and pondweed whilst the other had practically no plant life at all.

We decided that the good weather presented a window of opportunity, before the frogspawn turned into tadpoles, to empty one of our ponds and start from scratch. We transferred anything living that we could rescue across to the other pond then emptied it, cleared the leaves and slime and blanket weed, and finally refilled it.

It was not an easy job!

The pond was one that we inherited when we bought the house six years ago. It is a concrete construction which is quite unusual these days with the flexible liners being so reliable and easy to use. I am very fond of it.

Although it was a dirty, smelly job, it was a real pleasure to see it clean again, especially with the flower beds around it weeded and tidied up.

I thinned the plant life in the overcrowded pond (which was very much harder than it sounds) and transferred some into my new clean pond. Hopefully they will establish quickly and before long I can have the pleasant task of taking the kids to an aquatic centre to buy some new fish.

Lilies exploding out of their planting basket

Thinning the plant life in my second pond has given that one a bit of an instant makeover too.

The next job is to get the fences constructed and I am very much looking forward to making my garden a paradise for my children and having the peace of mind that they can play safely.

Ladybird Lovin'

There's an awful lot of this going on outside at the moment. It would seem that spring has definitely sprung.

Easter Gift Ideas

The daffodils blooming in my garden are reminding me that Easter is just around the corner.

I like the tradition of giving Easter Eggs but there are plenty of inspiring alternative gift ideas if one does not want to restrict themselves to chocolate.

These are a selection of Easter Gift Ideas I was sent to review.

Easter with Schleich

Anyone familiar with Schleich figurines will know that they are exquisitely detailed and highly collectible.

The Schleich range is enormous but these farm animals, puppy and rabbits could make a fantastic Easter themed gift.

I made a cute display of them on my writing bureau but my little ones keep climbing up to get them to play with. Dylan especially loves the pig because PIG is one of the few words he can say really well. He can also make a pretty convincing oinking sound!

Rabbit Parade

The thing I love about jigsaw puzzles is sitting down with my kids to solve them together. This panoramic cute bunny picture screams SPRINGTIME and would make a lovely, gentle activity over the Easter holidays.

With 200 pieces generously sized pieces, this puzzle should keep us busy and give the little ones the opportunity to get involved. 

The picture has clearly been subject to some photo manipulation which has led to much speculation from my older (more cynical) children with regards to the method used to encourage the bunnies to snuggle together so closely and neatly (velcro/superglue/kebab skewer - you get the idea!) 

Rabbit Parade is a quality puzzle as you would expect from the Ravensburger brand.

Chocolate Rotator

Ok, so this gift idea does involve chocolate. 

The Let's Cook Chocolate Rotator is one of a range of food preparation sets from Character. This particular set enables children to create hollow chocolate shapes in a variety of designs. One of the moulds is an egg shape making this ideally suited as an Easter gift.

We did have a lot of fun with it but I have to confess that the biggest attraction was licking the melted chocolate spills and excess.

The amount of coloured foil you are provided with is only enough to make a very limited number of wrapped chocolates. 

The chocolate is not included.

The following video shows our not entirely successful attempt to make foil wrapped hollow chocolates.

I think that with some experimentation in how much chocolate to use and which type of chocolate works best, some reasonably good results could be achieved. However, if I am honest, it was the chocolate itself that got my children most excited rather than the ability to create the hollow chocolate shapes. I would probably have been better off sticking to Easter Eggs!

Tadpoles in a Jar

With it being Spring Equinox today, it was lovely to see so many signs of the season, including glorious spring sunshine.

I was heartened to see that despite the difficulties endured by the frog population over recent winters, there was still plenty of frogspawn in my pond. I'm not usually one to interfere with nature but I have such fond childhood memories of expeditions to the Chalvey brook with my jam jar to collect frogspawn. I still find  the metamorphosis that begins with a tiny black dot in its protective jelly, completely fascinating.

It was my husband who suggested that our Addy was the perfect age to witness this magical transformation first hand and I didn't take much persuading.

My daughter Taylor does actually have an irrational fear of frogs so the jar of frogspawn that suddenly appeared in our porch did push her to the limit of where she is comfortable. I'm not sure how she will cope as things develop and the wiggly swimmers start to grow legs for jumping. We shall cross that particular bridge later!

I was really happy today to see a little fish bowl for sale at my local Sue Ryder charity shop. It had gravel in the bottom already and for £1.95 I thought it would make a much more suitable home for our amphibious house guests.

I don't know who is more excited about our nature project, me or Addy. (One thing I definitely do know, it isn't Taylor!)

Chit Chat

There is a definite feel of Spring in the air in Shropshire.

Yesterday, I plunged my hands into compost for the first time this year. I was only repotting a desperately pot bound house plant but it did get my gardening juices flowing. I decided that it was time to make a start and buy some seed potatoes.

We have a wonderful pet shop in our town called Blooming Tails. It is a far cry from the well lit, spacious pet superstores that are popular these days (and not even existing in the same universe as New York's designer clothes store from whom I assume the quirky name is derived). It is dingy and overcrowded and virtually impossible to negotiate with a pushchair. However, they sell loads of good stuff for pet owners and gardeners at really good prices and the staff are all wonderfully friendly.

I went along to buy my seed potatoes and was shocked and saddened to find that some mindless vandal had smashed a hole through the lower glass panel of Blooming Tails' door. Shards of glass lay scattered in the entrance with lethal looking jagged pieces of glass framing the hole. The premises had not been entered and nothing was taken. It seems such a shame that a small business doing their best to survive in a small town should have to deal with such unnecessary inconvenience.

Currently, Blooming Tails are stocking 33 different varieties of seed potato.  I went in to find the variety that was right for me.

Considering I know next to nothing about potato varieties (King Edwards and Jersey Royal New Potatoes representing the sum of my knowledge) I went about choosing in the same way that I pick a horse for my annual flutter on the Grand National. I picked a name I liked the sound of.

There were some wonderful sounding varieties, Pink Fir Apple being one that nearly made it into my shopping basket. In the end, I chose one called Swift in acknowledgement of my 17 year old daughter's love of American singer/songwriter, Taylor Swift. The musical talents of Taylor Swift inspired my daughter to write some songs of her own and learn to play guitar. Winning a guitar signed by her idol was a real highlight of her life and has proved to be a great motivation when it came to the task of mastering chords and strumming styles. Purchasing my dozen Swift seed potatoes for 69p made me think about all of this and smile.

My selection technique has never earned me any winnings on the National but it served me well in this instance. A quick search on Google revealed that Swift potatoes, as the name implies, are a quick maturing variety and can produce a crop within eight weeeks. Perfect for an impatient gardener such as myself. I couldn't resist doing a quick search on the Pink Fir Apple variety as well. They look amazing. I am going to go back and buy half a dozen. I'm sure I can find a space to squeeze them in.

I have placed my Swift potatoes in an egg box on the window sill to chit. Tomorrow I will go and buy my Pink Fir Apples. Hopefully, by then the glass door will be fixed.

Reasons to be Cheerful

ONE

I managed to avoid the illness that seemed to work its way through everyone in the family to some extent or other. I feel smugly healthful and cheery.

TWO

We've had some gloriously sunny days and there are signs of spring wherever you look.

THREE

Clean water, drainage, sanitary living conditions, food, money, health care, good life expectancy, education..... The people we are raising funds for through Comic Relief do remind you that we have so many reasons to be cheerful.