Monthly Archives: September 2018

#MyTime Week 10 – honey production

honey spinner

Honey pouring from a radial spinner

Yes, I can see that honey production will continue to be a theme for me in #MyTime – not so much when I have the time, but rather as I need to make the time!  This year I managed to get the bulk of the honey spun fairly early – for me at least – back in June but there remains a few supers still to sort so that’s what I’ve been doing today.  It’ll take me a few days and then there’s the bottling but the reward is worth it.

I think #MyTime might feature a few more products of the hive but honey is a pretty crucial one.  It’s my regular hay-fever cure (a spoonful of local honey each day throughout the year) and you can’t get much better than your own back garden for “local” honey.  Plus I manage to keep the family supplied as well as selling jars from the door (as well as from a little shop in Beaminster).

So, yes, #MyTime includes honey production.

#MyTime Week 9 – time for song

#MyTime for Song

I’m looking forward to getting back to a weekly choir session this week after our summer break.  Learning new songs and singing with others makes it even more special.

There is definitely room for song and singing in #MyTime so I am pleased to bring song into my countdown.

Collecting seeds for #MyTime

Yes. Had a day off today and gathered some cosmos seeds for germination in the Spring. Still plenty of flowers yet though so will probably add to the supply in a week or two. So that’s lavender and cosmos in the bag (literally). What else should I try I wonder … ?

#MyTime Week 8 – greenhouse gardening

greenhouse

Still plenty of tomatoes in the greenhouse

Plenty of tomatoes left in the greenhouse and the sun is still shining so they are ripening well.  It’s been a great crop this very sunny Summer and I’ve mostly kept up with the watering in there so have had good quality fruit too.  (OK I admit I get some rogue leaders as I’m a bit lax at pinching out the side shoots.)

I’ve been running a greenhouse for quite a few years now and, as well as a regular tomato and chilli crop, manage to germinate early seeds too – lavender and cosmos from seeds I gather from the garden and other flowers and vegetables too.

I’d like to get a bit more clever with the timings though so that I am using the greenhouse throughout the seasons and not just overcrowding in the spring and, if I’m honest, using it as a bit of a dumping ground for the rest of the season!  So, for one of #MyTime intentions, I’d like to get clever with my greenhouse gardening – a little light research over the winter will come in handy I think!  And, in my general sorting, I could lose some of those plastic pots and sort the potting shed out to house some other stuff that takes up the staging space.

 

#MyTime Week 7 – health and wellbeing

After all, I’m not getting any younger (isn’t that what this is all about?)

After a summer break, I restarted with pilates this week.  I’ve only been doing it for a few months and have had some really good results.  My aim was to build some of that core strength and re-energise muscles that don’t get enough attention in my sedentary life and it’s working.  My back, knees and general move-ability has improved and I’m able to walk much further and easier.  So, that is certainly something I want to continue.  The pilates is just one of those building blocks to enable me to be more mobile.  So, I’ve been really please to re-engage and keep reminding myself the importance of general fitness.

#MyTime Week 6 and it’s family contacts

My regular trip to Birmingham this weekend – an opportunity to get my hair cut and visit my Mom.  (I know, there must be a hairdresser closer but I am a creature of habit and I know what I like!)

I always enjoy a trip into Birmingham’s city centre when I visit but this time I didn’t stay around the town.  Instead, I headed to Bewdley and made a call on my brother and we had a very nice lunch and catch-up by the river before I continued the journey home to Dorset.

In fact it had been quite an unexpected family visit as nephew and family were visiting from Canada so I not only got to briefly catch up with my other brother and his wife, my nephew and his wife but also meet my grand-niece for the first time and my grand-nephew for only the third.

That’s made me think about family contacts.  I have quite a separate life from most of my family but I do want to maintain ties, and so #MyTime, when I have some to spare, will definitely include reaching out to family members to say hello.  In this technological age, that doesn’t need to be racking up the road or air miles but I do still have one grand-niece I haven’t yet met.