Seven days

How has it been a week already?

Diolch yn fawr (thank you very much) for all of your comments on my last post, and on my beginnings of learning Welsh.  I’ve found the course quite hard going this week, but apparently that’s all part of the process and I just need to keep going syth umlaen (straight on).  What I have discovered is that I’m very good at remembering random words but not always so great at putting them together in a sentence, but I’m hoping that’s because it’s all still quite new and I have to think a lot about what I’m trying to say.  Anyway, you can look forward to random Welsh words in blog posts now! 🙂

If you remember in my last post, I told you about Something that was eating my beans and a cat with aspirations to be a vegetable gardener re-arranging the plants.  There has been a Development, with a capital D.

Not one, but THREE very large burrow-type holes have appeared!  Never mind the chewed beans, a new Something has been digging in my peas and I have no idea what it is!  We do have wild rabbits that live nearby but I’ve never seen them near my veg patch and surely, they would have eaten everything by now and not just dug holes?  Whatever it is, it’s big enough to have jumped up about 18 inches into the raised bed (so not a mole, unless it was carrying a very small trampoline), and has made a hole a good 6 inches in diameter.  No, in case you are wondering, I haven’t put my hand down the hole to see if there’s anything in there, but I did fill one of them in slightly and it’s been dug out again so whatever the Something is, it hasn’t moved out yet.  I will keep you updated!

I’ve spent a lot of time this week writing in my planner, making lists and trying to get my head into some kind of order.  Lucy put it very well in one of her recent blog posts how the time that we spend together results in a mutual off-loading of all the stuff that we carry around in our heads and we’re able to help each other make sense of it, and this week’s planning has been the result of the time we spent together last week.  Working at home and spending a lot of time on my own suits me very well, but it can be easy to lose perspective on things so being able to spend time with someone who understands what you’re talking about (my husband tends to glaze over quite quickly when I mention yarn!) is invaluable.

I hadn’t appreciated quite how much I had been using and relying on my planner until I managed to miss an appointment this week when I wasn’t able to check it, and I can quite honestly say that I am finally a convert to the paper planner system instead of just using scrap paper and the Google calendar that we all update as a family.

It seems hard to believe that we’re only a couple of weeks away from July; that it will be the Summer Solstice at the end of this week and after that the days will start to get shorter again.  To be honest, I’m not sure that I’d have noticed just recently as it’s been permanently murky with rain clouds, but I’m hoping for a couple of dry days as I need to cut the grass.

My planner is a Circle Planner; there’s a new undated version now (I know that when I’ve written about it before it’s been out of stock) and also a brand new 3 month goal setting planner on the way, so it’s clearly been a hit with lots of people since it’s initial release in time for this year.  I think that planners are a very personal thing; I spent years looking for one that offered me all the spaces that I wanted and this one does just that.  For me, it’s been money well-spent and I’m glad I took the leap to try it out.

My system is very functional; I write in pencil so that I can rub it out and not make a huge mess.  I don’t have stickers apart from a few to denote birthdays, and I’ve not used the colouring pages yet either, so I know that some planner aficionados will say that I’m not using it to it’s full potential, but it’s working for me as it is at the moment and adding in any of those things is something that I could do later if I wanted to.

I managed not to miss today’s appointment, which was to meet up with Lynne Rowe at Black Sheep Wools to make a short video for the Black Sheep Wools YouTube channel.  Considering that being in front of a camera is not my favourite thing to do, I seem to have been doing it quite a lot lately – today, and also a few weeks ago chatting to Sara at BSW about my Winwick Mum yarns 😀

Here’s Amy from BSW setting up with Lynne; she’s promised to edit out anything daft that we might have said and I’ll let you know when it’s out for you to see!  It was lovely to catch up with Lynne again.  She works as a tech editor, is a talented designer in both knitting and crochet, and is also very knowledgable about mindful knitting and crochet, having written a book with Betsan Corkhill on the subject as well as writing her own blog.  We managed to find time for lunch together at BSW a few weeks ago and were spotted for their Instagram feed:  the words on the wall actually say “life’s too short for cheap yarn” and I hope nobody thinks that what’s shown in the picture is a description of us …!

Source: Instagram @BlackSheepWools

And on that happy note, I’m off to finish tidying up after deciding to move a box of yarn out of cupboard.  You know that moment when you wish you hadn’t started something …?

Yep, that’s the moment!  I may be some time …

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17 Responses

  1. happy hooker says:

    Your mystery digger could be a badger. A few years ago, my sister had holes appearing in their garden, so they set up a camera and caught the culprit on film.
    Yes, I know that feeling of "why did I start this?" I've been trying to remove a cordyline from my garden. Cut off all 6 "trunks", then we had rain, rain and more rain so I couldn't get at it (so it kindly started sprouting again). Anyway, I've been digging round the base almost to Australia, and it STILL won't budge! I'm girding my loins to have another attack. They have one long, thick tap root, so once I get to the bottom of that it should be easy! One of those jobs that I thought would take a couple of hours – Oh well! Still, at least we get the smug feeling once the job's finished. Have a great weekend. xx

    • Winwick Mum says:

      A badger? I hadn't considered that – I always thought badgers were really big, but it'd be good to know! I hope you get the cordyline out; here's to spending the weekend feeling smug 🙂 xx

  2. Lazy Days & Sundays says:

    This may not be what you want to hear Christine but it could be a rat. We found a large whole near our hedge which also has a bird feeder near by. Came down one morning to see Mr Ratty happily sitting at the feeding station helping himself to peanuts. I’m forever starting jobs then three hours later wondering why. I’m sure your mystery will be solved and your tidying jobs completed.

    Mitzi

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I wouldn't be surprised as we're not far from fields and I've seen field rats around, but the bird feeder has been empty for a while as we've had visiting crows and I'm not keen to encourage them and rats are opportunists, aren't they? I'll definitely have to keep an eye on it as it's not far from the house and I'd rather that Mr Ratty and family didn't move in! 🙂 xx

    • Lazy Days & Sundays says:

      We only ever saw the one and he had two or three holes dotted around the garden that probably all connected in the middle some where under ground. He's not with us anymore as we found him deceased on the path and we've not seen any others although we know they'll be around in the fields. We don't normally see them until they do the harvest when they run off the fields to get a way from the big machines.

      Hope it turns out to be a badger:-)

  3. Val says:

    Do you have Woodchucks there? The hole sounds about the right size and they can certainly jump. We made ours move out by putting essential oils down the hole. It didn't take much.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      No, we don't have woodchucks here and I'm hoping it's not a rat as Mitzi has suggested as the holes are quite big and that would be one heck of a rat! 🙂 xx

  4. Chiara (blackbird) says:

    I'm about to start an agenda right now. But i'm not good in keeping and appointment-only agenda and i miss journaling. So it will be both with a monthly calendar for appointments on the front and my life on the other pages. A mix of facts, toughts, receipts, soaps, knits, children, husband, other relatives, studies, the report of a busy lively life.

  5. Christina says:

    I quite enjoy sorting through things but you are right, it can be a bit daunting. I started sorting through a pile of donated clothes for my two youngest…

    I am not going to speculate on the creature in your garden, I wouldn't know where to start. I hope that whatever it is, it doesn't destroy your entire crop.

    Filming! Exciting times, really. I finally got used to hearing myself talk because I create so many online lectures/tutorials. I am not so keen on the ones where people can see me look puzzled. Once I fell of a chair mid live tutorial (also video recorded). Most embarrassing. I look forward to viewing the output of your filming soon.

  6. Lenore says:

    At least we know it’s not a wombat ����. X

  7. Julie says:

    You need a spy camera, or email Chris Packham and ask what he thinks it might be LOL
    Playing with wool, having a sort out… dangerous measure and very time consuming, but enjoyable.

  8. Susan Rayner says:

    I sincerely hope it isn't a badger as they can be very dangerous to your animals! Also as far as I am aware they woudldn't move in to a vegetable patch and are quite sociable so tend to live in groups! I suspect it might be Ratty! I am in awe of how much you had in your cupboard!!

  9. luluknitts says:

    Ooohh Christine, I think you need to set up a camera for your garden visitor – how exciting! Having just watched every episode of Springwatch, I think you definitely have to find out what it is. I'd plump for rabbits but a badger would be great. xxx

  10. Alison says:

    My Patterdale would love to come and dig out those holes and find whatever's hiding in there. She adores gardening!!

  11. Cherie says:

    Have a look on Duolingo… Its free and will help you learn Welsh. I am currently trying to improve my Spanish

  12. Chris Knowler says:

    My first thought was a rat although the hole sounds a bit big. But you saying they have made a hole 18 inches up in the heap sounds about right. We get them in our compost in the winter months, we are right by the railway so come to expect them.

  13. My Creative Life says:

    All the best with tidying and sorting out your cupboard. I often wonder why I ever started something, it obviously needed to be tackled but… Hope you get your possible rodent or whatever – problem sorted too, Cathy x

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