My day

These days my life is pretty routine.  Every weekday I wake up around 7.30-8am when Franklin bangs my door open and hops in bed with me.  We have a snuggle for an hour (if I'm lucky) or we get up because there's just too much bounce in him.  We both get dressed and then go downstairs and check on the chickens, and Franklin usually reads or plays with toys while I put on a load of laundry and make breakfast.

Breakfast is usually either eggs or yogurt with fruit and nuts.  Sometimes both.  This morning we had eggs scrambled with cream, followed by an avocado and some almonds.  Franklin chose the avocado.  We then go for a walk, usually with the dog, unless it's excessively rainy.  This morning we walked without her to the butcher:  it's a long walk, and through the village, not the park.  Our dog is now 13 and lives a bit slower these days.  She still loves her walk though.

Once home from our walk we normally tidy up the kitchen, doing dishes, wiping counters, sweeping, etc, then prep for dinner.  Franklin sometimes hangs out with me, or sometimes goes into the living room to read or play toys.  I should probably mention we don't own a tv, so neither he nor I watch it.

After the kitchen is satisfactory, we eat lunch.  Today we had some sausages fried up with beets leftover from last night.  Lunch over, if nice we'll garden and play outside, or if not, we'll do a bit of housework (laundry's a favorite) or crafting.  Recent crafts:  I've sewed Franklin a couple pairs of woolly jammies recently from some old men's pullovers, and myself some woolly long johns from the same.  So warm and fuzzy!  I'm a sucker for good wool clothing.  Often when I'm sewing, Franklin will draw or play with plasticine.

Franklin will have his nap 2pm-ish usually, and I then get a chance to sit down!  I usually break out the knitting, catch up on emails, or play a computer game.  It's my relaxation time, and it's the only time I get all day for pure leisure. 

At around 4pm, I'll go back downstairs to start dinner.  Franklin sometimes wakes before then, but usually he'll come bouncing down the stairs a little after.  It's our habit that when I'm busy in the kitchen, he'll entertain himself, and normally we're in different rooms.  Sometimes he'll bring his book in and read to me, though.  He tells the best stories:  "kitty, doggy, baby bear sad...Jiminy Cricket!".

I try hard to have dinner ready by the time Partner walks in the door.  Sometimes we start eating before he's here, if it's past 6pm.  Tonight I made lamb tikka masala with a carrot, cucumber, and tomato salad in a yogurt mint dressing.  We had fresh pineapple and cream for dessert.  I like very much when we all sit down together and have dinner and chat.  I tell Partner what we've got up to for the day, and he tells me about the annoying person(s) he had to deal with at work.

When Partner's home, Franklin claims him;   they like to play football, cars, or other manly pursuits.  I occasionally stay and play, but normally disappear upstairs to start my studies.  I've got a final exam in less than two weeks, but it's hard to stay focused.  I've been going over past exam papers and feel kind of discouraged.  In the past, I've always done worse on exams than I've expected.  I've even come away from exams feeling I've nailed it, only to learn of a dismal result.  At least I've never failed!

After study, and once Franklin's asleep, I like to knit, read, and/or have a long bath.  That ends my day:  it's about 11pm and bedtime!

Mostly in the garden, as always, and a little on life

This last month I bought two blackcurrant cuttings from the local church sale.  They're not dead yet (that's my measure of success in the garden).  It was my goal for this year to plant another perennial fruit-bearing plant.  Done!

Here's my new flower bed at the edge of my patio.  I have since planted a few more herbs and the lettuce and radishes have sprouted.  I've already decided to build one more right next to the house at the opposite end of the patio--probably this winter.  At the moment, my potted peppers and tomatoes are there and I don't want to move them just yet.  The picture below is from about a month ago.  There are actually peppers and tomatoes on the plants now.

This is where I will build the second brick flower bed.

Speaking of tomatoes.  I have an orange one, and a couple light green ones.  This has not been a good year for them;  but when has it ever been?  If the orange one ripens, that'll be my first this year.  I keep expecting rain, but if this week's sunshine holds out, I may just get that (single) red tomato after all.

I start a new math class at the end of the month.  I also take my current class's final exam around the same time (last assignment already submitted:  woo!).  In the few weeks I have, I'm to cram as much me-time into the evenings, before I have to go back to studying.  I've got a few creative projects on the go (knitting and sewing), and have still been sporadically running. 

When I first started running, I had to stop and walk every few minutes to catch my breath, but now I can just slow down a little, while still running.  It's so cool.  I'm also doing yoga from a dvd--and it's even more strenuous than running.  What's even worse, it's only a beginner's dvd!  Years ago I used enjoy yoga at the gym.  It's fun to be flexible.  I look forward to the time I can reach down and touch my toes again...