MargoMusing

 Having spent the past two weekends with trips to London, first to see Hamlet, and then for work and to see Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, I was ready for a more relaxed and low-key weekend, so was glad not to be going anywhere this weekend.

Two weekends ago I did a little gardening, planting an apple tree* which I ordered a few weeks back, and which had just arrived. Loki took a keen interest in the process, and in particular in the hole I dug in the back lawn.

(*I say tree. It came as a bare-root plant, and it isn't very big, so it's basically a stick. A very expensive stick.)

I was a little concerned about whether it would be OK, particularly as the weather turned very wet as soon as I got it into the ground, and I worried it would get waterlogged and rot before it could get established.

However, having checked on it yesterday, it appears (crossed fingers) that it is settling in, as it has produced some little baby leaves. It wouldn't do that if it were planning to die on me, would it? It is a family apple tree, with 3 grafts, so if it survives and produces fruit, it will produce 3 types of apple (and be able to self-pollinate). 

I think it'll be another 2 - 3 years before it starts to produce any apples,but hopefully it will settle in and look nice, even before then.

 

With a view to other (quicker) home grown stuff I planted some tomato seeds a couple of weeks ago, and have just transplanted the seedlings into individual pots, and have them on various windowsills around the house. 

Given the uncertain weather and the rather disappointing crops I have had for the past 2 years, this year  I am planning to keep some indoors (probably on my office windowsill at work, which is spacious and well lit) as well as planting some out into the garden. It's the nearest thing I have to a greenhouse. So I shall need to find some large pots, suitable for an office environment!

On a less cheerful note, I managed through a combination of clumsiness and a gust of wind to bash my leg with the door of my car, leaving a *very* painful (but oddly unimpressive, visually) bruise. So yesterday afternoon involved a certain amount of sitting with my foot up, and a ice-pack on my leg.

Today was beautifully sunny, and I spent time [trying to] dig up docks and dandelions from my front garden, although I also resorted to some spot-on weedkiller for the more deeply rooted ones which I couldn't dig out by hand. I also planted out a Hydrangea which I have been growing from a cutting since last autumn, which may one day become part of a hedge at the front of the house.

And Loki remembered ( I assume) how warm the tile roof of the shed gets when it is sunny

 

 

And also demonstrated his walking-along-the-top-of-the-fence skills, which allow him to go all around the garden without ever setting food on the ground!

A pleasant, low-key weekend. 

Of course, I should have been energetic and done lots of housework and such, but I didn't. And I don't regret it, much. 

So, it turned out that the bacteria (or virii) were just lulling me into a false sense of security, and instead of the worst being over last weekend, ameliorated by having a very good friend for company & tea making, they were just biding their time.
After J left on Sunday I curled up & snoozed, expecting to me more-or-less fit for purpose by Monday. Instead, by Monday morning I was at the stage where I took 3 attempts to succussfully make a cup of tea, (it seems that both tea & hot water play important roles in the process) and was coughing up half a lung every few minutes.

So I decided that I probably wasn't safe to drive a car, and that any advice I might be able to give my clients in between coughing all over them would probably not be very dependable, and went back to bed until Wednesday.

The rest of the week passed in a bit of a blur, as getting to work, getting home, and occasionally eating something took up all of my energy.

However, I do now appear to be on the mend, and I'm hoeful that I shall successfully see off this chest infection on the strength of my own immune system alone, no antibiotics.

Today, the sun is shining, I have spent some time in the garden, alternately sitting in the sun & enjoying the unusual lack of aeroplane noises & vapour trails, and getting my hands dirty planting out baby tomato and cauliflower plants.  The fact that aftr planting 3 tomato seedlings I need to sit down and get my breath back is a hint that this bug is still out to get me, but sitting down to rest in the sunshine, with no sound but birdsong and bumbling bees is no hardship.

And tonight there will be a new episode of 'Dr Who', with Daleks & Winston Churchill...