A week outside

Sorry for another post about the garden, but that is pretty much what our life is all about these days. We wouldn't want it any other way at the moment!

We went for it! We cleared a small area of the nettle field to make our own little productive vegetable field. Our neighbours on both sides have each unofficially extended their gardens to use about another five metres or so of this field. Maurice, who grows pumpkins and has a beautiful big bramble bush out there, says that the farmer who owns it hasn't been in it in the ten years since they built their house next door. There is, of course, a slight chance that a tractor will roll in one day and we'll lose all our veggies but we're happy to take that risk for now.

We rented a rotor tiller and got stuck in removing the layers of nettle stems and roots and turning the earth. We also had to remove a nasty patch of stinky yucky stuff where the last tenants (and Steve more recently) had dumped the grass clippings and never turned them. Euch. Steve also came across a small wasp nest and promptly burnt it. He was lucky I was inside at the time or I might have wanted to try to move it. Maybe not a good idea, I don't know.
Friday evening and most of Saturday were spent out there. It was hard work but well worth it and it felt great! We've ended up with a beautiful patch of gorgeous crumbly earth.

watching Daddy

Early morning- Tadhg has his pjs on back to front to stop him taking them off. Slightly awkward stage just now- he doesn't want a nappy on but loves to find interesting places to pee, such as in his toy vehicles, on the sofa, on mummy's legs and feet from a standing position on a kitchen chair, right inside the back door for the next person in to slide in etc

lovely soil

Sunday morning meant a trip to the flower market for some lovely seedlings to put in here. We still aren't too late for seeds so some easy seeds were planted too. Here's Steve's view from his seat this afternoon. Planting was obviously my job!

I've been more aware recently of something. I think I wrote a while ago about the waldorf/steiner outdoor preschools where the whole idea is for adults to be engaged in meaningful work while the children just play around about and watch or join in to "help" when they feel like it. I've also read The Continuum Concept again recently and love that it validates so much of our parenting that comes naturally to us anyway. But, even without the reading, I catch myself stopping now and then and noticing that we are having a perfect day. I just stand and savour it for a minute. I realise that the reason this or that particular afternoon or day is going so well is that I've hardly interfered with the boys at all. As long as we've all had enough sleep and enough water to drink, then, if I just get on with something productive, the boys can go hours without a squabble or any need for me to interfere. I love it. The minute they sense that we are watching or listening then things go pear shaped and they start doing very annoying things like whining (arrghhhhhhhh), pinching and pushing each other, snatching stuff or, Brendan's latest, telling on each other. I could do without all of that!

A salad made from some of our own greens and radishes. Can't wait for cucumbers and tomatoes too.

And below are two photos of the boys, just because. These were taken at Paradisio last week.

Enough for now. More of the same coming up this week. I'm sure there will be more "after" shots of our "field" and the chickens have moved outside permanently now too. Must report on that!