Garden Girl Blog

Back to work today.  Got up early (as I always do) but went out side for a bit to eliminate some more slugs so was not that early after rooting round the garden for 15 minutes.

I had a nice relaxing drive in to Edinburgh knowing that my plants have once again been saved from the menace that lurks in my garden.  Got to work, logged on.  Started outlook and knew what was coming next as I had peeked yesterday, my huge number of emails were very happy to see me.   I sat and did very well and just go on with my email.  A chap who works in my team came in and we had a nice chat, I carried on with my email, even managing to not be put off by my friend who was pestering me via instant messenger.

Had a lunch hour and went to Yoga, I found it really good today, I think I am getting a bit better at it so am enjoying it more.

To top it all off, I even left at 4:20pm and came home and did some EA Sport.  I feel very calm and quite relaxed, long may it last.

It is really foggy here now.  At about 7pm the fog just started to roll down the hill behind our house.  I was out watering my pots and by the time I was finished there was lots of fog and bugs.

There seems to be so many greenfly around at the moment.  Lots of my plants are covered and I am going to have to spray them, not so good, I will make a solution using washing up liquid, or go out and buy something on Thursday.  It will have to be a job for another day.

I am going to make a 'to do' list so I remember what needs doing and so I can tick them off as I do them. I like lists, they are going to be my new thing to keep me organised.

I have to go back to work tomorrow.  I am going to try and be better at just getting on with my stuff, having lunch, Yoga tomorrow, and leaving on time. If I cannot get stuff done then it will not be done.  I am not looking forward to going back.

I did dial in and have a peak at my email.  I had 6 before holiday and now there are 430 so I know what I will be doing all this week. Oh well.

I ate far more than I should have on holiday, so now I feel more than a little tubby all over.   I feel that my chest is really big at the moment and it is uncomfortable, it wobbles and bounces, probably the same as my bum, but as it is behind me I cannot really see it.  I hate all this and am going try and be good with what I eat and do some exercise to reduce myself.

The husband, he cannot see a problem and feels bigger the better for the bits I have mentioned. 

The garden is not very good, it has been wet and warm, just the sort of weather the slugs love.  They saw me leave a few weeks ago and have been having a party in my borders ever since.  They have gorged themselves on the nice plants I grew, which have all been transformed into single sticks, I do not think they will re-grow. All my flowers heads have been eaten and there is not much colour at all.

They have even taken to eating my lavender, although my mum has assured me, slugs do not eat lavender.  I told her mine were not listening to her and they are.

As it is still damp here and the slugs are partying day and night, I have been out to try and restore some sort of balance and remove some of the offending slugs, particularly the ones that are eating my plants right in front of me! .  This job is made no easier because the midges are now out and I am their favourite spot for dinner.   We will have to wait and see what recovers and if I look like I have measles from all the bites by the end of the week.  In my depressed state I did go to the garden centre and pick up a few replacement plants, they must love the slugs.

I have lots of work to do in the garden as it all seems to have gone a bit mad in two weeks but am waiting for it to be dry.

We are back home and have collected the puss, she is loving being home and with us but she is rather hairy after two weeks of doing nothing.

We had a great time in Wales and when I sort out a few of the photos I will post them.  Our second week was much like the first, we took it easy, went to some RSPB places and a few gardens.  We also went to the seaside which was nice, and the weather was fab.

Not such good weather here in Scotland, very damp and misty today and rained all day yesterday.

We are off to Bangor tomorrow.   The weather has not been great for the last few days but we have been out and about.  Fingers crossed it will improve and we will have a lovely time, it will be a beautiful and we will have lunch on the way... okay enough!

We went to Ramsey Island today, got a speed boat thing to go round the island, it was a bit choppy and the boat falls in to my 'not a real' boat category so I was not as keen as the husband.  It bounced up and down on the waves and left my tummy some where in the air, I am not good at things like that and felt a bit unwell quite quickly.  Needless to say the husband loved it.  Lucky for me I managed to keep from turning too green mainly because there were lots of stops to look at things and at these times my tummy could catch up with me. Saw lots of birds and seals.

Off to a lodge near Bangor tomorrow, no internet, will post pics etc when I get home.

Just got ready to go out to dinner, I am having a night off cooking, and put my jeans on.  I had to lie on the floor to do them up and now can hardly sit down now.  I hope they give a bit soon.  Really can I have got that much bigger in a week or so?  Sadly I think the answer is yes.

Action is required when I get home, but for now we will carry on as we are but I will try and exercise some self control, if I could only find the bag I packed it in.

Wet and windy today so need to find something to do... maybe hit the shops.

I am not good at sitting in the sun, sun burn is not the issue, but I have spots all over my arms.... heat rash after a few hours in a bit of sun. And I had organic no chemical, sun cream on!

So far they do not itch, hope it stays that way!

Holiday is fab.  The sun has been out most days, there was a bit of rain yesterday but not much at all.  We spent the day at the Botanical Gardens and it is a beautiful place, photos to follow.

Today we went on a boat trip to look for dolphins.  I called the boat people last night to mainly check that they had a 'real' boat and not one of those rubber ones.  He laughed at my description and assured me it was a 'real' boat.   We went to New Quay and after a bit of a panic because we were running late, we boarded our boat and off we went.  We saw lots of sea birds and passed through the middle of them feeding in the sea.  It was good to see the different birds so close and they did not seem bothered by us.  We spent an hour on the boat looking for dolphins and we did spot a harbour porpoise in the distance but that was about it.  We did not mind, we had a nice trip in the sun and decided it is more the anticipation of what we would see and taking part than the end result.

We then stayed in the village for lunch and had a rather lazy time sitting in the sun and having a glass of wine and watching the sea, people and the boats.  It was very relaxing.

We came back to our cottage and lazed around on the large lawn they have here.  We had a BBQ and sat and enjoyed the view.  The sky was blue, trees and grass green and bright, sheep, pigs and horses in the fields around us.  The swallows were flying around catching flys, the wag tail chasing bugs on the ground in the shade, and two buzzards soaring high above turning every now and then to avoid an encounter with a seagull.  It was idyllic and made even better by a glass of wine and that the husband was cooking.

Needless to say we are having a very nice time.

The sat nav in the car seems to be having a bit of a laugh with us on all the Welsh little back roads.  We never seem to take the same route twice and it loves taking us down roads that only fit one car and have grass down the middle.  We are thinking that a map could be a better option!

Our holiday cottage is really nice and has everything we need.  However it sounds like it has a really bad tummy.... very strange noises and gurgles come from the sinks and not even when we have used them!  Not sure if it is something to do with it being on a local waste system.   I have taken to putting the lid of the loo down before I flush for fear of something horrible happening!

We are off to the National Botanic Garden of Wales today and where ever else we fancy.

We got away and are in our holiday home in Wales.  It was mad getting everything finished at work and took me ages but I got there.  Had the next day off and everything was packed, puss was packed off to the cattery for her holiday and we hit the road.

The trip down was okay but I kept falling asleep.  As soon as we left Scotland my hayfever started up and I think the stuff I took made me tired.. well that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!

We have been out and about and the sun has been out as well which is very nice.  We do not have any specific plans so are just deciding what to do as we go along.  Very nice and relaxing.

The internet is not very good here so will not be around much.

Things seem to be a bit better and I feel much better.  I spent most the weekend catching up with work which is not how it should be but  I feel more calm now and ready for my holiday.  Have a few bits to do and think I will get them done.  I went for a two hour lunch today with a friend and it was nice to get away.  I really am getting in the mood for holiday.

Two more days at work and mad Yoga tomorrow lunch time, need to find someone to go to lunch with on Wednesday.  Not long at all!  I am so ready for some time away.

Some new flower are out in the garden and my first rose of the year. It smells fab.

Puss is not really a lucky black cat.  She is half burmese and half moggy, so her coat normally looks black but if you move it apart she is brown under and going pale by the time you get to the tip where the fur joins her body.  This is a picture of her in the greenhouse in the sun and shows that she is not black at all.

Strange cat was sitting in a tray of compost enjoying the sun.

I seem to have mislaid my life somewhere and have no time to myself.  I hope this is only temporary and that I will get my life back soon.  I need to get everything sorted at work so that I can feel that I go on holiday and feel relaxed, just things seem to keep jumping out and more work turns up.

The sun is out and the weather man seems to be saying it is not going to be too bad this weekend.  I need to get the last of my plants in to the garden so that they do not bake in the greenhouse while we are away.

The blue tits in the garden are very busy collecting food for their babies, they will be glad when the puss goes on holiday so she will no longer be a threat to their babies when they fledge.

Not quite sure what I have been doing but I have been busy and not had much time to come and be here. 

The weekend was mainly spent in the garden pottering around, our plans to go into Edinburgh were put aside because the husband was very unwell and spent most of the weekend in bed.  He is feeling much better now.

Back to work today and am now working some extra days as we have people on holiday.  The sun seems to have disappeared this morning in Edinburgh and there is a layer of cloud, I am sure that will burn off later. 

Right back to work.