Podcast 61

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Feels like spring has come and gone and its summer.

Planting update – Spencer ate the corn, planting beds outside – lots of free discarded – “not good enough to sell” plants.

Truck MVI

Wood for the chicken coop

Matt’s new job – back working for a University, back in housing – looking forward to it. Sad to be leaving the supermarket and the nice people – but not the anti-social hours. Leaving pay not too bad (for this area) but new pay better.

Is this going backwards on the downshifting thing?

AJ working through torrential rain, baking heat, bug plagues

Bug update – we were premature last time – they come and go – lots today though. Need a screen house tent thingy

Bad Things
AJ – bugs
Matt – bugs

Good things
AJ – plants
Matt – weather and having weekends back

The presents of Spring

Its the 20th of May and you’d think that we’d be able to have some decent weather wouldn’t you? Well think again. Another cold, dreary, wet, windy, dreary, depressingly unspringlike week here at downshiftme acres, throughout the entire Valley, actually. So cold and wet that I spent most of the week at the nursery under cover, so much rain in fact, that the polytunnel I was working in had a river running through it for most of the day. My gloves were soaked and my fingers cracking from the cold and wet by the end of the day. You might think that at some point I'd be hankering for my old warm dry office, but you'd be wrong, you see it may have been cold wet and windy, but everywhere was the sight and smell of new spring growth and that made for a very content me.

We have had some beautiful reminders that spring is forcing her way through though.



These Sedums have appeared all over the garden, they have a lovely crisp bright green that is, for me, so evocative of spring colours.



I have no idea what these beauties are, but I think they look great against the meadow grass and the treeline.




The hyacinths have such a distinct smell, a strangely haunting aroma that I always associate with spring.

You will have noticed by now that there is no podcast this week. Thanks to our work schedules we have both been working hard and Matt has worked all weekend.

Podcast 60

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Spring

Cut grass
Bulbs appeared

Update on our vegetables and herbs

AJ work update

Matt Work update

Truck having MVI tomorrow – wish us luck

Chicken house construction starts soon with local timber

Bad Things
AJ – apprehension about the truck MVI
Matt – bugs

Good things
AJ – being alive
Matt – smell of freshly cut grass

Nothing to say here

We are going to take a week off from podcasting as we don't have much to say and we are feeling quite tired.

Speak to you soon.