Last year I changed deodorant, going from Sure to Fussy. This was part of my less plastic mission, and it’s been pretty easy to do. Fussy isn’t an anti-perspirant so there was an adjustment period, but I never got smelly (I still wash!). Fussy is probiotic based and unlike several natural deodorants I’ve tried (Wild – in both normal AND sensitive), doesn’t leave my armpits red and scaly. I’ve only ever used one scent (Wide Eyed) which is very subtly citrussy and works for me, it also doesn’t leave any white marks on my clothes.
Fussy is a subscription model, I started off with one case and one refill for £13 (currently £10) and they then send you 3 at a time at a cost of £15 and they estimate that you’ll use one refill a month. So like all of my waste/plastic reduction changes, it’s a more expensive option (I’m still mad that we don’t have a way of taxing things that are environmentally bad so that they are more expensive). However, I’ve used 7 refills over 10 months so it hasn’t been as expensive as I feared and it’s really handy not to have to remember to buy it, Fussy send you an email a week or so before which gives you the option to delay a delivery and it means I never run out.
Akshata Murty’s non-dom status is totally legal – and perfectly toxic for Rishi Sunak. What I’m really puzzled by is how she kept her non-dom status during lockdown, my understanding is that you can only spend a certain amount of time in the country. So what happened during lockdown? How did she only spend 183 days in the country? As for Sunak to say it’s a political attack (from his home in California!), I’m sure he was disgusted when his party was attacking Cherie Blair and I’m sure he views the recent dragging up of Stephen Kinnock’s tax affairs in Denmark 12 years ago as completely wrong.
Last weekend we had strange weather. We were on the plot on Saturday and it was sunny, then snowy. I’m not a person who skis, so wearing sunglasses as it snows is not an experience I ever expected!
Anyway, Saturday. We took all the cardboard, all the shredded paper, the bokashi bin and the camomile plants to the plot. We’d been to Waitrose first thing in the morning and I bought two native blueberries and Ma bought a scented viola.
So we dealt with the compost and polytunnel part of the work. Which meant a couple of trips to the well pump!
We had to strim the paths. As we were doing it, Jon who was using the petrol strimmer for the plot work day took pity on us and did it for us. I have to make this a monthly task from now until autumn.
We did the other side and felt happy that it was all done for this month. Then Ma and I assembled things. We must be getting good at this because there was swearing but not at one another! First the obelisk for the flower bed at the back (the new bed with the Edelwiess lavender, peonies and roses). Then the first of the five arches. This one is going over by the rosemary to support the mini squash I’m growing in the beds there. We had one there for a couple of years, so this is just a return to status quo. The other four are going over the squash beds for bean support, but we’ll probably make them a little bit shorter.
Then Ma trimmed a lavender bush while I planted the blueberries and viola and cut some chard.
Everything in on the plot and on the site generally, despite the snow, the blossom on the plum tree is coming out and the blueberries are really starting too.
Finally the white tulips came out with a vengeance,
Lots more to do but we’ll still waiting on the weather!
It’s April Fool’s Day, given the state of the world, I think we should cancel April’s Fool until the world in general and the Prime Minister in particular, stop being so ridiculous! Aside from that, it’s Laura and Sarah’s birthdays today, I hope at some point Laura manages to celebrate her birthday, this one and last two have been stymied by COVID. Instead of photos of them, I’m going to post photos of their dogs!
Rishi Sunak has broken his promise to help with the cost of living. My mum has been saying since the Spring Statement that Sunak won’t bring in measures to help people he doesn’t think will vote Tory and that those that really need help with cost of living right now, hardly vote at all. She’s not wrong.
‘Absolute joke’: Southgate hits out at England fans who booed Harry Maguire. He shouldn’t have been booed but he also shouldn’t have been picked. I’m not a brilliant football genius but I’ve never rated Maguire, I don’t think he’s been a colossus for England. Even if you do, Maguire’s mediocre performance shouldn’t have seen him selected. Booing Maguire was out of line, but it was Southgate not Maguire that picked the team. Yes we beat Cote d’Ivoire (also yes I do get really annoyed when people say Ivory Coast because the country requests that every one use the French and it’s even worse when people say ‘the Ivory Coast’, like saying ‘the Ukraine’. I don’t go in for a huge amount of wokeness but it’s just showing good manners polite to call people (inc. trans people) and countries by the name they wish to be called – here endeth the rant) but it wasn’t what you’d call a virtuoso performance.
I did sow some tomatoes and buy some arches. I need to start sowing everything else and that’s a task for the weekend.
The March work list did not complete itself. So this weekend, I really need to commit to it and get as much of it off the list so that the work I need to do in April can be done, which means that this Friday, assuming it’s not raining (forecast is 8C and sunny) I need to tackle the horrible jobs. This is a bit of a theme with me at the moment, I’m trying to get all the ‘needling’ tasks at home, work and on the plot done. These are the tasks that don’t take a lot of time but sit at the back of your mind, taking up space and causing stress. For the plot, I need to get the bokashi bin, the shredded paper and, the cardboard to the plot. Also on the list are painting the shed and strimming the paths. We have a plot inspection at the end of April and paths are going to be an issue (the committee has told us so).
Ma is coming over on Saturday so we can get on with more work. Putting together the arches is probably going to be a joint task. I also need to weed. Ma may be cutting back the rosemary, for both of us, there will be some sowing, I want to sow parsley, and beetroot outside and brassicas in the polytunnel.
I also need to sow my camomile lawn. Assuming it survives it’s rough and tumble arrival.
Last Monday we officially entered Spring. Equal amounts of day and night. I spent most of this week feeling like I was on drugs, even with several days in the office and a sore back and hip, I was so much happier. My SAD brain has switched back into full power mode, thank goodness.
It was also really warm this week, it’s not going to last into this week but it was 20C on Wednesday and I for one was psyched to get back into my sandals (look my feet just want to be free and I’m not going to deny them when the weather is good!)
While most of our year runs January to December, the tax year runs starts in April, which means that March is the time I reassess my budget in light of new council tax and other assorted bills, possible tax changes and maybe a pay rise. I write a lot about money because for me, for years it was a problem (some my fault, some not), I got made redundant in 2009 and it’s only really felt like I’ve caught up with myself in the last four years or so. We are looking at the highest rise in inflation in the last thirty years, because of my experience over the last 12 years, it’s super important to me, to know how much trouble I’m in! This year, is looking ok, I’m not rolling in money, I’ll just have to be more aware of and cautious about my spending and I should be ok, but I’m worried about the people who won’t be.
However, having assessed my budget, I also needed to do some spending. There are some things, I need. First up my walking boots (which are also my allotment boots) have finally died (they did good service, I’ve had them over 13 years, I also needed a supportive pair of trainers. When you have bad feet, and I have really bad feet, footwear is expensive. It’s felt like a whirligig of spending but it needed to be done.
Other things this last week, were three days in the office, finally getting to a Grace meal on Wednesday, a walk with Sue on Thursday, Mother’s Day on Sunday and the cancellation of this weekend with the nephews because they’ve all had COVID and are exhausted.
This week, is another planned two days in the office but calloo callay this Friday and next Monday off work. April is going to be a series of 4 days weeks thanks to this and the Easter Bank Holidays, I’ll only do an entire 5 day week in the last week of the month! I also want to participate in Gracelet on Tuesday night but I can actually do that from the comfort of my desk, I’ve found the book interesting and the discussion interesting. However, this week will be more of a return to my work/home/sleep pattern. I want to use Friday to do more work on the plot and generally make myself and my flat a bit more ready for Spring.
This week, the Tories in ‘charge’ of the country, acted like typical Tories in the Spring statement, people are outraged, like the last 12 years were no guide to current behaviour. Russia committed hideous bombing in Ukraine, COVID rates are high and none of the news feels good. People are having a go at Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was finally released from Iran and promptly told of for having an opinion about how long it took to get her out. As if to make up for the horror of human behaviour, Spring sprang and the weather has been glorious for March…
I’m ditching the overspill tote – one bag is better than two. I’m struggling with this at the moment. Having to cart a laptop, water bottle, phone, purse, kindle and/or book, plus breakfast and lunch is getting to me. I think I may have a solution for work days though, I’ll keep you posted.
How I learned to love weeds – and why you should, too. Ma and I were talking about this, and I decided not to pull up all the bittercress that is currently flowering around my pond, but all grass and bindweed will and must be pulled to prevent a takeover.
Although I’ve not been talking about the plot, we have been doing things on it.
We swapped the position of some of the compost bins and storage, because something was digging up the middle compost bin and depositing it all over the path. It gives us a wider path by the polytunnel and so far no creatures digging it out.
We also filled up one of the beds in the polytunnel and I scattered a bunch of radish and salad leaves in it. Hopefully we’ll get some greens before it’s time for me to plant the melons and cucumbers in that bed in May. We also sowed three trays of leeks, which I’ll leave in the poly and plant out some time in June or July.
Inside the polytunnel
Outside, Ma weeded the bath of mint and I worked on the front of the plot. Weeding all around the rhubarb and putting lawn edging next to the run of rhubarb plants. I still need to trim the path but this way should make it easier to weed and the path is narrow so over time I’m hoping it’ll build it up.
We also sowed peas, carrots and celeriac and trimmed the verbena and rudbekia. So we’ll on our way towards Spring.
Knautia Macedonia
The March list is below and it’s not looking great because I keep getting sidetracked by other things…
Paint shed
Strim grass edges
Weed, top up and cover the beds
Sort out the weedy area by the boysenberry
Weed and mulch the flower beds
Weed and reup the cardboard and woodchip on the paths that haven’t been done already (the ones at the back of the plot)
Well, the world is pretty much terrible. It’s not that everything is terrible, it’s that even the good stuff, is fixing something that’s broken. Here are this week’s links….
Shouldn’t someone in football also care about the war in Yemen just a little? I do have a dog in this fight and for what it’s worth I think the sanctions are the right thing to do but this isn’t just a Chelsea problem. It’s a football problem. It’s the ‘fit and proper person’ test not being fit or proper in any of the football leagues, (go and ask Derby about that). It’s the World Cup hosted by Russia and Qatar. Football has been following the money with no regard for morality for years. Chelsea is a symptom, it’s not the disease. Stopping Chelsea from selling tickets and shirts won’t fix what’s wrong with football, that’s going to take much more work.
It’s mid March and the light is improving but the weather is variable. The news is still terrible and it’s difficult. In the midst of a crisis we all want to think that it’ll be over and it’ll go back to normal but that’s not what happens, the crisis just moves. We are living in difficult times, however bad it gets, I’m not fleeing for my life so I’ll call it good.
This week, I had a migraine, ran a team event and put my back out. It’s been quite eventful. This week I’m in the office tomorrow and Wednesday and sowing seeds.
