dear diary ~ rest, relax…repeat

At last some good weather – though it is odd that I have to come all the way to Scotland for it.

There have been changes whilst we have been away we expected it of course as the new owner of the pub, restaurant and caravan site is continually making changes even for change sake, unfortunately, most of them involve planning or licensing applications and he has obviously not applied for any otherwise we would have received notification of them in case we wanted to object.  It appears he has no time to abide by any rules.

The last few days have been so nice we had breakfast and then went straight out into the garden…..whilst the sun shines, make….. full use of it! 

I usually start by going over this little border outside our garden gate that runs along by the upper part of the lane.  I removed a rather large overgrown clump of wild yellow irises to make way for some ground covering plants like geranium and valerian. The hollies, which are all self-seeded and then transplanted, are doing well now and filling out quite nicely – I don’t want huge trees but will keep them pruned to a nice rounded shrub sized plant.  It is so easy at this time of year to dig up some of the dormant plants along with the weeds so I have to take extra care.  DH tackled the Rosa rugosa hedge that runs down along the lane side from the gate – the one that the new owner of the pub and caravan site massacred a couple of years ago – luckily it is hard to kill and has regenerated quite nicely but we always make sure nothing is growing out into the lane so he doesn’t feel he has the need to chop it down again.

We had a rest day yesterday to protect our backs or else we will get little else done for the week.  Instead I used the time to stay indoors and do a little more planning and some digital detox on my computer.

Of course it was too much to hope that mum would be OK during the time both me and my sister are away and we wouldn’t have a crisis on our hands.  It was only a small drama really but to her a major crisis and I wasn’t able to help very much only be on the other end of the phone.  It happened on Sunday evening.  She was waiting for her carers to go and put her to bed.  Her time slot is for 6pm, their previous visit ends at 4 pm so before they put her to bed for the night they usually make her some toast for her tea/supper and a final hot drink.  At 6.45pm she rang me to say they had not come and she couldn’t get through to the office as the answer phone was on. She was clearly agitated as she does not like to go out of routine.  She said she would ring them again to make sure someone was coming.  At 7pm, 7.15pm, 7.30pm, 7.45pm, 8pm, 8.15pm, 8.30pm she rang me again and again to say they still had not shown.  She had spoken to someone at the office, quite aggressively as she does now, and they said a carer was on their way but no explanation was offered as to why they were so late.  Finally at 8.45pm someone arrived – of course mum was hungry, thirsty but most of all cold as she cannot switch the fire on by herself now and the flat had got quite chilly.  She was also dog tired and very angry – I didn’t know whether to feel sorrier for the poor carer or my mum!

Needless to say they have been on time for the last two days.

We had a lovely walk to the village yesterday afternoon, called at the pub by the harbour for a hot chocolate and took a few photos. 

We spotted quite a few new painted rocks along the low road from the village. It is lovely that anyone in the community can add to this – the idea began when one of the residents secretly placed a few painted rocks along the path one night and it has snowballed over the years to the point where the coaches heading for the Mull often stop for their passengers to get off and go and look at them.

Whilst the light was good I managed to complete the last bit of knitting on the little jacket for baby Chocolate.  Try as I might to make it neat I do struggle with edges and picking up stitches but no doubt I just need more practise. Knitting patterns, I find, often leave you high and dry – I am sure for experienced knitters it is not a problem but I need more instructions.  The pattern says to pick up and knit the contrasting band around the hood and then down the front of the jacket which I have done.  It does not say to do both sides….not knowing if I should or not I decided I would and did in fact knit the band on both edges.

I am not sure of the weather today so have no definite plans. There is always plenty to do in the garden but we also need a trip into town for a bottle of gas and to take in a trailer full of old plasterboard from the kitchen ceiling of the cottage. Luckily, the tip here accepts rubble and stuff as not everywhere does. At home you have to get a skip even if you only have a bucketful.

I am starting to feel a litle more relaxed now and am finding the time to sort out one or two tasks off my list which has also helped – things that seem to have been on there for ever and keep getting rolled over each week – you know the ones. It is quite odd that when we are here at the cottage I think about all the jobs I need to do at home and when I am at home I have my mind on what needs doing at the cottage – well mainly in the garden. Perhaps having the distance somehow makes my mind clearer and I feel less overwhelmed. I am sure that life is getting so much busier these days and more stressful and it is not just a matter of being older. Technology was supposed to make things quicker and easier but I find just the opposite…. that you are forever in a queue on the phone or you come up against an answerphone or you get through to some voice telling you to go to their Q&A on their website (don’t they ever think that you have already done that and the answer is not there!

Hope your day is full of promise. x