Garden Envy and Irrelevant Baby Photo.

Here is a picture of my baby laughing , not directly relevant.

So Spring is in full swing, we have a couple of tomato plants in (heirloom varieties of course!) and the broccoli is bravely producing sweet sprouts eagerly eaten as soon as they are picked. I don't know what purple sprouting tastes like cooked! The rocket (arugula, roquette, whatever) has bolted but I find the leaves are still tasty and the flowers and seed pods can add interest to salads and stir fries too but over all I miss my garden at this time of year. 

The tenant from our old cottage has been up to ask me about caring for the hazelnuts and apricots and telling of the sunflowers and pumpkins he is planting and I feel a pang of envy. I am not a green thumb, I am a messy and chaotic gardener and can't even grow a proper radish but it seemed to lift my mood to get amongst the soil and randomly garden. Courtyard gardening with one small bed and some pots doesn't have the same feel, the margin for error is smaller than my lack of attention to detail allows and although I am growing some fine herbs I wish I had the space to try artichokes and I wish I could focus enough to grow some decent greens.

Considering the abundance of reasonably priced and excellent quality local produce around here it is a First World problem really. If I had time I would join a community garden but really I just want my own patch of dirt to muck about in and have the kids getting filthier than they manage in this concrete compound we have here (actually you would be surprised how filthy they can get!). 

Until I have this again I will continue to sprout (Oh I love sprouting but now use an automatic sprouter!) and grow herbs and enjoy and be grateful for the great natural food I can buy locally.

And Then This Happened...

So I notice I haven't blogged in two weeks, frankly my insomnia and hormones were working against me so I had no inspiration or motivation to blog.
Then this happened:

She's finally here! Anissa was born 40 weeks +4 days and 6lb 8oz I am glad she stayed in for a bit longer as she is a small baby.

Astonishingly everything went according to plan, we were due to go to a spontaneous party at 2pm last Sunday at the house of our friends who kindly offered to look after the rest of the brood during delivery. Of course I woke with contractions so the boys were dropped off 5 hours early and by 2pm Anissa had enjoyed nearly two hours earth-side. It was a two hour labour with no medical intervention and all went according to my birth "plan" with her being born into water. I only stayed the night because I thought I would get rest but the hospital is so rabid about successful breastfeeding you are supposed to log every feed with the midwives so they can check the quality of attachment and give the feed a score using a rating system. Really. Then call them again when the feed is finished to log the duration. I found this stressful.

So home I went and she sleeps in a "My little bed" co-sleeper and likes to be carried (with and without a sling) but only wakes for one dead of the night feed. The other feeds are at our bedtime and our wake time!

We are all smitten.

Welcome baby!

Autumnal Wonderings and Wanderings.

Today the "footy" was on (although how it can be called Football when the ball is ovoid and there is far more jumping than foot contact is still beyond me) which means our street was packed and the honking of the siren at the stadium echoes through our yard so we had to find solace elsewhere. We went for an epic stroll with a shaky stroller (should have taken the pram- it was my fault I thought the stroller was a good idea) through the "Forest" which is a really the old rubbish tip site with trees and playgrounds. the Autumn sunshine is perfect for this and very recharging.

There is a small pond amongst the twisted willows with watercress growing in it and the sounds of frogs and even though it is near the football ovals (real football, where one kicks a round ball) and there are many dog walkers around with ridiculously fluffy canine friends the tranquility is amazing.

 We eventually made our way to the playground and the boys had a lunch of tiny felafel I made from an instant mix and little tomatoes and carrot sticks with tahini watered down for dipping. the lunch went down a treat and was so simple and quick to make and healthy so it gets a thumbs up from everyone.

on the way home the littlest man fell fast asleep. It was a huge walk but it was a good, healthy family day for free in the sunshine so it was worth all the walking.

I have started using Facebook again, mostly for business reasons initially, but have found that there are many options now for blocking ads and applications (like those infernal games so many people seem to like-do you really have to pay for them? You couldn't pay me to play them...well at any rate my price would have to be high!).

I have found that this time round I have been able to make Facebook work for me much better since a few upgrades and changes have been made and consequently it is going towards helping my "social" life such as it is and I feel less isolated now. I do see people getting sucked into abysses of their own making an arguments they shouldn't be having and wasting time they don't have but I suppose to be fair there are many other places on the 'net to do this too. I have had a massive rush on friends from the Selfsufficient'ish forum which is wonderful and I think I have nearly doubled my friends list. It is a shame that most of them are asleep when I am awake and vice versa but at least I can stay in good contact with Facebook and the forum!