Snow White Forest and The Seed Thief

My alarm woke me at seven this morning, but as it is still the Easter holidays and I was feeling a little tired after a busy few days, I stayed in bed a while longer and enjoyed listening to the birds singing in the garden.  At eight, I forced myself to get up and go and make a cup of tea.  I spent an hour sitting in the lounge with the boys before I finally had a shower and dressed for a day of pottering about.  I had planned on doing nothing, but as usual, the moment I get going I find tons of things that need my attention.  One of those things was the poly tunnel, or to be more accurate, the seeds that had been dug up and devoured during the night; we can only guess by a nocturnal rodent.  My neighbour has the same problem in his greenhouse.  Time to get tough on mice.

I also began hardening off the young plants that will be planted out into the garden in a few weeks' time.  I will put them outside during the day for the next week, bringing them in at night and covering them with fleece.  During the second week, they will get the same treatment but won't be covered at night (getting tougher!) and finally they will spend a few days and nights outside, in their pots before being planted out in the garden where they will have to be strong enough to cope with the elements and the weeds.  It takes a while and is a bit of effort and time every morning and evening, taking lots of trays and pots in and out of the poly tunnel, but it's really the only way to do it to be sure the plants will live happily ever after.

My gorgeous daughter is studying hard as usual for her AS levels, coming up in a few weeks' time.  The amount of work she has is unbelievable and it really gets her down from time to time.  She has been to school for two days during this holiday, for maths revision work and spends hours a day revising.  We went to buy a hose pipe this morning and then she was back to work as soon as we got home again.  I did some potting up and Pea wandered into the poly tunnel in her slippers and her hands wrapped round a mug of coffee.  She looked pale and exhausted and hardly spoke.  We walked into the garden and sat on the bench.  She picked up her books and attempted to start work again.  I could see by her face that she was on the edge of tears, so I gave her a hug and let her cry.  It was heart rending to see her so upset and especially as there is nothing practical I can do for her.  I'd love to wave a magic wand and have it all go away, so she can be relaxed and happy.  We talked when her tears subsided and we both know she will feel better once the first exams are over and the work load has reduced a little.  It's hard going and I try to help as much as I can by making her home life as easy and calm as possible.  Not always easy with a mad Puppy and two boys in the house!

One thing I can do is to take her for nice walks.  This afternoon we drove ten minutes or so and went for a long walk around a reservoir we discovered on Monday, thanks to Puppy's brother's owner.  It was very quiet, the weather was over cast but mild and we just walked and enjoyed the scenery.  There were two men out on the water fishing.  Swallows swooped and scooped up insects over the lake and a grebe dived for fish.  Middle Aged Labrador took to the water and scared the fish until we yelled at her to get out before the fishermen realised what had happened!  She then found a stream and swam about in that for a bit.  She was soaked but obviously loved every minute.

One thing I love about pine woods is the darkness.  I know that sounds a bit odd but they evoke a kind of memory within me.  When I look into the depth of the forest, between the trunks and see nothing but shadows and bare earth, it stirs something akin to an old, half-forgotten dream that lurks at the edge of my mind but evades capture.  Most odd.  Castle ruins and old houses do the same thing.  I have very vivid memories of certain places I visited as a child and the things I did there, but on questioning my parents about them, they tell me we never went to those places and have no idea what I can be thinking of.

Pea said she could imagine Snow White running through here after the huntsman let her go.  Me too!  Very dark and spooky but in a good way.  If I was a Disney princess, I would be Snow White and live in a tiny cottage in the woods.  I suppose having the Queen hunting you down at every opportunity would be a bit of a worry and cleaning up after seven messy little men would certainly be a trial, but she does get her man in the end, so it was worth it!

One thing I love doing as a way of winding down is playing on Pinterest!  Recently I have been spending quite a bit of time on my boards and through them I have discovered a country boy called Luke Bryan.  Being a country girl to the core, some would say it is odd that I have never listened to Country music.  Until I listened to Luke Bryan that is.  Oh my, he's soooo good!  Absolutely love his music and he's quite handsome too, if I'm honest.  The trouble is, I am such a country girl that I am not into technology and therefore don't have the gadgets to download music and play it.  Sadly, my car sports an oblong shaped gap where there used to be a CD player.  So, firstly I must purchase some sort of device which will allow me to play music in my car and secondly, I will have to find out how on earth I can get said music in the first place.  Oh I long for the days when you could walk into a shop and buy a record...

Thank you for reading. xxx