Saturday 12 July 2014

It's not just me is it?

I'm detecting more than a hint of busy-ness around the blogosphere at the moment.  Those last couple of weeks of the school year, with the assemblies, productions, outings, collections and odd last minute requests for parental input are frantic as ever.  Gardens and allotments are romping away, with weeds and harvests and lawns and a need for water.  There are holidays, with the organising, the packing, the unpacking.  It's not just me, I'm sure of it.  The post-holiday week has bumped along in a slightly panicky way.  Just one more until they are home from school and it becomes a bit impossible to get anything done.

I went to the allotment just once last week, and not for very long.  It needed weeding and watering, but there wasn't much time so I did the most important thing, I collected the food.  A handful of broad beans, a trugful of onions, two gherkins and some surprisingly blemish-free potatoes.  At home the runner beans have reached the tops of their canes and there have been enough for a meal.



I haven't eaten any yet, (a very short and very tedious diet), but everyone else enjoyed them.  The raspberries are dripping with ripe fruit, it's most unusual for me not to pick them the second they're ripe, but this year I am behind with everything.  It might be a job for the children.


I tried very hard yesterday to get useful things done.  In the end I tidied a kitchen drawer.  It wasn't on The List, but strangely it made me feel calmer.  Something constructive had been done.  And now every time I need to get a charger out (it was that drawer) I feel much chirpier.  

The garden is full of flowers; lots of sweet peas and some cornflowers and marigolds.  I had some sweet peas in the house until yesterday, now I just seem to have lots of greenfly in the places where they were.  Is it just my imagination or are there lots of flies around this year?  Not just greenfly, but blackfly, midges, bluebottles, fruit flies and horse flies.  I have a HUGE bite on the back of my leg.  Oh and mentioning fruit flies reminds me, I think all of my worms have died.  One day they were fine, three or four days later it looked as if they'd all disappeared from the wormery.  I need to investigate more fully.  But the bin is definitely breeding fruit flies, it's quite horrid when you lift the lid.  

Could you bear some flower photos?  Despite the neglect, it's been nice to see some prettiness in the garden.  Any day now I'll get round to cutting all of the sweet pea blooms off.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying the tangle.







The guinea pig is trundling along quite well, after her abscess problem.  She's still on antibiotics, which requires a syringe of medicine once a day.  I thought I'd show you how it works.  In fact I was going to call this post "How to give a guinea pig antibiotics: A Tutorial", but I was worried that people trawling the internet might come here expecting some sensible advice.  I know that you regular readers know perfectly well there won't be anything useful here.

First catch your pig.  You'll need a small towel handy and it helps to get the medicine in the syringe first before you grab the piggie (ask me how I know).  


Then turn her upside down.  They don't like this much.


Then all you have to do is pop the syringe in her mouth and squeeze in half the medicine, let her swallow it and repeat with the other half.  Simples.


Well, actually, as you can imagine there's a fair bit of wriggling and cussing.  Any time she feels anything near her mouth she struggles away.  It's almost impossible to put the syringe in so I've taken to squirting it into her mouth from directly above.  If I score a direct hit she does this cute thing where she smacks her lips and makes munching noises.  If I miss it runs down her chin and I swear a bit.  You'd think they'd make it in some delicious impossible-to-resist guinea pig flavour like they do with Calpol and small children.  Anyway, once the torture is complete she gets to go on the grass.  She seems really well and the wound is healing nicely so the bit I do get down her neck is doing the trick.  


Last night I went with the Beavers (small-sized Cubs, mostly 6 and 7 year olds) on a canal boat.  It does sound like madness, but it was actually most enjoyable.  We strapped them very securely into life jackets and chugged up and down a little stretch of the Gloucester to Sharpness canal.  It was so nice to get away from dry land and all of the madness.  


We're off to a wedding later on today, then tomorrow there's the final football tournament of the season.  Training starts again on 2 August, but I'm not thinking about that right now.

I've been on a diet this week to fit into the dress I have.  In truth it was too little, too late.  Of course.  That could be my motto I think.  I didn't start until Tuesday.  The dress goes on fine, but I'll need to hold my stomach in all day.  Or maybe just for the photos.  The boys are under strict instructions to be calm and quiet and sensible.  They are all tired, irritable and very silly, so it's not looking promising.  The feathery thing I have for my hair is larger and more, well, striking, than I imagined it would be.  I'm wearing it anyway.  At least you'll be able to spot me in a crowd.  Do people wear feathery things in their hair to weddings any more?  I have no idea.  I'm never in step with everyone else anyway, so I'm quite used to it.  Will we be able to play football on the lawn?  What we will do all day if we can't?  Oh it could be a long day.

Next week I shall be focussing on getting things slightly in control but also taking a little time to enjoy the summer.  It should involve quite so much rushing about should it?  Once the children have broken up from school things should be more relaxed, albeit in a noisy, shouty, fighty, chaotic sort of a way, if that makes sense.  I really can't wait, we need a break.  Or maybe it's just me.

35 comments:

  1. Oh, those last weeks of the school year! And in this house hubby and I are both teachers too - lots of meetings, bits and pieces and general busy-ness ensure that we're always well and truly pooped at the beginning of the holidays.

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  2. I am on a count down now until Harry finishes the school year & it is no way near as hectic as being in primary school! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about how to medicate a guinea pig, it will stand me in good stead should I ever have one! I'm glad I'm not the only one plagued by flies they have been a blinking pain this year! Hope you have a fab time at the wedding & good luck with the boys. xx

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  3. I just commented, has it disappeared?

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    1. I guess it vanished! I said that these few weeks of term are hellishly busy, you're not alone! The guinea pig is very cute, we have two not quite so pretty ones.
      And I love a big hat or feathery thing in my hair as it detracts from the rest of my outfit which is invariable mismatched/too tight/completely wrong! Enjoy the wedding it's sunny here so hopefully the boys can run about outside all day.

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  4. I hope that you enjoy(ed) the wedding! Yes, it does seems as if busyness is falling over everyone at the moment, I think that it is the time of year, end of term, summer holidays, time going past, so much to do and so on..... So don't feel that it is only you trying to wade through it! Glad to hear that guinea pig is doing well!! xx

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  5. I think your feather creation will draw attention away from your middle regions should you forget to hold your breath all day! I am sure you will be fine and that all eyes will be on the bride anyway! Enjoy your summer it will rush past all too fast of course but that's what summer does isn't it? I wonder if we had longer summers and shorter winters it would still be the same. Lovely garden produce and flowers - things really seem to be doing well this year don't they?

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  6. Beautiful pictures of your flowers! I cant wait for the summer holidays to start now. We are so ready for a break from the school routine... though I'm sure things will be pretty hectic here too! We are all recovering from a horrible summer cold this week and totally worn out.
    Have a great weekend and a lovely time at the wedding. xx

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  7. Ohhh I want to see photos of you all from the wedding! Those potatoes look delish and that guinea pig has the best home I've ever seen haha. I usually just see people having them in small metal cages in their homes. I have to give my cat medicine through a syringe every day and it is sooo difficult!

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  8. Your produce looks delicious and your garden so beautiful. I remember telling you about the antibiotic shots I had to give my son's pet rat for 10 days, it was excruciating and she was so darned wiggly, she was smart to and knew as soon as I caught her what was happening. Good luck with the little men at the wedding, I am sure they will behave and of course you will look fabulous in your dress and feathery thing in your hair.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  9. You know, I actually would have found this post very useful when I was thrust into having to give my firstborn daily medication by mouth starting the day I took him home from the hospital (and continuing for years). It was so difficult! But in the end, it was a lot like the way you did it with the guinea pig. I would have learned something here for sure. :) I hope the wedding goes well. They will behave because it's all new and different. If it helps, my own wedding was only the third one I'd ever attended and I wasn't sure how I should act either. :)

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  10. Isn't the feathery thing called a fascinator? Not sure why, or who it is supposed to fascinate. Sounds like yours could well live up to the name though. Have fun!

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  11. It's not just you. Everyone's lives are similarly chaotic. We are retired and were living a fairly calm life and then our son, his wife and their 4 and 5 year old boys moved in with us. "Nuff said. Enjoy the wedding and please show us a photo of you skinny self in your pretty dress with your feather head-dress. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  12. I believe that the mild winter is to blame for the proliferation of flies. I had to evict the chilli plants from the lounge - the huge bay window went opaque with greenfly and their spit ( or whatever that sticky stuff is they produce). Then, as it was overcast, I sprayed the plants with the fairy liquid/baby oil/water mixture.... Only for the sun to come out and fry them to a crisp. Bah.

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  13. Have fun at your wedding hope it is not too hellish. I haven't checked my wormery lately perhaps I better had.......

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  14. Yes super busy here too, and lot least because I'm trying to cram everything into the last couple of weeks of term that I can't do with 2 children in tow - get my hair cut, buy school uniform, and most importantly go yarn shopping :)
    Hope guinea pig all better. Jillxxx

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  15. you could try sprinking some diatomaceous earth on your wormery, wriggly wrigglers sell it.
    hope the wedding goes ok, and that you can enjoy the last week of term, I am both looking forward to and dreading the end of term with equal measures. x

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  16. A most enjoyable post and lovely pictures, especially the love-in-a-mist and that last one of the canal.
    I have to say that no it's definitely not just you, and hope that you get to enjoy a few relaxing days here and there.
    I also hope that you enjoyed the wedding and that it wasn't too fraught if not! Flighty xx

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  17. We all have times when out to do list spirals out of control!

    Hope we get to see the feathery headwear.

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  18. Hello lovely, I hope you enjoyed the rest of your hole. Yes I never really understand why these last few weeks have to be so hectic, I mean really we parents need to rest up for the six weeks we have them at home everyday and irony is that the way it works now, we are all absolutely pooped by the time the hole start! Oh well, its not long now. Your garden is looking very beautiful indeed, I feel like i have neglected mine a little this year, but then we can't do everything. Yes its funny how doing one drawer can have such a big impact on our mood, one less thing to do an achievement indeed!! Sending you much love xoxo

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  19. Oh, I know just how you feel when you're trying to get that darn syringe full of liquid in that little tightly closed squirming mouth! The things we do for them! Lovely pictures of the sweet peas and love to see the little piggy out in her house. She lives the good life! A boat trip with a bunch of young boys - yes, it does sound miserable to me! You have the experience to handle it though.

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  20. You are awesome...you call it like you see it! I loved seeing your blooms friend...they are gorgeous! And your sweet piggie is so very cute! And yes...the running around and doings are keeping us all busy! I hope that the down time is lovely for you and the boys! And that you had a good time at the wedding...oh have I had to suck in many a time! It is all good! A wonderful week ahead to you! Nicole xoxo

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  21. Good job on the drawer CJ - I reckon everyone has a drawer like that somewhere in their house ! The little guinea pig tutorial made me giggle - sooo sweet !
    Bring on the holidays ...
    Kate x

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  22. Take your blog writing and fantastic photography as a mediation - you can sleep when those boys are grown up?! I don't know how you do it all but you're doing great! I had guinea pigs when I was a teen - great wee medicine tutorial. :) Hugs to you lovely! X

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  23. Your flowers look beautiful, and the produce from your garden looks perfect! I used to love gardening but it is one of my hobbies that has slipped to the sidelines as our lives have got busier with children.
    I can't believe that my daughter's football team start training again next Tuesday - we have only just finished last season!
    I love to see photos of your guinea pig - she is gorgeous.
    Caz xx

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  24. I think a tootle up and down the river was just the soothing tonic you needed, CJ. It's good to step off the treadmill once in a while and have nothing to do, the trick is staying sane when you get back on again! Hope the wedding went well; I hate them, I always feel I could have done better dress-wise (although the things some people wear!), and am jolly glad to be back in my jeans at the end of the day! Loved your piggy pics, so sweet, glad the little hairball is getting better. And sweet peas? I've taken to banging the vase/jar/pot every time I pass so that aphids drop off and I can squish them. I don't remember things being this bad in previous years … Have a lovely week! Caro xx

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  25. I love the idea of the feathers in your hair! I'm sure you looked beautiful! I'm glad you added the part about how to give your pig medicine. Our bunny is on antibiotics now. They were able to mix this medicine with sugar water, though, so I just let her lick it up herself. I'm sure Maisy would put up a fight, too, if I had to stick it in her mouth. Glad to know that your piggy is doing better. I don't think you can ever have too many flower pictures. They're just so lovely to look at. I agree that things have been really busy around the blog world. There is just so much to squeeze into the warm weather months. I can't believe we're already on the other side of them. I hope you're having a wonderful (and stress free) day, CJ:)

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  26. Hey CJ,
    I hope the wedding went well. I'm sure you wowed them with your fascinator. Your garden is looking lovely- sweet peas and cosmos are my absolute favourite. I've discovered Cosmos Bright Lights this year. I'll send you some seeds when they go over. They are multi stemmed and bright orange. The flowers aren't as big as the pink and white cosmos, but they look lovely scattered in amongst them. I've also grown chocolate cosmos for the first time too. They sort of smell like chocolate. I'll send you some of those as well!
    Leanne xx

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  27. I adore guinie pigs, they are so precious, and yours is perfect!! Love it!
    Your photos are lovely and the river boats make me pine for England.
    Much love to you,
    Tammy

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  28. Sigh, yes the busyness of it all -- it's just the 3 of us but we are Go-ing. It's good chaos and cacophony for me. Unfortunately, I'm especially good at over-complicating things, but you seem like one that brings the calm CJ. However I believe I understood what you meant.

    Someone mentioned season practices starting in August ... and I too tuned it out. We are also transitioning to a new school in August. I have to focus my stupid Mom anxiety in one place first, after school schedule will be managed when it needs to be, ha!

    As always love the photos. I can taste the creaminess of those potatoes. :)

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  29. The drawer of doom is the name I give to THAT drawer in my room. I tidy it up once a year (have written a post about it, too). I wonder what happened to your worms? I would love to have a wormery. Maybe a project to research when I get back. Just now I am sitting in a chair outside our campsite reception, picking up their WiFi, looking for jobs but treating myself to a couple of my favourite blogs. Cornwall is lovely. I hope your short and sharp diet is over by now, and that the wedding was fun, and maybe you could even relax your tummy muscles :) Just a couple more days until schools break up? Have a lovely rest of the week. x

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  30. No, my love, it's not just you. I also have that panicky, restless feeling, like there is so much to do that I don't quite know where to start. So I sorted out the kid's wardrobe. But tidying out the drawer of doom is an excellent use of your time! Your sweet peas are so, so lovely, both in the jar and on the bush/vine/plant - not sure which word to use there. And I'm glad your guinea pig is on the mend. I hope the wedding was fun and you were able to let your hair down, have a few drinks and relax. Take care. xx

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  31. Nope, not just you. Despite just having a break I need another. I'm spending 3 hours every couple of nights watering the allotment and work is incredibly busy so I'm exhausted. Lovely to be able to get out on to the water. We've visited that area a few times - we're on the other side of the Severn - and it's lovely. A good tidy always helps. I can't write until my office is tidy which might explain my book writing procrastination at the moment. Better dig out the duster and the bin bags and have a bit of a de-clutter. ;)

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  32. Wow... your garden looks so beautiful and so bountiful.

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  33. Your sweet peas are so so beautiful! I felt restless and tidied out the girls' clothes! It's funny how doing one thing makes you feel a bit more on top of it. Things do seem busy and mine aren't even in school. Hopefully that feeling will pass and you can settle into the holidays.

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  34. Yes, piggies and antibiotics can be a challenge. I remember thinking I got the syringe just right, squirted and had pink stuff all over my shirt. Seems that you can actually miss their mouth completely. LOL

    Your piggie is so cute. I love her crazy whorls. Our piggie only had one whorl on the top of his head. The rest was straight.

    Hope piggie is feeling better real soon.

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