Back to Basics Challenge - Week 2

What's happening in the garden

• Sowing seed
• leeks, eggplant, rockmelon, watermelon, tomato (amish paste, costoluto genovese, heirloom ten colour mix), squash, zuchinni.  I keep my seedlings in this old water-play tub that the kids used to use, its light, easily moved, drains but can be plugged to retain water, up away from the dog, even has own umbrella and can be covered if needed.

• Planting
• Five lettuce seedlings in backdoor vege box - three freckles, two oak leaf
• Harvesting
• No harvesting this week as have been spreading combination of wood ash and worm poo all over the garden - beetroot surrounded by ash...

• Observing
• Sodding great branch falling on beleaguered broad bean patch - no real harm done except issue of very dead tree overhanging our property/pool will have to raised again with neighbour

• Peas starting to flower 

• Egg total : 16

What I've been doing

• Planning for The Future
• Getting possums out of roof
• Set up payment plan for appalling rates bill and annoying credit card 
• Working for the Future
• Weekly menu plan - detailed weekly lunch/dinner plan, used for making a shopping list
• Budget - spent many hours delving into the mysteries of our bank account. Now have clear idea of when and where direct debits are coming out and how much hubs is spending on coffee (cue bickering)
• Digging over sweet corn bed and removing weed mat from underneath it (hell of a job).  The weed mat is no longer needed and keeps catching the fork when I try to dig - also planning on making this bed a wicking worm bed and am having a look a condition of ground underneath garden soil (heavy clay) and thinking about how to make it all work
• Fun Stuff
• Building Community
• Care package to friend who has brand new baby (welcome Rebecca :))
• Coffee with primary school mothers - discussed issues with Miss 4's behaviour with mothers who also have very bright, highly strung, screamy children, got some good tips and felt better about coping strategy (wine).
• Learn a new Skill
• Old skill reused: Talking on telephone at length

• Becoming less porky
• Present weight 76.2kgs (top of healthy weight range for my height: 67kgs)

Week Summary

• Second week of school, kids getting into routine, me getting into routine, living by the clock and driving a lot
• Weekly food shop cost just under $200
• Driving licence renewed, look a thousand years old in photo, have booked in for haircut and eyebrow taming session
• Taking it easy this week as August is ridiculously busy with loads of fun stuff: balls, cocktail parties, Romance Writers conference, kids parties, baby proms AND am going to see Joss Whedon talking at the Opera House (he wrote Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Toy Story). Gah.

:)