A bed of roses

So, the pond is now in.  It has pretty gravel at the bottom and is full of water.  There are plants (mostly ornamental grasses, one of which is called mint curls, which makes me giddy with happiness) placed around it waiting for enough compost to be planted.  Water plants have been ordered, one of which is carnivorous (which again makes me slightly giddy) and all of which are native.  I'm still trying to work out if it's big enough for fish.  A solar fountain is also on order, although the delivery date is 'sometime before the end of October'...

We have ideas on what we want to tackle next.  The back wall is just bare brick but we have different opinions on how to deal with it.  The husband wants to fix trellis to the wall which will require drilling.  I think we could put a couple of arches at right angles to the wall and let plants (I really, really, REALLY want a vine...  Fresh grapes!!!) grow between them - but they might need concreting in, I suppose.

There's also the shaded corner, which the husband wants to turn into a rockery.  I haven't mentioned the teeny Zen garden idea, because I like rockeries and I'm sure I can turn some pots into an even teenier Zen garden :D

And the son would like an arch - I'm thinking a free-standing one in front of the gate with something like winter jasmine on one side and scented clematis or honeysuckle on the other.  That's either a finishing touch OR a quick win while we wrangle ideas for the back wall!

Finally got my hair cut.  Yay!  My head felt ten times lighter.  I am seriously considering letting it grow again, though.  The husband would be happier - but it does get in the way...

And there's really nothing to report work-wise.

I finished Warrior Nun, which really picked up as it went along.  Mary is by far my favourite character.

And The Umbrella Academy is back!!!  Number Five is my fave in that - the actor is so young, but acts everyone else off the screen.

Time to get dressed before the shopping arrives.  Bye, DW!

So, work continues on the garden.  We've spent this week painting what is, really, quite a small fence but has so many nooks and crannies.  I'm working during the day and the husband's arm can only do so much.  But it's done.  We're now thinking of growing climbing plants all over it, which will hide all our hard work :D

We can now think more seriously about the pond.  We know where we want it and our conversations about plants, etc, seem to line up - at least at the moment!  Next steps are to a) clear out the crap from the soil (including but not limited to small stones, chocolate bar wrappers and plastic dinosaurs...) and b) source a pre-molded pond that's the right size.  We also need to think about planting but I'm not sure whether to do that as a third strand, or wait until the pond's in and we can get a better feel for it.

I'm also pondering creating a teeny-tiny Zen garden in the corner that never gets any sun, but that's a project for another time.

Work continues to be work.  I found a great dungeon-building site - here - to help with my 'project as a quest' idea, but I think the whole concept might just be TOO esoteric.  And the Visio process map I have is bright and pretty.  And we're looking at developing a set of webpages, and that has to be as simple as possible, at least to start with.

But I did get to play with the dungeon-builder!

Had a nostalgia-fest re-watching the BBC's 1995 version of Pride & Prejudice.  It's still brilliant.

Started watching Warrior Nun because my chat buddy is watching it and a lot of our conversations recently have been, 'I watched this thing!'... 'I didn't... but I watched THIS.'... 'I didn't...'  Anyway, not really feeling Ava and co, yet, but I'm only two episodes in.

Meeting up with the mother and the daughter for a delayed Mother's Day meal later today, so housework will be done this morning.

And that's pretty much life at the moment.  Oh, we've started a new series on the Beatitudes - you can watch me mumble on about 'the poor in spirit' here.  Thankfully, the scheduling means I won't be talking about Greeks or cheese-makers (sorry, the meek and peacemakers)!

See you next week for more randomness.

 In the process of putting together another job application.  I've also sent a couple of job postings to friends.

I'm enjoying the rhythm of Morning Prayer every day - very monastic!  You can watch the videos here - I was leading on 9 June, if you've ever wondered what I look/sound like, for the Taste of God slot (talking about David and Jonathan and their more-than-friendship).  In the main MP slot, thought, we're currently reading through Acts and the other day (Wednesday, I think) we did Paul's Conversion.  One of the things we talked about was that after the awe-inspiring events on the road to Damascus, Paul stays on Straight Street - as far as we know, the only named street in the Bible!  We discussed how some people have that big experience (our Rector describes her own conversion experience), but others are working away on Straight Street, which is much more my own experience.  I have just always believed, and I like to think I'm just doing my own quiet thing on my metaphorical Straight Street.

In some ways, I envy the certainty that comes from a conversion experience, but I also think it really leaves no room for doubt - it's not something you can run away from, is it? :D  But there's a contentment in knowing my place at least has a name.  I am Rosa of Straight Street!

The husband has been going on about the garden again.  In the past, this has led to some level of row after which he wipes his hands of the whole thing, and I feel I really can't do anything after all.  However, we've come to an understanding about each other - and ourselves!  He has ideas that I want to turn into reality, but in my efforts to do that he feels I've run roughshod over him and taken over, but he isn't in a position to make it real.  Understanding that I have a responsibility to treat his ideas with respect, but he needs to let me do what I need to do to make it happen, has been something of a revelation for us both.  34 years in, we're finally learning how to work together!  ROFL

Anyway, today I'm hunting for some seeds that we can plant now (I know - sooo late!) in expectation of getting some flowers this year.

My other tendency is to take the original idea (which tends to be cheap, simple and low-key) and turn it into something big, expensive, and grandiose.  He mentioned 'pond' and I instantly went off researching water features!  But I am at least more aware of what I'm doing, so can rein myself in a bit.

Otherwise, it's the usual Saturday round of washing and cleaning, with some gaming thrown in.  Daughter & co are expected tomorrow.