I am not going to lie, this week has had its challenges and things can go in two very different directions. I haven’t got the options I thought I’d have when I went through menopause. None of the stuff I want to put on my blog ran to dealing with this stuff but it’s quite honestly doing my head in.

I took time off to make sure I could speak to the GP as phone consultations don’t come at a fixed time. But I got a few things done and the call came through early afternoon. I could have done it at lunch! Eek, who knew? I was told to make an appointment for a call to discuss itching which was next week but the receptionist phoned me this afternoon to see if she could change it to this afternoon… when the same GP called me and said I hadn’t done what he’d asked me. And I realised when the call ended that he took my appointment that he told me to make to talk about my itching, which we didn’t do… so I have to go back to the surgery and ask for Another Appointment!

But HR called and told me there are benefits I am eligible for that I should make use of. Hey there is some of the stuff I’ve not done because it costs too much! Bonus!

There is cold weather forecast soon, so January might be going back to what we understand it should be, and I can stop worrying about what is not happening in the greenhouse, and start planting things to go on windowsills…

But I’ll try and label more so it doesn’t grow random trays of shoots. I’m not good at rigid rows but I’m going to try. If I manage it, I’ll post some pics.

And I wrote that yesterday. Today I managed to slip my yellow waterproof on and venture outside! I put on oldest gloves as I knew it would be messy! I wanted to reduce the slip hazards and more! And two hours later I can say I’ve eradicated many nemesis. The garden bin is looking pretty full and the compost got twirled with my claw! Ivy grows in one place where it was left to its own devices in a pot I knew would fall apart if moved and like the one which was already disposed of, I think is a job I need to tackle in Spring (by my reckoning it’s still Winter, and snow may still appear).

But I digress, fallen rotten apples were picked up and generally slimy weeds were added to the bin the council make us pay for. Which wasn’t collected between Christmas and New Year and I am keen to be collected again soon. I’ve been aware of people saying not to pick up everything (like leaves) too early so that critters still have hiding places, but believe me when I say there are too many places to hide!

I was watching out for a friendly Robin but none made an appearance. I left a couple of worms exposed but they quickly slithered away. I snipped some of the pile of Laurel that’s been lying on the grass in an untidy bundle. Probably that was close to become a critter pile but we have several of those too. When I describe this as a garden of limitations, it is very much because my interest in some jobs is very limited, in addition to my health condition limiting my concentration span to complete jobs and lots gets started but not finished… like thinking I might plant some things today? I was lost in meditation with the garden-keeping jobs!

I also heard a lot of twittering as I stood to view the jobs I finished. Wildlife seems abundant in the present climate. Here’s to me finishing some things in 2023! Happy New Year Folks!