Sometimes it feels good to be busy, with a long list waiting to be done. Other times it is not so good - when your natural rhythm at that point in time says "nice & steady", "take time to sit & watch". Before I met-up with Mr PoppyM it was easier to follow my natural rhythm. Now of course there are two natural rhythms to get into synchronicity - sometimes this is easier to achieve than others.
The April rain has finally arrived so it's time for a "breather". The ground has been rotavated & the potatoes, parsnips & first batch of chard are planted. The mini-greenhouses are filling well with brassicas, lettuces, some annuals and, the summer bulbs are planted & shooting. There are still packets & packets of seeds to plant, gates to install, fences to build, but tomorrow will be a rest day, one for planning & dreaming.
I've just started to read "Wildwood" by Richard Deakin - what a brilliant nature writer. In it he describes the joyful & restorative nature of nights spent in his shepherd's hut or railway sleeper, both positioned in fields away from his house. They resonate deeply with the experiences I had when I lived for a while on a small boat. The closeness to nature, candles illuminating the darkness, the leaving-behind of the clutter of a house, happy days that I think about most days.
The next big phase of our church restoration project involves the building of a workshop-cum-over-night accommodation. I am so looking forward to spending at least a few nights there listening to the owls & night sounds & waking-up to birdsong and the sound of the wind in the trees. One of the many advantages of owning a piece of land is being able to grow your own woodland. It's next to impossible to get any form of permission to live in a wood - the only way around the planning restrictions I have found is to grow the wood around your home & that is essentially what we are doing.
It's May Day - time for the Maypole Dance. Photo from Jane Williams photostream Flickr
Time for sleep - time to visualize my sleepy parsnips seeds waking & putting forth shoots, time to remind the potatoes & chard that frosts are still possible for another fortnight. I fully expect to have the fire going tomorrow morning - a real British May Bank Holiday weekend.
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