Windy Woes

There has been a major spanner in my #MakeMayCount works.  We have had horrible weather.  Now I’m not adverse to a bit of bad weather but to work in this would be madness.  It has been 3 days of super windy conditions.  The strongest it got was gusts of 98km/h.  While not the worst we’ve had – that was 212km/h gusts while our house was still up on jacks during the relocation process.   As a result of that storm everything has been built strong and sturdy.  So, this week has been annoying more than devasting.   But it has meant I’m indoors and needed to get a bit creative.

I took care of all my computer gardening and for now there is nothing to do or be done.  There isn’t much kitchen gardening to be done due to the waning season, although I did make a lovely warm and nourishing soup to eek out for lunches all week.  It feels like the best thing to be eating in adverse weather.

I made some soap.  That was fun.  Getting all dolled up in googles and long gloves reminds me of my former life in laboratories.   I’ve made soap quite a few times before but I’m no expert, not by any stretch of the imagination.  But I tried making my first swirl with a coloured mica.  It isn’t quite as pretty as I wanted it to be but there is a swirl.   It will be 6 weeks before I can use this soap while it cures.  The best thing about this project is I had previously gathered all the supplies I needed but hadn’t got around to whipping up a batch.  But there is enough to make more so if the weather doesn’t improve, I may be tempted to have another try.

This is the bit of making the soap that was filled with anticipation … had I achieved a decent swirl or not?

Well – not quite what I had in mind but it does look quite swirly

Another project I found myself doing was also something I had prepared but never indulged in.  Months and months…  and months ago, I acquired 2 Black Prince Echeveria, and around the same time my lovely Mother-in-Law gave me an overgrown pot of what I can only assume are some kind of pink Echeveria, but I’m not a succulent expert so who knows what they are, but they were in a bit of a state.  I bought some lovely terracotta pots at the time and thought it would be nice to combine them. I also receive 3 cute little terracotta pots for Mother’s day.  But that was as far as I got.  Until recently when I bought some cactus mix.  I don’t even know why I did, but it was last week, before the storm.  Little did I know I would actually use it in a respectable time period since purchasing it.

Out of a frustrating desire to itch my deprived green thumb I gathered the supplies together and then watched a bazillion instructional videos on how to save the overgrown ones and how to repot the healthy ones and along the way refreshed a long-lost memory for how to get new plants from the excess leaves.    Bolstered with confidence and a desire to bust boredom, I threw myself into giving these plants a new lease on life and thoroughly enjoyed myself.    All I need to do is figure out what to do with them now…

I sincerely hope the weather improves, because I’m dying to get back out into the garden – I have things I need to do.  The boffins are suggesting there will be no rain tomorrow but more importantly “Southwesterlies dying out in the afternoon.”  Which does suggest it will still be windy in the morning…  but if the sun is out maybe I can cope with that.  And with a clear workload elsewhere I can throw myself into what needs to be done in the garden.

Each season I forget what winter can throw at us, but this last few days has been a bit of a reality check.   I am hoping this won’t be a taste of what is to come, and the winter is kind and gently in its chill and rain.

Come again – I need to get back into the garden sooner rather than later.

Sarah the Gardener  : o)