Permaculture course day 1...and some lemons!

Yesterday was the first day of my permaculture design certificate course.  I arrived late...not a good start...I allowed an hour and a 1/4 to make a 40-45 minute trip to allow for traffic...WRONG....it took me about an hour and a half....geez....what's with the traffic! Anyway, I only really missed the intro...but ended up making a grand entrance instead of quietly sitting at my desk waiting for the course to start.  The farm has only the very basics in the way of utilities, so I will know for next week to take a lunch that doesn't need heating, and an esky with ice so I can take my own milk, teabags etc for a nice cuppa during the day. It's definitely an urban hippy existence there, does take a little bit to get used to. Day 1 was a basic introduction to the 3 principles and 12 elements relating to permaculture. There was a bit of roleplay (very embarrasing, but a way for everyone to get to know each other a little) and farm tour.  There was also a food presentation on Bunya nuts, the nuts boiled weren't really my thing, but the bunya nut pesto on the fruit loaf was quite nice, but I think that's because the fruit loaf masked some of the bunya nut flavour. We were also given our plant allocation that we each need to do a food presentation on during the course. I lucked out with passionfruit, and I have some growing here, so I get to make some yummy sweet treats for my presentation. Need to do the research between now and the next fortnight, so I can hand out the information sheet during the presentation. I was pretty bushed (and cranky) when I got home, as I spent another hour and a helf in the traffic, and was still quite tired today. This afternoon I planted out the comfrey in the garden, and as I was wandering around the garden, I thought I would check out the lazy lemon tree, and was delighted to see 5 lovely lemons at quite a good size, and a couple more babies coming along. This is the lemon trees first fruiting, so quite exciting.

I gave the bush a drink of seaweed solution this afternoon, and weeded around the base, and removed the big hungry catepillar on one of the leaves and gave it to the chooks, they don't seem very interested in it though!  I purchased a lots a lemons tree about a month back as this lemon tree didn't seem to be making any progress, it must have scared it in to giving up some lemons. So, tomorrow is Kasey's 7th birthday, so I have a couple of wedding quotes to go and do in the morning, and Toni is going to take Kasey out for the morning to the park or maybe to the beach for an icecream. We'll do presents in the morning, and then a family BBQ in the afternoon. She has a little friend coming to play early in the afternoon, and they always play so well together. So..I'm off to bed, I am pretty tired, so I think I will sleep well. Next week I need to put some serious effort in to expanding my home routines app, I have the rotational house work and daily am and pm routines pretty much sorted at the moment, but I need to now start to allocate days to certain tasks and also some self improvement time (think...exercise...blaghhh) and need to start making set times for sewing and craft, gardening, mowing etc...I want to try and work them in to my routine so I have set days for these things as a rough promptor to each day for me. I have a bit of time in between quotes in the morning, so I may visit Gloria Jeans, and pop myself, my laptop and my ipad in the corner for a couple of hours and try and sort all that out...we'll see how I go....

Wiping the slate clean for 2011???

I gave up my 4 day a week paid employment in August last year, for various reasons, the main one being because I had become unwell due to the job I was doing.  I really needed the time away from working to become well again, as I had lost all ability to focus on the day to day, and to look forward to each new day, or anything in general. I really thought that after a couple of months I would be back on track. I have always been a very organised person and routine is a big part of that for me. But, for the life of me, I just can't get into a routine...the days go by so quickly, and it is absolutely driving me crazy. I started this blog to keep track of what I do actually achieve, and to keep a record of my day to day, as my memory is not that crash hot...I know that I do get things done, and I certainly don't sit around on my bum all day not doing anything, in fact, I hardly ever sit down at all...I even feel guilty sitting down for longer than necessary to have lunch etc..So, why do I still feel that I am not getting where I want to be? Why do I still feel that at the end of each day that I have had no control over what I have done during the day? Why do I still feel like I have no routine to my weeks? Why is the year going so incredibly fast? I am still annoyed with myself that I stayed in my paid employment for so long when I should have left after 12 months because I knew it wasn't doing me any good, instead I dragged it on for 3 years, becoming sick in the process, and it has changed the person that I was...I no longer know how to prioritise,  I can't handle any sort of stressful situation without becoming very anxious and stressed, I suffer from headaches at the slightest hint of stress, and it can be something so small that sets it off, and it is so frustrating...but I think I may have finally worked out what I need to do....totally start again.....wipe my slate clean, and start completely fresh by having no classes to attend, no weddings to do, and no responsibilities to anyone or anything other than my family and friends, and to just chill at home for a few months, and really concentrate on getting my life back and getting my routine back.  I have tried to force a routine back in to my life with lists and routine schedules etc, but it is not working... I haven't completely made up my mind yet, but I think it may end up being the only way to go, start afresh and re-build my routines from scratch.....I think sometimes everyone needs to get rid of the baggage and start afresh..so, unless things drastically change between now and the end of the year, I think this may be the only way to solve the problem.....I just have to put some more thought in to this and then make the decision.....

A long night.....and a busy day ahead....

I have snuck in a few sleep ins the last few days, and I paid for it last night/this morning....no sleep, not even a few minutes....by 4.30 this morning I figured there was no point in trying to sleep any longer, so just got up. It is very peaceful this time of the day, even though the eyes are quite red....I have a bit planned for today, I have been trying to get a daily routine schedule drawn up over the last few days, I am really over having no direction each day and just flailing along day by day. I much prefer to work to lists and a routine, and my routine has been sadly lacking for a long, long time. I don't think I am alone in not knowing where to start each day, and this has gone on for such a long time now, but so many people say the same thing, and that is that they just don't know how to get the routine back in their life...I am definitely in this category at the moment. I tried the flylady thing about a year ago, but it just wasn't really my thing, there was a lot of good points to it, but I just felt like I never stopped and that I was spending all of my time cleaning!  I think a modified version would work for me. The problem I am having is that I just can't prioritise what I should do first, so I end up not doing much of what I actually want to do. And I have so many things I want to do, that I don't get to any of them. I also find that even when I make up a list at the beginning of a week detailing what I need to achieve that week, while it helps immensley, I still need to be more structured with how long something takes me to do, and how long I should actually spend on it. So I have so far done up a day by day plan for Mon-Fri of each week. This will be the core things I will do each week. I have slotted in some free time on the Friday's that I am not doing weddings, and after dinner each night to do craft and sewing etc. I have done it up on an hour by hour basis, so that I know what I should be doing at what particular time of the day....if I find this too hard, then I will perhaps do it up a bit less structured, with a simple am and pm format...but I will try the more structured format first. Yesterday I stripped my bed and washed the sheets, doona and cover, pillowcases and pillow protectors, and I vacuumed the pillows and woollen underlay. It was lovely getting into a lovely fresh bed...not that I did any sleeping...I also made a batch of soap last night, it turned out really well...probably the best batch I have had in some time, I made the oils and the lye a little cooler this time, and it seemed to make a big difference...I need to go out and get a couple of things today, I also want to go to Spotlight and get a few craft things for Kasey, I am looking at getting her a pair of small knitting needles and some wool, and she can start to learn to knit. I may also get her one of those french knitting looms, and she can try that as well, and if they have any cross stitch suitable for her age, I may look at that as well. I want to try and make some lemon butter and some passionfruit butter today or tomorrow as well. I have a sewing class tonight, we are starting on a beautiful elegant evening bag, it is absolutely stunning...so I hope mine turns out that way!  I have heaps written in my diary today, I was thinking last night that maybe there was too much written there, but as I am getting a nice early start it should hopefully be achievable....