'Busy'

I have been 'busy', in a relative way, over the past few days. Not 'busy' like someone who has a proper job and family commitments that include children, for example. That sort of 'busy' is in another league - my sort of 'busy' means that I have done at least one thing off my list every day. Which isn't very much. I am very lucky to be only this 'busy', but am aware that it cannot last for ever, not least because the fuel bills are rocketing ever skywards and I am starting to become very slightly envious of people who go out for meals. There haven't been any suitable jobs advertised for a fortnight, but I remain hopeful.

Things that I have crossed off my list include the wildflower meadow that was the paved area behind the house. It is mostly weed-free now, although a few remain to taunt me. I bought a glyphosate squirter that has made a good deal of difference, although given that it only kills weeds and not seeds, I think I will invest in larger quantities of glyphosate and a watering can, so that the green menace can be kept at bay over the longer term.

I have sorted out my dwindling collection of house plants, binning those that were really showing no sign of life and repotting the few that are left. I have planted up a trough with some new plants for the hallway, and split an aspidistra that had pretty much already divided itself into two within the one pot. I also treated myself to a Venus Flytrap and an African Violet for the kitchen windowsill. We'll see how long they survive.

The houseplant endeavour led to a foray into the garage where my collection of plastic plant pots has lived for, oh, ten years. Before that, they lived happily in my previous residences. It is, however, time for us to part. They are now sorted into two groups - I shall keep some, and have already advertised the rest on Freegle. Nearly everything relating to organic matter is, at last, somewhat under control, and I am slowly emptying the house of unnecessary junk.

I have also spent a day working on my teaching session about visual impairment and communication, and badminton continues twice a week. This morning I dropped in on the group of visually impaired people that I tapped into for my university project, just because I can and because they are rather nice. After that I dropped in at the Oxfam second-hand book shop, and for £3 I bought a guide to garden birds and how to attract them. We are lucky to have sparrows in our garden, as they have become relatively rare.

I'm now off to attend to the next task - our area has started to move from analogue to digital TV, and we have started to lose the few channels we have. I'm going to attempt to install the Freeview box.