Lockdown, delays and having time for things.

Due to the current pandemic, our move has been delayed. Well, paused really.  Obviously because everywhere is shut, various things cannot be done. It's fine, gives us a bit more time to pack and get ourselves generally sorted out.

What I am hoping is that in a few weeks, things will be a bit better and certain restrictions will be lifted. Then, we can actually move and get the more urgent bits of work done on the house. There is always the possibility of another lockdown in few months time, so probably best we sort the urgent bits first, then keep working on the other (less urgent) bits if we have time.

If there is another lockdown in the future, I'm hoping that we will be able to grow some of our own vegetables in the new garden. That might make things a little easier. Also, we'll hopefully be able to do some of the work on the new house ourselves...like re-decorating etc. It would be a good way to fill time!

As we have a bit of time at the moment, and can't really go out, I thought I'd spend a bit more time trying to do things with Alexander that are more like 'life-skills'. So today, we made jam tarts together. I think it's a good idea for him to learn a bit about baking and cooking. He likes to join in with gardening anyway, so he can help with planting and growing vegetables in the new garden.

Making Plans

The world is a strange (and slightly scary) place at the moment. So, to try to stay positive, I am making some plans for when we move to our new house. Obviously, the repairs to the house will have to be our first priority. Other than that, I'm thinking about what we could do in the garden. As we will be in a more rural area, I want to make the most of it. (I have lived in a town all my life, so I'm really looking forward to being somewhere more rural!)

Firstly, we will have to leave a relatively large area as lawn, so my son can run around, ride his scooter etc. and generally have space to play. The garden is a fair size, so this shouldn't be a problem. We will also need to remove the bath/pond!

Secondly, I'd like to plant some trees (and shrubs). Trees are massively important! They are good for the environment, will provide some shade, good for wildlife and I really like them. I might order some from the Woodland Trust shop. So far, I'd like:

• Holly (really pretty and reminds me of Christmas)
• Fruit trees (so we can grow our own fruit) - probably apple, pear, maybe plum, blueberry bushes and raspberries.
• Hawthorn and maybe Rowan (pretty and good for wildlife) 

Lastly, I think I'd like vegetable patch and maybe a herb garden. I've never grown vegetables successfully, but I'd really like to do it properly. I'd love to have loads of different vegetables from the garden to make meals with....I'm a little concerned that growing vegetables that are actually edible is going to be tricky.

I feel I should point out, I'm not really a gardener. In fact, it's only in the last couple of years I've started to appreciate having a garden. The only bit of gardening I have done is cut a few branches off of a hugely overgrown Budlia and planted a small tree.

This will be a learning curve.

Big Changes

Sometimes in life, things happen, and you think to yourself 'this will change everything'. Well, several of those things are happening to me (and my family) right now.

Firstly, we are in the process of buying a new house, which is lovely, but also a little stressful. The house is in a much more rural area and quite far away from where we currently live. The new house also needs a fair amount of work done on it. It has a lovely garden....which has a bath in it (hence the name of this blog). The previous owner has put a bath in the garden to make a 'pond'. When I found this out I was fairly surprised, but both my husband and my son found it hilarious. We will not be keeping the bath in the garden!

To make things slightly more stressful, we will probably be moving in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Obviously, this is not ideal. We are all supposed to be keeping our distance from other people, not going out unless absolutely necessary etc. I don't really know how this is going to work....we'll see, I suppose.

Due to the current pandemic, I have had to start homeschooling my son. I have no problem doing this, I have been a Teaching Assistant for several years, and to be perfectly honest, I've always wanted to give homeschooling a try. I'm fully aware that not everyone sees homeschooling in a positive way, but given the current situation, there wasn't really any choice. It's going quite well, so far, but we have only been doing it for a week. I'm not really sure how long this will continue for.