STINGING NETTLES

I finally got around to tackling some of the weeds yesterday.  The rockery/bee garden border, of which I was so proud, had some mammoth stinging nettles threatening to take it over, along with various other less nasty weeds.  However upon tackling the problem (though under the apple tree still looks as if it has never been cultivated) I found to my delight that the alpines I planted last year have settled in well and are spreading nicely, and that even a few of the seeds I planted have started to come up.  The latter makes a pleasant change as most seeds I have planted have done nothing.

Despite wearing gloves I was still stung in several places on my hands, which along with ezcema on my fingers means that my fingers don't look or feel that great.   A minor irritation which will pass though.  Likewise the spread of lego over the floor of Older Son's bedroom, which to bare feet is not comfortable.

The older two have decided to have a 'sleepover' in his bunk bed this evening but it's rapidly changing from tranquillity and co-operation to cries of 'ouch', the music being turned up more loudly, and a general crescendo in the atmosphere - or should that be a decrescendo into chaos.  Time they went to their separate beds and to sleep I think, though it's nice when they join forces rather than squabbling.  The downside of it is that this evening it's been triggered by my being particularly annoyed with them as I made the mistake of letting them have a bath together, with the result that the bathroom was, basically, flooded.  There was even water on the mirror on the other side of the room, water which had then dripped down on to the books standing underneath.  This explains why I found one of the books with its pages stuck together the other day as if it had fallen in the bath.....

You may ask why I didn't stop all of this, and it's for the simple reason that the baby was yelling his head off.  He was hungry (well, the way he was crying you'd think he was starving) and tired so I gave him his 'Goodnight Milk' and by 7p.m. he was asleep.

That's the children and the garden.  Husband has just run home from work again as he is doing the Lakeland 50 for the third time in a couple of weeks (just after the end of term.  Will I cope with 6 or 7 weeks of dealing with 2 bouncy children and a baby?).  And me?  Well, I didn't get short-listed for a job as I didn't have enough rural or agricultural surveying experience but I had what I thought was a brainwave - I could teach singing.  I must also arrange to teach an aerobics class each week; and two articles are being published soon which is a good start.  For both it's about a year since I first drafted them, so I must get on with writing more in the hope that in about a year's time I may be a little more established.  I also need to write a chapter of a book to submit to a publisher (I'm hoping to do that this evening after some singing practice), my demo CDs will be done soon, and I've got my demo programme back from the BBC producer I know to submit to the Senior bod at Radio Cumbria.  It all takes time but I'm sure with perserverance will pay off: I remember when I did my TV presenting course they said it's the people who give up trying who get nowhere.

It's getting on for 8p.m. and those children are still running around: time to go to do some shouting, followed by some singing practice.  I must endeavour not to shout so loud that I lose my voice: something I did last year just before a singing lesson.  I couldn't sing properly!