Thursday, June 15, 2006

Talking about the weather

The weather’s finally changed and it is very hot and muggy on some days. I guess when you’re so used to cool temperatures anything above 17 degrees Celsius is considered “warm”. As per usual, I spent most of my spare time pottering around in my garden voer the weekend. It’s that time of year when plants experience a massive growth spurt—just like teenagers! Gardeners are busy keeping this in check or else they will be all over the place. Peter did a bit of tree “surgery” by cutting back the ceanothus. It is actually a bush but Peter managed to prune it back to look like a tree and it looks great. We also had to put gravel on bare soil to keep the moisture in.

On Tuesday the weather got a bit cooler—thank goodness for that! However, it still feels quite muggy and it is not raining, just cloudy.

Work is really hectic. There is always someone in my office who needs something from me, paperwork that needs seeing to and proposals to be written. Then I have to check that everything’s ticking over in all the areas that I manage, etc. I have to be organised in my current job. I am very good in multitasking—a skill I learned with my former jobs. Of course I sometimes miss the buzz of my journalism days—the travelling and meeting interesting people but my current employment isn’t bad at all. I am learning something new almost everyday like how to work with committees, how to get around bureaucracy, how to be more efficient in spite of it! I cannot survive in a job that doesn’t fire my imagination. They give me new projects here regularly to keep me occupied and I like that. For me work is not just a 9-5 activity, it needs to interest me or else life will be intolerable.

In a couple of weeks term ends and we start our summer vacation until October. That means in a couple of weeks I shall be heading off to the Isles of Scilly for much needed R&R. What a treat that will be! Not having to wake up by 6:00am and dragging myself out of bed to be out on the road by 6:45am. I am looking forward to lazy days by the beach staring out to sea instead of staring at my monitor. I can empty my mind of worries, enjoy the wildlife and just eat a lot of sea food.
Last night Peter and I went up the garden and we noticed that everything’s either in full bloom or about to burst into bloom. Oh what joy to see nature unfolding before me! We have a BBC programme called Springwatch that goes on for three weeks and I watch it religiously. I am learning a lot from that show. I love watching birds nesting and feeding their chicks and then see these baby birds fledge. Fantastic!
I’ve always loved nature ever since I was a nipper and I was always drawn to secluded places. I like my own company and I never get bored. There is always something to do.

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