It's actually coat-optional here even heading into New Years. Go figure! The winter has been very mild, milder than the past few years, which is both a blessing and a bit of a "hm". This is rather how the weather was when I first got here however so maybe something is balancing out with the climate. Either way, it seemed a good opportunity to see what I have actually inherited out there.
First foray into the split level garden was a bit un-nerving; it's very wet down there and quite slippery. There's no paving stones as I thought there were, and I wonder if maybe at some point I should invest for the sake of stability. I'll have a think about it and maybe keep an eye out on freecycle or something.
A lot of the area was overgrown, although it had a good start; I am pretty sure the small bushes are currants (the lack of spines says no gooseberries to me) but the raspberries are also spineless, which is actually rather nice. However, they were very overgrown and the old canes hadn't been cut, so I had to do a bit of thinning. There was a fair bit of nettle in there and I have the rash on my arms to prove it! Still, I got the canes sorted. There's some wire along one of the fences and that to me seems like a perfect place to put my other raspberries for support. I also had to cut back a fair bit of rhodie as it's very invasive stuff to clear some space.
A lot of low-growing plant is all over the ground in there, and I've had to do a bit of research. I THINK it's common mallow. This is potentially a good thing, as mallow is very useful for coughs (and considering how much I've been coughing as well as sprog, I could do with the harvest). Granted I want to grow some of that myself, but rather hoping I can keep it contained in a pot! I'll yank out what I can, and I won't be harvesting and using it till I'm 100% sure what it is, have no fear.
I got a good beginning on it even so, and since today is proving even milder than yesterday, I think I'll get a bit more of the ground cleared, then get the loganberry put into position. The stems are very brittle and grow VERY high, as I found last year, so they need plenty of stability and training. This means doing a lot of fancy lace work with some twine, but I'll get it sorted, it's only end-December, I've got time! But I am so excited to get to know my new patch of Mother Dirt, and enjoying the process so far. The weather is easy on my joints this year which certainly helps!
In sprog news, he's been pretty glued to the telly, but I do drag him out and about now and again for a walk in the woods when I can. I also get him working on the Wii for his balance, which is actually improving (go figure, a video game with a use!). I've been using the Wii myself and while it's slow going, I'm actually losing a bit of weight! Not as good as the good ol' days when I HAD a metabolism, but one of the Xmas presents from my mum was a full blood test for my thyroid - yes, seriously. This is the US based test which picks up thyroid trouble when the standard blood tests just don't, and she's been insisting on it. Yeah, weird present but if it can explain why I get nowhere with losing weight (don't quote "eat less, exercise more", people I was a bodybuilder, I KNOW the drill) then cool.
I'm not sure what's going on with either school or tribunal, which is a bit un-nerving as it's technically only about three weeks till the hearing and I have no idea where it will be, so I can't make any plans for sprog-tending yet. I know, in theory, the LEA has a "plan" to get child into current mainstream school but I think they're seriously underestimating the current school's reluctance to do it. They may not say it directly to the LEA, but they've certainly said to me that they don't want him there. I've gritted my teeth and just said "Fine, go to tribunal and say that, please." That's all I need. The discrimination is something I'll have to deal with later. But the more people who say mainstream is the wrong place for child, the better for me and sprog so I can get him where he actually needs to be rather than do a bunch of half-measures and assume it will work.
It's halfway through year three and I can't help but think of secondary school though of course everyone in the LEA says "We'll worry about that later". In this country year five is when the focus on secondary school begins. And if anyone thinks my son will manage in a mainstream school, they're utterly trippin'. I do have a secondary school in mind but we have GOT to get a handle on his rages or they won't take him. His statement will get him in (unless they ban statements like the Green Paper advises, which means that councils will have a 'responsibility' to tailor programmes, but without any money, it sounds like they can just reduce the standards to 'satisfactory'), but I have to get his rages under control or we'll have a huge problem, and that's an issue. I may contact the school itself for help as I'm getting nowhere with the LEA; they may have a name of a school their students have attended and then I can bring that to the Tribunal. Here's to hoping.
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