Busy...

Yes, I know it has been far too long since I posted. Life has been very busy these last seven months, and something had to give. Unfortunately, in my case, it was my online life - I've also increasingly reduced down the amount of time I've spent on Facebook (down to the point that today I went on there in the first time in over two months, and realised that I'd missed nothing at all...) as well as not blogging.

I've moved job roles, still within the same organisation, but now for a completely different department. Not quite a promotion, but a sideways move within a career that I love, which is helping me get the experience I need to move further up the ladder. It's a great role, with fun people to work for and with, but it requires a lot more work (physical and mental) than my old one did. That, coupled with continuing work related exams (eight down now, another two before the end of November, and then only five after that before I'm completely finished), means that my ability to think coherently at the end of the day, or over a weekend, is dramatically reduced.

The garden is also taking up a lot of time - I've made great headway this year as I do bits and pieces every weekend. Spring has well and truly set in here down under, the vegetables have started growing (peas, beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, purple sprouting, potatoes, leeks and garlic are on the menu - though we shall see how successful they all are as the summer progresses!), I've planted a herb bed to give me more than parsley, thyme and oregano to play with (sage, rosemary, chamomile, verbena and chives are added to the list), and interspersed the herbs with sweet peas to give the trellis some colour over the summer. I've increased the number of fruit plants - as well as the feijoa, lemon, grapes, chilean guava, strawberry plants and fig (the feijoa, grapes and fig are a long term project - I'm not expecting to get anything from them for at least another three years), I've now got a redcurrant bush and a cherry tree, both of which will (depending on how much I can wrestle from the birds...) fruit this year.

And lest you think I've just been concentrating on edibles, I've also been having fun with the roses; the orange and pink one from the photo in the last post isn't ready to bloom yet (I think it is sulking from being rather heavily pruned over the winter), but the pink one has already given me a few flowers to take indoors, and we have a bright yellow one which has grown up through the decking (I gave up trying to pull it out, and have decided to keep it as long as it doesn't try to take over too badly!).

The orchestra season is coming to an end - we have one more concert in a couple of weeks, with a film and TV show theme. It's going to be great fun, particularly for me, as, barring a couple of pieces, it's not too exposed for the bassoon, meaning I can relax a bit more than I have been able to over recent concerts!

Hockey season has been and gone - we came fourth in the league, which was pretty much where we'd aimed for, and sets us up for a good season next year.

And shortly it will be Christmas, and then 2014 - not sure where the time has gone!