Dear Blog, sorrrrrry, I have been a bit negligent, not horribly so, but indeed somewhat. But things have been happening. I am going to call it my personal season of composting. I think I have never done a gardening theme ever on the blog. But now, I spring into activity.
Truth be told, I do not enjoy gardening a great deal. But we do have a bit of a yard and someone has to care for it, and hubby does not step up to the plate. My gardening aversion is a bit of a paradox as I love visiting gardens. When I am a diligent tourist that is one of my top picks: a majestic park, an impressive Botanical Garden, or the smaller hidden away gardens and parks that England does so well. I guess I really appreciate the labour and care that goes into making them. I am not so hot or skilled or knowledgeable about all that. A bit more about my gardening later.
But I am feeling personally composty in a positive way. All that ruminating and wishful thinking and planning that seemed to go nowhere over the winter has emerged in action. Some of that, in a way I had not even planned!! I spring into activity.
Start with the planned: I actually have sorted through my summer clothes and made piles to get out of the house. The lowest level is the Goodwill store (which despite its name is a commercial enterprise but they do deal with stuff like fabrics.) Then a whole pile of good stuff for Free Ukraine here in Edmonton, they help newcomer Ukrainians get going. Then a carefully curated little pile for the Seniors thrift store out at our lake village. Indeed, it is true what they say, it is quite liberating to get rid of stuff. Yes, yes, there is much more to go. Books, shoes, coats, winter clothes. Can’t do it all at once.
The unplanned – at least by me. My husband has been on a quest to sort out air conditioning in our house for a few years. We have underfloor heating so we can’t just put a unit on the furnace as we have a boiler. There have been elaborate ideas about using the air exchanger system or some other central system. Love my hubby, but he can complicate things and keeps adding on to the idea, and then is surprised when we never get a quote or hear back from the companies. With the approach of warmer weather and my sleep getting no better, especially in an over warm room (I love dark winter nights with a bit of open window.) I decided to sort this out!
I contacted a company who had done our tankless water heater and they were at the house in a couple of hours. Believe it or not, Ryan, the sales technician said this is the quiet season. People wait till it is hot and then scream for attention. So, I was getting much attention from him with promises of a deal. Result: a plan for two independent heat pumps, they do cool in warm weather, one in the bedroom and another in the main room to keep the house cool. Within 24 hours of contacting them, I had their plan, a quote, I researched the technology the competition, negotiated a new price and signed the contract and they will do the work by the end of the week. Wow, Go Julia Go! (The rollout of new tech helps. Heat pumps have been a slow take-up in Alberta as in our really cold times, they are not adequate, but they will supplement our heating system too. The manufactures say they are fine in Canadian winters as they manage -30C, but last winter my trusty thermometer read 41C and out at the Edmonton airport it was -49C in January. Sorry about that!)
As for the real compost and the gardening: my lovely niece EJ who lives in England, told me about how she was doing no-dig gardening to turn a weed patch into a flower bed. No-dig says I ! She put down cardboard and generously covered it with manure which she gets delivered over her hedge by the backhoe load as her house is on a farm. The cardboard kills the weeds or grass and then decomposes. I bought bags of sheep manure and then I watched the video! Right technique but it should be compost……Oh well, it will be compost generously mixed with manure. I fancy the idea of the little lambs. And my dear friend Sophy has got me cardboard.
So, I did not want to call it my season of manure, as it is not shitty like that, it is all the energy and creation of organic waste or a winter of cogitating. I just hope this energy can last beyond this initial burst.
Future updates coming on a Camino adventure that is in my stars and book stuff.