Slow Sunday, warm words, a recipe & allotment catch up.

Avocado soup

Warm words for weary minds

Sometimes, when I walk along the street, I feel as tall as the trees and rooftops. The other day was one of those days.

When I woke up it was like I’d just landed out of a shute, plonk, into my life. Nighttime dreams full of non-stop happenings, with no awareness at all. Then, once awake, awareness returned. I found a mind looking out, thoughtful, as it gazed upon the world. Awareness looked out of eyes, through habits of thought and feelings, and I watched those shift and change. I was in a still place.

So grateful was I, for sunny day, green leaves, strands of flickering cobweb in sunlight, a world full of all these riches.

Golden light, flickered across green leaves. All day, there was sunshine.

Shorts and t-shirts out in the park, with bodies, sitting, standing, running, walking, enjoying the sun. Picnics and barbecues and lying under trees. Everyone out until sun went down and then, tired legs clambered up hills and along pavements in search of sleep. Some under cool night breezes and stars, others tucked up in bed with ceilings and walls, but also windows open catching night air. And then, sleep.

Outside, those choosing cool night breezes and stars, lay under skies listening to birds that were putting themselves to bed. There were soon stars to be seen as sky turned darker, and air became cooler to breath. Then there were rustles and owls hooting and perhaps, flames flickering orange and gold into the night sky, while someone played a guitar, and children listened to the sound of adults talking, voices getting further and further away, as they drifted off to sleep. I remembered doing that as a child, lying on the sofa when staying up late, the soothing sound of voices, shifting into the distance.

Joy dots

Warm sunshine on green leaves

Stars in the sky

Flickering firelight

Community and connection

Simple things

Strands of cobweb in sunlight

Golden light

Children giggling

Happy humanity

Dogs running

Recipe

Cold avocado soup

Here’s a cool soup for a hot day, or when you’re feeling impatient, and wondering why everyone around you is getting everything wrong (pitta imbalance)! Also nice slightly warmed for anyone feeling a little bit anxious who needs grounding (vata types). If you are on the sofa feeling lethargic, flat and unmotivated, this isn’t the soup for you (kapha imbalance!) I blended a ripe avocado with some cucumber (about 4 inches), mint, cilantro, olive oil, good quality damp sea salt, and half a freshly squeezed lemon. Tasty and comforting.

Allotment catch-up

And so, some of the bramble forest was strimmed by two very kind guys. It was so thick it stayed standing and currently looks a big mess. I spent some time clearing some of the strimmed brambles into piles. This is definitely a project and will take me small nuggets of consistency alongside my life filled with work. here’s a link to last weeks post where I posted a video of the bramble forest allotment, before strmming, in case you missed it – I’m going to share how easy it is to turn a plot of land into a kitchen garden then maintain it no dig. It’s quicker if you’re turning grass into a kitchen garden, the initial dig isn’t needed.

I love that saying, we over estimate what we can achieve in a week and under estimate what we can achieve in a year. And so, here you will find the whole truth of my allotment – I will achieve a lot in a year.

This week I have been clearing two beds I found under the brambles. I have to dig out the bramble crowns across the whole of the allotment, but the ground was hard as concrete so lots of trips to the water butt with watering cans, to soften the ground, then gradual dig and planting. For now, I’m just popping plants in the ground I’m freeing up, so they don’t die, but I have a design for next year, here it is.

(Not to scale)

And here are some photos of what I achieved this week.

It doesn’t look like much, but if you had seen the thickly matted 6 ft bramble forest you would appreciate the work carried out! Here’s one of the beds I found and started to clear ready for planting. I will be pulling the wood out because it collects slug eggs and the couch grass grown up under the wood making it difficult to pull out. I’ll also be reclaiming some of the allotment that became solid couch grass around the edges for a good foot.

There is another bed next to this that will be easy to prepare for planting and by next week there will be some plants in the ground. Then I’ll start tackling the bramble crown and clearing the brambles.

Wishing you the warmest,

Lucy x