Bite sized chunks

I woke up this morning in a weird mood. This doesn't happen to me very often thankfully, but when the  black dog does start to descend on me, I have to take my self off and do something - usually involving dirt and plants. So this morning I went down to the allotment at about 7.30am. At first I was filled with panic, it was so overgrown. All I could see was a jungle of weeds (and our allotment plot is a who's who of pernicious weeds), and what few crops that were remaining had been attacked by slugs and snails. I know that when I get that 'this is too much to cope with feeling' I need to take it a bit at a time and not look beyond the bit that I am working on, so I started harvesting and digging up the last of the broad beans and starting my counter attack from there.
It got me thinking about what a useful approach this can be in other situations that feel overwhelming because there seems to be so much to do. It's a tactic I should use more at work. There are times when my 'to do' lists become the problem rather than the solution, if like the allotment this morning, I look at the whole thing rather than taking each bit at a time.
So I got some digging done, harvested my paltry potato crop and started planning in my head for next year. This year's rain and slug and snail problem has literally washed out all my aspirations. However just as I was leaving today, I looked at my autumn fruiting raspberry canes - which are flourishing with hundreds of fruits coming on. My default positivity was restored and I went home to cook a masterly veggie breakfast.

Where there is disorder..

Thank you to Nigel for giving up a few hours yesterday to help me get on top of the allotment, which had been rapidly spiralling into oblivion under couch grass. This had been caused by a combination of adverse weather, health and the great growing conditions for weeds.
Now, a few metres of strummer wire and pulled muscles later, I feel back on top of things.

A smile of thanks for Nigel because I know that there are many things that he would rather have been doing yesterday.

Good use being made of all the old 'Advisernet' CDs we found when we moved office a couple of weeks ago. The pigeons had been at my peas.

The autumn planted garlic, onions and shallots are doing well.

The wet, muddy and aching look - what a style guru I am!

'Twas a cold & frosty morn

I got to the allotment today for the first time in many weeks - having been held back by firstly a trapped nerve in my arm, and then a chest infection.
It was a beautiful crisp and clear morning and luckily the allotment had not suffered too much for my absence. Yes, I've got some weeding to catch up on, but the autumn planted garlic and onions are coming up well. The kale has done really well, and doesn't seem to have objected to the recent neglect, so I'm looking forward to some of that for tonight's meal.

I'm itching to get going again now. I have seed potatoes to chit and seeds to organise, and some to start planting over the next few weeks.