when you have a garden of brambles

I didn't do any gardening last year.

We moved at the beginning of Summer and I wanted to just see where things were, get an idea of where things were, where the sun rose and set, the wind came from, the frost pockets....

This year I want to grow stuff.

Lots of stuff.

But before I get to grow anything, I need to clear some space.

Brambles grow every where here, even in the greenhouse and polytunnel. They were even in the barn when we moved in.

I toyed with the idea of getting a goat to chew through them all, but I know nothing about keeping them and I'm saving up for chickens at the moment.

So I've got myself some super tough gloves and I'm tackling them by hand.

It is sloooooow going.

And I'm watching the clock, because I know that as soon as the weather warms up they'll be growing like mad and I'll be fighting a losing battle.

Ironic isn't it? On one hand I dearly want it to be Spring, but on the other I am not ready.

On a different subject, Lb is showing a lot of interest in letters and numbers. As he is the only one who has never been to school at all, it is fascinating to watch how he approaches these subjects. He doesn't see it as "work", he wants to play all day with the wooden letters, or draw numbers on the wipe board because it's fun.

It's a real education for me, seeing him explore and get real pleasure from mastering writing the number eight, or sound out letters correctly.

Stepping back, letting him get on with it, and be a part of it when he needs me to be.

So simple, makes me wonder why it took me so long to master it.