Doubling up

Good morning, another soggy dark day today, I think we've definitely had our last breath of summer now.

This week we have been considering doing something that, were I asked 6 months ago, I would have sworn we'd never do. That is getting a second car. I grew up in the city and neither of my parents could drive, one still doesn't, so to me it's never been a given that one has to drive. I passed my test this year when I was about 8 months pregnant as wanted to be able to get about if we needed to. I didn't realise how much it would improve our quality of life, and am still surprised by that. While he was still on paternity leave with Hazel will was offered a new job 20 minutes away, and although he cycles when he can, going into the winter months he will be able to do so less and less, so he'll be taking the car. So here we are now wondering if we should, and if at can afford to, get another small car so that I can run the weekly errands like shopping in as well as take the girls out on trips, which now that ivy is so much older  I think its essential. She gets so much from a change of scenery,  so do I.

That one is still something we're thinking about. 

A very real piece of machinery we have acquired this weekend is my very own wood chipper! It occurred to me that over the next year, and beyond, while our garden is still getting set up  we will be spending so much money on mulch and bark chip  and yet we have heaps of branches we were about to chuck into the woods out back and just forget about. We'll hurrah, after a little persuading will found me a second hand shredder for sale and we went to pick it up, and I have already started on my paths dividing the raised beds  I am sick of trying to shear the grass and keep the buttercups from creeping into the beds. Once the paths are done any other chippings with be added to our compost heap and we will try to get some hot compost going, exactly what we need to improve our clay soil. 

And lastly I'm feeling pretty happy after putting out a plea for anyone selling manure for less than I paid last year (we need so much more with all the new beds) a friend of mine in the village said I could help myself to her very well rotted heap for nothing. We popped up to her farm yesterday and took away two car loads in exchange for cupcakes and home made tea and preserves, and will hopefully make it up again next weekend for more. Hooray!