it all started with the shovel. i just needed it to uproot some plants from the small flower bed by the door. the shed was so messy i couldn't get to the shovel and all of a sudden i had hauled everything outside and wore a paper gauze cap over my face while sweeping over a decade of dust and debris from the floor. we have an amazing array of rusty old garden and farm tools, the oldest ones hand forged. i wish there was room to display them properly.
the shed is a former outhouse, long and narrow, two side-by-side seats are still at the back. the timber wall is insulated with moss and our deserted sauna is on the other side. the outer wall is just planks of wood. i do not envy the residents who had to wade through the snow across the yard in the middle of winter and bare their bottoms with the freezing wind whistling through. but i would like to convert the shed to a composting toilet for summer use one day.
the spiral thing is an old stove plate, the underside of it to be precise, and i think i could use it for a rocket stove. i really want to try my hand at building one this summer.
today was really warm, i saw my neighbour wearing shorts and a t-shirt but i was content in a sweater. lots of butterflies. a currant one, the ones with the eyes of a maiden on its wings, and a veil of sorrow joined the lemon butterfly. yellow ants are everywhere, too. we have them in the flower beds and they have the worst bite.
foraging season is on, i made a simple miso soup with bistort and nettles, plus broccoli and an egg from the fridge. for breakfast i added nettle and blackcurrant leaves (i have branches in a vase for sprouting) to my berry smoothie. i've been picking goat-weed shoots for drying as well. i make a powder mix from wild greens to use during the winter months, it's lovely. nettle i usually dry separately.
