With the Chelsea Garden show closed for another year I recall that not so long ago I was less than excited at the prospect of spending an entire day looking at garden 'stuff'. But since my gardening knowledge has increased 100-fold (easy when you start from practically zilch), the garden show is somewhat to my taste these days.
Inspired by the BBC article linked at the end of this blog, here are a few things I have learnt about gardening (which may or may not attract young people to this pastime)...!
Eco-merits - a garden full of plants soaks up rainfall and water run off (flood prevention), helps sustain local wildlife (feeding bees, butterflies and birds etc) and are, of course, a critical element in the photosynthesis process. A compost system recycles organic waste and rewards your anti-landfill efforts with home-grown food for your garden.
Privacy plants - many homes have windows opening onto or close to the street so a carefully placed house plant (large or small) can act as a cheap, natural visual barrier between your home and joe-public beyond.
Clean air - some plants have super air cleaning properties such as spider plants, (Chlorophytum Comosum), which are great near road-facing windows because of their carbon monoxide appetite, and Peace Lillies, (Spathiphyllum Wallisii), which should be kept away from tech due to their air pollution appetite (waste particles will fall in the area surrounding the plant).
Cheap food - very little space is needed to grow tomatoes, berries and leafy salad accompaniments. If your window sills do not offer enough space to fulfil your appetite you can bur 'balcony-size' grow-bags from most garden centres and hardware stores. This is an easy way to make the grocery budget stretch a little farther.
Sense of responsibility - this is targeted more to the very young people, Misses and Masters. My Miss and Master have their own plants to attend to this summer (tomatoes for Master, Strawberries for Miss and a range of berries to share). Miss and Master take great pleasure in tending these plants, remarking on growth and enjoying the fruits of their labour (excuse the pun).
Decorations - whether it be seasonable bulbs or a more permanent flowering display, this is an easy way to scent the air, soften the decor and supplement the ambiance of your home.
Happy house-greening!
BBC - Chelsea Garden Show: Getting youths into gardening
The other week a headline from The Telegraph alluded to home births being the VIP labour option. Although I have been sucked in by such headlines before, I suspiciously read on and quietly hoped that this might finally be the day that the truth of home births is told.
You see where I grew up, a home birth is something for hippies and the selfish, (apparently). Although I do not typically recognise myself as either of these, a home birth is what I had my heart set on (eventually) with my first born and (always) with my second born. In the United Kingdom, where I live, a home birth is not a completely foreign event; around 2.7% of births were at home in 2009. In Australia, where I grew up, the rate of planned home births was less than 0.003% in the same year and hospital is widely considered the only place to labour (and is usually obstetrician-led).
Do read the original article for yourself (see link below) as I will not reinvent the wheel when the author has done such a marvellous job. Suffice to say, I know I am not the only home-birther who read the article and nodded along in happy agreement.
Further to the truths within the article, here are four things I have learnt about home births...
Music - get your playlist 'perfect'
We all have different moods that require different tunes. During pregnancy number one I discovered the remarkably relaxing properties of a particular musical genre and applied this knowledge in creating a labour playlist; the playlist worked beautifully, the first time. The second time, however, at a quiet but crucial point the screeching altitonants of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations: Aria - written especially for harpsichord - filled the room. I detest harpsichord. In the decades since my first music lesson I have found the jingle-jangled twangs of the harpsichord akin to fingernails scraped down a chalkboard. So, I chanced a vociferous 'I hate harpsichord!' and everyone present dived for the skip button.
Furniture - prepare for the inevitable
When Papa and I bought our first house together some key furniture pieces were missing, and a dining set was one of them. Our kindly new neighbours came to the rescue and lent us their spare dining table and chairs, and even helped relocate everything to our dining room. Papa was not amused when I ignored his excited announcement: We have a dining table! Rather, I insisted he call the midwife and fill the dining room with my birthing pool.
Curtains - necessary
Curtains were a luxury we were without when Master chose day 6 in our new-build new home to be his birth day. One of the benefits of such a recent house-move is an abundance of cardboard boxes and packing tape, which make quite reasonable curtain substitutes, as it happens. Until the packing tape gave way.
Neighbours - (good ones are) always a blessing
On both occasions we have managed to surprise our neighbours with our home birth antics. Our London neighbour was, I imagine, having a peaceful morning until she heard me through our shared wall (built to the standard of an external wall). More recently, our Hampshire neighbours noticed the arrival and departure of their dinner guests coincided with the arrival and departure of our midwives (asking whether our 'new' dining set fitted well in our dining room...). These are the lovely neighbours that nursed a very sick, pregnant Mama (in London) and cooked for a tired Mama of 'two under two' (in Hampshire) - a blessing even at the most stressful of times.
So, would I recommend a home birth? The truth is that this is not for everyone. If Mama (to-be) believes that home is the most relaxing place to labour then I recommend a great deal of research and many, many conversations (with the right people) before any plans are pronounced.
The prospect of a home birth was always something for myself and Papa to research and discuss with each other, with medical professionals and with others who have actually had a planned home birth. This blog is not a recommendation, endorsement or to-be-relied-upon information from a person of reasonable and/or relevant authority. This is simply a Mama sharing snippets of her home birth experiences.
Upon divulging Miss and Master's place of birth, I am often greeted with the same exclamation as the article author: Oh, you are so brave! Actually, no, I am not. Labouring at home was the most relaxing and comfortable place for me. It was not brave. It was my way of having a VIP labour.
The Telegraph: Busting the smug myth: Ladies, home births really are the VIP labour option
Want your cleaning to last longer?
After cleaning your porcelain hand basin (or toilet etc), sparingly spray the surface with furniture polish and use a clean, dry cloth to spread the polish across the porcelain. This helps prevent hard water spots, toothpaste blobs and hairspray films from forming on your freshly cleaned porcelain.
This method does have a shelf life, but it will extend the 'just cleaned' look at a cost of just a few seconds of cleaning.
