Make A Wooden Wheelbarrow

I managed to get a project I've been thinking about for many years done the other day - I made a wooden wheelbarrow!

Now this isn't a typical wheelbarrow, it's more of a flat one. I wanted one I could move seedlings about with, or other jobs around the smallholding. 

Insulin Pump

So we're over a year into our diabetes journey and our eldest has made the very big decision to switch from MDI (Multiple Daily Injections) for a pump on a closed loop system.  

So yesterday we went into hospital to go through loading a pod with insulin and fitting it, connecting it all up and working out the levels everything needs to be (this is after a visit to hospital last week to change the sensors over to a different type - dexicom). 

So as I type this, the pump is upstairs on my daughters leg slowly clicking insulin in at different interval. We're watching her CGM as her blood glucose find their levels in this new system. 

Wish her luck! I'll keep you posted on how it goes. 

Carving Tuition

 So at the weekend I gave my first days carving tuition. It was to a couple that had seen my videos on YouTube and enquired if I'd do some carving instruction. 

I was hesitant at first, it's not something I've done before, except with my own children. But I got talked into it via email!

As the day ticked around I was really looking forward to it. Something a little bit different to my day to day in the workshop. 

Planting a Gooseberry Hedge

I'm always walking around my plot looking at where I could squeeze in some more plants and increase the productive areas. 

One area is the orchard. I have one half planted up quite traditionally, but I also have one area where the trees are much closer together. In there is about 16 plum trees, plus a n area where I tried an experiment with soft fruit. The experiment worked, but not enough to make me think it was any better than any other way. 

I decided to change it over. the fence near the top needed a hedge (to my mind) and I had been thinking hard about putting in more gooseberries. A gooseberry hedge could be an interesting addition. I went and purchased around 15 different varieties and put them all in 3.5ft apart. 

This should give us plenty of fruit and enough different types to see which ones do really well here. Gooseberry is always going to be one of my favourite fruits, so it's nice to increase the amount we can grow here (I also put in a lot of rooted cuttings from the 14 bushes I already have here). 

Be A Real Man

 This is a video that isn't mine, but I liked it and it made me smile. Hugh and Fiona are going through a tougher time due to Fiona breaking her leg quite badly. It talks about the discuss of roles in a relationship and how you need to be able to step into each others shoes should you need to. 

I think it embodies how I feel about some things. Sometimes when I give my talks I discuss the fact that I went from doing a the very "manly" (traditionally anyway - I know anyone can do it) job of being a carpenter, to becoming a stay at home dad. and how that made me feel and how I saw other people's attitudes to me change, especially with my wife being the bread winner. 

Changing my days from working on roofs and hanging doors to looking after the children and making sure I had tea on the table when my wife got home from work. I left what is quite often a toxic industry when it comes to male chauvinistic attitudes. The guy who trained me to be a carpenter still won't cook tea, even if he gets back before his wife from work and never does any of the housework. 

I like to think we share our workload well here and that my wife and I are a brilliant team (unless you judge us on how tidy our home is - lol). I don't like the unfair split that sometimes exists, although sometimes I'm sure we may feel a little that it is one sided here, especially when things are busy. I like that our children see us equally in any of the household tasks, and yes we have things we're better at, or recipes we won't do because our partner does it better, etc. 

The children are involved in this as well. If I have to go off in an evening (a regular occurrence at the moment) I won't ask my wife to complete the chores I need done, instead I'll normally ask the Middlest to organise it, she'll drag her brother and sister along and get what needs doing done. They all understand helping each other in our family unit makes it easier and makes it so we can do more. 

What really choked with the video above was the mention Hugh gives me at the end. I'm never quite sure how you're meant to feel as a parent, a lot of the time it feels like I'm winging it, and only sometimes does it feel like you're getting it right. So it was great to have a nice mention, hopefully it'll push me to be an even better husband and father in the future and keep on pushing.