Lists....

I'm a great believer in lists!

Lists for everything... shopping, birthdays, house work and of course gardening jobs.  In my house, the lists tend to have a certain life of their own.    For example, the shopping list, like everyone else's, is a simple list of things that need to be bought.   Again, in my own case, this list is very simple, having two halves, the top half for things I need to buy at the weekly market and the bottom half for my weekly shopping trip.  The bottom half gets torn off and taken with me shopping, leaving the top half to be forgotten on the day I go to market.   And so it goes, on and on, week after week.   This list lives on the door of the refrigerator in the kitchen, so that any item discovered to be missing or an item of which I am selecting the last one, can be added immediately.   In fact, this list is always a source of mystery to me.  I tear off the bottom half and head off to the shops and only when I get there do I even glance at the list...  Which is always a mistake, because every week there is some urgent message not to forget...  but I digress.  After all, this is a gardening blog...(I think).... so shopping lists are not what it's about.

I have a list for my gardening jobs. 

Jobs on the gardening list usually take about half an hour and I try to complete about ten a day...  I must add, if I'm gardening, as, sadly I can't spend 5 hours a day, 7 days a week gardening!   Things get added to the list as they crop up and in the evening, after I have eaten my meal I try and settle for a few moments and review "the list", crossing out those tasks that are completed and adding any that I think of that haven't already got added during the day.  And there you have my problem....  Any that haven't already got added during the day.

Take today as an example.  After breakfast I headed out into the garden with my list.   In the case of the garden, the list sits on the table of my terrace with a pen so that whatever happens it's there when I stop for a break, lunch or the odd cup of tea...

So list in hand, I sat at the table, finishing my breakfast coffee and was happy to count just ten items for today.  A very pleasant workload and one which wouldn't cause stress or problems.  There were some bigger jobs, but they were balanced by a few smaller ones....

Moving stone was the biggest job on the list.... but that has been and will be on the list for several days yet.   I live near a limestone quarry and so have access to limestone ballast which I use as a base for paths and parking areas.  The lorries from the quarry drive along the road at the end of my garden and the other day one of them stopped and delivered the ten tonnes of stone that I had ordered.   Sadly, the lorry driver just tipped the entire cargo in one spot and it was up to me to move it and spread it to do the job for which it was ordered.  So each day I move a little bit more.  Each day because by the time I have loaded about a quarter of a tonne into my little trailer by shovel, carted it off to where it needs to be.. then tipped it and spread it.. and then gone back and done it all a second time....  I've had enough for one day....

But, again I digress, after all, the title of this piece is "Lists" not "Stone from the quarry".

So, once I had finished my after-breakfast coffee, I headed out into the garden and the sunshine, happy with my list of ten things to do.  I pottered about and before I knew it, it was time to stop for lunch.

Feeling somewhat satisfied with my morning's work, and truly enjoying the spring sunshine which has arrived here, I again sat at the table on the terrace and casually picked up my list, crossing off the six jobs I had completed.  Feeling very happy, I counted down and found that 6 from 10 left.... just 8 jobs still to do!!!

Like I said, those lists have a life of their own....