Lots of gardening and also lots of "me" time

I started with the first Discworld book on Tuesday and I'm at Soul Music now (and I've read two Science of the Discworld books and the Companion guide in there somewhere too, on Thursday I think). That's 15 books in 7 days - I think. Honestly, I read really fast (if I get a good run at it I can finish one TP book in less than an hour and a half) but also I guess it indicates how many quiet times we've had where both girls are quietly doing something fun that has NOTHING to do with me! One day this week they spread pasta shapes all over the living room, true, but with permission - and they picked them all up again too. I say all, I guess I'll find a few under the sofa when I dare to next venture under there further than the depth the hoover can reach...

The long weekend was nice, though never long enough. Martin had two days in a row with us, which is increasingly rare now that work decided to change the way the Saturdays work and left him without enough to book off to attend my Dad's wedding. He won that one, mostly by being really stroppy and threatening to leave (nearly three quarters of the drivers have now gone over poor pay and worse hours).

He really loves the job, so even though he keeps offering to find somewhere more family friendly I don't want him to be better paid and utterly miserable! Not to mention that paternity leave is something we can't do without and if he moves and I fall pregnant it will mess everything up.
Saturday night I made a greek meze (stuffed vine leaves, fallafel, tatziki, homous, bean salads, butter beans in tomato, quorn chicken salad with grated carrot and cucumber, kofte, bulgar wheat tabule, feta, some things in jars) using up a lot of the salad from last week's vegetable box. Emma and Chris came round and we had fun watching the girls eating stuffed chillies and Morgan getting tabule in her hair.

On Monday we went swimming and Morgan demonstrated that although she hasn't forgotten to take a breath before going under she HAS forgotten how to move herself along! I spent most of the time towing her while she put her face under and blew bubbles. She was NOT going to kick to move herself. Jenna swims like a little fish, with her face submerged and her arms by her side as she kicks her feet and speeds through the water.

Some vegetables are starting to come up in the garden at last. I recognise three as courgette plants, and some are definately lettuce although I don't know which kind (I lost the neat little plan I made after putting seeds in the veggie bed). One is garlic - goodness knows what happened to the other three of them. The rest look like they might be self-seeded tomato plants from last year, being where there SHOULD be cabbages and cauliflowers, but I'm not sure until they get a bit bigger - I wonder if looking them up on the internet might help? I can't leave them all in anyway, not for long. They *smell* like tomato seedlings. That would be a more crazy thing to say if I didn't know that tomato plants smell really strongly!

Jenna was fascinated with her sunflower seedlings, which she has already noticed turn towards the light and don't like getting too dry! She found another seed in a box too, and after asking what kind of plant it would grow into shouted in delight - "So, you mean I can make another sunflower any time I like?!" Those are up to about 16 inches and have taken over in the fastest-growing-flower stakes from both the sweetpeas which stayed tiny for weeks and then shot up to halfway up the poles in a fortnight, and the nasturtiums that are suddenly bushing out and will shortly start taking over every available space.