its only 11am and its already been such a satisfying day here. Its windy and chilly but we are keen to make the necessary changes to the garden before it gets really cold and that's what we've been working hard on.

Yesterday we had a bit of a setback as I was digging out a large burdock root I hit something hard, I dug a little more and discovered a paving slab. A half hour later and I had uncovered a rather large and wide path right through my new vegetable beds! Hubby set to work and by the time dinner was ready and the sun was nearly gone the last bit had been dug out a pile of slabs and bricks left for me to decide what we would do with it. So as I ventured out into the garden this morning, the morning mist still lingering around the trees, I realised that whilst everything was broken we could use the majority for making a path in between the beds. The pile was moved to a more convenient spot and then I realised what was left from where the path once was.
Lots of rubble mixed with earth, not a good soil for our plants.

My eldest and I went on a hunt trough the garden and the various piles of useful stuff to find the bits we needed to built a sieve, we quickly banged in some nails and chopped a few pieces of wood to a more suitable size and voila we had a sieve, not pretty but functional and free! A fair portion has been sieved and we are all enjoying a well earned break. There is something very satisfying about being this self sufficient. We'll never be completely self sufficient on the land we have so I take great pleasure out of the times when we don't have to go to the shops and we have what we need to get it done.

I think working outside with a garden or any other piece of nature is such soul-work, like just having your hands in the earth takes some of the burdens away from you and replaces it with pure joy. Working outside always leaves me feeling so much more satisfied than any other job does, its the first suggestion I make to a friend who feels stuck.

Take it outside to the garden and you'll figure it out.