Happy Wednesday ,
Last weekend was garden weekend at our place.
If you're picturing a neat lawn and a few tidy hedges, let me paint you a different picture. Our garden is a tropical jungle. About once a month it needs a proper hacking back with a machete, a chainsaw, a wheelbarrow and two very large green waste bags that end the day very full.
I love it. It's one of my best stress relievers, and the pool sits there the whole time, waiting for me.
It's the build up in Darwin right now. It hasn't been too horrific yet, but it's 34 degrees through the middle of the day, and the nights and mornings stay warm and heavy with humidity. Which brings me to the lesson this garden finally taught me: I don't have to finish the job, or push myself to exhaustion, before I'm allowed to rest.
It took me a while to learn it.
The first time I tackled the garden was late September, with an early build up. I started at about 9am and kept going until about 2.30pm, stopping only for a quick toilet break or a drink of water. When I finally let myself get in the pool, my head was pounding. Over the next few hours it got worse. I'd given myself heat stroke and a migraine.