One word? When seven would do…

It’s been a funny couple of days. I ended up in tears wanting to leave yesterday (although only Ady knows about that) and I’m struggling slightly here. I can’t decide whether it is here or me, or the coming to the end of the WWOOFing hosts really but I know all four of us are sort of pleased we only have three to go after this one. We did have four in Scotland with another three or four to contact to confirm dates nearer the time but one cancelled on us and we are all feeling three more will be sufficient and looking forward to some time off the WWOOFing rather than trying to find more to replace them and fill that zone up. We’re looking at a two weeks WWOOFing, two weeks off type situation for that last three months which feels like a good balance.

So, yesterday… my face had started to really itch the night before and Ady and I were both feeling pretty unhappy in the straw bale house. Conversly both Davies and Scarlett love it in there but it was definitely getting to us. I am fairly sure it was something in there that was setting off my face as it has definitely abated since we moved out of there.

First thing in the morning we had all been watching kingfishers on the garden pond. The river running through the garden had totally flooded and gone from being a gently trickling stream that Ady and I had been looking at on Tuesday and talking about wading along in wellies to a full on torrent that would easily carry one of us away, burst it’s banks and was over the middle bridge. The kingfishers nest must have been flooded and there were three of them on the pond, fishing out frogs and newts and generally hanging about. We assume parents and one young as it seems odd to see three together like that. So from previous sightings of kingfishers being simply the flash of vibrant blue and orange followed by ‘that was a kingfisher, oh it’s gone!’ we were able to stand and watch to our hearts content through binoculars as they were there all day long.

We all donned waterproofs and walked down to look at the river, follow the footpath to a waterfall and then walk around the village and see the bigger river rushing along and flooding the road. We got back for a cup of tea and all was well with the world. We took off a door which Andy and Ruth wanted sanding and varnishing and Ady started on that leaving me without anything to do. When I asked for a job I was given ‘tidying up the garage and workroom’ which was entirely too vague and Andy even said ‘well I’m not sure how really because I know where everything goes but start by sweeping up and I’ll come back’. So I swept, cursing under my breath and getting more itchy faced by the minute as I moved great clouds of dust about the place. I finished that and struggled to find a dustpan, then asked for the next job and was told to measure the stair treads and see if there was enough carpet on the roll to carpet the stairs. I wasn’t even sure which of the three flights in the house was meant, struggled to find a tape measure and by then Andy had disappeared back upstairs and was in a meeting with Ruth and one of the social workers (they have five foster kids here all with social workers having meetings every six weeks) so I didn’t feel I could interrupt again. So I cried at Ady instead 🙁

I get really frustrated that so many hosts don’t really seem to know what to do with us when we are there, that the jobs they give us are menial, tedious and not related to WWOOFing type tasks at all. I don’t really know what the answer to that is and I can’t quite decide why it gets me so upset but it does and I start to think about how much an hour I’d charge for my time if someone asked me to quote for these sorts of jobs and I get even more upset. Anyway I calmed down, Ady offered to carry on with the job list and I took over the sanding and we agreed to ask to move out of the strawbale house.

This (surprisingly, I was worried about the dust from the sander making my face worse but it didn’t affect it) made everything seem brighter and lunch was called soon afterwards and we arranged to move into a spare room in the house. After lunch Ady carried on with the tasks on the job list (things like fix roller blind in bathroom and other such household maintenance type tasks) while I made up some filler for the holes in the door from sawdust and wood glue and filled all the gaps.

That took us to the end of our working day (we have fallen into a 10 ish to 4ish type pattern). We helped out with dinner, got the kids settled into bed and then brought out a bottle of wine to share with Ruth and Andy. Ruth and I stayed up later chatting about Home Ed, autonomy, parenting, fostering, why I don’t think we should be registered and monitored as HEors but can see her viewpoint as a long term foster carer who does indeed see the worst case scenarios of parents not getting it right. Interesting stuff.

I slept much better in the room, as did Ady and today all has seemed brighter and not so full of woe. I think it was a blip on my part with various contributing factors meaning I lost my sense of perspective on things a little. I do really hate tidying and sweeping though (yes and gardening and weeding, I know :oops:)

This morning we sanded down the door again where it had been filled and then gave it three coats of varnish with wire wool finishing after the first and second coats, then I put the door furniture back on and we re-hung it. Ruth was so pleased with it she gave us both a hug and kiss! Andy took the bathroom door off which I am now working on. It is far worse than the lounge door for paint left on it (they are reclaimed doors that have been dipped but still have lots of residue on them and holes that need filling) but it is better nick generally underneath.

We did a bit of salad and pea harvesting for lunch and dinner and then helped test the solar panel we constructed earlier in the week. It leaked 🙁 The silicone had not hardened off as it was not getting contact with air so it failed to seal it properly. We have dug that out and cut off the leaky edge and have plans to try again with that next week. Davies and Scarlett appeared for part of that so got involved in the testing and understanding how the principle worked, if not seeing a finished and working example. They also both had a go at sanding.

Ady went off with Andy to a neighbours property to collect from rocks and stones for some stone walling we’re doing next week while I carried on with the door. I think accepting that this will be a very mixed bag host task-wise but that they are lovely interesting people and now we’re in the house rather than the straw bale house things will be better I can easily manage the second week. Davies and Scarlett are enjoying it here and it’s sparking all sorts of interesting conversations about foster care, different ways of living and disabilities, special needs and so on so there is definite value here for all sorts of reasons.

After dinner Ady and Andy slipped off for a pint in the local pub when they gave a lift to one of the boys here somewhere and then Davies, Scarlett, Ruth and I played a game (Labyrinth) while Ady played another game with the two girls. The kids all went up to bed and we had a second beer and a further chat before calling it a night. We are potentially off tomorrow although we have said we’ll see what the weather is doing as it looks as though we will only get the one full day off and then various bits off here and there so don’t want to waste it on a rainy day when finer days are forecast and we could get the door finished.