The week that started 3rd February 2020

Botany

After my first introduction to botany lesson at the weekend, I recapped what I learned.

MonocotyledonsDicotyledons
alliums, e.g. garlic
cereals, e.g. rice, quinoa, corn
butcher’s broom
pretty much everything else

I saw a photo of the widest tree in the UK, a yew in Stafforshire at Shugborough Hall.

And I saw that holly bark has weird smooth bumps all over it. How had I never noticed that before?!

Extremely textured bobbly bark
Holly trunk

Also, I was ill. It sucked. But I rested. And I listened to Night Rain playlist, which helped.

Balance

Also, I had an epiphany about balance. I knew I’d been prioritising work socials over my own personal socialising. Kinda felt like I needed to. I realised I didn’t want to do that any more and decided to stop.

Part of that was reading about the 8 Hour Day movement, which was in a time when the average working week was 100 hours, rather than 40.

“Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what you will.”

How the weekend was won

Musing on a slogan from the time, I reflected that I was getting fewer than 8 hours for what I will, and resolved to address that.

Explored possible futures, that is, ideas around things I want to bring into or continue in my life, and next steps for those.