After two years of waiting, we finally got an allotment a couple of months ago! We've been working on it since we got it and it has definitely evolved.

Our first obstacle was figuring out which allotment was ours. We were sent a map of the allotments, but the boundary lines between the plots were not always clear and it was easy to assume many of them were abandoned (possibly because it was just after winter). We had two contenders, but after some more careful mapping between the provided map and the observable space, we identified our plot.

It was super overgrown and both of us, having desk jobs, were itching to get active, so we dug and turned over most of the grass across several weekends. It was tough, but therapeutic to use our full body to actively dig and work in nature. Growing up in a bustling city, I preferred to stay distant from insects, but through working on the allotment, I grew to appreciate the earthworms, ants, and other creatures that I deemed as "creepy crawlies".

When we first started the allotment, we heard the advice to start planting something immediately and so we did. We scattered random seeds everywhere, but later found that it was difficult to tell between the weeds and what we planted. That's how we learnt to propagate seeds first.

Propagating the seeds and bulbs was so much fun. It was so rewarding to watch the seeds sprout and grow their first leaves. Every day I would get excited to see the plant babies and watch how they have changed. Sitting them on the windowsill of the office made it very convenient for me to watch them throughout the day.

Once the plant babies seemed ready, we planted them into the allotment. We planted onions, garlic, potatoes, beetroot, carrots, bell peppers, and mixed seeds. Some unfortunately did not make it, some got eaten by mystery animals, but some grew.

Nowadays, we do less digging and more watering and weeding. Our plan for the rest of the year is to focus on our two strips of planted babies for now and prepare the other two strips for next year. Let's hope it all goes well!

For my birthday, I documented the celebration with my new Kodak Charmera Digital Keychain camera. It was a gift from my childhood friend. My first impression of it was that it is tiny! The whole camera fits well within the palm of my hand. It is also definitely not built for taking quality photos.

Using the camera made me nostalgic. It was fun playing with the different filters and capturing the tiny moments of the day regardless of how ordinary they were. Knowing that the photos were going to be grainy and imperfect was somehow relieving. It reinforced the intention of the photos being used for documentation, rather than presentation. It was more important to capture authentically in the moment than ensuring they were carefully curated and polished.

Here are the photos displayed as contact sheets, formatted using 8storeytree's online tool.

This is one of my favourites from the day:

(Unfortunately the timestamps in the photos are wrong. I didn't set the date correctly. A lesson for next time!)

I had a little fun in the beginning of this year making a game based on my go-to comfort food, instant noodles, using Scratch! It is inspired by my dad's voice in my head telling me not to overcook the noodles whenever I cook instant noodles. He taught me to follow the instructed time on the packet (usually 3 mins) in order to avoid soggy noodles. Here's a little game for that memory!