Sunny Sunday

 

Such a beautiful day here after yesterday’s storm.  Blue sky, sunshine and just a murmur of wind. 

 

It’s Sunday so after a quick sprint in the gym I’m having a relaxing day.  Paul has his chef hat on today and is cooking paella for dinner tonight.  We’ve just a gin martini each because I decreed that 11.00 a.m. was cocktail hour .  Rick had a gravy bone biscuit so he wasn't left out.

 

I’ve just spotted the first dwarf iris in bloom among the Nemesia (that has continued to flower all winter), a nice sign that Spring is not far away.

 

WIndy Day

 

There is a gale blowing outside – two of our loungers have just rolled across the patio, their plastic covers acting as sails!  The wind has got stronger throughout the morning, it was definitely not blowing so much when I took Rick out earlier. 

 

I’ve had a busy morning, I like to get my jobs done before midday.  I mopped the kitchen floor and did some ironing.  I groomed Rick.  I vacuumed the leaves from the tiled passageway outside the kitchen door and mopped the area; it gets very muddy with paw prints.  A pointless exercise today really, another pile of leaves had gathered by the time I came back indoors.

 

I can smell wood smoke, surely no one would have a bonfire in this weather!  More likely someone has lit their wood burning stove.   There was a huge fire in a neighbouring village on Thursday  - 30,000 straw bales went up in smoke apparently caused by some nearby piles of woodchips self combusting.

 

straw bales going up in smoke

Paul is currently climbing a mountain on his bike in the gym.  Kat is also climbing the same mountain in Brize Norton and they are chatting together as they cycle.  The wonders of technology.  Me?  I rode up a volcano yesterday so I'm putting my feet up now.

 P.S.  The fire has re-started in the high winds and the skyline is glowing this evening. 

Chainsaw Nightmares

 

Every time I heard Paul fire up the chainsaw when we lived in France I used to shudder, fearing that he would sustain some horrible injury.  Of course it was an essential piece of kit at our home in the French countryside and so I became accustomed to its horrible whine.  Needless to say I felt very relieved when there was no room for the old petrol driven chainsaw in the trailer when we moved back to England.

 

Our garden in Lincolnshire is quite modest in size.  The boundary on the northern edge has a line of Poplar trees that have grown up over the years on a strip of land that doesn’t appear to belong to us or the paddock on the other side.  The Poplars are far too high to be tamed but Paul was keen to cut down some smaller trees and undergrowth that were starting to encroach on the garden.  Yep, you guessed it – he needed a new chainsaw!

 

A few days ago I was busy indoors and Paul was outside tidying the garden; it was a cold but wonderfully sunny day.  I stepped outside and was met by this sight…

 

"I'm going to tie this rope around the tree and I need you to pull it towards yourself away from the power lines"

Apparently he didn’t want to worry me so he had quietly proceeded to cut down some trees!  His new battery operated chainsaw is very quiet so I had been oblivious to what he was doing.  Whatever next!

Another Milestone

 

Next week I reach another of life’s milestones when I become eligible to claim my old age pension.  I’m not sure whether to be depressed by this thought or slightly smug that I have survived long enough to qualify!  I am grateful that I currently enjoy relatively good health and try to maintain this by cycling frantically in the roof gym at least three times a week, daily dog walks and sensible eating.  I’ve actually managed to lose 8 kgs this year and my hips and knees have thanked me for it. 

 

We had a wonderful family Christmas, finally reuniting with Sarah after three long years. Kat was also on leave from the RAF so it was just like old times being together and having fun and laughter.  We had a magnificent Christmas tree in the garden room and the girls did a great job of decorating it (I only had to rearrange two baubles this year!).  I insisted it should stay in situ until after the girls had gone home.  Unfortunately by the time we took it down the tree resin had leaked all over the floor and I spent hours trying to remove the sticky mess from the carpet.

 

January is now very quiet.  Too early to do much in the garden.  I need a new project.