Ouch!

A long time ago one of my brothers, and I'm so much younger than them that I don't know which one it was, stuck a fork through his foot whilst digging in the garden. This was much talked about during my childhood and I always thought that it was a pretty silly thing to have done. Hey ho, this afternoon I discovered just how easy it is and my (new this season) right Hunter welly has the bloodstain on it! I was working on the slope behind the summerhouse, doing more cutting back and weeding, all at an angle of course. The fork was more to help me stay upright by acting as a prop than to actually be used for digging so it was when I altered my position that I managed to stick it through the top of the welly. Only one spike went through, fortunately, but it was enough for the blood to come upwards through the boot. Just as well they're 'blood red' ones.

I wonder, can I use a cycle puncture repair kit to mend the boot?

Short back and sides for all

A few days ago whilst gardening under lowering skies it felt almost as if the summer had gone and autumn was already approaching. After the strong winds and heavy rain the grass was covered in leaves and broken off bits of tree and a lot of the flowers had been badly battered. So it was with a heavy heart that I started to cut back, tie up and try to salvage what I could and today all seems very different. We're back in summer again with glorious warm sunshine, and to prove it the sunflowers have started to bloom. What joy. A dose of mower (not to cut the grass, that hadn't grown, but just to remove the dandelions and fallen debris) and it's a different place altogether. So summer lives on, the first flush of blooms have all been trimmed back in the hope of a second flush and it seems a short back and sides is a good thing for all. Just as well since I too am off for a trim tomorrow - at the hairdressers that is!

Quintessentially English

Cucumber sandwiches, strawberry sponge, cups of tea and straw hats in the garden; just how traditional can you get? The only thing missing was the vicar, but we made up for that with our two special guests; both eminent ladies of the community who had expressed a wish to see the top part of the garden that their wobbly pins wouldn't let them reach by the normal route. So it was time to set to and clear the pathway to the rear gate and after making sure the twitten was also navigable we brought them in that way. Both were very taken with the garden, the view, and the tea time treats. A very enjoyable way to spend a Friday afternoon.