Garden leave

 Day 2

It didn't feel like Friday at all today! Sophie shut herself up in the conservatory to work, and after having breakfast and doing some odd jobs, I ventured out into the front garden. My aim was to tidy up a bit, rake up some leaves and that was it, but then I decided to cut back our Hypericum bush that was really straggly.

It was our garden bin day today but as we only had a few cuttings of grass and some old flowers in it, we didn't put it out. However, as I started cutting down the bush, I realised that all the branches would fill the bin completely, and then some! I also cut back a conifer that was way past its best so very soon I had a huge pile of branches that I needed to get rid of.

Keith came out to see what I was doing and started helping, which was a huge bonus. He went and fetched the bin, and we managed to fill it to the top, as well as having some more leaves and branches in another plastic box. Our next garden collection is two weeks away so we had no choice but to go to the tip with it all!

While we were putting all the stuff in the bin, Michelle came out for a long chat, which was great. We haven't seen her for a while so we had a lot to catch up on and Sophie came out as well to join in the chat. All plans to get together have had to be put on hold for the time being but hopefully, in December, we can meet up for a glass of wine, or two!

Thankfully, the waste and recycling centres are still open through this lockdown so we took the first load, and joined other people who all had the same idea! We struggled with the first bin load, but the second was much easier. However, on this visit, we had to queue for ages and we looked at the time anxiously as Mike was finishing soon!

Luckily, we were all done and home by 3pm so while Keith put everything back in the boot of my car I tried to tidy away as much stuff as I could, to keep it off the road. We still had another bin load, and after collecting Mike from an empty golf club, we headed home to finish off in the dwindling light.

It has been a beautiful, really Autumnal day today and perfect for working in the garden. By about 4.30pm we were finished, and everything looked a lot better. I cut the hypericum down to the ground, and we've decided to remove both conifers as well, just leaving another tall one in the middle. It's really opened up the garden, and Monty kept walking about as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing!

I went and had a hot bath as I was a bit achy, and then caught up with the news. We are still awaiting the outcome of the US elections - it's taking ages!

Dinner tonight had a German theme because Sophie and I bought a bottle of Riesling last week at Woburn. I'd bought smoked cheeses, sausage, German bread and a quiche for supper, and we enjoyed a Black Forest tart for pudding. The wine was lovely, but at £14 it wasn't worth the price tag, in my opinion!

Keith went upstairs to watch Newcastle play and Sophie and I enjoyed Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman. There was none of the usual, "Ahhh, it's Friday!" for me as now every day will feel like the weekend!