Grey.

Yesterday I could see the beech leaves falling like golden rain. All very poetic but today my more practical side thought I had better check the gutters at the back of the house. I've been trying to avoid the more strenuous chores so soon after my operation but I didn't think climbing the ladders would be too much. Indeed it wasn't and a good thing that I checked the gutters as they were full of leaves. Golden leaves on top and a nasty slimy sludge underneath. Although it is 2 stories high, being the old part of the house the back is not so high and I keep the roof ladders in position. Its only a matter of up and down the ladders a few times and shifting one of them along so that I can reach right to the end.

However being up the ladders gave me a good view of the stream. I could see that Vytas had made a fine job of piling big stones over the water pipe but the recent flood had brought down a lot of smaller stones and gravel. These had been deposited on the bends in the stream and while curves are aesthetically pleasing they change the dynamics of the stream which then starts to erode the banks. (When I did geography at school I found it very depressing that landscapes are constantly changing.) So I put on our only pair of wellies that don't leak  and spent several hours shifting gravel and stones from one place to another. Now the stream has been straightened up a bit, Vytas' hard work covered with more stones and the eroded spots filled in. Not a permanent solution but it should keep things under control. Oh and I still managed to fill one boot with water as much of my work was done crouching in the stream. I saw a few small fishes in the stream and disturbed a couple of frogs as I worked.