Colder.

We did have some bright spells today but there were a lot of icy showers too. (That's hail in the yard.) I did manage to get out in the afternoon and put back all the boards that had fallen off half the side of the shed. I used screws rather than nails as I thought the whole shed might collapse if I started hammering nails into it. Once I had done that job I did some weeding in the ornamental grasses. I sat out one brief shower in the shelter but then the showers got heavier so I ran for home.

I did some rainy day jobs in the kitchen including spring cleaning my earring trees. Everything got a wipe and the few silver earrings had a polish too. (My very best silver and moonstone jewellery lives in its own boxes.) I like fun earrings and luckily I can wear cheap metal without reacting. The cutlery drawer got a clean out too. For some reason it always seems to be full of crumbs.The tv in the kitchen is out of action since the last big storm did something fatal to the aerial in the hedge at the top of the hill at the back of the house. Being down in a valley the radio never had very good reception so I used to listen to the radio through the tv. The other day I brought down a little radio but somewhere along the line the wire aerial had been broken and I couldn't get anything. I thought I was being quite ingenious when I taped the end of a pair of headphones to the wire, fixed the other end of the headphones to the window and got a reasonable signal. Then Peter suggested using some kitchen foil. I folded the foil to about 6" square and taped the radio wire to it. The result was perfect reception and it didn't matter where I put the foil. You learn something new every day. Peter has decided that it is cheaper to have the kitchen tv linked to the satellite signal we have for the sitting room tv than to keep paying for the man to come and fix the aerial.