Wet.

It was dry when I went out for my morning cup of tea but then rained for the rest of the day.

When I sat outside apart from some interesting shading on the horizon the sea was flat and uninspiring. Instead I turned my attention to the sky. Above me fluffy clouds, grey and full of rain were being blown inland by a westerly wind and higher still wispy and bumpy clouds were bright white features on a clear blue sea, or so it looked to me. A dunnock sat on a stem above the hedge and had a singing competition  with a rival in the next garden. Soon after the female blackbird had a drink from the birdbath and then changed her mind about having a bath after dipping her toes in the cold water. Instead she began to make her way up to the terrace. First stop was the edge of the pond, then she came closer, disappeared from view reappearing at the edge of the terrace. A quick shimmy under the glass and there she was ready for her breakfast of seeds. A male blackbird came to join her but was not as brave, or as hungry and only snatched a few seeds before flying onto my neighbours' roof.

I had just stepped outside the back door ready to collect my tools from the garage when down came the first big drops of rain. As I was already togged up I decided to pretend it wasn't raining and keep on gardening until I got too wet. Luckily my workman's coat kept me dry from the stop start kind of rain. The rain had truly set in by the time I stopped but that's another phase of the work done. All the top layer of weeds and roots is up and Peter has been taking most of it in bags to the dump. I've taken some too and the builder took one load to his field as well. 

My final job of the day was to go through my box of curtain fittings, sorting which to keep, which to give away and which to throw. Before we moved I amassed a collection of all the things you might need for putting up curtain poles and making curtains. Now that all the windows are sorted (it's hard to remember the miserable time when all we had was translucent plastic stuck over the windows along the street side of the house) I can clear out the extras. I would buy things like curtain rings and finials (the knobs to go on the ends of curtain poles) at a fraction of the cost in one particular charity shop in Barnstaple and they have proved very handy. The left over metal finials can be put on top of garden stakes as part ornament and part safety feature. 

Later I went off down to the hall for my weekly Pilates session which helps sort out the aging muscles.