Better.

Much nicer weather today. At one point it was feeling positively hot in the garden though later it got cloudier and cooler again.

I had fun watching the blackbirds this morning. They've been busy disappearing into the long hedge down the side of the garden with beakfulls of nest material. That does mean I'll have to trim the hedge with the secateurs rather than the electric trimmer but I don't mind. 

In between gathering nest material they took a break for their breakfast of seeds. And if my 'room service ' isn't good enough then the house behind us keeps a bountiful bird table though it attracts many larger birds like rooks and jackdaws too.

A bit later they were finding their own food in the hedge at the end of the garden.

Today was one of those good days when I got everything I planned done. All apart from dealing with the two bags of carrots (8p per bag) that I bought planning to make carrot and swede mash for the freezer. Unfortunately the two swedes that I had were beyond rescue. Then I thought I'd have a go at blanching and freezing the carrots but quickly realised that I no longer have a suitable metal chip-pan type drainer so abandoned that idea. But I did get the next stage of Peter's costume done and have the dried fruit soaking in tea so that I can make a Bara Brith tomorrow.

Today's main job was sorting out the garden gate. One of the metal hinges had got bent in last winter's storms so I replaced that after giving both sides of the gate several coats of fence paint. That paint is weird, it has a gelatinous quality, like cold custard, and dries very quickly. By the time I finished painting one side of the gate the first sections were already dry. To make maintenance easier I had used the type of hinges that lift off the pins but I hadn't greased the pins when I first put the gate on so Peter had to give me a hand to lift the gate off. Before putting the gate back I gave the pins a thick coating of silicone grease to keep the hinges working smoothly. 

Once the gate was done I spent some time in the sun removing seedlings, dead leaves and stalks from the shingle. I find that a very satisfying job to do as it isn't too large an area to complete and I can take my time to appreciate all the plants growing in the shingle.

I finished off my day with disco aerobics. It wasn't quite so crowded tonight which was better for us.