I accompanied Jane to the venue for an evening meal with her archery club friends on Saturday and we arrived a little late, the last to arrive in fact but we settled down and soon found ourselves enjoying each others company. A few of the regulars came over and greeted us personally which was nice. I suppose there were about forty or more guests in our group but in other areas of the restaurant were more groups of people celebrating birthdays. It appeared to be a popular place and I imagine the restaurant to be filled most evenings. I am not sure when Jane and I left but it was getting late when we did. Jane took me back home before returning to Liverpool for the night. She said she would be travelling to Brighton sometime on Sunday as I recall but using the train services rather than her car. I seem to remember her saying she hadn’t as yet received her residents parking permit so was leaving her car in Liverpool for a couple of weeks. I gave her a hug and she was on her way. I didn’t go to bed immediately as I wasn’t that tired but eventually hit the sheets around 4 o’clock having forwarded all the house clocks by an hour so technically speaking I really went to bed around 3 o’clock I suppose. I was dressed and eating my breakfast at 9 o’clock but was still a little tired. Around noon I decided I had to get motivated and mow the grass which was by now getting rather long but I hadn’t taken into account that it was still mostly wet with dew. The sun was shining but only half the lawn was in sunshine. Part of the lawn, that which is closest to the rear of the house, doesn’t receive full sunshine until we are nearer summer and then only in the morning or around sunset. The rear garden is on the north side of the house but most of it is in full sunshine at some point in the day and some parts all day during the summer months. So I set up the extension lead  and mower and began to cut the grass. I got about a quarter of it done, that part which was in full sunshine and then began to struggle somewhat because of the dew that had elsewhere remained. I took a break for lunch and returned to complete the job later hoping that the grass had dried enough by then. It hadn’t. I struggled but found I could still cut the grass by pulling the mower backwards rather than forwards as it didn’t clog up the blade as quickly. It still took me a couple of hours where normally I could get it done in forty minutes when it is dry. It may have been easier with the larger petrol-driven mower we have but it was out of fuel and it needs servicing. What I might do is purchase a hover mower for use when the grass is damp as they are not affected in the same way as other mowers but they don’t really cut the grass as short as I’d like. Nevertheless having one would enable the grass to be cut much more quickly and I could always use the other mowers when it is drier weather. By the time I’d done the lawn I was really exhausted but I found the strength to get out the heavy wooden garden furniture that had been stored in the old garage over the winter months and put it into the patio area. I noticed that the floor paint I’d put on the patio concrete floor had peeled away in many places. The concrete had been treated with a sealant to keep out the water and the paint is supposed to be suitable for outdoor use but eveidently it isn’t! I doubt I shall repaint it though. I didn’t rake off the grass cuttings, I was too tired but that can be done during the week. Gardening is hard work especially if it hasn’t been done in months! The garden plants are in full bloom and I took some photographs while the sun was still shining on them…..

Shirley Anne