So we’ve had a delightful couple of days. Well. A busy couple of days. Friday we caught up on some cleaning, then on Friday night headed down to Cornwall to see my mum. The weather on Saturday was stunning. Seriously, it was proper summer weather and we piled into Chester and headed down to my mum’s fave swimming beach.
Down on the beach I actually did the holiday thing of sitting and reading (I’ve just this morning finished Terry Jones’ Evil Machines which I was happily reading on the beach. Whilst I won’t say it’s his best work, and honestly, the ex-python still seems to struggle writing believable women, it was an entertaining little romp and I was quite happy to have read it – I’m off into Metroland next). Anyhow, once the sea was slightly less full, and somewhat closer, I used my mother’s old swimming costume (my mum had lent me and Kathryn costumes) and we wandered into the sea. I’m not the strongest swimmer in the world, but had great fun with my breast stroke. Although there was a bit too much breast at one point, as my loaner ancient and de-elasticated costume decided to make a break for freedom. Thankfully I was facing out to sea, and a quick grab and the wardrobe malfunction was rectified. Kathryn then used her headscarf to tie the straps together a bit, and lo, I was safe to swim.
It was fantastic. Quite simply, it was fantastic.
Then we lazed on the beach for a bit, drying off, before heading home for Fish and Chips and a very long drive home. Not as long as if we take the new iMiev; nor to be honest as long as it’ll feel in the minor, but hey.
Today we’ve spent nearly all of the day sorting the garden – after a pleasant breakfast with Nikki, Kate and Kids at Jika Jika – although their Eggs Florentine is exceptionally salty (Kathryn’s dish – but we do cook with almost no salt). Their Eggs Benedict was very nice though.
On the way back we stopped off to collect 3 bags of topsoil, then having got home, changed and back into the cars we took them both over to St Andrews to collect more top soil. That done in the sweltering mid-day heat, we dragged it home and back out of the cars before taking a break for lunch and to let some of the noon-day sun wash away. At this point I set up the second of the iphone time-lapse apps I’ve bought, and set it to take photos of our garden works…
So where’s the time lapse you ask? Well, clearly I’d misunderstood, because I thought it took time lapse photos; what it actually does is after a few moments in time it lapses into senescence – dying rapidly afterwards. 37 photos it managed. At least LapseIt managed to take all the damn photos. O-lapse or whatever the hell it’s called managed 37 before dying for no indicated reason.
Is there a reason why iPhone apps are so unable to give any kind of error message. Most of the ropey ones I’ve encountered do seem to just ‘quit’.
Anyhow, we worked like dogs on the garden today. The one tiny patch that’s meant to become lawn has been raised up a fair bit – and edged so that we can fill the edged bit with gravel (that which I’ve not filled with rubble) and then pop some nice pots on top of it. The trees have been hacked down from the bushes they were growing up inside of. The grass has been cut, many of the beds weeded. The massive wooden planter/trough has been emptied of soil and moved to it’s new location. The dead bits of tree that were in that location have been moved to the site that will be where the greenshed will be. When we build it.
But of course, because the timelapse didn’t work, you’ll just have to take our word for it.
There’s more to do, but tomorrow I need to spend some quality time down in the garage making it possible to get a Mitsubishi iMiev in there…
