I'm feeling a bit battered today! This morning I woke early to R's loud snoring, with a bit of a hangover after the previous night's antics! I decided to have a lie on our new outdoor sofa, and it was so lovely to be outside, wrapped in a blanket, cup of tea in hand as the world woke up.
I had told my friend Liz I would support her this morning. She was leading a walk as part of the Bedfordshire Walking Festival, from Stotfold Mill to a few of the other local mills (there are a lot near us) and ancient Churches (eg, St Guthlac's in Astwick, one of only 11 dedicated to this saint in the UK). The weather was amazing, we were so lucky. Unfortunately, while talking to Liz about a new housing development about to be built on farmland (very contentious!), I lost my footing at the side of the lane and had a fall. I'm 42, but despite the fact I am not at all elderly I do fall quite frequently. Anyway, trying not to make a fuss I insisted I was OK and we carried on. About 5 minutes later at our next mill stop, one of the other walkers handed me some first aid supplies and whispered "you are bleeding quite badly from you arm". So I patched myself up! The other walkers were all lovely and I think quite entertained by my antics!
When we arrived at St Guthlac's, my friend Kate was there with homemade lemonade! It was so lovely to have a rest and learn about the ancient church. I had a wander around the graveyard too as there is a tomb that I love which is covered in skulls.
The walk home was interesting as we learnt about Stotfold Common and Liz got some old maps out, and I love looking at old maps! I didn't fall over again and had stopped bleeding by the time I got home, to be chastised by R for being clumsy and warned that I wouldn't be allowed out on my own again.
After a fantastic roast dinner cooked by R (such a treat!), I set to tackling the front garden. We have a low-level bin war with our adjoining neighbour, whereby they like to leave their bins on our property line and I like to move them. Yesterday I took action since they are on holiday and bought some plants and a planter. Now we have a lovely arrangement of grasses and herbs in the spot they like to place their bins (which is on our property). I weighted the planter down with bricks so they can't shove it over (as they have done with a heavy wooden bench we have out front for bin protection). I've taken photos to prove the planters are on our property and to show what they look like, then we will see what happens when they return from their holidays.
Today I attacked our hedge on the other side of the front door, which I like to keep well trimmed but couldn't touch for ages because we had birds nesting inside it. (No comments about well-trimmed bushes please.) The birds have fledged and aren't living inside anymore (they have relocated to another hedge nearby and are noisy blighters) so I decided to do my twice yearly hedge hack. I also swept and weeded, and I'm really pleased with how tidy everything looks. I did manage to gouge my other arm that wasn't injured from the walk fall on a branch (there is nothing sharper than a freshly cut hedge, or perhaps a baby's nails). But no blood was spilt.
My next task is to find out how to procure a Brittany Spaniel, which we have identified as our family dog of choice (we want an athletic dog that can run). Ideally I would like to get a rescue dog, but R is adamant if we are getting a dog it has to be suited to our family and young enough so we can train it. I dont know how you get dogs. I know about cats, they generally turn up in my experience, but if not you contact a local rescue and choose one, if you're lucky you can even pick a colour. Cats are cats, dogs are complicated.
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