Worsening Weather

As I've mentioned in the earlier post, we now have a repaired fence. It's taken long enough time to find someone to do the work, that is, within a reasonable budget. We knew our beloved landlord wasn't going to do anything about it as he's tight-fisted, to say the least. As a result of the work we are now hoping to transform the garden so at least we can use it to sit in and enjoy. I think 'garden' is a somewhat loose term as it's got no beds or flowers in it or any vegetables in order to qualify it for 'garden.' I spent some time yesterday removing some rather unsightly objects from the 'space', such as a really ugly black plastic dustbin and a pile of four white plastic chairs which has been in the garden since we moved in. Also, an ancient barbecue and unsightly rubbish which is now inside the shed, or at least, what remains of the shed. The door to this hangs on one hinge, but at least this unsightly paraphernalia is out of sight and out of mind. I had considered getting the local council to remove it all, but it would have meant lugging it all through the house and placing it on the grass at the front of the house, and it would have meant a payment of around £20 for the council to come along and remove it, so the idea of it all going in the shed seemed a far better option all round. It seems that we have to contend with former tenants of this property who left oddments of furniture such as mattresses and the like in the shed (why they couldn't be disposed of to the local tidy tip I can't imagine. None of these items, particularly the mattresses are well past their best and not fit for use, having been in the shed in all the time we've lived in the house.) Well, when we look out of the lounge window we now have a better view without the junk in the garden and a decent fence in place. I had spent some time yesterday mowing the lawn and had intended finishing it today, but the weather has turned wet and it's impossible to mow grass when it's wet as well as being somewhat dangerous considering the fact that the mower is electric. So I will now have to wait until the rain stops and the grass is dry enough to cut.

Yesterday was reasonably fine and dry for most of the day. Which is what prompted me to get on with sorting out the garden. I got about three-quarters of it done. At around the time I usually go to meet Carol from the Academy, the sky darkened and it spotted with rain. I was going to walk over, as it's only a ten-minute walk, but had thought, it's no good walking, because we'll both get soaked because there was a very dark cloud looming over Milton Keynes. As I stepped out of the front door there was a rumble of thunder. Not good. Poppy doesn't like thunder. It's no good. I know she doesn't like it, but there wasn't a great deal I could do about it. I decided I'd have to drive over, even though it actually takes longer to drive than walk, which seems absurd. You can't get out through the exit which is opposite the Academy because of the traffic, so I have to drive round the estate and go out near the shops. By now it was raining hard, so it was just as well I had chosen to drive. But the joke was, by the timeI drew into the carpark at the Academy the rain had stopped and it was bright sunshine again. Just shows how crazy our weather is in this country. I got out of the car and saw Carol walking towards me. Suddenly there was an almighty clap of thunder and she screamed! She ran towards me and wrapped her arms around me. She doesn't like thunder or lightening! To be honest it never bothers me. I actually like a good thunderstorm. There's something elemental about it. It's exciting. But I don't think Carol would say that. She got in the car and she was glad to be going home.

I am in the process of transcribing my written material onto word processing. It's a somewhat time consuming job and not all that exciting, to say the least. But it must be done. I have several sequences written and I'm currently editing and revising these bits and pieces. I can do around 20 minutes at a time but no more as I can't type for much longer. My hands begin to ache. I think, if you were working in an office, you aren't supposed to work on a computer for more than 20 minutes at a stretch. So I have left off for today and will continue after the weekend.

Howling Gale and Getting Dark

I'm writing this at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I don't usually write this blog so late in the day, but why not break a habit? I suppose it's because I have something to write early in the morning. I don't altogether like it when the clocks change in October. I don't particularly enjoy the winter, although I enjoy Christmas. Dark evenings and getting up in the dark. And today there's the howling gale.  Storm Barnaby. Or so I'm told. Why have they started giving storms names? The first one last week was called Abigail or something. It seems they are to be alternately female and then male. But what on earth is the point of giving it a name in the first place? In America they give hurricanes names. So why do we have to copy everything that America does? And if we must have names for storms, can they have better names? Barney just makes me think of that awful mauve dinosaur thingy that used to be on television. Awful. Barney just doesn't suggest a storm of any magnitude to me at all. And what are they going to use for the next batch of bad weather? Camilla? Perhaps not. Cathy? Dennis? Edith? Fred? Gladys? Harold? Anyway, the wind is getting far stonger and at this rate the fence the opposite side of the garden to the side that got blown down last winter looks as if it' going to land up the same way.