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[October]

I have spent enough time here complaining that life is unfair, so it is time to stop all that and take a more positive approach.

So, on the good side, I have cut the back lawn today, and trimmed the bushes around the house some more, until the hedge trimmers broke.     I took them back to dad, and said, the good news is I have brought the hedge trimmers back.  The bad news is, they are not working any more.  He is going to try to fix them; I offered to replace them but he says they are very old anyway.  I said, let me know when they are mended, because I want to borrow them again.   

I cut my neighbour's hedge too, which was a good thing to do, because we had a nice chat, putting the world to rights, as you do.  A lot of the time I isolate myself too much, and it is easy to forget how important small chats with people are in reminding us of who we are. 

D went into town with a friend - I took them and later picked them up again.  They each bought a makeup set, which I think is so nice for them to do.  Exactly what two 13 year olds should be doing together.

What else?  Younger brother is coming tonight for a fortnight with m&d, so that will be nice.  He asked me what my fav whiskey is, so he might be bringing me some duty free, which will be lovely.  He brought me some London Dry Gin about 5 years ago, and it is still unopened, because I don't like drinking alone, and always forget to offer it to friends.  But I think I might manage the odd small whiskey, over the winter.  But it is just nice to be remembered.  When I was at m&ds they looked up his flight on teletext to see when it is due, six hours beforehand, which is kind of touching, really.  Now it is about an hour from landing, they will be watching all the time.   

So there we are, lots of nice, simple, positive stuff.  No need for high drama, which after all is the stuff of N lives.  Cut out the drama queens, and those who wreak havoc in our emotions, and keep with the garden fence stuff.

[Hopalong]

I loved your whole post, October.
And especially this:

how important small chats with people are in reminding us of who we are. 

It's exactly the kind of thing that my father did during his 40+ years in this town, that made the little clerk at the dry cleaner's burst into tears when someone took in his robe to be cleaned and she found out he was dying.

He made each little chat, each encounter, a dance of welcome.
And he always assumed everyone else was just as welcome as he was.

I think you and he would have gotten on wonderfully, October.
HAPPY SUNDAY and what the heck, Monday too! 

Hops

[October]

I loved your whole post, October.
And especially this:

how important small chats with people are in reminding us of who we are. 

It's exactly the kind of thing that my father did during his 40+ years in this town, that made the little clerk at the dry cleaner's burst into tears when someone took in his robe to be cleaned and she found out he was dying.

He made each little chat, each encounter, a dance of welcome.
And he always assumed everyone else was just as welcome as he was.

I think you and he would have gotten on wonderfully, October.
HAPPY SUNDAY and what the heck, Monday too! 

Hops

And the rest of the week to you, Hops!!   

What did your father do?  He sounds very special. 

[Hopalong]

He was a geography teacher.
I loved watching him draw maps when I was little.
(This was pre-computer...)

He worked in army intelligence during the war...a total nerd, he would never've made it through Basic, but he was commissioned to make maps for the allies. One of his officemates in Oxford was Ian Fleming, which impressed me terribly. 

Hops

[October]

He was a geography teacher.
I loved watching him draw maps when I was little.
(This was pre-computer...)

He worked in army intelligence during the war...a total nerd, he would never've made it through Basic, but he was commissioned to make maps for the allies. One of his officemates in Oxford was Ian Fleming, which impressed me terribly. 

Hops

I am impressed as well, so I don't blame you.   

I used to like drawing maps at school, but it is really hard to get every detail right, and not miss out a few inlets around the Scottish coastline, so if he could do that accurately, then he must have had infinite patience.   

[Hopalong]

Well, he did have great patience (he put up with me  ), mixed with a touch of OCD.
Perfect for maps. Professional perfectionism...carried over to doing things "just so" at home.

But he was so sweet it was not distressing, except when he was cooking and the directions would say "cube the celery". You could've played dice with Dad's celery cubes! 

Hops

[October]

Well, he did have great patience (he put up with me  ), mixed with a touch of OCD.
Perfect for maps. Professional perfectionism...carried over to doing things "just so" at home.

But he was so sweet it was not distressing, except when he was cooking and the directions would say "cube the celery". You could've played dice with Dad's celery cubes! 

Hops

That is so sweet!!  I don't think my dad would know what celery looks like, let alone be able to cook with it.   

[Portia]

Hops
My grandfather used to time his boiled egg with a stopwatch....very carefully. Eminently sensible too

the grass continues to grow October and all the trees here are very leafed and green. Where is autumn?

[October]

Hops
My grandfather used to time his boiled egg with a stopwatch....very carefully. Eminently sensible too

the grass continues to grow October and all the trees here are very leafed and green. Where is autumn?

I drove to see parents and yb earlier today, and thought that same thing.  Some trees are turning copper, but most are still green, and no sign of autumn, as you say.   

However, the hedgetrimmers are now mended, and I can now start to procrastinate finishing off the hedge once more.  Add it to the list of things to be put off til next week.   

My grandad used to hold an apple in two hands, and twist it into two halves, and then he used to say, who wants the biggest half, and then when we said we did, he would say, there is no biggest half.  Half means they are both the same.

I am not sure if we thought that was funny or not, but we liked the splitting an apple trick.   

[Portia]

October, why procrastinate today when you can put it off indefinitely? (it's too wet anyway!) The hedge top here is now too tall to cut. It's been liberated

I like the apple halved, must be a skilled technique. Like catching the newly bought jam-jar lid before it realises that you're going to open it (if you're too late and it senses your approach, it clings on to the jar and refuses to budge...obstinately...)....okay. Back to reality

are those words by my post stuff very trite?
i can't decide. Naff or not naff? Silly or sober? Hmmm. Maybe I'll do an advert instead! "Eat at Joe's"

[October]

October, why procrastinate today when you can put it off indefinitely? (it's too wet anyway!) The hedge top here is now too tall to cut. It's been liberated

I like the apple halved, must be a skilled technique. Like catching the newly bought jam-jar lid before it realises that you're going to open it (if you're too late and it senses your approach, it clings on to the jar and refuses to budge...obstinately...)....okay. Back to reality

are those words by my post stuff very trite?
i can't decide. Naff or not naff? Silly or sober? Hmmm. Maybe I'll do an advert instead! "Eat at Joe's"

Not naff.  Very sensible.  I like the idea of  indefinite procrastination.  Why do it at all, when it only needs doing again in the spring. 

The prob is, I managed my side of the hedge, and then the trimmers broke.  So I could leave it, but it looks as if I have fallen out with the neighbours, (even though the other side is, technically, theirs to cut) because I usually do it.  So I can't leave it too long...

However, there are black clouds gathering again, so maybe tomorrow will do.

Garden waste is due to be collected next Wed, so as long as I sort it before then, all will be fine.  Or after, for that matter ...

[Portia]

You know, i worry about us! You do their part of the hedge, i do my neighbours' lawns and have the muscles to prove it (just in the one arm, so it looks very lopsided). How about topiary.....?
There used to be a garden in nhbhn vbhbjhbhb (ha right number of letters!) which had hedge chickens and the like. Why do people....? I guess it's a passion (there's a fine line between 'hobby' and 'illness'  )

[pennyplant]

Naff?  Definition please?

PP

[October]

Naff?  Definition please?

PP

Kipper ties.  Wide lapels.  Leggings.  Anything with polka dots.   

[October]

You know, i worry about us! You do their part of the hedge, i do my neighbours' lawns and have the muscles to prove it (just in the one arm, so it looks very lopsided). How about topiary.....?
There used to be a garden in nhbhn vbhbjhbhb (ha right number of letters!) which had hedge chickens and the like. Why do people....? I guess it's a passion (there's a fine line between 'hobby' and 'illness'  )

I do their part of the hedge, because they probably haven't checked the deeds to realise that bit of my garden is actually their garden.  And because if they ever did find out and cut down 'my' hedge, I would be cross.  My whole house is surrounded by hedge or trees or something green.  Like the castle in Sleeping Beauty.   

So, finders keepers, and it is mine because I cut it and maintain it.