Sunday 17th August 2025

After what was a hectic day of churchcrawling and football, Sunday would be a hectic day of gardening and churchcrawling.

Our village is on the North Downs, where they meet the English Channel at the White Cliffs, though we live a mile back, we are 180 feet above sea level.

The village has its own micro-climate, but the almost everlasting factor is wind. So, we plant hedges to break the wind, and to make garden calmer for us and our plants.

Which is all very well, but twice a year the hedges need clipping. A light trim in early spring, and a full Brazillian in high summer when the birds have finished nesting.

We know a man with a van full of tools,, and Ray came round on Saturday to do the big cut, leaving us to clear up the clippings.

Jools had done one bag on Saturday, but hurt her back, so we would do it as a tag team.

After breakfast. After coffee. And after second brews.

We rake the clippings into piles, then scoop the clippings into oversize bags, load them in the car until four bags fill it.

We had a tip run booked, so we take the bags to the council tip, then back home for a brew, and as easy as it would have been to put the rest off to Monday, we went out and finished up, even though there was no more slots at the tip, so that would have to wait until Monday.

So, an easy day.

After lunch Jools went swimming down the beach, while I stayed home to watch Ipswich draw, Chelsea's £250 million new front line fail to score, the Man Utd play better but still lose to Arsenal.

We have dinner, nothing fancy. I defrosted a tagine, warmed it in a fry pan, added boiled rice. And for something made 14 months ago, was wonderful.

We sat on the patio and looked at the fruits of our labours, nicely trimmed hedges and neat flower beds, and a mowed lawnmeadow.