Friday 25th March 2016

Thursday

The final working day of the week. I suddenly feel that I really need a four day weekend. Good job then that it what we have this weekend. Saying that, it is always a pleasure to work from home for a week, getting stuff done and then being able to go out and sit in the back garden when I make a brew, if the weather is warm enough. Jools hoped she would have a short day, but it wasn't likely. I wave goodbye to her at seven and make another coffee, then find out that all the tins of grapefruit segments I bought early in the week were all in juice and not syrup and sharp as an ex-wife's tongue.

Breakfast done, I settle down to the main task of the day; travel expenses. I have a new way of doing them, and it should more environmentally friendly, with no printing of invoices, just using existing PDFs. We'll see if anyone notices. I have three to do, and have all the receipts separated, so its a case of making sure they go in the right folder once scanned, then sending them to my work mail, adding the other PDFs and forwarding them onto my boss for authorisation. It takes less than half an hour, and I had been putting it off all week if truth be known, and wasn't hard at all. So I reward myself with a cuppa and a couple of ginger nuts, because, you know, as a manager I should reward good work and all that.

I have to update paperwork, send that off to people who won't read that until after the weekend. And by midday I was really done. The forecast was for rain later in the afternoon, but for now, a weak sun shone from behinfd the thin clouds, so I decide to mow the lawn for the first time this year. With the new beds, its a little more complicated now, and I won't get the stripes on the grass, but then its mostly moss anyway in places, so, just have to find some work boots, some enthusiasm and then try to get the mower started.

Once I tug on the starting chord a few times, the mower roars into life, under a cloud of blue smoke. I let it run a few minutes then set about the preparation work, handcutting the grass near to the wooden edging of the new beds. This involves bending down, stretching calf muscles and the such. My legs are not impressed. But I get it done, finally fill the mower with gas, fit the basket and away I go. Up and down, round and round, across and in about half an hour it is done, and despite being just the first cut, because no matter what Rod the Mod says, the first cut should never be the deepest, it looks much better and almost tidy.

I am tempted to treat myself to a beer, there is a large bottle of Leffe that has been chilling all week, but instead make a coffee and sit down with a bowl of Amoretto ice cream and watch some dudes in Vegas rebuild a hot rod; I have no idea why this is interesting, maybe because such things would be beyond me, but it passes an hour and I eat all the ice cream.

I amke breaded chicken and lentil dahl for dinner, all ready for when Jools arrives home at six, having had to go via Tesco for some milk.

Let the four day weekend begin!

Top fo the Pops from 1981; some documentaries on archaeology. And bed. Phew.

Outside the rain hammers down, but a badger sits at the base of the bird table, munching on peanuts and fat balls, apparently not noticing. Is it raining?