Mother's Day duty in the south

It doesn't matter how old your mother is or how old you are, she is still your mother and you are still the child when Mother's Day comes round. So we have done our duty and been down south to see both of our mothers. Despite the miserable weather we drove down to Weybridge in record time and were rewarded with a tramp around Weybridge in the rain. Then it was off to see my mother-in-law to try to sort out a problem with the purchase of the retirement flat that she is buying. Saturday dawned bright and sunny and we were off to Sussex to see my mother. She too, should be thinking about moving but won't. We went out for a meal with her. I had to cut up both her starter and her main course as if I were the mother and she were the child. Looking at our mothers getting old is no fun, but my mother at least is blissfully unaware of what is going on. By Sunday our duty was done. Our reward was a walk around Wisley before we set off back to Chester.

Free surgery

At last we have got to the top of the tree surgery waiting list. We only went on it, in May of last year, when a young man from Scottish Power came round to ask for permission to prune the trees, in our front garden that grow into the power lines. I am sure that we have waited longer than we would have done on the NHS. But hey, it was free and painless to us. It hasn't hit our pockets and we have been left with wood for our log fire. Now the trees which had looked over grown look severe, stark and bare but it's cosmetic - they will soon grow again, it's like going to the hairdressers.

Life in the cold

There is no need to be watching Sir David Attenborough's Life in Cold Blood we have our own life in the cold here, never mind the blood. Our cottage backs onto a dairy farm so we have cows in the field at the end of the back garden. To the front there are sheep normally in a field when they are not finding their way into our front garden and eating the plants. During the last week I have seen a fox and rabbits. Then there are the regular visitors to our garden - grey squirrels and robins plus moor hens and ducks from the neighbouring pond. Who needs to be watching television when they can see the real thing?

Openings

What a weekend! Up at he crack of dawn on both Saturday and Sunday - for two joiners come to change our doors. Early mornings and Sundays don't suit me, I have decided. I have felt tired and out of sorts all day. It is some time since we had work men in the house and it is surprising how quickly you forget what they are like. Within minutes of their arrival the old front door had been removed and we had a gaping hole on both days, as on Saturday a tool had been forgotten. Gradually the doors got changed from old to new. Initially handle less and then with handles. And the house filled up with sawdust. However, now the job is done and the joiners need to be paid, which is probably going to be nearly as painful as getting up early on a Sunday morning. On a more positive note we now have a bag full of sawdust and eight new doors, which need painting.