Stings

[shewhomust]

There are two men in my back garden, dressed in orange head-to-foot, wielding sharp implements and buzzing at an ear-splitting volume. Is this Hornetman, a hitherto inknown superhero? No, they are tree surgeons. Not that 'surgery' is the first word you would think of, because the instruction we gave them was "Clear the lot!" Everything must go, the elder tree I unwisely planted and all its self-seeded offspring, the shrubs that a friend planted long ago and which are now taller than I am, the ash of unknown provenance which is suffering from ash die back (is that how you write it?), the brambles... What will I do thereafter, with the blank canvas? I don't know. One step at a time.

Last night I had my second vaccination, and this morning my arm is sore (thankyou to everyone who warned me that the second one may have more impact than the first). It was administered by my GP, who apologised for forgetting my name: "You're with durham_rambler, aren't you? I can remember him, because I saw his face on a piece of paper ..." "Ah, you live in our ward, do you?" I confirmed that durham_rambler was standing as an independent councillor, but shopped short of actually canvassing a vote.

We came home via Lidl, disconcertingly busy between five and six: I bought onions and couscous and a bottle of the riesling with a wombat on the label.

Comments

[sovay]

There are two men in my back garden, dressed in orange head-to-foot, wielding sharp implements and buzzing at an ear-splitting volume.

I like the idea of Hornetman.

[shewhomust]

They were certainly some kind of superhero - they have done so mucch, and so fast!

[cmcmck]

You're taking trees down while we're going to be putting them in!

[shewhomust]

I was thinking of you: you seem to have been so clear about where you wanted to end up, whereas I was just 'get rid of this problem, and then I'll think what to do next...' Now it's done, I'm feeling surprisingly positive about it!