Normality Resumes

Well, I'm back to normal now. It's been fun being a wizard for the last 48 hours but I don't think it will work out as a long term career change.

Yesterday I used my magical powers (as well as a thirty-year old pair of shears in need of a little bit of attention with a whetstone) to trim the hedge that runs along the side and in front of the house. My topiary skills are not highly developed but at least it looks a little more under control, now. I also hacked back the weeds that are growing in the beds in the yard so that we can do some real planting in them when we're off work in a couple of weeks.

On top of that I replaced the washing line in the back garden that snapped as I was loading it with washing a few weeks ago and trimmed the dead wood out of what we think is a clematis going wild along the back fence. It's in need of chopping right back and properly training along the fence but it will have to do for this year as it's already growing well and should provide a lot of colour in a few months.

In all I spent two or three hours outside and, although I was wearing a hat most of the time to protect my bald pate, I forgot the spell to protect my forearms and neck so they are a little pink today. Not badly burnt but enough to serve as a reminder for the rest of the year. I get a touch of sunburn once a year so it's good to get it out of the way now, with the whole of the summer still to come.

We're going out for lunch today; down to a lovely pub right alongside the canal; and then I'm determined to get a few things done inside the house; there are various things that need to go up in the loft and there's a myriad of little jobs that need doing in the bedroom so that we can get it decorated sometime soon.

All in all, it's a fairly busy weekend.