Monday, 3rd April, 2023

[Day 1113]

The day dawned cold and bright so we anticipated that eventually it might be a fine day for a walk in the park. But first thing this morning, I needed to check on the condition of Meg’s hand which she injured on cut glass when she had a fall yesterday. I had put a cotton white glove on her left hand so that if any plasters became detached during the night, we would not a seepage of blood all over the place. By the cold light of day, the injury to Meg’s hand seemed to be confined to one particularly deep cut on her little finger but the other abrasions were sufficiently superficial to ignore and let them heal themselves. I found a variety of plasters and so I plastered up Meg’s hand sufficiently well so that she could wash and dress without too much difficulty. Although I had originally intended that we would visit the local Minor Injuries unit in a local hospital, on reflection I thought that they would probably take off one plaster and put on another so there was not a lot of point in spending hours in a local hospital, particularly as Monday morning would have to be a bad day for minor injuries. So Meg and I breakfasted and then set off for the local park, via the newspaper shop where I picked up our reserved copy of our daily newspaper. In the park, it was pretty cold so we drank our coffee and were preparing to return home when we were greeted by a lady who recognised us from our walks in the park throughout the months and years. As is often the case, the dog always bounds up looking for treats which then leads on to apologies for the pet’s intrusive behaviour before the conversation leads on to other things. It transpired that we had a shared interest in damson jam and damson gin. As I have several bottles of ‘spare’ damson gin in the garage, waiting to be drunk, I said I would bring one along with us next Thursday, on our next park visit. Our new found friend promised some damson jam in return and we discussed whether we both might try our hand at making some rhubarb gin. This is something that neither of us has ever done but if we are donated sticks of rhubarb, then we both might try our hand at it.

After lunch, the weather was still set fair and may even have warmed up a little since this morning, so I thought it would be a great afternoon to give the lawns their second cut of the season (the first being exactly a week ago) I made sure that Meg was wearing a nice warm coat plus hat so I sat her down on our bench at the front of the house so that she could observe my progress whilst I cut the communal grass at the front of our house. I must have been gone about a couple of minutes to don my gardening trousers and boots but when I returned, Meg was nowhere to be seen. I made a quick ‘reccy’ up and down the main Kidderminster Road to see of she had decided to visit our Italian friend again but then found her, safe and sound, inside the house of our next door neighbour enjoying a cup of tea and a biscuit. Naturally, it was good to be reunited with one’s wife but we spent a pleasant hour in our neighbour’s company before we had to take our leave of each other to get our jobs done. So the lawn mowing was started fairly late and our newest neighbours, recently returned from a two month sojourn in India, offered to lend a hand. He has a gardener calling around tomorrow so there is always the possibility that this gardener might be able to spare us some hours each month, particularly as his van and tools will all be immediately to hand. The lawns having been successfully cut for the second week, it was time to come in and immediately prepare a light tea for Meg and myself.

We are hoping that the weather stays fine for the next few days as tomorrow is our Waitrose+Pilates routine for a Tuesday and the day after that, if it is not pouring down, we intend to pay a visit to Alcester which is a pretty Georgian town some 15 miles distant. If the weather turns out to be rainy and blustery, we may have to revise our plans but, as we all know, April can be the most fickle of months. Still, it is rather fairly heartwarming to know that the seasons are on the turn and we are more than likely to bump into, and to chat with, neighbours as we all start to think of the outdoor jobs that needed to be started now that Spring is here. I like to give all of the gullies separating our lawns from the adjacent flower beds a really good working over at this time of year because apart from improving the appearance of the garden, it also gives the opportunity to attack any large perennial weeds before they start to proliferate again.