I have sunshine again, after the hiatus it took yesterday. It’s a bit breezier today, so I doubt I’ll see any reverse-base-jumping spiders.

It’s a noisier day, too. The kids are back in school this week, and while we don’t live that close it, they are loud. They are apparently at recess, or whatever it’s called here. Lots of screams and shouts, and the occasional thwack of foot on ball. Or head on ball, if they play team sports like I did.

My washing machine is on, too. Doesn’t sound good when it spins, clunk whump rattle. I might have a look next spin cycle and hope it is just all the crap we piled on top rattling around, and not an imbalance. I hate trying to figure those out.

I also hear the ever-present rooks, ravens and crows chattering away to themselves and each other. Sometimes one will perch on top of our chimney and giggle to itself. Imagine a dirty old man telling jokes in a dark corner of a pub, and snickering at every line. Sounds quite creepy coming down the flue.

No cow calls today, nor donkeys, nor chickens. Too late in the morning for them, I suppose. Perhaps they are all too happy with the sunshine to complain.

We need to cut the grass. Its been wet for so long the task is a difficult one. The garden is small, and we have limited storage space, and we try to be green – so our mower is one of those old fashioned rotary push mowers. Fuel is expensive, too, but both of us have plenty of calories to burn! It works great when it is dry, not so much when your lawn is a thin layer of grass floating on very slippery mud. We need to borrow someone’s petrol (gas) mower desperately. It would be nice to have the last cut of the year be an even one. Currently it looks like hell, and the dog doesn’t like to poop in tall grass. I hate sweeping the floor to clear the little loose bits that follow us inside, too – Spot eats them, then of course barfs them up again. I rake, but my back doesn’t like it, and our compost bin is full.

I also need to ask Himself if he’ll help me winterize my potted plants. I don’t want to leave them sitting in trays full of water when the frost starts. It’s difficult to pick a day to do this, however. A sunny day is a good one for working, but also makes winter seem so far away. It’s such a mess out here, though. You’d never believe I pressure washed the lot back in April. In any case, the blueberry bushes are in big pots and I shouldn’t be trying to lift them. Then I’ll have to wash and store the trays somewhere. That’s the part I’m really not looking forward to, our tiny shed is unbearably cramped since the Weber grill iDJ lusted after was found on sale and moved in.

The kids have gone to lunch. I hear a high flying jet, and a truck beepily backing up somewhere in the distance. And my washer, which sounds much better now. Maybe it was just a hairball.