Today I've been...

green - no need to

Sounds fun green and pleanty to look at

I have been trying to tidy up & reclaim the garden today as the paving work almost complete! I cut the grass which, if it does not recover by end of Sept, I may have to re-seed or re-turf! Still got to have the drive repaired where the heavy delivery lorry damaged it and get sleepers put in to edge the sloping bed at the back..then I can plan the planting! Rome, and my garden were not built in a day!!

....singing at a lovely country wedding in the ancient Knights Templar church across the field from my home. Wonderful! The flowers were amazing.

And we are singing at another tomorrow in our neighbouring village.

That sounds like a fabulous wedding, Mishap - how lucky were the happy couple to have a lovely day and a lovely choir.

That sounds lovely Mishap

Doing bare-bow archery, and liking it in preference to the high tech approach that DH favours. One of our instructors shoots bare-bow (like archers of old is all it means – no sights except your own eyes and so forth) so I knew he could teach me some skills. His wife has all the tech stuff.

Then we went to see the film "Brave". Great fun. Go if you get the chance!

Does this mean you're shooting in the nude?

Brrr up there. And the midges!

Yore mad[ confused]

Is that like the old English long-bow, Bags?

I'm using a modern recurve bow. Don't think I could pull a long bow. But I can't use a 'sight' attached to the bow, just have to aim along the arrow the old way, which is a lsightly different technique from using a fixed sight. Similar to long bow shooting in that sense, but with a smaller bow.

Midges not a problem today (even in the nude). There was a stiff easterly blowing .

DH also uses balancing rods which, in my opinion, make it all look a bit clunky. I'm going for the lightweight, streamlined approach or, as I think of it, getting down to the bare bo(w)nes of the skills. [sorry! (not)]

So you do shoot in the nude!

Pictish ancestry no doubt! [sage, nodding head ] emoticon

Nae doot, jeni

Today - well, this weekend - I'm angry because my DS2 has been made redundant from a job for which he was head-hunted about six years ago. He's given so much to that job and sacrificed his personal life to it. I hope that he will now get something that, even if it doesn't pay so much, will enable him to reclaim his fitness and his family life. His redundancy pay will see him through a difficult time and his partner has a good job, but he is, rightly, worried about the long term.

Good luck to him Annobel. There are still jobs around and some movement across companies. My SIL has just moved before the risk of redundancy increased and been able to get a more secure position.

Annobel I hope things improve soon for him,

Annobel, it'll be such a disappointment for him (and you), after having put so much into the job. At least he has a bit of money there as a cushion until he finds his next job - and he will! He sounds like a very sensible and hard working man.

Good luck to him! I hope he finds something he likes.

Thanks everyone.

Hope you feel better about it before you go to bed annobel . The working world can be brutal.
Spent the weekend with DH. No cycling, no MIL nada. Needed to catch up.
Had a good cry, long overdue.
Went for a walk on Dunstable Downs - great view, lovely day, nice newish NT visitor centre, people flying kites.
Tried the Bedfordshire Clanger - local version of the pasty it seems only a different shape. Bacon and veg at one end, rather sweet apple filling at the other. Lovely warm evening so sat in the garden.

I've heard about those two-fillings pasties, Jess. I'd be worried about the crossover point - being a bit fussy about tastes!

Jess Good to hear the day ended well, sitting in a warm garden.

annobel sending positive thoughts for your son xxxx

Best of intentions - to grub up a lot of weeds but it hasn't been a very nice day here - windy to start with and wet later. Took GD to lunch - yummy fish pie! And then Aldi, inevitably. There's always something needed in a student household. Spent the afternoon trying to finish the current Trollope (not Joanna) and kept falling asleep. The weeds will still be there tomorrow!