Sunday 20 February 2011

The weekend seemed as if it would go on forever...

...ordinarily, a fine idea, but this weekend included about 10 trips back and forth across many a rain swept hill and dale between Berkhamsted and Tring carting my lovely in-laws belongings from a 2nd storey flat (no lift) and a bungalow. (I nearly typed bingalow then, a name far better suited to such a small dwelling!)


The in-laws bingalow (for that is what it shall be called now) is actually rather lovely. They have a 24 hour warden on call - father-in-law is 80 and, although not entirely infirm (far from it really) it is a comfort to know there is someone on call. There is a little yard at the back that overlooks the church and a pub not 100 yards away, a big plus for himself, once he gets his pub-legs back that is.


So much of the "stuff" we carted from one lovely Hertfordshire town to other was unnecessary that I reckon we could have done it in a couple of goes if they had been brutal. I did take a large load to the tip this morning in my trusty old Volvo - The Belgrano I call it, in honour of the those poor bastards Thachet torpedoed all those years ago (and no that is not a misspelling of Thatcher!) The Volvo, "Belgrano", is big and battleship grey, de ahí el nombre.


The back is very very sore, but I did do a lot of digging last week so a combination of the two has taken it's toll. You see I have an old injury to the base of my spine. Three vertebrae were damaged when I was 8, when I was run down by a Jaguar driven by one of my classmate's dads. My father told him if he didn't want me to come round after school any more he only had to say and that running me over was a bit extreme. This is a true story and I swear me dad actually said those words. The upshot is that if I turn too abruptly a cartilage "pops" out from in between a couple of the said vertebrae and it smarts. Since I have been gardening full time though, the back has been - touch wood - fine. Just very achy at times. It's lucky it is getting stronger 'cos the chiropractor is getting ridiculously expensive.


I digress, the weekend. The in-laws are in their nice bingalow and we are at home with a nice bottle of Spanish red settling in to watch South Riding, followed with a good portion of Being Human. Sometimes hard work prepares you for the beautiful things in life and sometimes those beautiful things include the BBC. God bless her and all who prevail in her...


Happy tweaking!