Post 118 part de deux - that'll be 119 then...

Here are then, this week at work. There was rain, hail, sunshine, freezing winds and lots of tea, nice...

One of the jobs I do is at two blocks of flats in Berkhamsted. Don't really like it but the plus is that I grab a cheeky pint at The Rising Sun pub, which is undoubtedly the best pub in Berkhamsted and probably the best in Hertfordshire too. Problem is, with a job like this you have loads of people with opinions on what you should be doing, which is OK, but - and it's a big BUT - when someone, just one, has an opposing opinion to the majority that opinion gets irritating. It's the old one bad apple in the barrel innit?

Also, when you take over a poorly kept lawn, full of moss and rubbish, it takes twice as long to cut. The first picture below shows it, it's horrible, creates dust and loads of particles of moss fly about getting on your chest, which is a bit rubbish if you're an asthmatic. Don't get me wrong, the money is fine and I do like the work, it's just it's too much like work. Y'know what I mean? It's almost corporate in context. All my other work is for individual families and they like what I do, ALL of them like what I do. Again, don't get me wrong, if things don't work out with people you just move on, that's fine, but corporate stuff means you just have to put up with the nonsense. Shame, why should you have put up with nonsense?

That's that off my chest and I promise it won't happen again in the foreseeable. The pictures below are all from the last 7/8 days.

The aforementioned rubbish bit of grass. It takes at
least 3 goes to collect all the cuttings too, horrible

Call me an old hippy, but I love the "LOVE & PEACE" graffiti. South Bank last Saturday...

Had to take this asa the Fabs are along the bottom of this pillar

One of the atriums at the Tate Modern, love big balloons

Cumulonimbus... The only cloud worth looking at

The above three pictures are from the big lawn at Rebecca's place in Quainton. They are getting a sit Husqvarna mower later in the year but I just couldn't leave it any longer and put in an ever decreasing circle. It was really good fun and I never noticed the 4 hours it took to do it - doesn't time fly when you're having a gooooood time?

Hellebores and Daffs at Julie's in Buckland

More Daffs at Julie's

The three above pix are the long lawn at Julie's place. I don't cut the grass here, which is good really as I would need to work there for at least 2 days a week, which would mean giving up one of my other gardens, which I couldn't do, no now. That's a Medlar tree on the right, beautiful gnarly old branches and a lovely little den for Julie's kids.

Tom & Vicky's place in Aldbury. Alison has been looking after this for me
recently. It looks great and the little lawn I put in last year, top of pic, is
looking really nice 

Yet another newly cut lawn. Again, first cut of the year, so it took very
nearly four hours to do. Lots of moss again, but far more manageable
and I really like the way it looks with the cross-cutting. Not sure about the
"installation" though... This house is in Chesham Bois by the way.

So there you have it, only four days of work, but loads done and Sophie was 13 on Monday, blimey, our little girl a teenager...


Happy happy!!!

Post 118 part uno - This Week in Tinseltown...

Hello!


Been a good week, the weather was iffie, but then it's been so dry, a bit of damp will sort us all out - don't know about the cold though, don't like the cold.


On Saturday we took the mother-in-law to Paddington, no reason, we just dropped her off there and off we went to have a look at the rest of the smoke. (NB: she did have a duffle coat and marmite sandwich, so I guess she wanted to fit in or sumfing.)


Also, it was Finlay's first trip there, which is crazy really by the age of six I had already travelled the full distance of the routes of the numbers 25, 159 and, of course, the 73, buses. We went to Oxford Street for a tinsy bit of shopping and then off down to the South Bank.


We passed the Aquarium (1 hour to queue); the London Eye (24 hours to queue); the BFI Bar (no queue); Tate Modern, where we had lunch and damn good too! (The only queuing in there was for some bloke who kills sharks and plays with them in his bath, "...call THAT art," we said); the Globe (again no queue); we went into The Clink (no queue) and attempted to read all the gruesome stuff about torture, but Finlay wanted to find rats or something; then we went to look for the Marshalsea Prison, where Charles Dickens dad was imprisoned for having no money; walked through Borough Market and we finally ended up having a drink in The George just off Borough High Street, one of my favourite pubs - the last galleried pub in Britain, and very beautiful it is too.


Here's some photos - see if you can guess where they were taken:

I will have to post again tomorrow, I have some really nice pictures from work this week too.


Anyone else totally confused about the tax situation at the moment?


Happy calculating!


PS: We didn't have any marmalade for the mother-in-law. We also didn't have a duffle coat, so she had to make do with a packer mac - well a black bin bag with a piece of rope actually...