Tree surgery.

This morning we went round to my Mother in Law's to trim back a tree that was over growing into her neighbours garden. Really it was just a big shrub so didn't take very long. The hardest part was avoiding damage to all the bird feeders and garden ornaments that are in the garden. That and standing in any of the bird baths that are all over. She was pleased with the job and we too everything away and straight to the tip so it was all neat and tidy.

I also painted up the concrete chimney bung. Maybe another couple of coats and it will be water proof.

There is a lot of cleaning and baking going on as my daughter is having a few friends round tomorrow as she has been away for 16 months or so. It is good to have visitors every now and then as all those cleaning jobs that you keep putting off seem to get done so as to make folk think that we live in a show house. One job is the windows. As we have been away so long we had cancelled the window cleaners and the windows looked like those on a cross channel ferry after docking in a gale! The old newspaper job works a treat though. When I was an apprentice it was vinegar and water and any newspapers we could appropriate and save for the job from the coast. I'm not sure why it works but rubbing the windows with newsprint brings them up a treat. My next job will be washing the floors before we go to bed so that they dry without anybody walking on them and leaving  patterns. The backing has included butterfly buns, lemon slices and sausage rolls. Not just any sausage rolls but Delia Smiths quick flaky pastry sausage rolls, and they are the best I have tasted, ever.

I phoned the boat insurance company up today and cleared up a few questions I had and paid for another years cover. We will have to pay for the licence soon and that will be the major expenses dealt with.