MonoMonday:Strength

Meet Twenty-Questions-Tim. I did today. Early this evening, I'd passed this cottage in the process of being re-thatched in an ambulance on return from the hospital with my Mum: it is a very long story!

I went for a short walk to get some fresh air and out of curiosity, found the cottage. The thatcher, Tim Ellis, was still at work, even though it was nearly twilight, so I asked if I could take a picture. He was delighted, and we chatted for about half an hour about all sorts of interesting things, including, of course, the art of thatching. Thatchers need to be very strong and fit. Wheat straw thatch, in particular, is tough work in the preliminary preparation of the bundles of wheat, first with a pitch fork, and then by hand. Tim told me some of the terminology, and it's already slipped my memory.. 

Tim is a keen marathon runner, and clearly strong and athletic, but even he says he could do with a young apprentice to do the hard preparatory work of the wheat bundles before they get fixed onto the roof and the dressing afterwards. Here he is pegging the eaves; his right hand is working so fast, it is a blur, and the ladder is at a rather rakish angle, but he seems remarkably unconcerned.

I've been invited for a pint or two and further intelligent conversation next time I'm in the area! 

If the light had been better, I would love to have included the daffodils in the narrow front garden, valiantly pushing their way through the thick layer of fallen straw.

Going home tomorrow, all being well here, and then I will have a little time to catch up with commenting. I've enjoyed looking!

As for the "trolls", being unpleasant about blippers what a miserable, ignorant bunch of misogynist and ageist control freaks ...
...oh, they really aren't worth the energy. Perhaps their grannies could give them a dose of mature, feminine wisdom and suggest they find more creative and harmless ways of spending their precious time.