Clearing out the greenhouse wasn't on my to-do list at all but somehow it suddenly became today's main task. I discovered that the heap of orange plastic was a garden vacuum cleaner, a hefty electric lawnmower and a strimmer (without wire). I needed to replace only one fuse and all three whirred into life when plugged in. I'm bemused: I guess once autumn becomes a little more serious I'll find out how many leaves need clearing up but I cannot imagine it needs anything more sophisticated than a rake; and the 'lawn' (mostly weeds) is 3m by 4m and I've been keeping it under control easily with a little old push-mower. But I'll give these monsters greenhouse room for the time being.

Not so the collection of hanging baskets, hooked onto on a wire slung across the greenhouse, on which I kept banging my head. I removed and Freegled them. I put all the flower pots into one box and made room for a bucket of stakes and poles that had been getting rained on outside. And I moved in some much longer poles from the dining room - which I brought back from my ex-next-door neighbour's yesterday. She's cut down her bamboo-as-high-as-the-house and I cut them into usable lengths - and used some of them straight away to hold up some straggling tomato plants against the wind.

Thus I get another day older.

Black and white in colour 205