Hod Duh Duh Duh Duh

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellows,

Today we gave in and mowed the lawn despite the fact that the rain was still falling when we did it. 

I say, "we". It was totally a team effort. I started out, but Caro had very clear ideas what she wanted around the edges and I know my limits. So I left it to her and gathered up the clippings instead.

I had to do this, because we have only a manual lawn mower. I don't even think it is ours. I think Loulou loaned it to us. 

So I was doing the Eddie Izzard HOD-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH! HOD-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH! across the lawn. The rain actually made it not so bad. It was nice and cool out there. 

And we were out there for ages, because after THAT, we put together this flat-pack table. Caro said that she finds NZ flat packs not as good, although I wouldn't know. They are all a fecking fanny if you ask me. But I must admit that one of the Allen keys didn't fit properly and threatened to ruin the screws. 

Fortunately, Caro had a spare one from a different flat-pack (of course she did) and that did the job. As you can see, Punky decided he liked it almost immediately. 

Afterward I found myself standing in the back garden, sniffing the air. It brought back a memory I have from my childhood. Back in Scarborough, when we lived in our little semi-detached house with a tiny garden, I remember my dad would take me to the back door and we'd both just stand there.

"Breathe in that fresh air," my dad would say. 

I would always do it, though I was never sure why. 

But it seemed to make my dad absurdly happy. He owned this little corner of Yorkshire and he loved the smells from his tiny garden. And it was always around dusk, when the smells were strongest. 

Of course, I find myself doing it these days. Yet another indication that I'm turning into Tom.

S.

p.s. The hedgehog is back! A little fat one appeared a few days ago, puttering and snorking around the garden! Caro was so delighted. She was worried that the new fence had put them off, but we even saw him disappear through our special "hedge-hole" in the fence!