Contrast

Weather today is the exact opposite of yesterday, dry with warm sunshine. I started early by snagging the kitchen before Lynne even woke up. We had inevitably missed a few spots of paint on the kitchen doors and skirting boards. Not now. The sunshine enticed me out and I set-to trimming the very large Leyland Cypress next door. I had initially intended just trimming it with shears once the risk of frost had gone, but further inspection revealed it had been heavily pruned about 5 years ago. My shears revealed themselves to be more blunt than a butter knife so I opted to copy the previous pruning schedule using secateurs, loppers and a saw. A good result was achieved with the help of Lynne steadying me and my stepladder, although it took all day and left a large pile of prunings for a trip to the tip in a day or two.  Apart from the final result I was also encouraged by my ability to maintain concentration and physical efforts for such a long time. In addition I also found the time and strength to re-set Pheobe's grave stone, before putting the refuse bins out for collection in the morning. A very long but extremely satisfying day.