This post is going to take a long time to type. My arms and hands don’t really feel like they belong to me. In fact, half my body doesn’t feel like it belongs to me.

At 8.30 this morning, I helped Rene, the owner of our complex, and a friend fill holes in the grass/lawn. Something’s been having a dig, maybe a mole? So there were a lot of sunken patches that Rene wanted filled. So I had the rake to flatten the newly dumped soil, and then used the flat part of the spines to stamp the soil down. This is where I think I did the nerve damage. Joking, sort of.

Then I used the leaf blower for a good few hours to clean out all the farmhouse ground floor sections and to get the leaves onto the grass. And then I went through all the garden beds and blew all the leaves out of there too. And then I got the blower into the stones around the pool, and swished them all out. And and and! Normally, I despise leaf blowers. Great big horrible noise polluters … use a rake for crying out loud! But today, despite my wrists screaming blue murder, the leaf blower was a blessing … so many leaves in the garage, flower beds, behind bushes up against the buildings and so on.

No stopping me now! Once I’d blown every leaf bar 100 onto the grass, I then jumped on the ride-on lawnmower and sucked them all up (and mowed the very short grass at the same time too). By 11.30am I was done with the lawnmower, but I wasn’t done with the garden.

While sitting with Rene on the outdoor couch, surveying our great work, I noticed the side of the garage was looking kind of raggedy, with dry brown grass growing up the wall. Who needs a pause? Not me! I got out the small hand trowel and dug out all the weeds and grass growing at the edge of the garage, so next time when we mow, the edges will be clean. Oh, I love a good clean lawn edge. To top it off, I finished the final edge around our house too, which I hadn’t done last time I was in the garden because it was in the shade and a bitterly cold wind made the whole thing unappealing.

Then after a 30 minute break to eat some cereal for lunch (nothing in the fridge!), we loaded up the trailer to take some rubbish to the local council collection depot which is next door. Then it was home to put my sneakers on and walk down to Wohlen to buy dinner supplies at the local supermarket. I really didn’t feel like walking, really, really didn’t, but I’m glad I did. It was a beautiful afternoon with plenty to see.

The sun was lovely today. Except for a few minutes when the moon was in front for the eclipse. Do you think I remembered, or even noticed? Nup. I was outside the whole morning and didn’t see a thing, that’s how focussed I was. (Or oblivious.) It was a bit misty/cloudy here so I’m hoping I didn’t miss out on too much. Without the right eye protection/glasses it would have been impossible to see it properly anyway, so I’m trying not to be too disappointed at my obliviousness.

The sunrise this morning, though, was amazing, and I did manage to drag myself out of bed for that! Leo called out for me to have a look and it was so good I donned my floral dressing gown and Birkenstocks at 6.55am and ran into the field between our house and the neighbours to get photos … then remembered they’d just sprayed the whole thing with liquid fertiliser only a few days prior. Thankfully the smell went away when I washed my legs!

So, all in all, a brilliant day (other than my disaster dinner!) and I am going to sleep the sleep of the totally exhausted tonight.

Wishing you a wonderful day.