3 May 2008

Uncharacteristic achievement

We forgoed (forwent?) our usual Saturday lie in today and got up early in order to (among other things) take a trip to the garden centre and buy some 8ft bamboo canes. Our car is a Mini, not designed for ridiculously long garden equipment (or, in our experience, anything larger than a tablespoon from Ikea) but fortunately it has a sunroof so we were able to fit the canes in along with various bedding plants I bought and our weekly groceries.

Once home, we allowed ourselves a lazy brunch and then I set to in the garden. I wanted company, but in spite of his unstinting helpfulness, gardening is really not Owen’s thing so it was likely that I would end up out there on my own. Sometimes that’s just how I like it - time to myself with nothing in particular to think about except the weed I’m pulling up. But not today. Today I wanted company and an available bit of brawn for when the heavy lifting started.

So Owen spent the afternoon reading the paper while I worked. From time to time when I asked him he lifted this or moved that. Once we’d reached beer o’clock he very kindly got me a nice glass of pink cava and sparkling water to keep me moving smoothly. All in all it worked very well. And if I got a bit cranky by the end of the day and resentful that I had been working while he had been relaxing (at the weekend? How awful!) well, that was just the fatigue talking. As it turns out, I found the day relaxing too and it was lovely to have my best pal there for laughs and cuddles.

Perhaps tomorrow I’ll let you know what I did…

Filed under: Hard labour — Clare @ 6:42 pm