Ouch... But I Ache...

So Saturday, being a nice day, I decided to have a tackle at the garden... [Stupid Count 1] - it was in a bit of a state after the winter, and plan A was to tidy up the leaves and assorted crap on the patio. First, I thought, I should trim the Ivy thing which was starting to dominate half the garden [Stupid Count 2].

So I start our with some shears, snipping away at the vines... that didn't really help as the vines sort of didn't seem to move. So, I thought I'd trim some of the thicker bits with a pair of secateurs. [Stupid Count 3]. The problem I soon realised is that parts of the core Ivy growth were thicker than my fingers, so I'd need a saw... [Stupid Count 4]... Now I was making progress, hacking at the sides, top and bottom, I was really pulling into this, taking down large sections of the plant. Hell, I thought, let's just get rid of this beast... [Stupid Count 5]...

Two and a half hours later I'm standing on tip toe on balanced on a loose garden wall, cutting off the last of the Ivy. The rid mist of hatred to creeping plants is dying down and I survey my work. The wall is clear of Ivy! Yay... The patio, between the wall and the kitchen is now 45cm deep in Ivy "bits" [Stupid Count 6], I am dirty, covered in Spiders, and tired and now I have to figure out how to pack this stuff up.

I'll stop at 6, you've probably got the idea.

*sigh*

So, I packed the Ivy into sacks, which took another hour and finally piled the stuff outside the back gate ready for taking to the dump on Sunday.

Sunday: Did it rain where you live? It did here, and not just the usual drizzle, but heavy unrelenting downpour. 2 car loads to the dump in the rain. How I love this stuff, how I really really do.

:-9

In Other Weekend News...

Saturday Night: Saw Kill Bill: Vol 1 at the movies again, very gory fun it was too.

Sunday: Apart from the tip and other garden related misery I also:

Finished reading The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde, just brilliant. Insane, completely completely bonkers, but brilliant.

Read the papers.

Had the best all you can eat Chinese Buffet meal for a friend's birthday that I have ever had. I have never been to a Buffet meal where you can get Green Lipped Mussels, full garlic cooked prawns, Crispy Aromatic Lamb and Duck... Amazing stuff - and a full desert section too - all over looking Pultney Bridge. Amazing.

Today, getting ready for flying tomorrow.

Tomorrow, flying - so the blogging will be scaled down I suspect.

Should I Sell or Should I Not?

Looking at a number of online estate agencies, my house in the North is currently worth around £50K - significantly more than the £32K I paid for it 10 years ago. Should I cash in or should I just hold on to it?

I have it rented out, the mortgage is covered, but the ongoing costs of running the place do mount up over time, over £1000 in the last 12 months on various bits of building work that a typical 100 year old house will need from time to time.

Hmmm... what to do???

Bugger bugger bugger...

So... we check in and try the usual, "I'm alway happy to go on the list to upgrade."

"Well, we are looking for volenteers to upgrade sir, just for the later flight..."

Sadly, we've onward collections and while the excellent person at BA check in did try and move out onward flights, there was nothing she could do. Our flight, even 1st class, is apparently full to over flowing. We've got bulkhead seats which is something...

At least they were able to check our luggage in through to Seoul and we've our boarding cards for the next leg. Next post... Hong Kong, tomorrow morning... ummm... mid afternoon... umm... I'm confused....