Timber...............!

Today the forecast said light rain. In Scotland at the moment you translate that as go out and do as much as you can, keeping your rain coat nearby. We headed to our allotment project, stopping first at the Farmer's Market to buy our monthly treat of freshly smoked fish and some local veggies.
Our job today was to start moving what seems like a ton of stones off an area we plan to plant as soon as. It struck me that five years ago we had helped Von lay these down, in the hope of creating a maintenance free garden. Nothing is maintenance free in a garden, my friends. If we had only had a bit of vision we could have had five years of fruit and veg and actually been certified organic, me thinks. There was little joy in this task but we were all outside in the fresh air. It strikes me that we will need to put in some diary adjustment to give the time to this if we really believe it is important to us and what we want to be about. Maybe a few hours of some hard physical work is exactly what we need to pause and evaluate what is important.
We also decided to tackle the trees that were now so tall that they were among the electric cabling at the bottom of the yard. Von had had a good go but had taken fright at the thicker trunks. Mike was less cautious. A flimsy short ladder and a cheap saw and a wife slightly anxious about what might happen! When he had sawn what he thought was enough we attached Von's washing line and then the whole family (Yep.. Mike, Mo, the little girl and the littler boy) all grabbed the rope and pulled, shouting heave ho and then "TIMBER!" And I am pleased to report both came down and the electricity is still running in the neighbourhood!!