Cutting grass

I had my hair done today, not before time, so I popped into Flamingo’s on my way back to London.

Gordon (who does my hair) is always ready with a story or four and today was no different. We were discussing the extension and he was saying how he had downsized a few years ago to a flat and how much he loved it. One of the big things he didn’t miss was having a garden. According to him, he suffers from slight OCD and so he has to make sure the grass is always at a uniform (very low) height and the edges are all crisp and clean. His OCD was so bad that he had to mow his neighbour’s front garden whenever it became unruly. Given he hated all the time it was taking him, getting rid of the garden was the best option.

He then told me the following story of rank stupidity…

Like a lot of homeowners, Gordon would always mow the nature strip in front of his house. While he understood that it wasn’t his, he also saw it as an extension of his front garden. So he mowed it. He’d been mowing it for as long as he’d lived there. Then, one Monday there was a knock at his door.

The caller was a guy from the council. He asked Gordon if he’d mowed the nature strip. When Gordon told him that he had, the council guy told him to stop mowing it because it was the council’s property. Gordon was confused. He told the council guy that he’d been mowing it for 25 years and wondered why it had taken so long for the council to notice. The council guy had no answer to this. When asked why he couldn’t mow the nature strip, Gordon was told it was a health and safety issue. The guy from the council told him to desist in the future.

As you’d expect, Gordon wasn’t happy about that and told the council guy that if they came on a regular basis and mowed it properly, he’d leave it alone but he doubted this would happen. And he was right. Although promised they’d return in four weeks, after five, no-one had appeared. Gordon was on the phone, asking them why.

The next day, three guys turned up to do the job. Gordon, quite naturally, asked why they needed three guys to do something that every householder managed alone. He was told that one guy was there to mow, a second was to remove obstacles (sticks, dog poo, large rocks) while the third was to keep an eye out for traffic. (Gordon lived in a cul-de-sac.)

This didn’t fill him with confidence so he continued mowing the nature strip whenever he mowed his front garden. He never heard from the council again.

Speaking of mowing…I cut the grass in what is left of our back garden while Paul and Robbie slaved away. Progress in the past week has been slow but only because of the Easter break which has meant the last week has only consisted of two days. Even so, a lot of the Acro props have gone and the central pillar has been made. This is holding up the external wall of the second floor. Today they put down hard core, flattened it out level then started to add a layer of sand. Insulation goes on top of this and the floor should be poured next Monday.

In the meanwhilst, the garden continues to blossom, including the clematis that we put up against the fence between us and Dave and Gail. Every time I look at it, it looks dead and then, against all probability, flowers appear. It looks much better in bloom.

Down the side of the office, and most of the new tulips are out, some passed their best. I noticed that I can see the tops of most of them while sitting at my desk. Perfect. While I sit in my chair, I feel almost surrounded in bright colours.

And that was it for today. I went back to the flat to a still poorly Mirinda who is continuing her battle with the very important document – I’d just missed Sarah. We went for a lovely walk around Mill Quay to give her a break. I think that made her feel a bit better.