When I started walking in to Farnham, back when we first moved here, I would walk up to, and pass, various old men whose mobility was somewhat impaired. I would be thankful I was not so slow. Now, I am the old man with limited mobility who walks very slowly, holding up everyone else on the all weather path.
It’s a sobering thought, and one that occurred to me today when I had an unexpected trip into Farnham to buy some cream for Mirinda’s coffee. The reason I thought about my lack of speed was because of the number of people out and about.
I guess it could have been the weather.
Still, whatever the reason, it was more people than I think I’ve ever seen walking into town. And back. Then, when Mirinda took the girls to Frensham, she said it was also crowded. She was very lucky to find a parking space. It all makes me wish for the delightful desolation we had in Sweden.
Back at home, having managed to acquire the much required cream, I started the annual task of tree removal. Of course, the first thing I had to do was strip the decorations off and out of the tree. This always takes ages and fills the dining table. Not that I’m complaining.
Mirinda dresses the tree and reacquaints herself with the various memories of years past, while I get to do the same thing at the other end of the trees life in our house. I also quite like stripping the branches off with the big loppers.
A big surprise was the amount of leaf drop surrounding the base. Clearly our tree wasn’t of the non-drop variety this year but, I think, the main reason for the amount of pine needles was the lack of water in the holder. Mea culpa.
Here’s a close up of the mound, just because I think it’s quite impressive.
Not that it really mattered. I soon had everything stripped and dropped on the stick pile behind the garden tool shed up the back.
I then started packing away the decorations. This is a rather long and involved process which is never the same one year to the next. Still, eventually I had the three plastic boxes packed and the extension had returned to normal. We suddenly had a lot of room again.
And I just want to include this photo of the girls. This is how they see me off in the mornings.
This is Emma’s spot, where she greets everyone that passes the house.
