Sweet home Alabama

It never ends.

Evil incarnate

There’s always something to do, whether it’s laying turf, repairing hoses, or pulling up the wild onions.

I’m taking advantage of the unexpected time off to fix things around the house and garden. In the best traditions of yak shaving, there’s always several things you need to do before you can fix the thing you set out to fix. The chess pieces you have to put on the board (and the multiple trips to Wickes) before you can actually drain the hanging water feature to reseal it.

And of course while I’m going around the garden I spot other things (including wild onions, natch) that I didn’t even think about before I saw them and I then I have to sort that out before I get to job I started—or intended to, anyway—a week ago.

And then there’s the stuff that critically fails just about just before you’re about to go out for your pre-birthday dinner.

Gaffer tape is the best. Except when it’s black insulating tape.

Which resulted in another trip to Wickes on Saturday and, what of all days I’d forgotten, was Vaisakhi, which explains all the magnificent dastars, not to mention the surfeit of BMWs and Mercedes parked all the way up our road. And what should have been a 5-minute dash turned into a 20-minute detour through the less frequented parts of Gravesend and slightly elevated cortisol levels because I had to finish fixing the hose (and several other things, ibid) before an indeterminate number of people turned up for my birthday party.

Fire makes it good

I did make it back in time to light the pizza oven, lay out the kegs, and even enlist the Pawns to help me decide whether any of our homemade wine was worth serving (or even legal). They didn’t take much persuading, it has to be said.

And the win, the real win, was that the 2023 harvest (Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay from the greenhouse vines and possibly even more Chardonnay from the barbecue corner [we have no idea what it is because we didn’t plant that vine. It just produces hundreds of pounds of grapes every year]) not only popped when I opened it, but retained its fizz, and was eminently drinkable (if a little cloudy at the moment). I have, finally, cracked the Merret problem, and we opened another bottle today and it was just as good.

Sparkles

How was your weekend?