A GOOD JOB DONE!

Mr. HCB and I had a chat last night about our plan of action for today and decided that we needed to get outside our fence to remove some of the laurel hedge that has encroached all along the fence from next door’s hedge.

I was just coming to at 8 a.m. when Mr. HCB came upstairs to tell me he was about to go out, so I scrambled into my clothes and told him I would be there very soon.  By the time I had walked round, he was well into his stride, cutting down the branches that needed removing so that the fence man has a clear walkway.  

I hadn’t intended doing a collage of Mr. HCB, but being a Blipper who is always on the lookout for a Blip for the day, it seemed like a good idea to take several shots.  However, before doing this, I did my bit with the rake and secateurs on various areas along the fence.  

Bearing in mind that the fence is 25 metres long - or about 82 feet - for those who don’t do metric - and there is at least another 6 metres - about 20 feet - of wall in between, it’s no mean feat to rake the accumulated rubbish of ivy, honeysuckle, and other hedgerow bushes away.  I had a fight with a large blackthorn bush, that has actually grown into a tall tree and have the scars to prove it and the ivy was rather persistent, but I think we are getting there.

Just as we were preparing to leave, after about two hours of hard labour, I felt a sharp pain in my left foot - on taking off my shoe, I could feel a thorn that had come through, so Mr. HCB spent the next ten minutes trying to get it out.  It was 15 cm or about ½ inch long but fortunately, he was able to remove it, so that at least I could walk home without limping.

The top left of the collage shows him peering through the laurel bushes - with that incredulous look on his face that says, “Oh no, not more Blipping photographs!”  Then I put in two of him working on the stumps to get them out - he loves to use his bow saw and in fact, enjoys any manual work.  The last shot at the bottom right shows him just after he had said, “Right, that’s it, I’ve had enough!”  You might notice that he is not wearing his designer gardening trousers complete with holes in the knees - sadly they “bit the dust” earlier this week, so he now has a pair of old jeans, but I must admit, he looks quite handsome in blue and of course, was wearing his Tilley hat.  He’s definitely a hard worker, I’ll give him that.

“I have always regarded manual labour 
     as creative and looked with respect and, yes, wonder,
          at people who work with their hands.
It seems to me that their creativity 
     is no less than that of a violinist or painter.”
Pablo Casals - Spanish-born cellist and conductor

P.S.  The thorn was actually 15 millimetres long - well done to 60plus for picking up on that - told you I didn't "do" metric!