Crosses to bear

Not such a bright start to the day as we've had recently, but it got rapidly better and turned out quite sunny. I forced myself to do some more deck painting - probably the worst bit, kneeling on the ground between the deck and the shrubs, trying to paint all the underneath bits that might be visible from below in the garden or on the road! Not much fun at all.

After lunch I went down to the doc's as I had an appointment with the nurse for a blood test and while I was down there I popped into Homebase for some more deck paint. I tried to buy a 'moss pole' for a scrambling houseplant, but they don't keep them, so I drove out of town to Poppies Garden Centre but they didn't have any either. I shall have to make my own!

On the way back the sky was beginning to look good, with lovely clouds and golden light so I called in at the cemetery to try to get some pictures. I couldn't really get what I wanted - this was about the best.

I arrived home and made myself a cup of nettle tea, which I'm told is good for muscle pains, and then there was a knock on the door and it was the lady from the Scottish Household Survey. She was supposed to be arranging a time to carry out this survey - we'd had a letter about it a few days ago saying that every year 10,000 people are randomly selected - but it seemed sensible to get on with it right away. She was here for quite a while, an hour and a half maybe, and it was hard to keep patient but I managed! Everything from 'When did you fit a new smoke alarm system' to 'Do you help your neighbours if they need assistance' and 'What do you think of council services in your area' and everything else in between. All rather wearing! I wonder how much use it will be!