Chop chop

How relaxing (for the mind!) to have a simple day of purely physical tasks. We blitzed the Birmingham garden: trimming, strimming, mowing, weeding, brushing. Anything requiring power was electrical - either via a wire or batteries - which I find much more relaxing than engines. Nothing required much expertise, just time and patience

I'm a recent convert to mechanical hedge-trimmers and, like many who have seen the light after years of resistance, I have become a zealot. Not only do they convert the work from a chore to a recreation, my exoerience is that, over time, they create a better hedge. Our daughter's neighbour planted this one as small single stems about 6 years ago, but of course we take responsibility for our side. It is a testament to the good ground that it is already so tall (over 1.5M), desnse and robust

Of course we interleaved a little playing with the baby - or 'childcare', as we like to call it. He is changing fast enough that we see differences every time we meet. Now he can climb a step - and stairs are just one step after another. He passes things from hand to hand to manipulate them. If he tries to lift something from the floor with one hand, and finds it too much, he now instinctively reaches down with the other hand, positions the object suitably and lifts with both hands working together. Hedge-trimmer skills already in place