Fighting Fit

The other day a friend asked me what my broadband connection was like and I told her it was fantastically fast. Since then it has been dreadful, and now I wait for everything to open or move at snail's pace. There were slow periods when I first moved to this village but nothing like this. I don't like to point the finger but, just sayin' ....

Today I tackled the pond plants, all of which had massively outgrown their containers. Worst of all were the two water lilies which were in smelly black putrid mud, and which last year barely flowered. I emptied these two out of their pots and set about painstakingly scraping off the mud and then washing them in the wheelbarrow. They were much better after this treatment but still not very healthy looking. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and repot them when I find suitable new baskets. I cleaned the other plants up and put them back on their shelves ready for when the pond fills up again. What with carrying buckets of muddy water backwards and forwards, and moving heavy plants I suddenly realised I was feeling absolutely wiped out. Yesterday's session with Mary had been a bit full-on, the stepping bench raised to a higher level than usual making the weights I raised with each step feel far heavier than they were. This is not a good situation for me. So many times before I've become exhausted and gone down with something that has turned into a proper attack of fatigue. I hope I've caught it in time. I spent the afternoon doing Italian conversatzione with my friends, and then lay on the sofa with the crossword straight afterwards. What a bore.

I had a surprise when the bin men called for the recycling today, both household and garden rubbish. The latter bin was packed tight with weeds and rose clippings, but I'd left several full bags nearby, intending to take them to the council tip. When I went out later to bring in the bins the bags had all gone. Such lovely men they are. I'd forgotten that they once told me they would take away my extra rubbish if I left it for them. Fair warms the cockles of your heart it does.