The power of 22

Today was forecast to be a cloudy but dry day - so when I woke up to a damp start all thoughts of outside jobs went for a burton.  Thankfully, one pile of ironing later and the sun was out.  Why was I so concerned?  Well today, being the 22nd August, was another medal challenge day - walk for 22 minutes in aid of The Manchester Arena appeal fund (22 to represent the date of the tragedy and the number of people who had died at that point).  They had done this before in May but I had missed it - in fact it was when a friend did this challenge back in  May that I first heard about the website Virtual Runner and started to sign up to the challenges.  Today I had to head out and walk for 22 minutes exactly and then submit a photo of my "Map my walk" app to prove what I had done.  I am pleased to say that, not only did the pooches and I complete the challenge - but the weather was kind to us and Daisy had a ball running up and down the slopes.


Back home and my facebook account was going mad - three of the friends at the Lynette Anderson workshop were trying to book their accommodation for next year.  Apparently their technique was to mention my name and they got a lower price - result!!

The next task on the agenda was to carry on removing the masking tape in the she cave - why oh why have I left it so long?  Lots of water and scraping later we have now finished half of the job!  Next time I need to use low tack tape and remove it sooner - lesson learnt!!

After lunch, and, erm, 40 winks it was off outside again (I am sure getting my vitamin D!!) to do some more picket fence painting.  This time I got to the bottom of the first tin so, rather than starting the second one, I set to removing some Ivy from the gate and post.  I honestly cannot say how long it is since I have tackled this job but, inspired by Dad who is decimating his garden removing Ivy, I have to say that it's a very satisfying job.  The more you cut and pull, the more you want to keep going!  Of course its not for the squeamish - there were a certain amount of spiders and woodlice revealed!  As of now the bin is full but there is still a lot to remove ( plus the opposite post) but I have severed the ivy from the larger stems so some die back will make the next stage easier - and I have a blister!