Painting the s..t skip

Saturday morning was the designated day for Hazel and me to repaint the s..t skip or, in more ladylike terms the horse muck container. After brushing and poking off all the rusty bits, we set to with the green enamel paint, chatting and fending off sarcastic and some rather sexist remarks about how attractive Hazel looked in her overalls. Men! Mind you, she did look the part, especially with the addition of her grey woolly hat (with later green additions). The next plan was, after confirming that we had the go-ahead, to add some artistic touches to the sides of this rather boring lump of metal. Once I'd bought the appropriate coloured enamel paints I couldn't wait to get going, so I was back to the skip again yesterday morning. Hope you like the result Hazel - after all, this you'll be facing this as you work on your plot. I'd like to think it will bring a smile to the majority of the plotholders.

Meanwhile, at the top of the hill, Pat and Nick were busy painting the store shed. Looks like Pat has been adding a few white splashes to her clothing too. It's not often that I venture this far up the hill, so it gave me a chance to look at some of the other plots. We now have quite a few half and quarter plots and, as a result, new plotholders. It really is good to see so many young families working alongside we oldies. Down on my own plot the growing season is now under way. The broad beans continue to look perky (let's hope they stay like that after last year's bad start), the spuds are in (Lady Crystl and Vales Emerald), the buds on the fruit trees and bushes getting bigger by the day, and the onions and garlic sprouting. Back at home the window ledges are in use for propogating, and yesterday I nipped out the top shoots from my sweet peas and set some flower seeds.

Yesterday afternoon Mike and I spent an hour or so strolling around Stowe Pool in Lichfield. Half way round we popped into St Chad's Church (for the first time) where a very knowledgeable gentleman called Michael told us quite a long history of the church, and its connections with St Chad. If you ever visit the church and come across Michael as we did, he may ask you where he would be able to find a green scarf. After trying to come up with a solution to his problem, I realised it was a trick question. The clue is in the window behind the altar!