Dinosaur on the compost bin

Last October my not-so-little sister suggested that we place a plastic skeleton at the bottom of the pit that we dug beneath our lawn. She argued that this would amuse (or even frighten) the next person who decides to change the layout of our back garden. We didn't take her advice.

This plastic dinosaur skeleton was with the plants and Christmas presents that my not-so-little-sister handed over to me on Friday. When she recently saw it in a bin outside a charity shop, she knew exactly what I should do with it. I'm not going to dig up the lawn again, especially while we are waiting for the lawn seed to sprout, so the dinosaur can guard our compost box for the time being. I'll probably bury it in the cut flower bed (to the left of this shot) when I take out the spring bulbs.

Today I exercised, edited the final version of the paper that Marina and I will submit tomorrow, caught up with various friends and family by video conference and online messaging, and prepared a wee Sunday outdoor dinner party.

We had a lot of fun with Paddy and Caitlin this evening. We played Azul and Catan, enjoyed a lovely meal (smoked salmon pâté, mushroom casserole, hot rum chocolate pudding with Baileys and cream(!)), and everyone but me consumed rather a lot of alcohol. It was a great way to finish the weekend. Indeed we were enjoying ourselves so much at the picnic table in the yarden under our blankets that we barely noticed the cold.

Compare this blip with that of one calendar month ago :-)

Exercise today: 1 hour on the exercise bike; strength training.