Tongs!

JR, before she popped off to the gym at 8am, suggested (again) that the grass needed cutting. And that it was going to rain today. And so I didn't relax in bed catching up with the news, as is my wont, but I got up and set to. And yes, it was pretty long and quite hard going. Our gardener had been yesterday and half filled up the brown bin, so I had to go and get our bin. This is a big bugbear of mine. Our two bins, from one tenement, cost £70 a year to empty every fortnight. It was free a few years ago, but creeps up every year.

Unfortunately, because I cut the grass instead of my usual relaxed browsing of the news, checking Twitter - sorry - X, and checking the diary, I missed that I was supposed to go for a blood test!! I felt terrible, there's always publicity about people not turning up for doctors' appointments. In my 20-odd years giving them my not inconsiderable custom, I have never missed an appointment. I rang to apologise profusely, but I was told by a cheery receptionist not to worry, and she gave me another appointment. Evidently missing a nurse appointment is not as big a crime.

JR took Archie out for a walk, then went into town to collect the SA money. And to get decent tongs. I bought a flash pair at the hardware ages ago, with big green plastic tips - looks lovely - but they're absolutely useless for actually picking things up. The plain old metal ones are best. We now have big metal tongs and smaller metal tongs.

Photo: JR is rightly proud of the window box outside the guest bedroom.