The wheel barrow workout
One tries not to assign human emotions to inanimate objects, but…. my wheelbarrow must have been whooping for joy today.
After a month of being propped up against a wall with nothing but rocks for company, it had an outing. Twigs and grasses. On a major scale.
I wanted to cut back all the miscanthus and eragrostis grasses in the garden. Or should I say grounds. I ambled far and wide with a sharp pair of secateurs and some comfy kneeler pads. And had them all pruned close to the ground in a few short hours.
Actually they were long hours as I wasn’t used to the exertion. It’s the kneeling on steep slopes at the same time as pruning that takes getting used to again. 
I started with the pannicum squaw grasses in the courtyard as they are the ones that are the most unslightly. And then beetled my way up the paths and down in front of the house where half a dozen big eragrostis beasts lurk.
I actually had to come in and fetch a sun hat it was so sunny and gorgeous. And I needed a large cup of tea before attacking the miscanthus crop beside the lawn.
They look so innocent when shorn of the growth. But the actual plants are massive and thick and take quite a bit of work hacking through them.
And then there’s the cleaning up. Never fun. But Artur came to supervise. He is gradually getting used to the fact that he has to share the garden with me. He is gradually coming over to sit on my lap for brief moments throughout the day. But I suspect he barely tolerates me still.
He was cross when I deigned to do some sowing of the broad beans in the potting shed in the late afternoon. I had the audacity to wake him from his nap. And just think how cranky he is going to be when I wrestle those planting trays he is sitting on. I suspect that is going to be a bloody encounter. So I’ll save it for tomorrow.
Right now I’m aching gently from the outdoor work. Tomorrow, all being well, I’ll get out the strimmer. Cutting back the hundreds of grasses on the very steep bank above the pool is going to be much easier with a whirring blade rather than a small pair of secateurs.