They promised us 16 today and they were right! A lovely sunny day with little wind (though it is making up for that at present). Just enough to keep you from getting too hot. Unless, of course you are a large black dog who insists on lying in full sunlight. In which case you cool off by climbing into the cast iron bath your mother conveniently left lying around in the back yard. Getting out can prove a bit of a challenge though ... but he eventually worked it out.

I played with the line trimmer to some extent, and removed all the clutter of lumber that has been leaning against the front wall of the house for the last umpteen months due to it being out of sight (well,my sight at least) and therefore out of mind. But with the Parattah Spring Fete scheduled for this coming Saturday (I know!!! I am going ot be in Melbourne - pooey), it struck me I should tidy up the front yard so all the visitors can see that someone around here cares a bit. So that is what I did. I have yet to redig the edges of the beds either side of the front path, but the lumber is gone, the long grass has been trimmed back and the grass mown, and it all looks a bit tidier.

I also felt it would be a good idea to formalise the base on which the gas bottle is currently precariously balanced, so started building up a drystone wall and back-filling with gravel and fat sand. I realised that for some strange reason I had focussed on the position of the gas bottles, but had left a section of the side of the concrete slab exposed between that and the old stone footings of the house. So, that being where one of the outside taps is, I also built that up about 150mm and have started to pave it with sandstone. I need to find my cold chisel and mallet so I can split some more stones to finish it off, but will, weather permitting, do that tomorrow.

The gaps between have seeds of thyme and alyssum scattered in them, and I have also bought a discount pot of johnny jumpups for some instant colour. That platform, apart from saving me a mudhole where the tap is, will also have a pot of mint on it I think.

So the muscles got a good workout today and are telling me all about it at present, but I should also have managed to avoid getting a farmers tan, as I once again, whipped out a camisole top to work in.

Should sleep well tonight I think.