Of Rugby, Rain and Rose Gardens 27.10.07

Well, it's actually the 28th now but this is for the 27th. Woke up to low cloud, mizzly drizzle and quite a strong wind. Thought we'd better not tackle the rose garden, then decided, to hell with it, why not. Are we made of paper? So we tooled up and attacked our would be rose bed with matocks, spades and secateurs for the brambles - (more brambles). It wasn't too bad really, just very wet! We stopped and looked at each other at one point and burst out laughing. Rain was dripping off us and we were both very dirty. 'If anyone saw us now, they'd think we're bonkers' laughed Jim. Had a break for coffee and a bit of a dry off, then back out to tackle some more. The rain had stopped and it was quite warm, though still windy. We had a date with a rugby match on sky at 6, so couldn't stay out too long. Very satisfied with our efforts so far and we cleared a goodly patch. More tomorrow hopefully.

Inside for a much needed bath, then settled down to watch the rugby. Jim's great nephew Sam Burgess (as mentioned before), is a rugby league star at 18. He was playing his first match for the UK in a test series against New Zealand. I got a bit mad with the tv as the first 2 tries awarded to NZ shouldn't have been given. Bloody Aussie ref! The commentators talked about Sam all the time! His tackling was awesome. The game was pretty close and the second half was much more exciting, especially as Sam scored a try! We were SO excited! England won by a good margin so a great start to Sam's international career. The match finished at 8pm and we were due down the road to our neighbours for a meal at 8! Hurriedly got ready and headed off down the hill.

We had a brilliant evening, super meal, convivial conversation and great wine. Arrived back here about 1.30am. It was absolutely tipping it down so we had to change again and get dry by the time we got home!

It's my first husband Ken's birthday today. Amazing that he's made it really as he's pretty ill with emphysemia. Self inflicted from smoking and 'other' forms of self abuse, but I still felt sad when I last saw him in April at his Dad's 80th birthday party. I still have a soft spot for the old devil. Hope he had a good one.