A CREATIVE DAY....WITH INTERUPTIONS

I had set today aside for the making of decorations for our Halloween party and by hook or by crook I intended that by evening the business end of the work would be completed, and so it was, but not without a catalogue of distractions.

Hoping to get breakfast over early in order to have the large kitchen table to myself I whizzed(well what passes for whizzing in my condition) through my morning chores and we had just sat down to breakfast when the Avon lady arrived and of course I couldn't find my purse.

Eventually my son paid the bill and I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I returned to the table to eat my boiled egg.

Unfortunately the business of finding my purse and the Avon lady's inclination to chat meant that my nice runny egg yolk (four minutes) was by now hard boiled! Nothing daunted I sliced up some lettuce and made an egg sandwich, not my ideal breakfast to be sure but under the circumstances the best I could do.

Breakfast over and the washing up begun our window cleaner arrived, now he really is a gossip and it was a full half hour before I could return to the kitchen and the washing up.

At last the coast seemed clear and I set about making a scary ghost to hang in the drive on Halloween night. I have made the skull last week and today I attached it to a wire coat hanger, draped long swaths of white muslin from the hanger to wave in the breeze and added a muslin cowl for a sinister ghostly nun look!

I was in the process of attaching a pair of skeletal hands when my gardeners arrived to do the lawns.

They are a father and son team and are very knowledgeable, efficient and will undertake most types of gardening work. Earlier this year they made and fitted a new wooden arch at the top of the patio steps to replace the one brought down by a winter gale.

This morning we needed to discuss the cost of, and the timetable for the trimming of some ivy which is growing through the roof ties and into the loft!

I dislike removing ivy as it is such good cover for birds to nest in and the berries are a wonderful food source for them in late winter.

We decided that it would be OK to leave the job for a month or two when the berries had been eaten and made made the decision as to scaffolding versus ladders,(scaffolding was decided upon) then discussed the removal of a dead branch currently hanging over the roof of the house. This work would be carried out in the next week or so. This done I returned to my neglected ghost, but before I could attach the hands I spent a good half hour searching for a missing roll of cello tape!

I had decided to cook pasta for dinner in order to use up the last of our tomatoes and courgettes, only now did I realise the I had no Red Pesto, an ingredient vital when the fresh basil has gone.

My son was busy writing, Pa was asleep and it was by now pouring with rain, With a deep sigh I put on my coat, grabbed a brolly and trudged up the lane to the shop.

Our local shop is wonderful and I have never yet asked for an item which they did not have from, profiteroles to garden canes… they stock the lot. It is not however the place to visit if one is in a hurry as first one and then another enquires after ones health and the condition of everyone in the family.

Village business is discussed, plans made for visits and a general exchange of news is obligatory.

Since everyone who works in the shop is so pleasant and kind in ordinarily this is no hardship and I have spent many a happy half hour chatting in this way.

By the time I was heading down the lane for home it was beginning to be dark. It was almost worth the trouble to see how lovely our house looked, it's widows lit by lamp light and the glow from the library fire.

“Bugger the ghost.”I said aloud and set about preparing our dinner. It was a lovely meal enjoyed by all and after the dishes were done I finally managed to add the finishing touches to the ghost.

It is now ensconced in the garage where it will remain until it is deployed on Halloween, and I hope it will have been worth all the fuss.

The way my luck is running there will be a gale that night and the damned thing will be blown into the next parish!