Rubbish (mostly) gone

I really shouldn’t have been quite as suspicious of the men who were coming to clear away the rubbish over the weekend. They lobbed in on Saturday (apparently) and took away all the bulky stuff, leaving a note to say they had underquoted for the job – largely because the government has just put up the fees for bulk tipping into the landfill sites. They didn’t nick the new, unassembled greenhouse. They didn’t take The Builder’s wood for the porch and various other projects he has in mind. They didn’t trash the garden.

For another £30 they came back yesterday evening and took away all the rest of the rubbish. I must say, they worked very hard. Took them less than half an hour to get it all out. £80 well spent, if you ask me.

It makes a significant difference, that rubbish mound being gone. That corner of the garden looks much bigger. And it’s now very obvious where the fox is getting in. There’s quite a large gap in the fence where three fences meet. Not that it matters, there being a fox in the garden at the moment. Might matter a bit more when the chickens come – which I hope will be this time next year, depending on progress in The Builder’s other projects.

I have decided not to take my phone to the 02 shop in Sheffield and give it back. It may not work in Japan, but it’s quite a nice phone now I have got used to it. Not cute, like the last one was, but it has a lovely, large, clear screen and quite a good camera. Not that I use the camera facility very often, for I have an excellent digital camera that I take most places. But occasionally, the phone camera is useful. Anyway, I’ve painstakingly transferred all the phone numbers into it, and started to set it up to do things how I want. I think we will get along quite well. And I expect I’ll manage without a mobile phone for a few days. Gulp. :-S I must remember when I get back, though, to contact the O2 in Salisbury and point out that not all new phones are 3G, and that it might not matter to me not to have a workable phone in Japan – but it might matter to some people!

Oh, by the way. If you are reading this, could you drop an email to frances.hyde@gmail.com? You don't need to say anything in particular. But I'm curious about where people are, so it would be nice if you could tell me your location - you don't need to tell me your actual address. The stat counter tells me that there are people reading in places where I don't think I actually know anyone and it would be exciting if that were true.