Tuesday 18th December 07

I took the boys into school as Gill is collecting them this afternoon, as I plan to be at the allotment then. Gill went into town once I'd got back, and I got out my logsplitter and split some of the huge rounds which came from the Woodlands treefelling. These slices of tree trunk, up to 60cm diameter, were extremely tough, this wood does not want to split lengthways as easily as some. A couple of the rounds just wouldn't split, even with the hydraulic machine. I tried to do one and it eventually split on the last attempt, and the huge circle of wood, perhaps 30+kg, toppled off the splitter and fell on my hip, which hurt a lot just for a few minutes. However managed to split quite a lot up.

At 11ish I came in for a rest and a cuppa, and downloaded emails. Whenever I put the computer on, I get a pop-up message from Googlemail inviting me to download the new version of Googletalk. I have done this on several occasions, and the message still keeps on popping up. I emailed Google about this and got a reply today, telling me what to do. So I spent some time playing with the computer, trying to sort stuff out, and ended up doing a complete scan which revealed some website tracking programs, which I deleted. I hope the jiggering around with assorted buttons might have sorted the problem. Time will tell.

I had lunch whilst the computer was doing it's thing, and Gill came back from her trip into town, and then the SUMA lorry came with our order... and the stuff for the three other people on our Food Co-op. I unloaded and Gill did the paperwork. Jolly banter with the lorry driver.

Then I went to the lottie... I've had a letter from the allotment management saying mine is untidy and needs to be tidied up or it will be taken away from me.... so I spent several hours cutting back brambles into tiny chunks 1cm to 10 cm long, for composting. Got three dustbins full of these small lengths of blackberry plant, and half a dustbin of dug-up dandylions or other rosetted long-rooted weed. A more putrescible layer between the woody layers of bramble stalk. Continued here til dark, then came back home where the boys were in a good mood and wanted to have a rough and tumble. Good fun, no tears.

Tea was delicious... carrot soup and Gill's fantastic quiche. Played with the boys, we did a 'picture consequences' and then a 'story consequences' which was excellent.