I'd promised to help Steve plant some of our young trees today. Honestly, I just wanted to walk, but after he gave me so much of his time with the pen, well I had to return the favour, and I did take Beti and Ross with me.
After planting the first tree Steve realised he couldn't get up off the ground, so as I was the "gofer", up I went to get his gardening stool. Paul and Jo were ready to leave, and as Paul is a little scared of the dogs, I had to put them in whilst they made their escape. So yeah, it took me just 5 mins longer to get back down the field. As I headed down, I just couldn't believe what I saw; Steve was trying to pull himself up with the wall. Now any idiot could see that it would not end well ... I guess it could have been worse; I was thankful that only a dozen or so of the stones fell and that nothing fell on him. Yes, I did swear!!!
Ross is not the best to have with you when you are gardening, but I did manage to keep his head out of the blows of the pickaxe, (it's a stoney field) though he did stamp a New Zealand holly.
It's been odd to have a week-end at home, though Mum did make a sarcastic remark tonight about the fact that she won't be seeing me till Tuesday, but she will see me on Thursday ... and Saturday! Anyway her brother went today and I think I've put my foot in it on the group chat. He reported in that all had gone mostly OK, but that he'd thrown the eggs out from the fridge, they were a few days over their date ...My brother thanked him and said he'd done the same last time he was up. Well, I'm afraid I got in one. Eggs are not sold with a "Use By" date they are sold with "sell by" or "best before"; they are totally different things. I never check dates on eggs here, and I worked for 10 years as a "breakfast chef", and I've never come across a raw egg that's gone off! After feeling a little outnumbered, I reminded them of my qualifications and posted this ..."Eggs typically last for 3 to 5 weeks past the pack date when properly refrigerated. The date printed on the carton is usually a "best before" or "sell by" indicator for freshness, not a hard safety expiration. Anyway, a slightly sharp reply left me feeling I'd overstepped the mark, but to be fair, in this case, Mum is right!
