On the plus side, after the Royal Mail debacle with a parcel, I eventually phoned up Marks and Spencers and explained, and they simply replaced the order, no charge. Phew. So it was sent to me, and wrapped, and sent on to the little boy who had his second birthday on Saturday 30th March, in Dublin. All fine.

However.

My spectacles broke, and cost me £60 for a new frame, into which the optician inserted my current lenses.

My hairdryer died (not terribly pleased, it was quite expensive and hasn’t lasted that long) so I had to order a new one, which arrived today.

A tooth broke. Now then. This is the very tooth that has been causing me considerable pain since mid-December. I managed to get an appointment with the dentist, and he just stuck a bit on top of the broken bit. No anaesthetic, and hopefully no more pain. I’m really hoping that is the end of that particular story. Any more problems with that tooth might involve a crown. But still. There is at least a Plan B.

So all those things were a nuisance, but fixable, and fixed.

I have just been in the garden, watering plants I have just pruned (hydrangeas, sage and fuchsia) and shrubs I planted yesterday. That sounds lovely, doesn’t it! Well, it was eventually ok, but the spray gun nozzle thingamajig on the hose had been left out all winter, and had split because of the frost. We do know that happens, so why we didn’t put the nozzle away I really don’t know. I swore a bit (a lot), under my breath. Luckily we have another one so I used that and it was fine for the back garden.

The front garden, where the new shrubs are (photinias), is another story. The hose is on a reel, so won’t go up the side passage because there is too much stuff which lives up there (recycling wheelie bin, boxes for glass, box for tip, blah blah blah). So I went to get the other hose out of the shed. It’s very heavy, and long, and was in a terrible muddle, despite my best efforts to keep it unmuddled. Gah! what a pain it was to sort it all out. Then I had to actually do the watering, then wind it up again, which was an equal pain, because you need to put a twist in every loop so it lies flat. Much silent swearing in my head.  Next, I went back into the shed to sort out the lawnmower flex which was in a muddle too because I’d got so cross with the hose. But that was light, and easy to wind, and twist, and loop.

I’ve just ordered one of those expandable crinkly hoses (https://www.amazon.co.uk/KINGTOP-Hose-Expandable-Hosepipe-Function/dp/B01J78W5OY) and two more nozzle thingies. So I won’t need to do all that again, hopefully, as rain is forecast for the next three days.

And I’m not even going to mention the complete and utter omnishambles that is our current government. What a total f*ck up. I could do a better job than that. In fact – no, no, no. Not going to start another rant. Hubby’s doing tea, I’m drinking a nice glass of water, and am hoping to finish a knitting project tonight.

Aaaand – breathe!