Week Notes #15: July 20, 2020

I took the week off. I wasn't sure how that was going to work out with all the Covidness. But it was actually a really good week.

• The first thing we did was to sort out the front garden a bit. I started by pulling out the conifer things the previous owners had planted as a fence. They're the type that could absolutely mental if they are unchecked so I thought it was best to rip them out now.
• Next thing we did was a daytrip to Bodnant Gradens. An actual day out. To a place. In an actual different country. The National Trust have implemented an EventBrite driven ticket system that worked pretty well. We booked a time slot, showed the printout to the guy on the car park and then didn't see another member of staff except a lady cleaning the entrance.
• Bodnant is lovely. It's probably one of our favourites. It's basically just a gorgeous garden set in a Welsh valley. Gardens, meadows, formal gardens, rivers, ponds, follies, waterfalls. All with a backdrop of Welsh hills and the Conwy estuary. And we saw 4 kingfishers doing their thing. All round it was good day out.
• Next on the list was building a planter for the front garden. I threw together a plan using XD to give me and idea. Worked out what I needed via the Wickes website. Went to buy it - wearing a mask, obviously - then we built it in the afternoon. Proper sawing, screwing, brackets and glue. I'm not entirely sure it will last a lifetime - but hopefully we'll get a few years out of it.
• We also drove to Liverpool to pick up half a whisky barrel to plant a poorly acer in. It looks ... ace. Smells good too.
• Then we bought a load of soil. Then we planted loads of things.
• The big trip out was to the Lake District. A 2 hour drive, setting of early in the morning and doing a good walk up a hill. The kind of thing I've been pining to do since I had my op. Being able to leave the house without too much thought is the single biggest improvement to my life and this kind of trip is the kind of thing I want to do.
• We headed to Grasmere, parked up and did a 4.5 mile loop up to Easedale Tarn. I got a proper sweat on. Probably for the first time since my op. I'd taken some extra liquid, but should have taken more (we need a proper bag) - but it was a truly lovely walk and the kids had a whale of a time being outside properly for the first time in months.
• We even got an ice cream. It would have been nice to stay longer. We were put off staying in the Lakes by a fairly miserable holiday in 2012 were it rained for the whole week ... but this was encouraging.
• It's been a lazier few days since. I had my second quick 7 holes on the course at the end of our road. This was much more positive. Less slicey ... a bit more hooky ... but generally solid, bar a couple of dodgy shots. And I didn't lose any balls.