Busy day doing very little

Such a busy day doing very little yesterday! Daniel the gardener turned up bright and early which meant that every half-hour I would have to go out and make sure he was doing what I had asked him to do. There were about 30 weeds in the lawn which he needed to pull out before mowing, and he took it into his head to take out all the winter grass as well, so I found him in the middle of a patch of lawn that now has more soil than grass. After getting his hands firmly on the mower's controls, I went back inside to start preparing some canvases for painting.

The easy part is painting a nice thick layer of white over an old painting that didn't work, so that you can start again without being distracted by the previous colours. Once I had done three, I had to watch paint dry, so headed off for coffee and to collect the post up the road. There I came across a friend who had been the victim of a mugging that night, the cowardly perpetrators being four young thugs from the local township with nothing better to do with their lives than steal other people's property and beat up the defenceless. The only good thing about the incident was that they didn't get the motorbike and a neighbour had let out four ridgebacks which chased off the cowards. One of the dogs sat with the victim and howled until help arrived. I think it is marvellous that the dog has such intelligence as to know that was the right thing to do - he is a credit to his breed. The young man was kicked about the head very badly and everyone is praying for a speedy and full recovery. Fortunately he has plenty of caring people to look after him.

The rest of the day proceeded as before, with half-hourly checks on the gardener, who eventually got the lawns in tip-top shape and the rest of the garden looking neat and tidy, if a little colourless, but then that is entirely my fault for not being able to grow anything that flowers!

In the evening, I went with other club members to support our Two Oceans Toastmasters Club participant in the Division Humorous Speech contest and was not surprised when he won. He now has to go to Jo'burg to participate in the national contest where I'm sure he will come out tops. The standard of speaking at our club is very high and visitors are always welcome.

Today is windy and wild out there, and I have to head for the mall to stock the fridge. It never ends.