Slashed the paddock by the dojo shed last week. Did another hour and a half of slashing down below the berry patch today. Oh, and I put the heavy blade on the weed-cutter, and spent an hour downing the rank growth at the back of the firepit, and around the kids' play area. Ran the water pump. Put two loads of laundry through, brought a couple in, folded, put them away.
Summer. I've eaten so many cherries I think I'm going to be sick. Seriously. And raspberries. Fresh raspberries. Yeah. I haven't actually stuffed myself to paraplegia yet there, so when I'm done writing this, I reckon I'll head down the berry patch with a bucket and set to.
Summer is about cricket too, right? So on Friday, I took my two boys plus Dylan and Jacob down for the first day of the Sri Lanka Test in Hobart. Niiiice day. Cloudy and cool, but no rain. We packed plenty of food, drink and sunscreen, and enjoyed ourselves. Jacob declared he found watching the cricket a little boring (!) so he and Genghis took off for a walk around the grounds -- apparently ran into Ricky Ponting and got the obligatory handshake.
Genghis also got into a battle of wills with a balloon artiste. He and Jacob both got orange balloon parrots for their shoulders, but later, Genghis went back and asked for a fish. No go. An octopus? Nope. A shark? No! Maybe an oyster? NO!
One does not defeat Genghis so easily. He took his parrot off, and retwisted it into the shape of a fish. Then he took it back and showed it triumphantly to the balloon artistes -- who refused to speak with him from that point on. Game, set and match to Genghis, I think.
And what would summer cricket be without a little backyard action? Unfortunately, our back yard is hilly as all hell. The only really flat spot is between the garage and the shed, and there be glass windows thereabouts. Plus there's a long slope at the back for escaped balls to run away. Solution? Enter The Father -- armed with PVC piping, cable-ties (love those things!) some old bird netting, and a few star pickets.
The new batting nets are getting a copious after-school workout at the moment. When I get a bit more time, I'll dig up a half-pitch, lay some concrete and a bit of astroturf, because young Genghis is getting serious about his cricket, and he's got a wicked fast-bowling action. In the meantime, it's a shitload of fun.
So, that's about it for the moment. I'd better go and pick some raspberries, eh?
