Extreme Gardening

I have discovered an new sport - Extreme Gardening.

Let me explain more. Yesterday was probably the wettest day this year. Guess who was out in it all day?

I had an urgent enquiry off the internet for a garden clearance and tidy to prepare for letting. The only day it could be done was Friday. I didn't need an alarm clock as the rain was so heavy it woke me - not a good sign. Having loaded up and got soaked, the forecast and prospect for a dry day was not looking great.

On arrival, the rain was so heavy you couldn't see across the garden. I donned my wet weather gear, a full PVC type suit, described by the manufacturer as being the ultimate weather protection, and ventured out to survey the work to be done.

The grass had been described as "being too long for a push mower" - no kidding! It was so long and wet that I had no choice but to strim the lot - hence my first sport - endurance strimming. I can honestly say that I have never strimmed a 1/2 acre of lawn before!

The next event was marathon grass raking - using a strimmer produces a mass of cuttings which needs to be cleared. This event was followed by Tug of War - loading the mass of soaking wet cuttings onto a tarpaulin and dragging them to the mulch heap.

By now, the locals had established there was a new loony in the village. Opposite the cottage was a school which had a constant stream of bemused parents, looking at this PVC clad idiot in the rain, possibly singing to himself (a habit I have developed when using my MP3 player).

In fact as I started to cut the hedges, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a car had stopped. I looked around to see the driver taking a picture of me with a mobile phone! Where will that shot end up - who knows, probably some fetish site for PVC clad people!

Anyhow, job done, happy customer and a new sport created.