Moving and a-grooving

Mmmm, I seemed to have missed a couple of days - so much for my self-imposed target of a blogpost a day. Trouble is I haven't had very much to write about and very little inspiration.

You may have noticed that I don't blog about work or my students, not because they are uninteresting but because I don't feel comfortable writing about people who have no idea that this blog exists. And whilst I'm sure my employer would have no problems with my blogging the day-to-day stuff of my working life, in all honesty, it isn't that interesting. Of course, with the World Cup of Football thingy going on at the moment, it has been hard to keep students focussed on the reason they are here but we haven't had any problems, not even when supporters of two teams are in the same class. What it has meant is that the streets are pretty clear at various times of the afternoon and evening which has made for a quieter drive home.

In other news, I have found a website MapMyWalk which has allowed me to plan some walking routes of varying lengths as part of my training for the Playtex Moonwalk. The book I ordered off Amazon prompted a flurry of emails culminating in one saying it was out of print and that they wouldn't be able to supply it. I went back online tonight to try and get a second-hand copy and, blow me down if they weren't offering the same book for sale again. So I've ordered it again, supposedly to arrive within a couple of weeks - we'll see. This weekend I'm going to 'splash out' on a new pair of trainers especially for the walking which I intend to start doing next week. My aim is to walk three times a week, gradually increasing both the rate at which I walk and the distance. If I get it right, I should be able to walk 26.2 miles in approximately eight hours. If you know anyone who had done something like this please let me know as I'd like to get some insider information.

Finally, I haven't been able to do much in the garden as the wind has been horrendous. However, my dad came round on Monday with his loppers and sorted out the tree at the back of the garden. If you look back here, it's the one next to the shed (green in the first and third pictures but red in the middle picture). With his judicial pruning, my dad has given me an extra ten square feet of garden and allowed the enormous yukka plants to be seen (at least I think they're yukkas). The other thing you may have noticed is the deterioration of the conifer. When I first moved in it was compact and nicely shaped but it is gradually falling open - not a good thing for a conifer. I have two choices, tie it up internally to try and stop any further opening or take it out totally. I loved it when I moved in, thinking it gave me some privacy from the houses that were built too close to the boundary behind but now I'm beginning to think it's more trouble than it's worth. I'm not sure it's a native species and I don't know how much wildlife it supports. Whatever I decide, nothing will be done before the autumn, when nesting birds and insects will have, hopefully, departed. I've done some basic research on the internet and they all say "Don't prune it" pruning will lead to bare brown patches and this is supported by my brother's experience with his conifer. Oh well, one to ponder.