I’ve been waiting for today. It didn’t specifically have to be Wednesday 29 January 2020, just any day when in the Venn diagram of my life Willing Spirit and Blue Sky overlapped. Today I have been sitting on the bench outside the back door, perched on my inflatable kneeling pad, coffee at my side, cleaning and sharpening my tools. Because next week I return to work.
Readers of a certain age will understand when I remind them of plimsole whitener. For those of you unacquainted I will enlighten you. At the end of the school holidays our white gym shoes were painted with a proprietary rejuvenator, almost certainly purchased in Woolworths. After application it hardened to a plaster of Paris finish which rendered any actual foot movement impossible for at least a week. The first weeks of PE were marked by a rash of flat-footed waddling until enough cracks had formed to enable freedom. This bizarre tradition was undertaken in order to brighten and freshen up and pretend your daps/pumps/trainers were new. No one was ever fooled. Still, just before return to classes, it was exactly what you or, if you were lucky, your mum did.
This was my equivalent. I cleaned, oiled and sharpened, feeling righteous in the sunshine. But I did not go overboard, it is very important to retain a patina. I have learned from the whitening. There is nothing as uncool as brand new shiny trainers. The same goes for spotless tools. Or is that an excuse for sloppy work? Not at all.
And now it is done, forks and trowels, hori hori and pruning saw, mini mattock, border fork, lawn edger, pruners and of course the golden spade. And five sets of secateurs. Three of mine and two of OH. I was on a roll.
Now I’m ready. But perhaps not for anything.
Off The Edge Gardening 
You obviously caught the best of the weather, here it was sunshine and showers , off and on every five minutes. I almost got some weeding done 😕
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Unusually it seems so! Dry all day and lots of sunshine in the morning. Back to same old same old today ….
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I’d forgotten about the dap ritual D’ya need any gold paint for the spade? I found a wizzo kit on Amazon. Just attaches to a drill (or rechargeable screwdriver thing) and polishes things up in no time. Hope you got no complaints about your secs on the garden bench. XXX
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Ha! I love my spade, a little rough around the edges now perhaps, reminds me of someone ……
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I hope the tools appreciate your efforts and reward you by not blistering your hands or giving you callouses. (We had to whiten our shoes before dance exams therefore a more sparing application was used. Flat-footed waddling wasn’t exactly what the examiner was looking for…)
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Oh that would have been tragic! The thought made me smile a little though. x
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Lovely post. The mention of plimsoles, whitener and Woolies certainly brings back memories of a dim, distant past. xx
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It is funny what springs to mind when you are polishing your trowel! Thanks x
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Oh I feel guilty – but galvanised into action! (remember the plimsole whitening too)
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Don’t feel guilty, it only happens once a year, although I do think about it more often. Which doesn’t really count. 🙂
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That is the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard of….putting plaster on shoes.
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Yep!
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