This just so happens to be the last easy workday, before all hell breaks loose, and the marathon, that quickly turns to a manic 100 metre sprint starts. Welcome to the cutting-back season.

This week we took our trusty mattocks to put the recycled picnic bench back in the ground. It was Mick, our recently departed friend, who introduced us to the mattock. I can remember his words as clear as day, “get a mattock and digging holes/pulling up tree roots is easy”.

Mick was obviously having one of his little jokes. Not in any way, shape, or form, is digging up tree roots easy. It’s back-breaking and blister-inducing at the very best of times. Good one, Mick. I imagine you looking down on us and chuckling away to yourself…

Reece and David got the bench back to where it is supposed to be, and at a seat height that is comfortable for picnics.

Whilst Marcus and myself set about giving our Christmas tree a bit more light, and an obvious space to grow into. Hopefully the tree, which I have named Douglas, will take heed and put on a little bit more that the measly couple of inches that it has managed so far this year.

At this rate it will be my great great grandchildren who decorate it for Christmas.

Sadly, the angry mob of squirrels have had a bit too much fighting juice and smashed a birdbox off a tree.

Good news that it has bedding in it, so was used this year. The chicks have long since fledged so don’t worry about them. And this is only the third one to meet such a fate, out of over 50. If you remember back to last year, it was almost a weekly occurrence.

Strangely, we found ourselves finished by about 11 o’clock, so we sauntered down to a bench called Bethel, to clear the view.

So, what is Bethel? After much discussion, beard-stroking, head-scratching, and googling, as you do when you have way too much time on your hands, and a cup of coffee to slurp on, we came to this conclusion:

Bethel is first referred to in the Bible as being near the place that Abram pitches his tent. Later, Bethel is mentioned as the location of Jacob dreaming of a ladder leading to heaven, which he therefore names Bethel (“House of God”). The name is further used for a border city located between the territory of the Israelite tribe of Benjamin and that of the tribe of Ephraim, which first belongs to the Benjaminites and is later conquered by the Ephraimites.

After much joking about the Bethel bench being an altar, and making an offering of a coconut macaroon to God, we cracked on and cleared the view.

Madly, it all went rather well and without the usual challenges thrown our way, so we had still more playtime, before we all had to go home.

We back-tracked to the Heath View bench and cleared the view to the west, and the short path to one of the geocaching containers to the east.

After discussing many matters of great importance, our attention once again turned to the benches. A debate followed as to which bench offers the best view. A tough call. A very tough call, indeed.

Lastly, and I know that you’re all sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for this…

You cannot help but see that the elephant in the room has all but disappeared. The 4th continent that they call Greenland, with a population of about 56,000 people, despite being roughly 9 times bigger than the United Kingdom (population 67,330,000), has finally viewed the blog, and more than once.

No longer do I have to look at that huge expanse of white sitting right in the middle of our World map.

Thank-you, Greenlander persons for making Greenland the 106th country to view the blog.

And on that note, time to roll up my sleeves and fix that birdbox.

Until next time!