Charlady

I am such a goody-goody.  On Sunday I cleared the outside drains.  I'd been putting it off a while because I couldn't face it, but I felt very proud of myself when it was done.  So proud, that, (sorry, I can't help saying this), flushed with success, I tried out my new state of the art loo brush and scrubbed the toilets.  Oh, the exciting life of an author.  I'm going after the cobwebs next.

When it all gets too much I call on my friend Jane, as she and her husband have just started their own cleaning business and are brilliant.  I used to take cleaning jobs when money was tight and I wanted work that would fit in with school hours, and long before that, when I was a student I did hotel work to make ends meet.  I tell you, I've cleaned some rough stuff in my time.

Have I blogged this before?  Well, it's worth saying again.  The people we really need, the ones we depend on, are cleaning hospitals, streets, offices, shops, public and private buildings, and in most cases, doing it for a pittance and with little thanks.  I can remember the last time the bin men went on strike, and it wasn't pretty.   Respect all cleaners!

On a lighter note, today we have had both sunshine and hail.  The honeysuckle is trying to gather up the courage to blossom, rather like me getting up in the mornings.  The roses haven't even peeped, they're so disgusted, and I found red lily beetle on the day lilies and committed insecticide.

Now, for all those doing the author challenge - today I made a Donna Tartt by JK Rowling out some pastry and putting it in the oven.  I managed to Frances Hodgson Burnett, but I scraped it up with a Tom Sharpe knife.