Dieting doesn't have to be grim; weeding, on the other hand...

Grilled chicken on a bed of rocket, cous-cous with fresh basil, and fresh tomato wedges with strawberries for dessert. Mmmm. Nothing grim about that.

Weeding, however, has been pretty grim today. I am trying to weed the beds on either side of the brick path that leads to our front door. On the outside of the path, where we planted assorted heathers last autumn, the weeds have invaded from the lawn. We really must put a barrier in. Meanwhile, I am trying to get rid of the weeds but it isn't easy. The primary culprit is a creeping critter with long elasticy roots. I must use the garden fork to work up the soil beneath and around all the network of roots that the weed grows on. Any one length of root can have as many as 8 plants on it, all of different sizes. The length is unbelievable! I had one that was over 2 feet long. And these are small roots we're talking about, not large ones which are easy to get ahold of or which you can tug on without their breaking. I finally had to cry "Uncle!" after about an hour and a half of wrestling with the things. My back and hip joints were screaming for relief so I came inside and fixed my lunch.

While I was doing the weeding, Donald was tidying up the area in front of the house, out by the road. Our village is entered in the Scotland in Bloom contest again this year. When the committee comes to look over the village, it looks all over the village, at how people keep their own gardens and entrances as well as how the Comrie in Colour Committee create and maintain the flower arrangements they have in public spaces.

Don's now gone with Gordon to play golf and I am going to go work on the commission quilt. Yesterday afternoon the woman who has commissioned it came for a visit and to see how it's coming along. She was very pleased and thinks her grandson will really like it. From what she says, her son, the boys father, is even more excited about the quilt than she is. The family will begin their visit here next Tuesday, so I am aiming to finish the quilt in the next few days and deliver it by no later than Sunday. When I'm done, I'll post a photo.