page 9 a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

page 9



A bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush.
Sorry birds that thorn bush has to go.

At the far end of mothers garden there is a large grass area, this is just mown during the summer and occasionally sheep grazed on it. This year when the sheep were put on to graze, some were intent on getting as caught up in the brambles as possible.

“Can you come over the sheep are caught up again” mother always phones me never the farmer. 
So off I go to free the sheep. Thorny brambles and wool is not the best combination and secateurs in hand I go to cut the sheep out. Obviously I get scratched in the process and the sheep, she gallops of without a second glance.

“Oh look at your arms those sheep are a nuisance” says mother.

The sheep are doing a good job of keeping the grass down, plus mother gets plenty of exercise going to the window checking to see if their alright. So no the sheep aren’t a nuisance but the bramble bush is.

“I am going down to remove the bramble bush, it needs to come out” that’s my solution to the problem.

“No, I will get someone in to do it” here we go.

Some days I just cannot be bothered to argue with mother’s matriarchal, sexist nature, so I don’t.

“I will see you in a bit” I say and off I go towards the back door.

“Where are you going” mother shouts.

“To clear the brambles of course” I call and shut the door. That’s one way out of an argument.

I was quite content chopping down the brambles, I find demolishing something rewarding on so many levels. Mother can be hard work, so the feeling of being undervalued is another, so I often find myself feeling quite stressed.

The satisfaction of seeing a cleared bramble patch is moral boosting. Tension in my whole being is eased by simply working hard and using shear muscle power to achieve something. It’s a brilliant way of dealing with stress. They do say exercise is good for you, believe me it is.

When I have finished and taken the rubbish to where I have the bonfire, I am filthy dirty, tired but relaxed. When I go inside mother looks at me and says;

“I told you not to do those brambles, look at the state of you”

“Have you looked through the window and seen how much better it looks, also the sheep won’t get tangled now, plus I thoroughly enjoyed myself” (I nearly said so there in real defiance, but didn’t)

Mother had to agree (reluctantly) so I sat with her for a while discussing this and that until I went home.

Till next time


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