Free Plants

We got a flyer the other day from the city council (or just "council" as they prefer to refer to themselves) advertising a local tree-planting effort to increase shade along the streets of Grange, and offering free plants to those who volunteered.

A few days later blue crosses mysteriously started to appear by the sides of the roads, and putting two and two together we figures that was where the trees would probably go.

And sure enough the other day one of those Caterpillar things with a big drill on was doing what you'd expect something with a big drill to do and drilling holes where the blue crosses were.

So we toddled along yesterday, late, to be greeted by our local councillor, one Fiona King, at Lanham Park where a full-scale kitchen was set up for the obligatory post-planting sausage sizzle and from where large parties of people were departing with spades in hand to plant the trees which had appeared that morning next to the holes which had been dug where the blue crosses were that we surmised were for the trees. Correctly.

And, having introduced ourselves and put ourselves down as volunteers, free plants for the procuring of, except not free of course as we expected to toil for our horticulture, we set off, escorted by Mrs King to meet up with our team leader, passing new trees all the way.

When in fact we did manage to catch up with the tree-planting spearhead, some several streets later, I helped some young whelp with the spade and we planted the tree. Eloise at the same time encountered her erstwhile Nursery buddy of last year, Hannah, and that was the rest of the day sewn up for her.

The sausages were reportedly very good. I retrieved the car to get our six plants wot we earned for our three trees planted (there were a lot of people, OK?) and after hanging around in the park for a while Eloise bagged a playtime offer and went off to Hannah's house while Nicole and I relaxed chez nous.

After a while the girls came back while Hannah's Mum went shopping and we played hide and seek with them. They weren't very good frankly either at hiding or at seeking.

Then Eloise went back to Hannah's house and we went to the beach for to walk the dogs.

When Eloise was picked up after that, it seems that Hannah had sparkoed on the couch leaving Eloise to fend for herself, and she had helped herself to Hannah's fairy dress. Perhaps on a permanent basis.