Spending my birthday

Today is an insignificant birthday in my slide into the period of my life when I'll be called "elderly". I find that I have spent the day doing unenvironmentally friendly things.

My front windows were crusted with salt, sand and grunge (I live near the sea), so I got out my long handled gadget, my ladder and a bucket of hot water and window cleaning stuff, and tackled the windows I could reach, and wiped down the front door. I guess I should have used vinegar, but I had an old bottle of window cleaner, and the windows were really terrible. Looming up is another task: I really need to repaint all my window ledges. They are a disgrace to the street - the paint is peeling off and it all looks neglected.

As I was, for once, in my sand-blasted, north facing front garden - a tiny unkempt patch that I don't know what to do with, I took the decision there and then to kill the weeds non-organically. I will level the patch and when Autumn comes I will plant an emerald green square of grass, and arrange some tubs of bright plants or ornamental grasses under the windows. Before I could change my mind, I went off and found some old packets of Pathclear and watered the weedkiller into the patch.

My final inconsiderate action was to strip the varnish off an odd old dining chair. I sat in the garden removing layers of dirty varnish, cleaned this off with white spirit and then rubbed in conditioning oil. It's looking much better. I decided the safest thing was dispose of the rags, kitchen paper etc used for this job, was to burn them quickly in my fire basket.

The car has not been out for 48 hours, and my weekly wash was all done on the eco setting, and is line-drying. We are eating leftovers and awful bits and bobs that have been in the freezer for yonks. I'm sure that's good, but not good enough.

Eco score for the day
Window cleaning: -
Weed killing: ----
Restoring chair: ---
Washing clothes: +
Food decisions: +
Non-use of car: +
Overall score for the day: -----

My eldest grand daughter sang me happy birthday in a very sweet, breathy little voice down the phone and I exclaimed my appreciation while thinking internally : "We are being a good, cooperative and especially sweet little girl today - this is ra-ather saccharine". I am glad to say that her younger sister could be heard clearly, saying "No I don't want to" when asked to say happy birthday to granny. She nevertheless came the phone and in the privacy of our telephone conversation I said: "You don't want to talk to me right now, do you?" "No", she replied. Thank goodness for the honesty of three year olds. I told her to hand me back to her mother (who might well have felt the same way, but she didn't admit it).