Shropshire Star

Andy Richardson: Wonders of nature a joy to see amid the house clutter

It was time for a spring clean. And, yes, I know it’s summer. But I missed this year’s spring clean. And, come to think of it, I missed the one the year before, and the year before that, and the year before… Well, you get the drill. Me and spring cleans is like a pescatarian and an abattoir. We really don’t mix.

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A few days later, a young fawn appeared...

So with an ever-mounting pile of clutter to put somewhere safe, it was time to move petrol canisters and chainsaws into the shed, rather than piling them at the back door as though we actually lived in a breaker’s yard.

If things went well, we’d be able to open the back door without stepping over a dog-sized barrel of chainsaw oil. Wouldn’t that be grand?

And so I swept and organised, piled and rearranged, gathered the things that were where they should not be and set out a plan to rehome them. Weren’t weekends made for this sort of thing?

I went to the shed, a room I’ve not visited in about 18 months - or is it two years? I don’t know. Having bought two lawnmowers, then replaced them with a third, I’d secured stuff properly by adding lots of locks, then walking away content that I’d return at some point to good machines that had become rusty and unworkable. As you do.