I only had three weeks to work after the school holidays before I went on my sabbatical to China, however by the end of week two I was a broken man. Friday morning, after returning from the school run to the depot my nerves were shattered, I was struggling to stay composed because the noise that morning was just absolutely horrendous and on top of that the rubbish was everywhere.

“I quit”, I said “I’ve had enough…. can’t do another week of this shit”! Well that went down like a lead balloon but it made me feel so much better. A weight was lifted from my shoulders; this feeling of utter despair was gone in an instant and I was finally able to come up for air.

I was not a complete arsehole, because I went back and brought the little darlings back to their homes again and never said a word to any one of them of my intentions. They’re not all bad, but there are about 4 kids that just make the journey a misery and they get on at the first and second stops, which means that they are on the bus for the complete journey and I just cannot block them out. Like so many young kids these days, they speak with this American accent due to the fact they watch too much shit Americana. If there is one thing I hate more than the local twang, is having to listen to an American dribbling on about this and that.

So today, Monday, I got up at my same time; 5.30 rise and shine and had breakfast and then just sat there till the clock strolled passed the time that I would normally leave the house and it felt bloody marvellous. The rain was pissing down; it had been on most of the night, but we desperately need it.

I went to the supermarket for 7am opening and was back out 10 mins later. Got home and decided to clean the deck. It’s peppered with shit from the umpteen birds that come in and so I am going to have to see how I can dissuade them from doing so. The usual culprits, the Butcher Birds and Magpies are finally tolerating each other again after breeding season and they often have a shit and then just fly off. Why can’t they learn to have a shit before they come in to say hello.

And so my first day of chilling was very productive, even managed a siesta 😊 Tomorrow I will try and keep the momentum going and begin to put linseed oil onto the plywood I put up a couple of weeks ago and then we shall see what the wind brings.