my first committee meeting

This will be a short post.  It's just gone quarter to seven, and at half past I have to go to work, and I haven't made my packed lunch yet, or had my breakfast, or let the chickens out.  Let us hope they have not chosen this morning to have kicked their water over or filled it with straw, which adds an unexpected five minute delay to being able to shut the car door and set off down the drive.

I should have written something last night, except that by the time I'd got back from work, and watered the greenhouse and conservatory and posted yesterday's blog, it was supper time, and I was frankly knackered.  I don't think I'm going to feel like writing anything tonight, because I have to go straight from work to my first beekeepers' committee meeting.

I hadn't realised when I volunteered to serve a stint as Treasurer that they met on Monday evenings at 7.30pm in a village on the opposite side of Colchester to my house.  When I thought about the timings I realised that in the spring quarter when we don't finish work until 6.00pm, all I would have time to do would be to drive home from work, then I'd have to turn round and set straight back out again, with maybe five minutes tops to try and clean my fingernails.  Instead I'll have to scrub up at work and go straight there.  I might be able to get some food in the pub, though I shall take a packet of oat biscuits in case of emergencies.  In the winter it will be fine, when we finish work at 4.00pm, but for April through to June it is a nuisance.

I have no idea what the beekeeping committee meeting will be like.  Knowing the people involved, probably rather free form, compared to the music society meetings which the Chairman, a retired lawyer of considerable charm, runs with iron efficiency beneath the velvet glove.  Beekeepers don't take naturally to organisation.  If I wanted a cliche at this point, 'herding' and 'cats' would do nicely.

At least my bank mandate change form came through, so I can get the cheque for our capitation fees to the county and national beekeeping bodies signed.  The bank statements haven't yet started reaching me, so I haven't had the treat of doing my first bank rec.  I do know that we have enough money to pay the capitation fees, though, because we had at the time of the March statement, which is the last one I've got, handed over by the outgoing Treasurer, had more than enough, and I know what has gone out since then because I've got the only cheque book.  Some other committee members can pay money in to the bank, but they require my collusion to get it out again.

When I get home I might tell you all about it, but I probably won't, since by then I will have done more than enough for one day.  And now I'm afraid time is so short I'm not even going to use Blogspots's Preview facility and see how this looks, so apologies in advance for the spelling mistakes and lexical facilitations.  You'll have seen worse in the Guardian and the Telegraph, so don't worry about it.