Too early?

Al, our gardener, is proposing to come tomorrow, weather permitting. Undoubtedly the lawn could do with a hair-cut. The garden generally could do with a tidy-up. The winter has left it looking a bit of a mess.

He told us his intentions on Friday. He asked how our lawn was doing, fearing it might be waterlogged as usual. We had to admit we didn't know as it is a while since we last ventured on it. When we left for home drizzle had started. I did try stepping on the grass. Definitely soggy. During the night & yesterday morning further rain fell. In the evening I tried the grass again. Even before I'd put my full weight down, water was oozing up around my foot.

Much as I would like to see the garden once more looking cared for, there is a bit of me hoping Al doesn't come. He's had a hard winter healthwise. He suffers from asthma. Around here chest infections have abounded & he has been so badly affected that some days he's not had the breath to even get out of bed. On Friday he was still looking very grey & was still coughing badly, gasping for breath. He's decided he's up to doing half days but I can't help feeling it's still too early. He needs a bit longer to recover.

On the other hand I can see the urge to get back to work. It's one of the problems of self-employment. Being too ill to work also means no income. Al's in his sixties now, but he's still got a couple of years before pension time. I'm not even sure if he will get full state pension as he worked for several years in Africa. I know my father found he wasn't entitled to the full state pension because he hadn't kept up with his stamp payments while he worked abroad.  I hope that is not the case for Al. Either way I fear Al looks as though he's trying to work himself into the ground - not a good thing. With a bit of luck the rain will have made him change his mind.