Walking the Dog
Gardening can be very repetitive. But gardeners who own dogs have no reason to get bored with their self-imposed garden routines. At Mooseys, when feeling a little gardened-out, I can take Rusty the puppy for a walk...
Off We Go
It's actually even more repetitive than gardening! Puppy and I walk the same walk each day. We go down the same road (a straight road) to the same water race bridge. Here we always stop and have a slurping drink (well, puppy does).
Stop at the Cabbage Tree
The Source of The Gunnera
At this point we smartly cross the road and look upstream at the drab olive-green clumps of Gunnera. This is where all my rogue Gunnera seedlings come from. Its waterborne weeds are shared generously with gardeners downstream (like me).
Someone's planted a new patch of Liguarias - Hmm, I wonder what the next seed invasion at Mooseys could possibly be? And suppose I dropped a leaf in the water just here - how long would it take before that same leaf is flowing under Rooster Bridge?
Puppy gets bored with me gazing at the water and daydreaming. We need to get going!
The Sights and Smells of Autumn
We pass Stacey the black labrador (Rusty, sit!) and the latest rabbit road-kill (Rusty, heel!). There are lots of red spotted autumn mushrooms under a row of Pinus radiata. It feels like it's going to rain. We've reached the field of the nosy cows. Time to turn around.
Next stop is the Cordyline letter box - and the fence where I took cuttings of the cherry rambling rose nine years ago. There is Moosey history on this roadside! Off we go again!
We walk back past Shettleton Farm and Dapplewood - Hmm... With such evocative names this could be a quiet English country lane. Except the road verge is far too wide, and there are strips of fallen gum tree bark (Australian) lying over the grass.
Duck For Cover!
There's a small scruffy pond across the road. A group of mallard duck-squatters have moved in, escaping the perils of the duck shooting season. Rusty, no! No chasing the ducks!
Hmm... Smells Like...
Modern sounds of the semi-country - high above the morning Qantas plane from Sydney flies over. A white farm ute trundles past. Rusty, sit! Good dog!
Where To Now?
Someone is chain-sawing - winter firewood, probably. Oops - here comes the rubbish truck to pick up all the wheelie bins and the recycling tubs. Rusty, come! Sit! On lead!
Freestyle
We always run the last bit free-style. Rusty the puppy darts and zigzags over the wide grass verge. We are nearly home.
Smells! Disgusting thing to roll in! I love the head gardener! She's my best friend! She says I'm a good dog...
It's now drizzling gently. Hot cup of coffee! Vivaldi on the stereo! Log burner!
Good dog, Rusty.