Missing the Moosey Garden...
The Team at Huka Falls
It's right at the end of March, and the paddocks and gardens need rain. I've been away, missing the Moosey Garden. It really feels like Autumn.
Monday 29th March, Late...
I'm back, after a garden-free nine days and over two thousand kilometers of driving between Christchurch and Tauranga (I've been with my school volleyball teams at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Nationals). It's so good to be back - the lawns have been mowed, the garden borders look wonderful, and the cats and dog remember me.
I am sad to say that in our van (2 teachers and 7 boy volleyballers) we zoomed past several road signs in the North Island pointing to famous New Zealand gardens (like Titoki Point near Taihape). We just couldn't stop.
Also there were several big mail order nurseries within 30 kms of our motel in Tauranga, all of which boast huge display gardens. I thought about going, but there was never the time. Never mind! I had a great trip.
North Island Road-side Plants
Tuesday 30th March
Yippee! I'm back and I've had a really great sleep! Today it's calm and sunny - perfect for relaxing inside with the doors open watching the cricket, or poking about in the house gardens, or launching into a digging and weeding frenzy over the water race.
The New Well :- The well is in one corner of the Hazelnut Orchard.
The new well has been drilled, and apparently I am allowed to do some plantings around the well and water tank, as soon as all the trenches for pipes and power supply have been dug. In my mind I can see a mass of scrambling rambling roses...
The Moosey garden looks far too small! Perhaps I need to incorporate much more land into the gardens here. Hmm... for the next few hours I'm just going to relax and soak in the ambience of home and dream about garden expansion.
The Water Race
Later...
I decided to be practical and clear some more of the water race edge. I scared the duck (yippee! - the duck is still here). Two barrowfuls of weed and mud later and I am finished for the day. The drilling rig has gone. Colours of autumn are starting - the trees in the pond paddock are turning yellow and red. Since I've been away the birds have eaten most of the apples. And my raspberry canes (which I so sneakily tried to weed-kill) look very dead. There's a lot of clean-up work to be done out there!
Wednesday 31st March
Right - it's time I went outside and scraped and weeded along the water race edge. I should be completely finished this by the end of the week, and am interested in perhaps planting some Pseudopanax trees in selected places. I have already moved in various tussock seedlings, and am trying to lay more stones as a natural weed supressant. Off I go. By the way, we lost the cricket...
A Quick End of March Comment on Semi-Retirement
It's two hours later and I'm back. I've ripped out more raspberry canes and dug out weeds by the water race and burnt a pile of rubbish. I am so happy and busy and contented being in the garden, not having to rush, not worried about keeping up the weekend work, etc. I am a very lucky person.