Get organised in advance?
The second week in May begins, and not even a token of winter as yet. Perhaps I should get organised in advance and move the half-hardy plant into the glasshouse today? Or maybe later this week?
Saturday 8th May
I have woken up early, still full of bull (i.e. extreme pride and gardening satisfaction) concerning yesterday's huge late night bonfire. Not only did I get rid of piles of dry rubbish, I also managed to burn a lot of the wetter tree lucerne branches. I don't usually get emotionally attached to my rubbish fires, but this was a rather complete and satisfying experience. What a sad, sheltered life some semi-retired gardeners lead!
Red Flax in Autumn
Today I have a plan. I will encourage Stephen with the chainsaw to remove offending stumps - tree lucerne stumps have little artistic value, and their sole point in life is to trip up gardeners (and pyrotechnic facilitators) moving past with rubbish-filled wheelbarrows. There may be more burning, as long as my ash volcano isn't deemed too big. Thus the Hump will be reclaimed as the area of natural beauty it should be, and I can waft through its clear paths looking for gentle signs of spring - hang on, maybe we'd better get winter over first!
Autumn Leaves to Rake Up
Too Much to Say
I seem to have too much to say. Pity I don't use this excess energy researching exactly what the names of all my succulents in pots are... Enough!
Lunchtime...
Another bonfire of Guy Fawkes proportions - with no help from other people who were supposed to be chainsawing... But the pump is in the well now, and certain things have to be planned and purchased before mid-day... And rooster is crowing... And I am SO tired! I am jolly well having a two hour break - I will sit and drink tea and read and enjoy the May sunshine.
Apres Gardening... actually Apres Bonfire
Another one - strictly speaking a re-ignition of this morning's. I am exhausted, but happy. The rooster and hens have had a wonderful time following my rake around, scratching in the newly exposed dirt for whatever. I have retired for the day a little early, but I am totally entitled to. The garden looks - well - really serene at this time of year.
Mums for Mother's Day
Sunday 9th May - New Zealand Mothers Day
Happy Mothers Day to all mothers - those who don't live in New Zealand can share our date!
It's another beautiful late autumn day - weakly warm sun, no wind, absolute calm and stillness. Stephen is supposed to be up early digging trenches for the cables for the well pump. Rooster is crowing and pecking at the glass door, staring at me. Should I have another bonfire? Hmm... Decisions, decisions, on the New Zealand Mothers Day 2004!
Lunchtime...
I had a Mothers Day Bonfire. The path through the Hump is almost cleared, and rooster and the hens have been poking around in there behind me. If ever anyone tells me I'm going a little batty I can blame the company - actually I do talk down to rooster quite a lot - hmm...
And in a reverse Mothers Day Tribute I've been happily thinking about my immediate family - daughter (drilling in the Gobi desert), house-daughter (learning Spanish somewhere in South America), elder son (agonising over his Subbuteo figures in wet gloomy London), younger son (sleeping, almost certainly, in his Christchurch house, surrounded by Hebes). Yippee - It's so nice being a mum.
Tuesday 11th May
Oops - another rainy day, with no gardening. Co-incidentally I have been at work earning a little bit of gentle money during these last two too-wet-to-garden days. The rain is most welcome, though, as I need it to dampen down my ash volcano (the result of my obsessive autumn rubbish burning over the last weeks).
Autumn Across the Water
The plan is to scatter barrowfuls of ash safely around in the Hump, thus completing the cycle (since the rubbish came from the Hump in the first place). So I am hoping for the rain to ease by tomorrow. Hmm...
Wednesday 12th May
I am up early with sensible, laid-back plans for today - some time soon (possibly when it stops raining) I am going to redistribute my ash volcano. If is continues to rain I may try some mud-gardening in thermals, with clean apres-gardening clothes laid out by the log fire. Then there is my current book to read, and pumpkin soup to make... but this is supposed to be a gardening diary!
Later that evening...
I didn't fancy mud-gardening. It rained all day outside, I stayed dry inside.
Friday 14th May
Hmm... still no gardening possible - drizzly rain outside - and it's amazing how in these last three or four days the garden has started to look like winter is here. Many trees are now bare of leaf - the variegated elm by the woodshed seems to have dropped its leaves overnight.
Rooster :- Perhaps I need to train these chooks - then they'd be where I wanted them to be.
Rooster and the hens continue to be a bit of a nuisance and a bit of a novelty. I cannot get them into our hen house, and they have a strange daily poking-and-scratching circuit around the Moosey garden. The house patios are always visited mid-morning to check the cat feeding bowls - and this morning rooster decided to pose (standing completely still) on the patio table. He looked very ornamental and - well - ceramic.
I enjoy the poultry company (?) but I can see the limitations (just as well, I guess)...