A new pet lamb...
Cresuscule and Foxglove
A new pet lamb to look after and enjoy, good books to read, surrounded by blooming roses and vibrantly coloured irises - let the 2005 Moosey Summer of Gardening begin!
Saturday 19th November
Right. Today I am in the garden all day. I will work at my weeding, planting, and so on. But I will also take cups of tea and books outside to my various seats, to sit, read and enjoy. The ambience of running water might be nice - as long as I don't notice too many weeds by the waters edge and feel I have to lift up my shorts and leap in. A stirring sight...
Glamourous Gardeners
These November days have been a little too work-filled (my silly part-time paid work), as the lack of journal entries for whole days at a time shows. Eek! I should spend this week's money on compost? Or on clothes? I am having trouble finding any sort of cocktail dress for two dollars, and gardeners do not usually have glamourous clothing hanging in their wardrobes, amongst the gardening shirts.
Sunday 20th November
Exciting news - we have acquired a pet lamb. He is a Romney, rescued by a friend from being stuck in a fence in the middle of nowhere. Fred the lamb is for now living in a small netting pen in the top pond paddock, with George the ex-pet lamb and two old ewes for baa-ing company. Yesterday I took a chair and book out to sit by him - I was poor company, but just what lamb needed. He slept well through the night.
Lupins :- I love blue lupins - the best colour there is.
The roses are lovely, the irises too, and I have lots of foxgloves. My blue spiky flowers are looking great - a modest clump of Delphiniums by the woodshed, the blue lupins which I've grown from seed. Blue geraniums are flowering, too, as are the perennial cornflowers with their see-through flower-heads. All this and the late rhododendrons, too!
Yesterday felt like a real summer holiday day. Today I hope for the same easy, delightful feeling. I have a guilt-free glass-house (the pelargonium cuttings and pansy seedlings are potted up, having waited patiently for weeks), and most of my lawn edges are trimmed. I also have a collection of guilt-free house pots - in other words, I'm remembering to water them daily and they're looking smart and well-cared-for.
Yellow Euphorbia with Irises
Two important news items:
- In the middle of the Moosey night we won the rugby at Twickenham, against the might of England. I wonder if the London Mooseys were in the crowd? Go the All Blacks!
- I have finally found a little black cocktail dress for seven dollars and some little strappy black cocktail shoes for three.
Now I can proudly represent all gardeners who dress down at the Work Girlie Cocktail Party next week. Phew! Ten dollars out of my plant budget is a small price to pay for apres-gardening glamour.
Today's Garden Plans:
- Bicycle ride with Rusty the puppy.
- Willow Tree Garden weeding.
- Lower Wattle Woods - clear gum tree rubbish.
- Burn rubbish? Check wind, etc.
- Weed along water race edge.
Aargh! Fred the new pet lamb will have to join the sheep entry in my MVP - Most Valuable Pet Competition. It is still gurgling along nicely, and thankfully my traiterous poultry aren't even near to winning. Or should Fred get his own voting space? He'll never catch up the others, starting from scratch, and pet lambs don't stay pets for very long. He'll join the proper flock just as soon as he's big enough.
Monday 21st November
Good morning to Fred the lamb, who I worried about (needlessly) all last night as it rained. He must be quite lonely in his netting cage. Lonely but safe, though - today I'll let him out in the paddock and see if George the wether and the two old ewes can be of some companionable use. Some sheep-affirmation is needed.
David Austin Rose
Good morning to all the lovely Moosey roses. Good morning to the Moosey House Guest who is leaving in seven days time for the Maldives. My goodness! Good morning, Tokyo time, to younger son of Moosey who is in Japan, and good early morning to lone Moosey daughter in Perth. Good evening to the London Moosey team who will be settling into the grey and gloom of their approaching London winter. Getting a bit family-personal here! Must be the advent of Christmas.
Today I am going to start my gardening by weeding at the back of the Jelly Bean Border, while Fred the lamb roams free across the fence. He is still small enough to fit through the sheep netting - with luck he will attach himself to the other sheep and stay put. We'll see. I feel very confident - weeding is easy!