Where is my web-master?
Where is my web-master? He is about as elusive as the male pheasant that shrieks and struts in the wooded parts of my garden. September is nearly over and he hasn't sent out the Moosey September Newsletter. So sorry...
Rhododendron and Hebe
Shock! Horror! Late September Newsletter!
Look, I may be a boring old gardener-mother, but I do try to be partially witty, honest and accurate, and keep to web-master son's production deadlines. There's always something new germinating.
September Newsletter :- Here's a direct link to the afore-mentioned newsletter. By the way, that male pheasant is absolutely beautiful, when I chance to see him.
And I do try to be an effective communicator at all times. Hello Percy the ginger kitten, yet again sitting on my lap and purring loudly.
Hello weeds, hello seedlings. And hello to you, new little Maple tree called (reads off label) Acer Chishio. Welcome to Mooseys. Now aren't you a gorgeous wee thing... See?
Friday 21st September
All this week I have been terribly excited about the waterwheel, which is definitely going to be constructed. I've spent this afternoon further extending the stream bed which the wheel will fill with running water.
Water!
The hose has been running to test the slope and stream path. Well, the water sort of disappears, but that only means the flow is too small...
Garden Dreams
I've even started having watery dreams - early this morning I dreamt that my water race had been redug in a set of huge curves, all my plants had disappeared, and the land had been regrassed and filled with mature green cordylines. Eek!
It was an extremely challenging way to wake up, and of course I am not going to do anything of the kind. But I was tempted enough to wander outside in my dressing gown and squint my eyes over the back lawn, to see what it actually might look like. Hmm...
Cherish the Old...
I've been so busy working in my garden this month. I mustn't forget, in the flurry of buying and planting, to look after and cherish the trusty old things - like the Daphne flowering, and the first of the big pink rhododendrons.
And I need to keep those seedlings in the glass-house properly watered. I have an army of perennial pieces and close on a hundred pottles of annuals, happily growing on the benches, almost ready to be hardened off. Wow!
Go the All Blacks!
And in the spirit of New Zealand sporting success in the Rugby World Cup, I've bought two All Black flags for my car windows. Hee hee - I can hoon around like a European football fan!
The Famous Five
Right. I'm off outside to give the chooks their afternoon feed, check for any more lambs, and pick any drooping daffodils. I usually get the famous five companion cats following me - that's the two young adults B-Puss and Fluff-Fluff, plus the three teenagers Histeria, Percy, and Lilli-Puss.
Saturday 22nd September
Weekends are exciting when there's a willing NGP (Non-Gardening Partner) to organise. Look - I have even prepared a combined list of items which I am happy to help him with.
List for the Weekend
- Tail the lambs.
- Sort out extension of the chook run.
- Repair hoses.
- Clean behind pond and burn rubbish.
I am just waiting for the sun to break through, and then I will show him my stream bed and discuss exactly where the new waterwheel will be positioned. I do have little things of my very own to do, too, like watering the Rhapsody in Blue standard roses and photographing the pink rhododendron. Also I've been thinking - I don't spend enough down-time sitting in my garden, and this may be because most of my garden seats are far, far away from the house, with no tables. I'm always reading and drinking cups of tea, and a table would be very handy. Mind you, I've seen wrought iron cafe settings placed in the middle of country garden paddocks and lawns, and never used. Hmm...
Spring Greenery
Right. There is much to do. I love this feeling of weekend gardening anticipation! Have just apologised to NGP for not clearing out the compost from the trailer - the long shovel is soooo heavy for me to use, and I'd really like some more this morning. And all rest stops - morning tea, lunch, and so on, must be taken outside, not on the house patio steps.
Much, Much Later...
My goodness I have had a great day! First I helped with the lambs - herded into the yards, caught with the shepherd's crook, and tailed. We have two boys and three girls. After half an hour in the sun all lambs were fully functioning again.
Then we went to get more compost, and I spent the next three hours wheeling it into the garden at the back of the pond. I've also laid newspaper and shreddings over the path. I had old logs defining the path edges when I first planted things in here, and now I've taken them out for a more natural, rambling look. It's nice! The wallflowers are flowering and the lavenders by the fence are in great shape.
I had my lunch outside on the pond paddock garden bench, and then cleaned up the old species flaxes by the water's edge. The pond looks very bare until the Gunnera unfurls, not really worthy of any photographs. I wonder how I can change this - plant some foliage shrubs? Hmm... Anyway, there is another day's work to rake and take the gum tree rubbish to the burning heap. The day finished in the glass-house, with watering of perennials and annuals. My Hyacinth Bean seeds are up!
The Moosey Glasshouse
I have spent the last hour making up a silly poem. Here it is:
L is for love of foliage and flowers.
E is for energy to garden for hours.
G is for growing things - plants, shrubs and seeds.
E is for enthusiasm needed for weeds.
N is for never being grumpy or bored.
D is for digging, then digging some more.
Put them together and what word do you see?
Legend, the Gardening legend called Moosey.
Hee hee!
Sunday 23rd September
Today's plan is super simple. Finish off that which was started yesterday. And direct NGP to two items on yesterday's undone list (which really was his list in disguise) - hoses and hens.
Ring Your Mother :- Please do your webwork, webmaster son! Please send out the September newsletter and process the new photographs. Go on - surprise me!
And then ring webmaster son - he's gone to ground, disappeared off the face of the London earth - so the website can be updated (with thirty new photographs and at least three new articles). I wouldn't want anyone thinking that I'd run out of things to say.
Clearing behind the pond isn't pleasant, but provided I do the big clean-up once or twice a year it doesn't take too long. The gum trees continually drop masses of bark and leaves. More plantings would be rewarding, and might help turn the 'neglect' into 'reflect'. Many gardeners lust after large ponds (yes, some do have these naughty feelings), and they would be horrified that I do not properly present my pond's back-side. Actually, all of this is sounding a bit risque...
Plants to Buy?
Pittosporum
Let me see - what plants could I buy (hee hee) to beautiful the back of the pond? So far I've put in small recycled pieces of flax and the like. Nothing grows very fast (not much water, too many gum trees) and hebes get straggly (not all that much sun). Sounds like Pittosporum heaven! Hmm... I could plant a Pittosporum screen, behind which mess is allowed, and said mess could be raked into this area... Not a bad idea.
Late Lunchtime...
I am not mad. Wet, yes. Muddy - a little. But definitely not mad, as has been suggested by my family. They have spent the morning inside by the log burner, while I have been outside cleaning out more and more behind-the-pond rubbish, in the gentle rain - semi-drizzle. They are now bored, mooching in the pantry for food, while I am slurping a hot cup of tea in dry clothes, feeling virtuous. Ha! And my point is....?
Earlier we zoomed to the hardware store to get the chook netting. My hens will soon be able to free range properly in the orchard. Apparently it has been far too wet to start erecting the new chook fence.