I didn't plant it...
Now the hot dry winds have arrived, and everything is blowing over. My gum trees are shedding their bark, and a certain blue weedy forget-me-not has burst back into life - everywhere! I didn't plant it, honestly!
An Odd Moosey Rose
Tuesday 23rd January - Singing News!
Ha! Gardeners can sing! Dangerous words - but last night I sang my heart out at the first B Minor Mass rehearsal, and I rocked! There in the mass (hee hee) of altos I rocked! Well, I knew the music quite well and hardly ever got lost. And other people followed me! Pity about the lack of upper register and the old lady frog-croaking tone. Oops.
My Dog Kennel Garden and Rockery
Frogs and Comets
And, talking of frogs, I think I have - one? Last night, parking my car in the garage I heard some incredibly squeaky and musical croaking, which I'm sure was frog-calling, coming from the water in the old bathtub in the Dog-Kennel Garden. Naturally I investigated, with the torch, and was met with the sounds of silence.
But wait! Up in the sky was an amazing sight - a comet, whose long tail was fat and clearly visible! I'm glad I'm not mediaeval - three hours of singing Kyries, Sanctuses, and the like, followed by hearing singing frogs and seeing comets. Blimey! I'm honestly not joking!
Hollyhocks
Yesterday in the garden was less spiritual, as it is when the hot dry nor-west wind blows. I've been congratulating myself prematurely on the beautiful growth of my dahlias. Yet again - oh dear - I should have staked them. One windy day and they've blown disgracefully over. As have several elegant Nicotiana sylvestris plants, growing by Middle Bridge. And some hollyhocks.
There is also nothing spiritual about gathering up gum tree bark from the house lawn and dead-heading roses. Well, not when the wind is blowing and the tall trees are roaring noisily.
Magenta Hebe
Perennial Problems
Today in the garden I fear it's another day of wind gusts and floppy plants. This is why traditional perennial borders in New Zealand gardens cannot be taken seriously. One would spend ages with invisible cottons, and thin wires, making a scaffolding to keep all the upright perennials upright. Hmm... Go, you sturdy New Zealand natives... And good on all the little birds for not getting blown to bits.
I'm off. Today I'll run the hoses again and probably clatter around with my wheelbarrow picking up things. Humph! When is my Christmas Shredder arriving? I have piles of tree prunings which I've left on the lawns, planning to shred in situ, if you know what I mean. Tra-la-la!
Weedy Forget-Me-Not
And I think that blue forget-me-not is called green alkanet, or Pentaglossis sempervirens, identified by a quick witted investigative forum member. Knowing the name doesn't make me feel better about it, though - it's a real pest, one of those silent garden lurkers. Aargh! Mind you - it has pretty green leaves in the middle of winter...
Later...
Oops. What I should be doing is gardening madly before the cricket starts. What I am doing is fiddling around trying to build yet more Moosey garden calendars! Hopeless! I'll just pop outside and shift a few hoses around - that might get me more in the mood. And I'm going to hunt for the frog, in daylight. How can a frog possibly end up in that bath? Where has he hopped in from? And if he (sorry, he's assumed male) isn't a frog - then what on earth could he be? Hmm... I hope my cats don't catch him!
Three Moosey Cats
Wednesday 24th January
A rest day, today, though I did stack some firewood for next winter. Next winter! Aargh! How about some summer? Maybe next month. I sort of pottered quietly inside playing around with the silly 'What Plant Am I' questions. I wonder if readers will be amused or offended? There is a fine line...
The Hen House:- The Moosey Hen House is rather rustic - but it's dry and sturdily built.
And now that the paths en route to the hen house are cleared and weed free, it is a pleasure wandering over to feed my birds. I haven't located the midnight frog as yet. And finally, what do sad New Zealand cricket supporters do? They watch the live running replay of the second innings, knowing all along that WE WIN THE GAME! Hee hee.
Friday 26th January
Well, it's been drizzling/raining for the last two days. And I have been in a rather wimpish mood - I just don't feel like getting muddy. Besides, the big Mass in B Minor rehearsals have been in progress each evening. Last night we sang with the proper conductor, who smiled a lot and flapped his arms around, and the orchestra.
Wobbly Tenors
I am directly in front of a row of florid, fruity tenors. They are extremely loud, worryingly random, and I get the giggles when they do their wobbly bits (the semiquaver runs). Sorry, chaps! But enough. This is a gardening journal, and I'm sorry that real gardening has been thin on the ground this week. There hasn't even been an appropriate moment to christen the new blue seats. The Christmas Shredder arrives next week, though. Yippee! I hope it won't be too scary. Or noisy!