Grr... Spam...
Pink Lupin
Grr... Spam. Just how many loan requests does a busy lady gardener need to have approved? Some legitimate lottery winnings would be nice, and could pay for the new pond, and the new rose garden, and a floating paddle-wheel water pump...
Thursday 22nd March
Oops - back to spam-free reality! There is no second pond - well, not quite yet, but I do have the loveliest little stream wriggling through the back of the Wattle Woods, past shining green flaxes and ornamental grasses.
Watery Research
And I have been researching floating paddle-wheel water pumps, as directed by the resident engineer. I've seen some beautifully large ones, though I suspect the scale of my paddle-wheel will be in keeping with the scale of water flow needed. And this is a very dribbly stream, never wider than a gardening shoe.
Yesterday I went walking in the Craigieburn Ranges, leaping down scree slopes and nearly being blown off ridges. Blast - no camera! Emotional extremes - a long sulky trudge up to a saddle, then bounce-jumping down the scree on the other side like a five-year-old girlie. Hee hee! And then wandering through the soft beech forest, sheltered from the wind, and thinking about how well nature does her little water features.
Possibly a Sam McGredy Rose
I've had a fat-leaf beech tree in a pot for about three years and have only recently made the connection. Oh dear - time to get some gardening spectacles. And I think I have identified another Sam McGredy rose that I grow - I think it's called Oranges and Lemons. But its colours are nothing like orange or lemon. Oops.
The Wriggling Stream Continues
Right. What's on for today? First, I'm going to make my wriggling stream bed twice as long, and organise a nearby path with log edges. Then I can fill in some gaps with mountain grasses. After I've done this I might make a start in the Hump - time for its six-monthly check-up. Aargh! Sounds like the dentist! There are two more bags of newspaper to lay and mulch over in the Welcome Garden.
B-Puss Hiding
I will be very nice to Rusty the dog (a long bicycle ride) and I will encourage B-Puss and Fluff-Fluff to provide cat company. I intend to enjoy every gardening minute of this calm, warm March day.
Lunchtime...
I have the hose on, the stream has three more wiggles in it, and a smooth path alongside has been levelled and cleared. Success! You know, it doesn't take long to clear up mess, which must be more superficial than I thought. I've now been fully retired for a whole year (yippee!) - Perhaps results of this are starting to show in my garden. Hmm... That's a nice thought! Nice cup of hot coffee, too. Thoroughly deserved, if I say so myself! It's delightful puddling away building little water features.
Sage and Lobelia
Friday 23rd March
Hee hee. Finally Stephen has been peeping at paddle-wheel designs - possibly he has been reading my journal! Oops. Today I'm off to take a big tom cat to the vet, successfully trapped by friend Judith last night. He's a big fluffy tabby. Then I'll go swimming. Then I'll come home and garden - no rush.
Mid-Afternoon...
I've been planting the edges and lining my little stream with stones. The grasses are shining in the sun, and the water gurgles and shines too. I hope that an easy way to pump the water can be found. Honestly - it's so beautiful, having the water trickling down.
Cat Courier
Now I'm off back to the vet to pick up tabby ex-tom - he'll be returned to Judith's cat colony. Not as sentimental as rescuing and fostering a beautiful fluffy kitten, but much more vital! It's called TNR - Trap, Neuter, and Return - and I'm pleased that the Moosey site can finally make its own small contribution. I am a cat-courier!
Gunnera
Saturday 24th March
Water success! Forget the paddle-wheels - what my water feature needs is a Sling Pump, a modern application of an Archimedes Snail Pump (I googled that). It is apparently extremely feasible, requiring minimal maintenance, and its only problem could be floating ice floes. We don't get any of those in the water race, ever!
Today I weeded and trimmed the Pond Paddock gardens, then took my lunch and my book to sit on the new wooden garden bench. Whenever I looked up I could see tidiness, mowed lawns, neat edges - and shining greenery! Beautiful! I could also see huge tree growth - oops! The Oak trees spread out their long, lanky branches, and the Cordylines are huge. Just ten years of growth. My goodness!
Sunday 25th March
Ha! It is the birthday eve of the Daughter of Moosey - time to make another journey to the rose nursery to buy her some birthday presents. She doesn't live here, but is lucky enough to have her very own rose garden. Her 2007 birthday presents will be popped into this ever expanding garden. Hee hee - sounds like a lame excuse to buy more roses, doesn't it?
The search for sling pumps suitable to pump water down my little wriggling stream continues. How exciting! This would make the perfect first anniversary retirement present - from me to me.
Shining Grasses
Monday 26th March
Happy Birthday to Daughter of Moosey! I have bought you the following plants for birthday presents: roses Strawberry Ice, Austin Wonder, and an unlabelled peachy-pink floribunda, a groovy fat-leafed wine red cordyline and a silver astelia, and a pair of powder blue birthday gardening gloves which I am - ahem - consumer testing. Today I will plant all your presents in the Birthday Rose Garden, which was expertly weeded yesterday afternoon by a blue-gloved Moosey and Rusty the dog, guardian of the water race.
Yesterday I decided that self-sown Gunnera seedlings are only allowed on the Willow tree side of the race. Thus I've scooped out abut fifteen, which are in pots. I am trying to think ahead and be sensible.