Still spring-cleaning...

Before I do anything else I need to put on the hoses and plant all my new shrubs and trees. It's already 10:30 in the morning - far too late to be starting my garden work. Trouble is that I'm still spring-cleaning the web-site tour pages.

Wednesday 22nd October

My head is swirling with camera angles, stupid naming of picture files so they're impossible to search and find, thumbnails, seasons, which year was that, what a boring photograph, so much has changed, the text is so out-of-date, and so on, and so on...

I can see this from the upstairs bathroom.
Clematis

Back to reality, I think. Oh, and by the way, in case anyone is worried, we actually won the cricket. Hee hee... But guess who was too nervous to watch or listen until the last ten minutes? The game being a five day test match? Hmm...

Much Later...

I took ages planted the trees and the Mahonias in the new Driveway Garden. And I've collected up labels, so for the record I have red maples called Inaba Shidare, and rhododendrons called Ilam Cream and Cornubia. Hopefully they'll be big beasts - two meters would be nice.

In the rhododendron garden.
Cream Rhododendron

I also shifted hoses around and burnt my rubbish pile. I potted a beautiful Kowhai seedling tree, and found the perfect place for the three Weigelas. Then I had lunch with my dog in the oval grass lawn by the Willow Tree Gardens, surrounded by absolutely beautiful flowering rhododendrons. Who was that thoughtful gardener who cleared out the over-sized Pittosporums and put such sensible little paths in last winter? Me! Me! Me!

Lucky Mugsy

I will be transforming into a Mother-In-Law any hour now, so I've restocked the fridge with vegetables and great snacking food, and washed the towels - as one does. This is exciting - little Mugsy the cat will be thrilled to see her old friend.

Rusty in the Willow Tree Garden.
Dog on a Path

Thursday 24th October

I did some weeding in the Dog-Path Garden, and got a bit sad. I think I've been really silly with all my free horse manure. Some of those free weeds seem to be rather - pernicious... I feel cheated. I seem to have a lot of nasty creeping grass! Aargh! I watered the new deciduous Azaleas (which are flowering), trimmed some dead branches off the Cercis Forest Pansy, then went to the nursery with Daughter of Moosey to look for fruit trees. But all I wanted to do was to go to bed.

+10

Saturday 25th October

Hello. I've been a bit sick (spent the whole of yesterday in bed). I managed about half an hour of uninspired weeding in the vegetable garden, then gave up in a sulk and retired. Jerome my old grey cat lives in the upstairs bedroom - all she does is snack'n'snooze and watch the sun go round. We were good company.

Don't know how much of me will be available today, so to speak. Continuing to weed the vegetable garden does not really appeal.

Sunday 26th October

After two days in bed I am now officially a slightly-sick gardener. How do I know this? Because I have been busy writing lists! Here's one such...

Rules for Slightly-Sick Gardeners

Monday 27th October

I'm better than I was yesterday. As long as I remember to move gracefully, in slow motion, I reckon I'll be able to do some gardening. There are cornflower and calendula flower seedlings to plant into the garden, the Birthday Rose Garden needs weeding, and its peonies need stringing up - before they bloom and flop.

A very pretty flower.
Fruhlingsmorgen - a Kordes Rose

While I was stuck in bed we had lashings of rain - pretty good timing, I suppose. We haven't had spring rain for six weeks.

Later...

Yippee! I did some real pre-summer gardening, weeding in the Birthday Rose Garden and planting the flowering annuals in the cleared spots. And I bought some packs of bamboo stakes for the peonies. By the way, two of the big roses in the Hen House Garden are in full bloom now - Agnes and Fruhlingsmorgen.

With a slowly greening Oak tree.
Agnes Rose

I am better. Phew! I love my garden so much.

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