Hee hee...
Hee hee hee. Checking first with Non-gardening Partner (whose response was typically mannish - do I really want more of those?) I have 'bought' three monster Cordylines for one dollar. He will help me dig them out this weekend. By then the new Frisbee Garden will be dug ready to receive them? I hope so! And in they will go - instant height and spiky shrubbiness.
The Frisbee Border
Tuesday 3rd November
Shape Up For Life - the Moosey household still being good. I'm off swimming again, and my new (old) jeans fit me. Tiger the cat is lighter, and NGP's trousers are looser - enough of that! My tuned piano sounds amazing - for some reason I can play more quietly. So now the delicate nuances of pianissimo tinkling can be heard... I've dragged out the Schubert Grand Sonata whose schmaltziness I love, as a foil for my quirky Bach Partita.
Watering the Maples
Connections - I run the Bach inside my head, with repeats, when I'm swimming up and down (it takes about 35 minutes). Right. Today I must, must, must weed the path behind the pond and water a new rhododendron donated by a friend. It's sulking, and she's coming for lunch and an inspection this weekend. Eek!
Garden Gnomes :- If you really want to, you can meet and greet the first six Moosey garden gnomes...
It's later, and I'm just back from trawling around the op shops looking for more garden gnomes (yes, I'm still collecting). No luck. I am surrounded by hungry cats. And the power is off - aargh! All I can think of is a hot cup of coffee. I guess that drink will taste so much better after an hour's solid digging...
Late Afternoon...
A baby bird crisis this afternoon, with a nest of fledglings blowing down. I've rescued two small squeaking birds from rooms in the house and another from the jaws of Rusty the dog on the patio. At the moment they are all alive and hopping in the Island Bed - a mother bird (she looks like a blackbird) is zooming around with food. This is a multiple cat garden - how can they survive?
Well - I have dug some dirt! The new garden area expands, the rough grass diminishes, my shoulder aches from slicing with the spade, and my hand tingles from pulling out clumps of grass. I am a gardening legend, however, and legends should make light of their physical trials.
Othello Rose
As well as the big pink rhododendrons several of the pink roses are starting to flower. Othello by the house patio and John Clare by the glass-house (both David Austin English roses) are two of my favourites. They are always the last to stop blooming, too - I have photographs of their flowers in the mid-winter snow. Ten out of ten for stamina!
Painting of Charles the Ram
Wednesday 4th November
Wow - I've just seen a painting of Charles the Moosey merino ram. He's been in an exhibition in Wales. Charles has a beautiful head and face, but I'm glad the painter didn't see this year's fleece! It was discoloured by lice, though the Moosey sheep are traditionally lice-free...
But what a lovely way to start the day! Go Charles!
Right. I'm off swimming, then straight home (no gnome hunting) to some more digging. Gale force norwest winds are forecast - heartfelt thank-yous in advance to the Moosey shelter trees. So my garden will be calm but fiercely noisy - and hopefully not too hot. Finally I'm digging out this last corner of the Frisbee Lawn - it will look wonderful when finished, with those three mature, monster Cordylines in situ. Hee hee... Hope they survive their transplant.
Later, Mid-Afternoon...
Right in front of me, shamelessly, Tiger is trying to bust into the pantry. I have a lock on it, so she rattles the bottom of the door with her paws, and squeaks at me when it won't open. Not subtle, Tiger the cat, not subtle.
I've done about two hours digging. It's very repetitive - one hand grabs the grass and pulls, the other heaves the spade in sideways. Now I'm off to take some rhododendron photographs and shift the hoses around. I plan to do a final short digging session.
Westerland Rose and Rosebud
Then I'm going apres-gardening to watch some pretty English cottage garden scenery (AKA a summery episode of Midsommer Murders on the TV). The 'look' of the thatched and timbered houses, with delphiniums in the perennial borders and roses sprawling everywhere, is oh so romantic. This is a pretty nice reward for a digging gardener.