Yippee! It's Christmas!
Yippee! It's Christmas Day! Merry Christmas from me and my faithful Moosey sidekick (AKA Non-Gardening Partner) who has been asked (very nicely) to do some Christmas lawn mowing. This seems a bit harsh, but I'm going to do some gardening, anyway...
Official 2009 Christmas Photograph
Friday December 25th
We've had breakfast and opened the presents - how exciting! A dog calendar! A garden calendar! There's only been one small problem - Rusty the dog is scared of his present, a 'Roast Pig Porky Trotter'. I have read out the blurb to him: 'Dogs love to chew, and this natural, rawhide Porky Chewbone will satisfy any dog. The unique natural flavours will keep dogs busy, relieve boredom, and save footwear...' Now if he'd found his own stinky, rotten pig's trotter his jaws would be clamped tight around it, and I'd never get it off him.
Right. Last night the big irrigation was on - it's wonderful to wake up to a damp, well-watered garden. Today I'm finishing yesterday's list. Then I'm going to play some Christmas Brahms on the piano.
Sunshine on the Driveway Lawn
Saturday 26th December
+10Rusty is still extremely suspicious of his Christmas present, though he aggressively escorts away any cats that get too close to his dinner bowl. Odd dog! All other members of the family enjoyed their Christmas food very much. The day finished on two catty highs - Kaya the new black cat came for a garden walk with me, where we met the returning Lilli-Puss (she comes and goes a bit, and I get cat-mother worried).
Phew!
I am pleased to report there was no lawn mowing yesterday (give a man a break!) and no gardening - just a bit of discreet watering. And my new Christmas present is a sewing machine! Now I can make groovy outdoor cushion covers and bunting for my garden. But first - a Christmas swim.
Later...
Ha! No time to lose - the lawn mower is going, and I require that the garden seats and benches are moved, mowed under, and then replaced in proper position. It also helps not to get any sprawling hoses chewed up (the grass is so jolly long, they are completely invisible). I also have twelve bags of horse manure to deposit. Hurray for the horses down the road that don't stop - ahem, producing - just because it's Christmas.
Droopy Shakespeare Rose
And then there's the Boxing Day test (that's cricket, by the way) from Melbourne to tune into, along with all the other half-decent cricket fans in the world. My Christmas Brahms needs sorting (never, ever attempt to play a brand new Brahms sonata after a large glass of Christmas wine). And I have to christen the sewing machine. Wow! I will be sooooooo busy.
And Thanks To...
And a quiet word of thanks to all the nice people in the world (who are almost all gardeners) and my family and friends (who are all jolly nice, even if not gardeners) for simply being 'there' - 'somewhere out there'. Ha! All the best for Christmas and the holidays. And just wait until New Year's - there'd better be pots (nay, trailer-loads) of decent New Year's resolutions.
Later, Mid-Afternoon...
Two solid hours of trimming and weeding, and the little Elm Tree Garden is free of forget-me-nots and suckers etc. No thanks to the big 'sucker' who planted the Variegated Elm here in the first place - what an annoying tree! Also I've cleared in the Pond Paddock, helped by Minimus. Now the hoses are on, and I've come inside for a coffee and a rest.
Minimus the Catlet
Progress in a garden requires a little work done every day. So that's one little hour weeding, one little hour raking and trimming, another little hour spreading compost etc., and yet another little hour planting new things. No wonder my personal garden progress spirals backwards and lurches forwards.
- 'Real gardeners enjoy the dodgy bits as well as the good bits.'
- -Moosey Words of Wisdom.
However it is also really easy to make part of the garden look amazingly good - particularly after a glass of wine, while squinting. Or in failing light. Anyway, real gardeners should be able to enjoy the dodgy bits as well as the good bits.
White Flowers at Dusk
Dusk...
I've just been outside to collect Minimus. This is a beautiful time to wander around the garden - all the white flowers look amazing. In the harsher sunlight of mid-day white gets totally lost. So three dusky cheers for the white Lychnis and the (boring old?) white Iceberg roses.