Unusual excitement...
Unusual excitement for this morning - a two-year-old is visiting, and the Moosey house is oh so not baby-proof. Nor is the garden, with its water hazards and horse manure and bumble bees and such. And Rusty the dog isn't used to small people - hope he behaves and doesn't push past on the paths.
Housewise I've dusted the family photographs and the piano (that's for the two-year-old's mother) and tried to pick up all random objects off the floor - cat bowls, sewing machine cords, dead flies (eek)...
Wednesday 3rd March
Last night I slept well abut woke up dreaming of disasters - huge waves, trains whose carriages were rolling over... This is not like me! I lead a gentle life, where the only dramas are pieces of gum bark falling on my head, Rusty the dog barking at ducks, and Minimus my feisty little grey cat howling at Histeria the tabby - keep away! Away!
Minimus the Grey Cat
Much Later...
The baby was groovy! We went to visit the sheep, and threw tennis balls into the pond for Rusty the dog. No Moosey cats appeared, though Tiger showed her big fat belly, and then wobbled off down the hall. I mean, how scary is a two-year old? But enough of my social life - here's some garden life news. Alliums. I have ordered in some Allium bulbs, by post - three Gladiators, five Purple Sensations, and five Giganteums. Yippee!
Oxalis :- What a pretty flower! This oxalis has surprised me.
My friend who gave me the oxalis plant is very chirpy - he has (I quote) 'bought in some more oxalis species including Oxalis lobata and Oxalis perdicaria.' He goes on to say that my oxalis 'looks quite effective in bulk when the dark leaf centres look like leaves in their own right (almost an optical illusion).'
I need to put out the hint - bulk would be nice! Hee hee... But I am grateful, and proud that I have a gardening friend who names plants correctly...
Sunny Bamboo
Thursday 4th March
Oops. After swimming I called in at the Charity shop. It worked like this - I gave them a generous donation (I am such a nice person). Then the kind assistant asked if I'd like three large pots of Arum lilies, two variegated Agaves in pretty painted terracotta pots, two mid-sized Choisya ternatas, and a huge bucketful of tall white Campanula. Well, of course I said yes, didn't I? All the plants are now in the shade in water, and my Zero Plants Budget for 2010 is still intact - only just...
The plan for gardening today is easy. The orchard roses can have another long day with their irrigation drippers going, I'll spread the latest horse manure bags (seven) on the new garden, and cover them with newspaper and hedge-trimmings mulch (at least four wheelbarrow loads). I will also do some more raking - Non-Gardening Partner reckons I could burn this weekend, when temperatures (and a bit of drizzle) are expected to drop.
Right. I need to make up for yesterday when I did no gardening whatsoever. I need my dog and some cats - several are still 'sulking' after the visit of the two-year-old. Looking from their perspective - is it a furless cat? A bald two-legged dog? Aargh! It makes noise - run for your life...
Later...
I am so sorry, garden, but it's too hot to work in you - I've only managed an hour and a half. Still, I've started a new path extension in the new garden, done my quota of mulching, and checked the orchard roses. All drippers are dripping, and the last three archways need weeding. It's time to do some patio pot watering.
Friday 5th March
Hmm... I don't feel like wheeling mulch around, but there's more of it to be spread. There's always more! It's going to be another hot day. So - so - what should I do first?
Phyllis Bide Roses on Archway
The garden looks messy, but I can blame that on the lawns (they need mowing) - can't I? Hmm... I'm going to get a coffee, go outside, get my wheelbarrow, and take a look around. I will not return until midday, when I will present a triumphant list of things accomplished. No detail will be too small to attend to. Ha! No excuses, no grumping.... No procrastinating...
Tiger on the Pergola
Three Hours Later, Lunchtime...
The two worst plants I can ever think of to clean up - in, around, and underneath - a large Cordyline which hosts a rambling Wedding Day rose. That's what I've been doing, in the tiny garden where the driveway splits into two - ouch! What a ghastly rose! I've got the hose on the nearby rhododendrons, and have sorted a huge pile of firewood as well.
I've just had lunch on the patio with two ginger gardening cats, Tiger the fat cat, and Rusty my faithful (when there's food) dog in attendance. And I've been thinking. As long as there's something to do in the garden, then there'll be something to write about afterwards - right? I wonder what causes a garden blogger to stop writing. Not enough food and water? Incorrect personal pruning? A surfeit of mental munching bugs? Hmm... I suspect it would have to be a catastrophic, non-gardening event...
Anyway, I'm going back outside now. Maybe I'll shift some more mulch - maybe not. I'm happy just drifting around, nipping this, raking up that. The garden, like my mind, seems to be super-messy today.
Much Later...
I've been burning my rubbish. The man down the road (whose hedge caught fire last weekend) popped in to see what was up. Oh dear! All under control, I assured him, red-faced with rake in hand. My reward for working hard today has been a trip to the library for new books. I have only one of the gardening persuasion, but it's a heavyweight (I'll be far too shy to review it). A warm welcome to the Moosey coffee table is extended to 'Dream Plants for the Natural Garden' by Henk Gerritsen and Piet Oudolf. Everyone else in the gardening world probably read this book years ago and is busy yawning...