Lying in bed worrying...
New Dawn Rose
Oh boy. Lying in bed worrying about getting, or not getting, a groovy garden shed. People thinking about buying a house, or a farm, must get absolutely no sleep for weeks! Half trying to think ahead (solar power for lights?) and half-visualising (a bookcase full of books?). And what colour to paint the exterior? Aargh! Trivia!
Monday 29th March
I'm off swimming to clear my befuddled head. When I return I will bring myself back to the reality of 'now' by spreading loads of mulch and horse manure. Then I have four hostas and a golden leafed Philadelphus shrub (which needs semi-shade) to plant. They could all go on the side border in the pond paddock, where someone sitting on the verandah of the garden shed can see them. Aargh! That shed again!
Later, Apres Swimming...
A huge thank you to Percy the ginger cat, who has just charged past my feet chasing a speedy mouse. Eek! My mistake was to then open the fridge door, so the mouse is abandoned underneath the bookcase. Percy senses that yes, there is a pottle of his favourite kangaroo pet meat in my fridge, and I might just be tempted to reward his cleverness. So I have a live mouse amongst my gardening books. Aargh!
Oops! Manure in the Car!
I now have twenty bags of horse manure (I've left the boot door of my car open) - extreme reality gardening. Three or four bags require one wheelbarrowful of mulch, and to leave the manure uncovered seems a bit rude. I can think sheds until my head spins, while I'm trundling back and forth. At least the cricket is on to listen to. Right. I've drunk my coffee and there is nothing else stopping me from gardening. Blast!
Much, Much Later...
Phew! I've redeemed myself for recent frivolous spending by spreading mulch and all the manure. My car is empty again! And, my goodness, Rusty the dog and I are a great rat-catching team. We spied another silly rat sitting in a Gunnera leaf. I poked it with a stick and it ran down the stalk into Rusty's waiting jaws. Crunch...
Spot the Rat in the Gunnera!
Anyway, the hostas are planted by Middle path. I found a gap, and also scraped quite a few weeds up. The path itself needs a new covering of soft mulched bark. Hmm... that could be next weekend's job.
Annual Salvia :- I lost this annual Salvia until a few months ago, when I bought in some seeds to sow. I won't make that mistake again - will I?
I'm off to sit on the new Birthday seats with my afternoon tea, and then I'll take some photographs. Lots of lovely roses are flowering - and I've found a pretty pink hydrangea, bought as a cutting for 10 cents from a church fair. I hope this grows big and strong - what a beauty! My blue annual salvias are turning a richer, deeper blue - I must remember to collect the seeds.
And I'm thrilled with the Rhapsody in Blue standard roses - the others I have are smaller. I must always buy the tall ones from now on. Not that I need many more standard roses...
Wednesday March 31st
I am spending the last day of March in my garden with my animals. But first, a write-up of yesterday's triumphant hiking day. Words almost fail me...
Dear Mount Bradley, almost a Munroe mountain at 855m,
My friend and I have made two past attempts to circumnavigate your beautiful bulkiness. The first time we turned off the circuit track too early and by mistake climbed to your summit (which, I am sorry to say, was referred to as 'that knobby bit'). The second time we circled your girth clockwise and again left the track prematurely. But we felt quite safe sitting up there, underneath your craggy escarpment, and we had a wonderful view.
The third time we took trip notes from an experienced fellow hiker and not one but two maps. I'd packed a 'friendship lunch-box', with tasty surprises to share with my friend - two pieces of sushi, two fillet steaks, two halves of banana, and two toffee pops. My friend added two venison sausages, two apples, and two pieces of yummy fruit cake. You can see that this was a serious trip, and that finally we were fully prepared for you.
And yes! We, two gentle women hikers, did get round you this time (it took nearly five hours). We were quiet and appreciative in our success - a rude male might have called you 'a bastard' and 'knocked you off'. Not us.
We enjoyed your farm tracks and bush gullies, your lovely open saddle, and your rocky cliffs and spurs. Thank you for the tremendous tree Fuchsia forest, the Lancewoods, the precipitous bits where the track just fitted, and the soft grassy bits. Even the gorse was OK. We're not too badly scratched.
Thanks for a wonderful day,
Your friends,
Mary and Biddy.
Ha! I have never, ever, ever written a letter of thanks to a mountain before. Enough said! Today I'm going to potter quietly in the garden and talk to my animals instead.
The Animals Talk Back...
The Power of Speech
If there was just one thing I could tinker with in the Great Grand Design, I would give domestic cats and dogs the power of speech. But it could then be a case of 'Be careful what you wish for'...
Head Gardener : Aaaaaw - Rusty! Good boy - what a good puppy dog!
Rusty : Two things. I'm not a puppy - I'm four years old. And gardening is sooooo boring for dogs. Now can I have some dog biscuits?
Head Gardener : Aaaaaw - Percy, my beautiful ginger boy, Percy! Percy the Moosey Poosey!
Percy : Whatever... About those new meaty selections from Whiskas - I don't like them. I like the fishy ones.
Right. I'm off to where-ever the breeze blows me, with wheelbarrow and diggers.
Later, Mid-Afternoon...
I've been working in the Driveway Garden listening to us lose the cricket. Oh well. I've divided up the ruby Bergenias and immediately replanted the new pieces along the little stone wall. I've dug up some Agapanthus for replanting in the new garden, and put several pieces of Aquilegias in pots. And the group of red flowering Nerine bulbs have been lifted - they are off to a sunnier spot. I finished a long morning's work pulling the seed heads off the Anemanthele grasses while Minimus the grey cat played underneath. I tested out my animal conversation plan on her. I'm sure this is how it went:
Head Gardener : Aaaaaw - Minimus! Little Minimus! I love you so much!
Minimus : Oh, great furless cat-mother, I love you so much too. Thank you for finding me, frightened and hungry, in the woodshed, and saving me from the talons of the hawk.