My September birthday...
Large Garden Gnome
Aha! Older, but not wiser. Sillier, I reckon. This has been my best, busiest gardening birthday ever. And such wonderful presents - a trailer load of compost, birthday garden gnomes (possibly six new chaps), a paid visit to the dentist... Eek! New birthday teeth!
Wednesday 7th September, My Birthday Eve
This morning I've had a really slow start. I've been drooling over new Hydrangeas (paniculata) and a giant upright catmint with sage green leaves, seen in my Fine Gardening magazine. I'm now off to 'visit' the Digging Dog Nursery in Southern California. Oh dear! This is all very well, a hemisphere and two seasons removed...
Stop Drooling!
Stop this drooling! There is no time for these delightful early morning distractions - I'm getting my spring garden ready for my actual birthday day (tomorrow). I also have commitments later today, including a birthday dentist visit. Aargh!
Red Camellia
Later...
Not bad, not bad - I've done three hours garden work, mainly weeding and clearing tree branches by the Driveway Garden. The edges of the Hump garden are much tidier now. Most of the mess is dealt to, and there's now a lot of cleared space around the garden edges - perfect for flowering annuals.
On my way to the glass-house I noticed the red Camellias behind the garage have both started to flower. Whoosh - back into the house I went to grab the camera. These shrubs are shy but gorgeous and I'm determined not to miss out on them, with my new found camellia-consciousness.
Then I've divided up some older lupins into basal cuttings and repotted them in the glass-house. I hope they'll grow - I have nearly twenty pots worth, and I love these early summer flowering perennials. I talked to my random grey cat Lilli-Puss - she's recently discovered the mid-morning spring sun in the glass-house, and was sprawled on the potting bench. As long as she doesn't loll all over my seeds...
Fluff-Fluff :- Silly cat! You might enjoy looking at Fluff-Fluff's most recent cat page.
Life in the garden with cats is never lonesome. I now realise I've left Fluff-Fluff my large pale ginger cat behind in the Driveway Garden, something I promise him I'll never do - ahem. He's been keeping me company, but expects me to second-guess his needs. Getting left behind can be most distressing, apparently. Two things have just occurred to me:
On Leaving Fluff-Fluff the Cat Behind
- 1. Surely he's sensible enough just to follow me, without being called.
- 2. If I don't know he's there in the first place, then I will obviously leave him behind.
Aargh! It will be shameful, showing my second-rate teeth to a stranger. Hmm... This is my birthday present from Non-Gardening Partner, who is paying the bill. It's on a par with the youngster Son of Moosey getting a pair of school shoes for an early birthday - a piece of Moosey family folklore, this, and it wasn't me!
Two Hours Later...
It's two hours later, and I've been on the Driveway Lawn by the Hump cleaning up the woody mess. I haven't put it on the bonfire just in case there is spontaneous combustion while I'm away opening my mouth wide. Aargh! I have been rehearsing out loud what I am going to say to this new dentist, by way of explanation as to the state of the Moosey teeth.
Spring Prunus Blossom
The big Phormiums in the Hump have fared badly in the recent snow, needing a lot of trimming. I raked a lot of gum leaves up from around the shrubs, fixed the edges of one of the forest paths with new logs, laid path mulch on another, and made some more chain-sawing decisions for NGP for this coming weekend.
Right. I grit my teeth, and off I go. Back soon. This is toooooo scary.
Apres Dentist...
I like this new dentist! He engenders dental confidence, rather than shame. Remedial action will take place, and just this first bill would have bought me five new bare-rooted roses. But who needs possibly hundreds of new roses when you can have decent teeth, eh? Hmm...
My Dog is Bored with Gardening
I can probably just about fit in a late bonfire session now. Garden-wise it would be nice to finish that which I started today. Ny dog gets soooo bored, though...
All Blacks Flag
Thursday 8th September - My Birthday
I've been waiting all week for this birthday morning, which of course feels horribly normal. Everyone else in New Zealand is waiting for tomorrow, the start of the Rugby World Cup. Me too - I've pegged my All Blacks flag to a tree on the Welcome Garden.
Happy Birthday to Me?
Not sure about twitter birthday etiquette, but bleating on in ones own journal - well, surely that's acceptable! Yippee for me. I'm not too old yet, hee hee, and getting sillier with each passing year...
Today's birthday hiking has been redirected - my friend and I are walking around the city park with our dogs and picnicking. There's a blustering norwest wind blowing, which causes rain and unpleasantness in the mountains. No unpleasantness, thank you. So I can relax now, and wander around my garden taking photographs and planning my next garden move, before zooming off towards the city.
Later, Mid-Afternoon...
I enjoyed the daffodil display in the park, and Rusty the dog enjoyed his dog-picnic. Being a country dog, he is not so used to sharing space with traffic, walkers, pushchairs, elderly couples, even other dogs. And as for ducks - in his world of garden, and particularly on his pond, they are promptly barked at and seen off. But he behaved, as did I, with my plastic bag and dog-lead.
Happy Spring!
My plan is to take the rest of the day off, in recognition of all the hard work I've done in my garden since September started. Happy birthday to meeeeeee...