So simple...
I've spent yet another night in Pond Cottage, this time cat-free. Early mornings are groovy - sitting up in bed with my cup of tea and gazing out at the pond and the trees. Wow. It's so simple, having a holiday cottage in the next paddock.
Minimus (my little grey cat) found me at dawn, and shortly after that big Fluff-Fluff my new best cat-friend sauntered in. His pounding presence makes drinking the hot morning cup of tea in bed rather stressful!
Summer Phlox and Daylily
Friday 28th January
Today I'm going hiking with my oldest friend (which makes her sound rather elderly). We plan to wander gently up to Kaituna Saddle and the Packhorse Hut. But first I feed another friend's cats... My goodness - a whirlwind of retirement activity, and sooooo many friends!
Mid-Afternoon...
Another brilliant trip, not as long and arduous as usual (she boasted) - and the wind almost blew us up the hill. My dodgy knees always seem to keep up with the rest of me, and they never hurt in the middle of the night - phew! Walking in Nature's garden is a superb way to spend a summer's day, with a good friend, a few flightly sheep, and some lazy cows for company. And lots of fat brown cicadas, making a noisy nuisance of themselves by hopping onto our shirts. Eek!
Garden Path
Saturday 29th January
Again I've spent a cosy night in Pond Cottage, waking to find Fluff-Fluff the cat asleep nearby under the tree outside. There followed much affectionate relating (and grooming, since he was covered in sticky biddi-bids). Then I wandered elegantly over the paddock to the house - where, quick as a flash (or quick as a click), I bought a couple of garden gnomes in an online auction. Oh dear me! They are retro concrete chaps from the 1970s - one is 'pondering', the other is sitting shyly on a rock.
Later...
Hmm... Non-Gardening Partner and I have spent rather too many minutes 'herding' four sheep out of the Hazelnut Orchard. Eventually we had to set up the portable sheep fence. Anyone who agrees with the definition of the word 'sheepish' should spend half an hour with two wily, flighty ewes, determined to be perverse and change direction whenever eye contact is made. Sheepish indeed!
But it's done, and now I'm off to a cricket match. There will be no gardening done today. And just think - I am two garden gnomes richer!
Blue Agapanthus Flower
Sunday 30th January
OK. Right. Good morning world. Today I am a gardener. I will not be swimming or buying second hand cane furniture or antique garden gnomes. Ha! An antique garden gnome indeed - just a lump of old concrete, you might think. But hopefully my two new blokes will be packaged up well, and not break on their courier journey south.
Fluff-Fluff :- Meet Fluff-Fluff - my very best gardening cat.
I've stayed over in Pond cottage for four nights now. Last night I got Fluff-Fluffed again, and I tried to be welcoming and share the cottage with my over-weight, over-attentive fluffy cat. He has appointed himself as the resident Pond Cottage cat. Aargh! Peaceful nights spent by a tranquil pond - with a 'kneady' cat who breaths in my ear and miaows whenever I do the tiniest wriggle. How on earth does he know what a human ear is for anyway?
So what should I do first in the garden? Getting appropriately dressed would be a start. Making a list? Maybe just a mental one. I fancy floating around a bit.
Anemanthele and Phormium
Apologies for Silly Web-Site Stuff
Apologies for a huge picture of the lovely leathered Danica Patrick who has been appearing on the front Moosey page. Hopefully by the time anyone reads this she'll have driven away. It's just a little technical hitch - the Moosey webmaster has been a little preoccupied and has forgotten his duties. Not me, though. I'm off to do loads of work.
Lunchtime...
And I've done barrowloads of work - just garden maintenance, I'm afraid, though I have put some Clivia bulbs in pots, trimmed a rampant Clematis, and watered the tomatoes. Thought - if anyone saw my vegetable garden they'd never take a word I write seriously again. My next job is to regain vegetable garden credibility. Boy, garden maintenance is potentially quite boring - and I'm supposed to be doing it all year - it's my garden theme for 2011. Hmm...
Much Later...
I've done another two hours garden work, just trimming edges and weeding. I've pulled all the beans out - they might be Italian heirlooms, but they've been disappointing to cook with. Now I've seen so much to do. That's for tomorrow. And I've bought Son of Moosey a budget set of garden tools for his new house. A truly kind gesture this is not, for he has borrowed mine to start cleaning up his section and garden. I could be his Garden Design (and Maintenance) Consultant.