It's really snowing...
Kitten in the Snow
Aargh! It's really snowing. 'They' said it would, and I have to drive into the library for work. Ooooh - I hope my garden will be OK. If we get too much heavy snow the Phormiums get flattened. Evergreen shrubs and trees (like the light, airy Pittosporums and the big shelter belt pines) will lose branches. But snow never lasts long here (she said, crossing her fingers). I'm sure of one thing - winter has arrived!
Wednesday 6th June
Big Fluff-Fluff the cat is 'missing' - he gets scared by snow and hides in the rafters of the garage. And he won't come out, not even if fresh meat platters are waved underneath his nose. What a wimp!
My new gnomes are amazing. One is a hunting gnome, with a rifle, backpack and spaniel. I have a very battered, undefined version (in the gnome-sense of creases, features, bumps and sticky-out bits) of him already. My new brother hunter named himself Bert. There's another chap with eyelashes and a thoroughly goofy look, playing a guitar - he's called Dylan. Sorry, Bob.
Colour in the Snow
Later, Lunchtime...
The library is closing for the day, so I've driven home slowly and carefully in the snow. I found my big fluffy cat, and talked him into the house. Now he's hiding under the table. The log-burner is going, and now I'm off outside to tap the snow off overhanging branches. There've already been a number of loud cracking noises since I've been home, so I'll keep well away from the pines on the fence-lines.
Rusty on a Snowy Garden Path
This morning at the library I wrote a good, sturdy list of web-gardening that needs to be done. I also made some decisive decisions (?) about my real garden, which I will now list:
- Grow lots of red tulips in lots of pots. When they stop flowering they can turn into red Pelargoniums.
- Shift the Wedding Cake tree while it's winter. Don't forget!
- Dig out my friend's Magnolia Stellata (from her garden) and plant it in Middle Garden.
That's all. Brr... It's cold outside. This snow is wet, too - the worst kind for my trees.
Purple Garden Seats in Snow
Thursday 7th June
Eek! Drama in the cold, dark, snowy night - just as I was drifting off to sleep in the cottage - crack! A huge Eucalyptus tree branch crashed down on the far corner of the roof. One piece of tree (albeit not so large) even ripped a hole through the roofing. Hmm... I gathered up my pillows, radio, torch, and box of tissues (I've got a head cold), and crunched over to the big (safe) house. Too scary!
This morning it's very icy, but the sun is up there, the power is back on, and already splodges of snow are warming and falling kerthump off the trees. Nothing in near sea-level New Zealand (roads, services, houses, or gardens) is designed for snow. Evergreen trees are particularly susceptible to breaking with the weight of wet snow.
+10
+10
+10I've just crunched around the garden taking more blue-white photographs. Rusty eats the snow, Little Mac the kitten dances on the surface, and ginger Percy, a more mature, heavier cat, plods in my footsteps. They must wonder what on earth their mother is doing wandering around in the wet white stuff.
Cottage in the Snow
Humph...
What an anti-climax. I went over to check the cottage damage, which looks rather minor and undramatic in the light of day. Humph. It was quite scary in the dark! What a strongly built cottage, to withstand first earthquakes from below and then blows from above...
Looking After the Birdies...
And I've done the important things - made some bird food and hung it outside (it's already busy with little birds), fed my cats (no Little Mac, you cannot go outside and annoy the birdies), lit the log burner, checked the temperature (still below freezing), and had my first morning coffee... I reckon I'm staying home today.
A Bit Later...
I went outside to start the cleaning up. Not a happy idea - two more large cracking sounds from the fence-line trees almost immediately changed my mind. Safe and warm inside is much better. So I'm going web-gardening, and then some TV couch cycling in warm, summery France. But blast! The power is off again. So I'm taking my dog for a walk down the road.