Action!
Wow. Sometimes I really impress myself. I get a good garden idea, I think about it overnight, checking out feasibility, sensibility. etc., and then the very next day - action! Today (sunny but rather cold) I made a new straight path through the perennials garden by the pergola.
Saturday 29th June
It leads the eye (and the feet) nicely to the middle of the herb spiral. I only had to shift one rose (Michelangelo), one daylily clump, a few aquilegias, and a large delphinium. I sliced off the forget-me-nots etc. which were in the path's way and laid them in gaps in the gardens either side. To the best of my knowledge I didn't kill anything precious.
New Layout of Perennials Garden
I'll watch how the growth of the perennials fits in with the path, then, after everything has flowered next summer, I'll do any major shifting. I reckon this is a most sensible plan, and shows I am thinking ahead. It also shows I have absolutely no clue how big anything actually grows. Some perennials are rather wide, aren't they...
I Love My Winter Phormiums!
Meanwhile Non-Gardening Partner has been busy putting new stainless steel cables on the two river pumps, and they are back whooshing around and around in the water race. The river pumps, a startling bright orange, make a beautiful sound.
Sunday 30th June
Alas! What a difference a day makes! Sometimes I definitely 'unimpress' myself. Today has been a music performance day, and my contributions have been somewhat unsatisfactory. First of all my choir sang in a morning mass in a Catholic Church service. I forgot to take my reading glasses. And I wasn't concentrating - 'O Salutaris Hosta' I sang lustily in the motet. Must have been thinking of my perennials garden, and that clump of hostas which could well be divided and replanted! Below is a photograph of them taken in the summer of 2011...
Summer Delphiniums And Hostas
In the afternoon's concert the Elvis impersonator I played piano for had two wardrobe malfunctions - he split his trousers (ouch) and lost his belt. Possibly as a consequence he lost the tune as well? Anyway, he certainly got 'all shook up' and was not singing anywhere near the key I was playing in.
'Oh well-a bless-a my soul-a what's-a wrong-a with me?
'My pants have come apart and I've-a lost-a the key...'
This poses a deep musical question - does an Elvis impersonator need to sing in tune? Possibly yes - real Elvis was a wonderfully musical singer. Hmm... I guess I wished the performance had been a little more musically polished.
Monday 1st July
Good morning, July. Let the laying of much pea-straw commence, a little every day this month. This will rebuild my personal confidence and give me a much needed sense of satisfaction. Still, it's good that each day is different. Imagine if the graph of ones daily moods was dead flat...
Black Cat :- He is possibly an earthquake refugee. He's been living rough for some months now.
Looks like the black cat may have to be fostered here - we'll know later this week whether we are welcoming Mister Smooch. In the meantime I've found a rather nice cat quote. Apparently a black cat 'on the porch' (or equivalent) brings the home owner luck in love and prosperity! On the strength of this my friend (in whose laundry black cat is currently camped) and I have taken a lottery ticket, using the same lucky numbers for a whole ten weeks. Dreamers...
John Clare Rose
Now if only I could find Lilli-Puss. For the last two days she hasn't been in her Cat Lounge, her first time gone AWOL since her lounge was set up. Someone (something?) is eating the dried food I'm leaving there, though. Percy? Histeria? Both these cats (Lilli's siblings) wander far and wide over the property.
Wintry Photos
Oh, by the way, sorry that the photographs on this page are so cold and wintry. That's what it's like at the moment! But the rose John Clare is an absolute treasure! He's always the very last rose to flower, and he always makes it past the mid-winter solstice. It's wonderful to catch a splash of pink in a winter garden.
Later...
Ha! I've been good for three hours! I've worked my way along the Driveway Garden, weeding, trimming things, and putting on pea-straw. The plan now is to light the wood burner, and then start my epic couch-cycling trip around France. Le Tour has started! Right. I'm off to Corsica... Bon voyage, Moosey!