Love, love, love...
Autumn Dogwood Leaves
April accelerates to its colourful close. I love, love, love my autumn trees! I love every dull golden and burnt red leaf. I love them when they're still hanging on, and I love them when they start fluttering down. I may not love them so much when I start raking the lawns. But one tiny gardening success : last year's oak leaves have successfully turned into leaf mould. Yippee!
Thursday 24th April
The tree-men are here cleaning the big gum trees up, and they look absolutely beautiful (the trees, I mean). I love them! Particularly the biggest, on the house lawn, which is called, surprisingly, the BIG GUM. So who is that grumpy-puss always moaning about leaves and bark falling all over the lawn? No relation. Never heard of her.
I love all my autumn tree leaves. The Oaks and Prunuses in the Pond Paddock are fast turning colour, and they gently flutter down on my head as I walk underneath. It feels so tickly and friendly! The grand-baby, a very junior tree-lover, is mesmerised as she watches them flutter past her nose. And they crackle so nicely, as she grabs a handful. We won't mention the taste test...
Oak Tree in Autumn
Now I'm going outside to do some gardening. I need to sort out the paths in the Shrubbery, and encourage Madame Leonnie de Viennot to curb her wicked ways - that is, to stop throwing out thorny rose canes which pierce the skin of the unwary. The chippings the tree men are producing will do very nicely as a path surface.
Beautiful Big Gum Tree
Later...
I kind of got stuck doing other things around the house gardens - trimming edges, weeding, and clearing up the remains of the BIG GUM. Then I burnt my bonfire, as I do every day that isn't too wet. But that's a brilliant idea to use the chippings as path mulch. I'll definitely do that. And some of the freshly sawn wood logs can become path edges.
Brave Cats...
Today all the cats decided that two strange men making loud noises outside were just a natural part of the landscape. And the fresh pet meat in the fridge was soooooooo tempting. To reward their bravery (even Percy popped his head around the door) I did feed them some tiny treats.
And a Daft Dog
But Rusty is much more a creature of habit than I'd ever realised. He has happily slept in his 'dog box' (sometimes called a dog motel) underneath one of the gum trees since he was a ten week old puppy. But last night? Oh, no, because the tree-men had moved the dog box about five metres, putting it down on the nearby lawn. And so Rusty refused to go to bed. This is NOT where I sleep. I sleep underneath the gum tree...
Rusty in his Dog Box :- There's a path around the kennel's run, and a pretty Lavender garden.
I never realised (said she, who sleeps in her garden in a shed-cottage) that dogs had such an acute sense of position. Surely his dog box still felt and smelt the same inside? Anyway, today it's back in its proper place underneath the gum tree. Hopefully there will be no 'issues' at bedtime later tonight. Daft dog!
Friday 25th April
I love my trees - love, love, love. I love the big bossy Eucalyptus trees. And the silly brittle Wattles, and the cute Cotinus and Dogwoods, the no-nonsense Oaks, and the pretty Prunuses. Yeay for trees! Plant a tree, hug a tree, take a photograph of a tree, watch a tree grow, and be happy.
Island Bed Autumn Trees
Oooh goodie! Non-Gardening Partner is home today. I wonder - what would he like to do first? He has already checked the sheep. Charles the merino ram has a trio of 'lucky' ewes to spend the winter with in the hazelnut orchard. Just a few healthy lambs, please, this September.
Later...
I spent all morning cleaning up Rusty's Lavender Garden, raking off gum leaves and trimming the big green Cordylines and the potato vine. Rusty's dog box has now been replaced properly. Big Fluff-Fluff has been my constant companion. He is Fluff-Fluff the Faithful, and a superbly autumnal colour, too.
Big Fluff-Fluff the Cat
I burnt four barrowfuls of mess on the bonfire. After lunch I made a start wheeling and stacking the logs from the house lawn. There are so many logs. Some are great for the Shrubbery path edges, and I've set those aside.
Dull and Boring?
It's been one of those days where I'm really tired, I've worked for ages, and I feel very proud of myself. Then when I write it all down I just sound dull and boring and my efforts look rather miniscule. Might be time to relax and watch something uplifting on TV - America's Next Top Model, maybe? Hmm...