Tiddles the Tabby...
So, Tiddles the tabby with too many toes - where are you? Tiddles was missing for breakfast, which usually (and hopefully again this time) means she's been busy hunting. But I'm worried. So the dogs and I have been on a Tiddles hunt, before we start the day's gardening. No sign of Tiddles, but every sign of garden neglect. Aargh!
Tiddles the Tabby
There is much that needs doing, enough to be disheartening if one lets it be. But one is made of sterner stuff, right? Right? So one just knuckles down and makes a start somewhere, or finishes somewhere else. Even pulling out one barrowful of weeds is better than nothing, right? Right? Hmm... So I can worry about Tiddles while I weed? Seems unfair.
Mind Expansion for the Ages
First thing this morning my friends and I had our second MEFTA presentation. MEFTA (Mind Expansion for the Ages or Aged, depending on how optimistic one is feeling) is like a book group - except one chooses a topic and tells the others about it. My friend dressed up as Eric the Red and talked about Greenland. I did Enid Blyton and the Famous Five, and served up ginger beer and a selection of labelled Famous Five sandwiches - tongue, ham, pork, radish, crisp lettuce, tomato, sardines, potted meat. But we didn't have to eat them (just as well, because Tiger the tortoiseshell had been licking the butter). Retired ladies with too much time on their hands, maybe?
Later...
Tiddles! I found her happily sunning herself in the Shrubbery, with (I suspect) a very full tummy. I had given up calling, and was out with the camera to photograph roses - Hebe's Lip, and another single white which I think is a species rose.
Hebes Lip Roses
And there was Tiddles, snoozing underneath Hebe's Lip. I all but trod on her. Such a funny connection.
Willow Bridge is Blocked!
So what have I done in the garden? Obviously once the location of Tiddles was established, mooching around sadly plucking at a few old forget-me-nots was not justified. First I thought about clearing Willow Bridge - see the accompanying photograph! But I love the big Gunnera leaves when they're fresh and green.
Speed Weeding...
So I did some speed weeding, clearing out Creeping Charlie by the glass-house. The Aquilegias and Foxgloves are pretty much finished, and I trimmed all of those. I also trimmed lupins, hoping that they'll produce some more flowers for me. I kept going back to Tiddles - poking and stroking her - was she OK? Was anything sore? Nothing that I could find.
Then I chopped down a bit more of the Banksia rose, and levelled a nearby Moonlight rose whose tree stump was completely rotten. I hardly laid a finger on it and it thudded to the ground. Kerplunk!
Friday 16th December
- Dog Park with my friends.
- Swimming with my friends.
- Sushi and Coffee with my friends.
- Op shopping with my friends.
Hang on a minute - this doesn't look so good. Start again?
- Burn Banksia rose rubbish.
- Tidy Pond Cottage garden, plant annuals.
- Plant tomatoes and lettuces.
- Tidy patios for Christmas.
There! That's much better!
Cottage Side-View
Quite a Bit Later...
Oops. Actually, it's 3pm, I've finished all the items on the first naughty list, and I've been vacuuming the house for over an hour (weekend guests). But the hoses are on, and I have a gardening plan. Just waiting for the sun to sink a little lower in the sky, you understand...
Three Hours later...
Yeay for me - I can tick off item number two on the proper list! I've done something I should have done weeks, months ago - removed six sad roses from in front of Pond Cottage (not enough sunshine or space). Three (Munstead Wood, Intrigue, and a reasonably robust no-name) are now planted in the Allotment Garden in the sunshine. OK, it is nearly mid-summer, but the new season's growth on all these roses has been minimal. If I have killed them, then so be it. The other three are on the bonfire. Annual pink Lavateras, Orlaya (a pretty white lacy flower), Marigolds, and Calendulas have taken their places.
The dogs have been fed, and I feel very proud. I might dilly-dally a bit, but eventually I get things done. Time for a quick shower, change into elegant apres-gardening white shirt, and then - food! Yum!