Concerning dogs and water pumps...
Good morning, dogs. So Winnie had an upset tummy overnight (floor rugs hosed down, drying on the patio table). And a scrappy dog-fight in the kitchen (she tried to steal Pebbles' breakfast). I tipped a bucket of water over their heads - a great way to start the day, mopping the kitchen floor. Aargh!
Dogs in the Garden
And good morning to me. That's not 'good moaning'. I've worked hard this week. And I've survived some frustrating set-backs - like yesterday, when my watering pump was jammed and I couldn't put the hoses on. All day! My garden, naturally, suddenly looked desperately dry. And. naturally, all I wanted to do was water it.
Deep water thoughts...
But I've worked out something deep. When there's an issue (like the water pump not going) it's no good thinking of other women in the world who are worse off than oneself - for example, women who have to drag buckets of water for hours. This is a saddening thought, but doesn't make a centre-of-her-universe gardener (me) feel much better.
Coral peonies in the Garden
Try again...
OK. Try the pump again - it might have unstuck itself - blast! Still stuck. What one has to do is think of something good in ones own life - for example, the last mammogram, results all clear. Yeay! Give thanks - one is still around to moan about the 'stuckness' of a tiddly water pump. So I bucketed water from the pond on the Henri Martin roses and honestly - I did feel better.
Good morning to the vase of coral peonies, picked from my own garden, sitting by the kitchen sink. Plop. Plop. Super shy, these pretty flowers. I look at them. A petal drops. Plop. There goes another one. I might just need a gardening energy fix today, so I don't peter out and start mooching around in the afternoon. Oh, there probably is one such - strong black coffee? Hmm.
But back to the dogs. A new 'trick' - Pebbles now waits when a door is opened, but insists on going through first, then blocks the way through for Winnie, with a little show-off snarl. So we have a new strategy, giving Winnie preference. Hmm...
New Rhododendron
Mid-Afternoon...
OK. My watering pump is stuck again. Grr... I've been hauling out forget-me-nots, and then running the hose on the ground beneath, especially the roses, shrubs, and special things. And now I am once again foiled by technology. So - what to do? I'm going to trim my fingernails and play my piano for an hour, that's what! And then clean up my messes and do some bucketing. I have time and energy for this.
And before I forget - my latest rehomed rhododendron is flowering in the sheltered back of the Stumpy (AKA Willow Tree) Garden. It's pretty!
Saturday 4th November
Yippee! The power of inter-partner communication! I rang Non-Gardening Partner about the stuck pump and he told me what to do. I just give the fan an encouraging flick. So I did finish yesterday's watering, and now I've got the hoses on again. I've cleared forget-me-nots from around the cottage, and in the spaces I've planted Lychnis seedlings taken from the middle of a nearby path. The plan now is to use the watering can, to make sure those Lychnis plants get a good start. I've also discovered two spindly white rugosas, uncovered when the forget-me-nots came out. Poor things! Single stick wonders, not very rosy at all.
Crepuscule on the Pergola
And now the Herb Spiral and its encircling gardens need the forget-me-nots pulled out. So I will do that tomorrow. Mustn't forget!