Fixing things...
Yeay! Non-Gardening Partner is being super-industrious, fixing my house fences and pergola posts, and chainsawing down dead trees. A good time to ask him gently about my river pump, maybe? After he's mowed the back lawns and fixed the water intake pipe for the pond?
Gertrude Jekyll Rose
Yesterday...
Yesterday I helped, as one does, with the chainsawing. I hold a few things, clear out and stack the logs, and trundle the small stuff over to the rubbish heap on the fence line. Pittosporums at the back of the house had grown too big, and there was the possibility of branches breaking onto the roof. In the Welcome Garden an ancient and deceased Locust tree had morphed into a garden sculpture, arms splayed out in all directions, ivy growing up its trunk. And it wasn't the ivy that killed it, honestly.
Then I dead-headed yet more roses and trimmed yet more messy mess and trundled yet more loads of gum tree bark over to the dumping place. As well as flicking the dogs' Christmas frisbees (bilious lime green) over the Frisbee Lawn and throwing sticks into the water for them to chase.
Histeria
Finally...
I have some nice animal news about Histeria the tabby. After sulking (because of Pebbles) for four months, she has finally rejoined family life in the house. She's eating quite well, sitting on laps, and walking past Pebbles without turning a whisker. She's even smooching Pebbles's nosy nose. I have missed Hissy dreadfully - four months is a seriously long sulk! I can only really manage a day at the most, before I start feeling rather silly.
Minimus (my cottage cat) is on a diet, and so she, too, now comes into the house at dusk, concerned about her calorie intake, unconcerned about the new dog. Pebbles is rather wary of Minimus the garden ghost cat, who leaps out from behind shrubs and hisses 'Boo! Scared yoooou! There's a tiny frightened yelp as Pebbles runs for safety behind my legs.
Just one cat to go - black Buster, still nervous about sharing the lounge and kitchen with two clones of the same potentially scary dog. What is that silly saying? Good things take time? Hmm...
Friday 29th December
Inspired by NGP's sudden burst of garden maintenance energy I've been busy extending my dog fence. First I dig deepish post holes (the ground is sandy, just a few stones), then I ram in the posts, stretch (not too much) the chicken wire netting along, and staple it in place. Soon I will be able to water the shrubs in the Welcome Garden properly - my dogs love to keep me company, and next-door's open paddock is too close to the fenceless road to be able to relax.
Spot the New Fence
Today I'm erecting the last stretch. I had high hopes for a simultaneous fixing of the river pump, but NGP has escaped, and is flying his tiddly plane to Wanaka. Aargh! I'm far too scared to ever go with him.
Fence photographs...
Photographs of my dog fence are - interesting. The netting is almost invisible in the clear gaps, and then it hugs the backs of the screening shrubs (mainly Viburnum tinus) and arching, scrambling roses (like the Rambling Rector, wonderful chap). But you'll be able to see what I've managed.
Much, Much Later...
Yeay for meeeeeeeee! My fence is finished. I have run out of fence posts - the last ones were a little short, but hey! It's is a dog-deterrent, not a load bearing structure. Now I should be able to weed and water the Welcome Garden without 'losing' my dogs.
The Dahlias are Flowering
I think NGP is still reasonably interested in his garden maintenance chores. Aha! Which reminds me. My river pump needs fixing. I love my bright orange river pump - when it's pumping water. Hmm...