New resolve!
August - I am here, ready for you, full of new resolve. Forget my unproductive behaviour over July - that was totally out of character! A new month, a new leaf, a new me, getting the garden ready for spring.
Tuesday 1st August
Today I spent four hours spent weeding near the bonfire, tidying Phormiums, pruning roses, and trimming ferns from around Middle Bridge. Then I got the bonfire going and remembered to dump two loads of hedge trimmings on it. Remembered them? Humph. I'd rather have forgotten them, all green, slimy, and so wet to handle.
Early Spring?
Then the rain got heavier and heavier, and I thought longingly of my comfy dog couch and my new library books. As one does.
Little Waxeye
Wednesday 2nd August
Aha! Another four hours spent happily clearing and tidying, until my hands got too cold and the drizzle became a little too persistent. I stayed in one place and did lots of little things. Pruned the roses, dug out any oversized Anemanthele grasses, weeded, mulched the path, and so on. And so it took me four hours to do very little - but lots of very little!
Feeding the birds...
I'm filling the bird containers on the patio twice a day now. One wee birdie stayed sitting on the private feeder, all puffed up - I popped a stewed apricot and a teaspoon of jam under his beak. He blinked at me, then pecked at the fruit. He must have been exhausted, all out of energy. I'm feeding maybe sixty wax-eyes and a dozen bigger birds (starlings and blackbirds).
Cat News...
Amazing cat news. Tiger the tortoiseshell, the Madame of the House, actually went outside today and caught a mouse. In she came proudly, but all too ready to slip into her normal lazy, relaxed mood. I had to get Winnie the dog to 'help' - before the mouse escaped into my pantry.
Thursday 3rd August
Aha! Another good gardening day, another four hours spent doing tiddly little things. I got the bonfire going, so I dragged three barrowfuls of hedge trimmings out of the orchard - there is much smoke. I've now trimmed all the Calamagrostis grasses - just the big waterside Miscanthuses to go. The trick is not to leave the trim too late, otherwise the new growing shoots get nipped.
Colourful Phormiums
I've also pruned most of the roses around the back lawn - the Gerbe rose is a bit tricky, as a lot of her canes seem to die back. Oh well. I've done what I think is the right thing.
Ready for spring?
Going well, I reckon, and definitely getting the garden ready for spring. And I'm certainly over this wet, wet winter.
Hellebores