My non-gardening journal
Over the last days we've had nearly sixty mm of rain. It's fallen steadily and soaked into the dry ground. Phew! The garden, the orchard, and the paddocks have all needed this wonderful moisture. I've done no gardening - just some drizzle photography.
What's up?
So what have I actually been up to? Aha! Arranging music for my choirs, swimming, reading my new library books (Scandanavian detective stories). Inside, I've been wearing my Ugh boots, my new 'house slippers' - they keep the feet toasty warm. The dogs and I have walked around the orchard in the rain, followed by Buster the Black. Rusty has also visited the vet, and we return later this week to reorganise his arthritis medication.
Beautiful Buster the Black Cat
This is all fairly bland! Oh my goodness. A non-gardening journal, for sure.
Sally Holmes Roses
MEFTA meeting!
Later this week my MEFTA (Mind Expansion for the Ages) group is meeting. My friend is presenting her research on bumble bees, and I am 'doing' the Cutty Wren song. I will get the others to play instruments and join in the singing (this will be a surprise for them, hee hee). One will be given the guitar (in an open D minor tuning), and simply told to start strumming. Another gets a soprano recorder and is encouraged to 'freestyle'. I will boom and trill the verses of the song while clanging a toy tambourine. Hey - this is real folk music!
Life without gardening...
As you can see, life without gardening leaves me clutching at the somewhat trivial for amusement and stimulation. Sorry about this. The Cutty Wren song has many (many!) repetitive verses. Some chaps are working out a plan to catch, kill, carry, cook, and eat one tiny little birdie (the cutty wren). Hmm... There's a possible parallel with a gardening journal here? Here is just the first verse, for your enjoyment :
'Oh where are you going' says Milder to Molder
'Oh we may not tell you' says Festle to Fose
'We're off to the woods' says John the red nose.
'We're off to the woods' says John the red nose.'
Thursday 16th March
Normal garden transmission has been resumed. This afternoon (after MEFTA) I weeded the Stable Garden. I tried to be assertive. But it is difficult to be assertive with Euphorbia polychroma.
Friday 17th March
And today we have been hiking in the hills, where we found some Bombus Subterraneus bees feasting on alpine Echiums. Men are at my house, erecting scaffolding, fixing a house wall and a chimney, and so it's less distracting for everyone if the dogs are in their kennels and the house people go away and do something off-property. Otherwise young Winnie keeps taking tennis balls to the workmen and barks at them to throw her ball. It's kind of cute, once or twice.
And finally, some substantial garden news, which makes me want to sink into the couch and hide under the cushions - remember when that almost used to work? There's been so much rain that the fire restrictions have just been lifted. Aargh! The autumn bonfire! All those truckloads of dry vegetation (Eucalyptus leaves, branches, bark, ad nauseum) collected over the summer months can now be dragged out and burnt. Not my favourite task, so there will be much grumbling over the coming days. I dislike the concept of the autumn bonfire. Humph...