Garden Journal 2018

Welcome to my world, 2018. Please spread yourself out comfortably in my garden, take all the time you need. Enjoy the passing hours - no need to rush anything! As long as you provide me with lots of good things to write about... OK, so time is supposed to speed up as one matures. But my gardening year just swirls around - some weeks take for ever, others whoosh by. Weeds grow in ten minutes, trees grow in ten years.

Imagine time getting well and truly stuck. The spring blossom on the flowering cherry trees just staying put, refusing to drop. Lupin flowers permanently fresh from the bottom to the top of their stems. Nothing in the garden looking tired. What would there be to write about? Changes are all part of a rich gardening year. So let the journal of 2018 begin!

Happy New Year...: Happy New Year! So much to do, and so much time - it's mid-summer, long days where really there's no excuse not to be in the garden. It's too sunny? Find some shade! It's too wet? Count my blessings (the garden needs rain) and clean up the glasshouse. Too windy?
The shedding season......: I have spent the last two days cleaning up behind the cottage. This area is called the Wattle Woods, but the Wattles share the space with Eucalypts. Both these trees are gross feeders, robbing the soil of nutrients. So what will grow happily underneath? Pittosporums and Agapanthus. It's the shedding season, so gum trees have been shedding leaves and bark...
Drip drip......: As usual when it rains, everything in the garden needs doing immediately. And it's so visible! Funny how garden work is sooooo obvious when sitting in the house peering out a rainy window. Aargh! I should be out there. Should I? Drip drip...
No large scale plans......: Three days of summer rain (over three inches in the gauge). So I haven't been able to make the most of Non-Gardening Partner's holiday. He's spent three days lolling on the dog couch reading flying magazines. Luckily I had no large scale plans for him... That's 'large scale', by the way.
Bitten by the gardening bug?...: I can't remember 'meeting' so many bitey mosquitoes in my garden, so far away from the pond, before. A gardening caftan would be useful? Today I am wearing my gardening shorts (which always make me feel like a 'proper' gardener). So there'd better not be any mosquitoes lurking in the greenery.
Alive, alive oh!...: I must always remember that my garden is alive. It's a living, growing thing, with moods that change, whims that come and go, not to mention wind and weather and four seasons. And after each day everything has been alive for a little longer. This is why I'm always seeing new things that need doing.
Soonish......: Soonish (the ideal procrastinator's word) overseas visitors are arriving. I need to tidy up absolutely all the gardens, particularly those around the house, so as to create a good impression. This will distract my visitors from my lack of housework, hee hee. I have my priorities right
A big tick......: A revelation - which will be absolutely and totally obvious to the disciplined gardener. At the end of a hard working gardening day, I must take that extra bit of time and clean up my mess. I feel so much better for it. And I get a big tick in the today box. Yeay!
Same old?...: Today, again, I've done exactly the same things that I did yesterday, and the day before, and... One could argue that all gardening is about doing the same things. But just sometimes the sameness becomes a bit overwhelming, particularly when the weather gets stuck in a rut...
Edgy......: A swift sprinkling of that old country garden magic - lawns lowed, edged trimmed. Nothing else matters (thanks, Metallica). The mess is transformed into serene, contemplative beauty - just like that! Pouff! Edges are amazing...
Messy paths again......: Aargh! I didn't realise how blocked and messy the Wattle Woods paths were. I had no idea - after all, I'd cleared these only yesterday. Or was it last week? Last month? Blame it all on last week's big wind? Absolutely!
Edges, paths, and gum leaves......: Edges and paths, edges and paths... My life as a February (late summer) gardener revolves around edges and paths. Oh, and raking up gum tree leaves. I forgot about the leaves. Edges, paths, and gum tree leaves are my life!
Nature's style...: My garden is happy, because it is raining. My garden much prefers nature's style of watering to my random buckets and watering cans. This rain is sure and steady, and windless. And it's forecast to last for a wee while...
Catty......: Minimus my grey cat lives (that is : snoozes, snacks, sleeps, eats, lolls around, eats some more) in Pond Cottage. And Minimus is on a cat-diet. What to do? Come into the big house, check out the food bowls, and enjoy some sport : scare the dog-pants off Pebbles, and pick on Tiger the tortoiseshell...
All fired up.....: Good morning to the lifting of the fire restrictions, and to my bonfire which awaits, ash-less. And so, after so much clearing of scruffy dry mess (mainly debris from the Eucalyptus trees) over summer, 'tis the burning season. Hmm. Hmm again. I'm not feeling so enthusiastic about this...
Another week......: Another week of bonfiring beckons. Time for some silly fire quotes. So the burning question is : Will I get all fired up today? Rekindle that old flame? Hopefully I won't get my fingers burnt... Groan. In a desperate Google search for bonfire humour to lighten my gardening mood...
Tiny hints......: I do like March - it is generously 'dayed', and the garden is giving out the tiniest hints of autumn. The variegated dogwoods are the most subtle, blushing with the lightest flushes of pink and red. Ooh goodie! I think I'm looking forward to autumn.
Older Lady Gardeners can Do Anything......: In the spirit of 'Older Lady Gardeners can Do Anything', I am off to conduct a serious garden experiment - weeding some raised beds at my friend's new country mansion. Her garden is alarmingly overgrown. Hello, fattest of fat hens! Greetings, not-so-mellow mallow!
The magic of books......: Sometimes the simplest things cheer up a smoky-haired gardener (me) who is grimly plodding through the autumn burning season. Books! The magic of books. Specifically, other people's adventures, and other people's gardens. Yes! I am totally cheered up!
Generosity......: Wow. I am now the proud owner of two huge Lily bulbs, Cardiocrinum giganteum, Giant Himalayan Lily. My plantsman friend has popped back out of the woodwork. Thanks to his generosity over the years, I have many rather groovy, slightly odd-ball plants and trees...
Wilderness?...: A wilderness is a wild, natural area, where nature has been left to get on with what nature does best. But I'm a bit of a romantic, so I imagine a romantic place, inspiring, evocative, maybe a bit mysterious...
New Camellias...: Ooh goodie. I am off to dig out a row of nine mature Camellias that my friend doesn't want. They've been oddly and savagely pruned back, but are sprouting leaves all over the place. A compulsive rescuer, me...
Is it finished yet?...: Challenging the gardening reality that nothing can ever be finished when the garden is big and there's just one of you - I'm back in the Hump, trying hard to finish the clean up. Ah - that tantalising word 'finished'...
Such restraint!...: Another Easter has passed, and again I've exercised financial restraint, avoiding all the autumn nursery sales. My garden does not need a batch of new, scruffy bargain bin shrubs. It needs a large dose of an energised and highly motivated me.
Autumn adventures......: Autumn! Yeay! Thanks for covering my garden, ever so lightly, with your softer light and warm colours. I'm beaming at the fluttering leaves, feeling mellow, enjoying the autumn balance between mind (contemplating, dreaming) and body (plodding, raking)...
Weather......: Aargh! A rather wintry storm is forecast. 'Snow lowering to' is the catch phrase here. So I should spend this afternoon (still mild) spreading horse manure and planting my pots, right? Right!
Done some......: In the gardening world, doing 'some' is always better than doing 'none'. And I've done some - not the longest sessions, but enough to feel OK. And I've learnt something which I knew already. Hmm...
The Autumn of the Oak...: A lovely autumn week has slowly but surely passed. I've done rather more marvelling than gardening - mainly at the autumn tree colours. More of the dogwoods are reddening, and 2018 is definitely the Autumn of the Oak.
Fast and furious......: An exciting, if somewhat daunting prospect - a garden helper, half as young and four times as energetic as I am, is coming. He won't plod around gazing at autumn leaves - he will be fast and furious. And Escher the big brown dog is coming with him. Yeay!
Gardening with interest?...: A rule which I've always known about : never write up a gardening journal when drunk, grumpy, or really tired. But how about this rule : if you don't have anything very interesting to say, then don't say it? Hmm...
A trickster......: Autumn is such a trickster. When I look around, my autumn trees seem to have changed colour, with an amazing progression of tones and shades. I'm sure they have - quick, take more photographs. The photographs? Hmm. No difference, day to day, just a few less leaves...
Mellow May...: Autumn's 'mellow' is sneaking into my gardening bones. I'm so much slower getting up and going these mornings. I amble around, rake up a few fallen leaves, then wander off to peck and poke at a few weeds. No sense of urgency - welcome to mellow May.
Miaow?...: These days I am often catless in my garden, and it can get rather lonely. My dogs are usually in their 'gardening is soooooo boring' mood. So yesterday was lovely, unexpected - Minimus, my cottage cat, kept me company. But I miss having a consistently hard-working gardening cat...
The Bonfire de Jour......: The Bonfire de Jour is a hot pot of textures, smells, and burnable garden objects. Pieces of viburnum with what looks like sooty fungus will be laced liberally with dry gum leaves and flame grilled. Tender, lemon flavoured Pittosporum branches will be added as garnish...
Shrub versus shrub...: Shrubs jostling for space in the middle of the Dog-Path Garden - sounds rather jolly, don't you think? Like well-behaved matrons at a bring and buy stall? The reality is very different. It's shrub versus shrub - stranglers, smotherers, and bullies against the meek underdogs...
Late autumn......: A mild late autumn morning, crabapples (for the blackbirds) ripened, most of the big tree leaves fallen, ready for raking and bagging, the house Wisteria going yellow, the Calendulas still flowering in the Allotment garden...
Some tree news......: Great excitement today - the tree man came to visit. He is going to start knocking down the large trees in the Hump. Yeay! I'm thinking mid-winter sun streaming into the house. Non-Gardening Partner is thinking of the bill, and the mess. And there will be much mess...
Damp......: Funny how the weather gets into your head. Yesterday I was in a very damp, dour mood. And everything in the garden was damp - air, lawn, garden greenery... A damp mood is not a bad mood, but it's a bit gloomy for my liking.
Lashings of horse manure......: The Appletree Border is in for a pleasant surprise. Some rationalising - dare I call it redesigning? Probably not quite that serious. But, most important, barrowed in and spread lovingly around by my own hand - lashings of rotten, wormy horse manure!
The Stick...: Daft dog and gardener behaviour. When I tell Pebbles off around the garden, she barks rudely and inappropriately, and I get sad. So I'm trying out the Distraction Method, AKA 'The Stick'. Hee hee. And it's working. Pebbles has behaved...
Old Lady Things......: Not long until the winter solstice, and mornings are finally colder, almost frosty. And when I get up in the cottage in the mornings, part of me (the old lady part) doesn't want to. My walk over to the house will be as cold as! Brr...
Aargh!...: My next winter task - tidy up the back of the Pond Garden. No problem! I'd shift the recycled roses, clear the path, and so on. Aha! Little did I know what I'd find there. I am soooooo ashamed of myself...
Practising for the main event......: The biggest clean-up in the history of my garden starts next week, when the first of the old shelter trees in the Hump come crashing down. So what am I planning for the rest of this week? Aha! A giant clean-up of The Wilderness behind the pond. I am practising for the main event...
Silly shopping......: So since when has June in the southern hemisphere signalled the start of the silly shopping season? OK, maybe it's the thought of cold and wet winter days spent inside. One can't be a tough four-seasons gardener every day of the year.
Men at work!...: Oh my goodness. The tree men are here to start taking down the Hump trees. Chain-saws are revving, the muncher is munching. Side branches of trees are crashing down. So quick, so efficient. So much wood. This is serious 'men at work' garden business.
Yeay!...: In September 2013, when next door's pine trees all blew down over my garden, uninvited, I cried a lot. Now there's an equally huge tree mess- the Hump trees have been felled. But no tears!</p> <p>I'm celebrating the mid-winter sun visiting my lounge room, and warm streaks of sun on the house lawn at mid-day. There's the loveliest lightness over the house gardens and the Island Bed
Offline!...: I have lost myself for three whole gardening days. My garden has disconnected itself - it's gone offline. OK, so the weather has been drizzly and winter-grey. But this is just not like me at all. I miss my gardening self soooooo much!
Good morning......: Good morning to the log burner, to the dogs and the cats, and to Non-Gardening Partner, who is going to spend the day chain-sawing. And less of a good morning to another grey drizzly day. Sun! Get your act together!
Grey......: Hey, yet another grey day. Again? So grey is the new blue, as far as sky colour in winter goes? Grey, inconspicuous, neutral... Apparently the human eye can distinguish about five hundred shades of grey. Is that believable?
Frost, finally......: Welcome to the shortest day of the gardening year - alas, another damp day. The mid-day sky is light grey, and the noisiest flock of delighted birds is pouring all over my bird feeders like a slow-moving liquid...
Slower than slow?...: Going for the early morning walk with the dogs and Non-Gardening Partner - I am slower than slow. I plod resolutely along as they all disappear into the distance. I am always left behind...
Dear Log......: Dear Log, Firstly, let me compliment you on how impressively big and strong you look. Are you aware that half of you, approximately, is water? Today you will be moving into the front paddock to dry off in the sun. This will happen slowly over the next six months, and should feel nice and natural. After that you'll be split. Ouch! Sorry about that...
Painting......: I am 'wooded' out! Another big day shifting firewood logs, and no energy (or time) left over for anything else. I so looking forward to rejoining the ranks of the pottering and tinkering low-impact gardeners. Am I? To making tiddly little decisions about rose pruning - this bud? Or that one?
Pets 2018 Football World Cup Draw...: Here is the Moosey Family and Pets 2018 Football World Cup Draw. Each entrant gets two teams. Big brown Escher is, naturally, an honorary member of the dog family. The winner's prize is a large pack of steak. I've checked - all the contestants are carnivores.
A dollop of self-discipline...: My morning garden journal writing ranges from boasting overloads about yesterday's achievements to whimsical non-gardening trivia. And all the meaningful and/or meaningless things that I've done to pass the time in between, hee hee. But mornings are a great time for a dollop of self-discipline...
Oops......: My goodness! A whole week of winter has chugged past, and not one gardening journal entry. How odd. Time for 'Last week in the garden I did the following', that sort of thing. So what exactly did I do this week past? Oops. The memory has suddenly gone off-line.
The GWR Garden Clean-Up...: I've finally started my Great Winter Random Garden Clean-Up, which involves wandering around with the dogs, the wheelbarrow optimistically full of tools. I stop when I see something that needs cleaning up. I then clean it up. Pretty simple, really...
The Clean-Up Continues......: My winter clean-up continues : ferns to trim, roses to prune, the water race edges to weed. And yes, there are gnomes to paint. Yikes! It's 10am. I'm ready for action, but my garden isn't. It's still only two degrees Celsius outside, a bit nippy for me.
Nothing too strenuous......: Yeay! It is Non-Gardening Partner's birthday today. He is divisible by three. His birthday chores : trimming Hazelnut tree suckers, picking up more horse manure, fixing Middle Bridge, throwing sticks for the dogs. Nothing too strenuous.
Winter sun......: Good morning, frost, dogs, and sun, peeping shyly over the hedge. What a nonsense! It's me doing the shy peeping, waiting for a stream of golden light to flood through the house windows. This is a new experience...
A new month!...: A new month! Time for a new attitude - not that there's so much wrong with the old one. My idea is simple. Whatever I would have done in a day, well, I just do one more hour's work. August has thirty-one days, right? So my calculations give me five or six extra days of gardening...
The little comforts......: Am so thankful for the little comforts of winter - firewood (lots of it, self-sawn and stacked), merino tops (lots of them, snuggly, cheap from the Charity Shop), and the grooviest house slippers. Warm feet. Looooooovely.
House and garden......: OK. So far this morning I've washed the bay windows (with the floor mop, oops). I've washed the sheets and hung them out to dry. But this is a gardening journal, right? Unfortunately, just sometimes, house chores get in the way of an early start in the garden...
New garden books......: Decided I needed a change from winter garden maintenance, so I've been flicking through my new garden library garden books. Interesting - the first author doesn't want me to remove any weed roots, because this causes 'disturbance'...
Wow......: Wow. Today I had an amazingly productive day. Why? Because I decided to let time go all blurry. I didn't count the hours. I just kept an eye on where the sun was. Natural solar gardening, hee hee.
Barrowing...: This morning at swimming my university lecturer friend taught me a new phrase : 'elaborative interrogation'. It will now be applied to the following statement. 'This morning I have been barrowing'.
Losing the plot?...: Losing the plot? I have 'rescued' a home-knitted teddy bear from the Charity Shop. As one does. This morning we all sat on the dog-couch together - Pebbles, Buster the cat, Ted, and me. Aww...
Seriously busy......: Oops. August is almost over. But this is OK, and I'm happy, because I've been a serious and busy August gardener. I've enjoyed my garden's moods - the August weather has been kind to both of us. Much appreciated!
Socks......: The silliest plan. My friend and I are driving to Ashburton (only 60 km away) to buy socks. As one does. They are called 'life socks' and are the best socks in the world. So a trip to the factory shop (plus a cafe for lunch) is in order...
Clarinets......: I have never taken much notice of clarinets. But this morning, early, listening to Mozart's clarinet quintet, eating fresh fruit salad and yoghurt with a delicate little spoon - an extraordinary feeling of well-being and balance flowed over me...
Oh dear......: So lovely. I have a singing frog by the pond to listen to at night. All night, if I open the cottage window. He is a brown tree frog. He will be a he, advertising loudly (as boys do) his readiness for frog-love. But tree frogs are very easily confused...
New Paths......: New paths are taken extremely seriously in my garden. And for now, the start of my new path in the Hump gets a big tick. It is a much peeped-at path - I keep going outside to check that I've got it right. Yes! I'm happy. I think I'm happy. Is it really OK?
September...: September - month of spring stirrings, and my birthday (divisible by three). Hopefully a month of good sense and stamina. One where I stick to my plans, and maybe - just maybe - get everything done that needs doing. Oh yes? Well, I will jolly well try.
Singing rain songs...: I've been walking in the rain in my gumboots. And singing rain songs (including that obvious one, hee hee), while collecting floppy wet daffodils for the house. Aargh! My legs get wetter and wetter...
The inner-weeder......: Inside every good gardener lurks a placid, slow-paced, well-behaved weeder. One who is happy to kneel (or sit) in the mud for hours, teasing out tiddly weeds with their fingertips...
Birthday Bonfires......: Ha! It's the eve of my birthday, and my 'poo lady' has dropped off fifteen more bags of horse manure. So I've spent ages wheeling them onto the new Hump garden, mixing them up with mulch. Four hours with very little to show for it, except two well-used shoulders, and slightly sore upper arms...
Standing and staring......: I've spent a lot of time lately standing and staring in my new garden area (the Hump). The theory is that design inspiration will suddenly 'blossom' (hee hee), overwhelm me, and I'll know exactly what to do, and where to do it...
Spring gardening legs......: I'd like to welcome my spring gardening legs in their shorts. Hello, pale, freckly white knees, check out this gorgeous spring day! Sun blocked, of course. I have some new toxin-free sun block, by the way, part of my new plan to buy safer things...
Thinking about roses......: Warm spring temperatures (today is twenty-one degrees Celsius) have put me in a rosy mood. I am going to plant my potted-up roses - some in the patio garden, some in the Hump. And maybe buy some large country rugosas for The Hump. I'm thinking Agnes...
My Spring Garden - Series 24...: I Love My Spring Garden - Series 24. Episode 2. This is my twenty-fourth spring here in the Moosey Garden. Wow. That's plenty of time to learn how to garden sensibly, properly, harmoniously, and naturally... Yes? So what have I learnt?
Spring Idyll?...: My 'stuffy choir' (not sure I should call it this) sings a song called Spring Idyll, which always makes me think of 'Spring Idle'. Aha! There can be no such thing for a half-decent gardener. We are all busy as - Beavers? Bees?
So sad......: Still September, only just. And today has been a simply beautiful day. I am sorry to say that I ran out of puff quite early in the afternoon. Mulch shovelling was my problem. The spade just wouldn't slide in properly. Awwwww!
Welcome to October...: October is a wonderful month. But W also stands for 'watering' and 'weeding'. And 'wishing' that I had ten times the energy, and twenty times the stamina, and a host of well-behaved under-gardeners with initiative and garden common-sense...
My next gardening location?...: Nothing like a wander with the camera to discover my next gardening location. Went to photograph the Tasmanian tree daisies, in a deeply thoughtful and expansive mood. What a mess! Some deeply thoughtful trundling and expansive bonfiring needs to happen...
Rain, rain. Don't go away......: Rain, rain. Don't go away. Don't come again another day. Come here right now, settle, and stay! Pretty please. Today would be nice... But rain or no rain, there's still so much to do in the spring garden. And there's also so much to look at and enjoy...
Grateful...: It's the day after the 'big rain', when just over 30mm (over 1 inch) fell gently, carefully, and very, very vertically. The garden is soooo grateful - I can sense this. Well, maybe I'm sensing the gratefulness of the gardener...
More flowering...: As the blossom finishes, more spring things are starting to flower : Choisyas, Watsonias, late season Rhododendrons. And down lower the forget-me-nots just keep on and on, blue and beautiful, as forget-me-nots will do. I love them. Unconditionally. Even in the lawns!
Warming up......: Well, well, well! The first truly hot day of spring, when an hour's gardening warms everything up rather too nicely. No red-faced, sweaty-browed selfies are allowed, thankfully. Lots of sunblock, drinks of water, and sensibly working in the shade...
Sheep......: Herding sheep? Herding cats would be much easier. One of us always wants to go the 'other way'. Charge! Past the super-sized humans (me and NGP, holding long sticks). A couple of us try to follow. Most of us don't know where we want to go. But where do we NOT want to go? Aha! Through that scary open gate. No way.
Three of the best......: My garden, my dogs, and my cats. Three of the very best things in my life. Not that they always behave. I am wallowing in a deeply spiritual moment on the patio, and the dogs are busy barking at nothing. Too noisy! 'There's nobody there'. 'It's a false alarm'...
Shrubs can be sexy!...: Shrubs can be sexy! Gardener seduced by shrubs. Heard sighing and sweet-talking a flowering Hebe. Seen making eyes at a deciduous orange Azalea. Flirting, bashfully, with a Berberis. Whatever next? Lusting after Lilacs?
Moving mountains......: What to do first? Just keep on walking around the garden with black cat Buster and the dogs? Ogle at the rhododendrons, pull out more forget-me-nots, and trim the rain-sprawled Alkabet? No, no, no. What I have to do is move one of my mulch mountains. Shovel, spread, shovel, spread, shovel...
Here, There, and Everywhere......: I've been working 'Here, There, and Everywhere' (such a beautiful Beatles song, this). It's the time when 'here, there, and everywhere' perennial Alkanet has to trimmed. And the pretty blue annual forget-me-nots are pulled out and used as mulch. And all through the garden the roses are amazing...
Flowers and Bees......: So many flowers, and so many bees - it's so easy to enjoy the garden. And lovely rain to help, falling rather gently, with no wind. Annoying for car-drivers in the city, I guess, but not for gardeners. Nothing wrong with wearing gumboots to a cafe, anyway!
Checking the orchard roses......: There's been a lot of lovely early summer rain. Then warm sun, and then some more rain. So everything is growing extremely well, and this will certainly include the orchard roses. Time to check on them, get some photographs (if they've started flowering), see if Madame Caroline Testout needs spraying...
So happy!...: I'm so happy with my November garden. Nothing look tired, nothing is struggling. The hot dry winds have stayed away, and there'e been much more rain (gentle, warm) than usual. I'm even happy to be weeding in it...
Dogs, cats, birds and bees......: Yet again my lovely animals and birds (and bees, mustn't forget the bees) lift me out of introspection and into garden happiness. Not that my 'happy place' isn't inside my head as well. But the silly singing season is in full swing...
Choral silence?...: Just one more jazz choir concert, one more folk club concert, two more Christmas Carols concerts, then - yeay! Musical silence! Well, at least some peaceful choral silence - just my classical piano playing and the birds to listen to. Totally suitable for a concentrated summer gardening effort...
Common sense......: Common sense : in the sticky forget-me-not seed season (i.e. now), do not wear expensive wool-blend socks in the garden. The seeds loooove to stick fast to wool-blend socks. And spending half an hour per sock painstakingly removing biddi-bids is a waste of time...
Wonderfully, tremendously, superbly lovely...: My garden is looking rather lovely. No. wait! Far too modest. It's looking wonderfully, tremendously, superbly lovely. I love the shapes of the borders, and the paths, and the trees. I love the feel of everything...
Another plan......: I have a new self-affirmation plan (this tends to happen just before Christmas). It involves a wall chart, with a pretty photograph (see below), upon which I put ticks each day for being good.
Brigadeer General Weeding...: The Hump needs major weeding. No. Make that Brigadeer General Weeding. Brigadeer Generals oversee staff planning (me) and co-ordinate missions (weeding). Choices : One - the hand digger and pull slowly approach. Two, the hoe, potentially more vigorous...
Meet Sergeant Spade......: Sergeant Spade has been assigned to slice through the weeds in the Hump, starting with the paths. Private Hoe just didn't do the business. This morning's mission is logged to start at 0900 hours. Hopefully it will not take 900 hours to complete!
Christmas Kittens......: Ho ho ho! Two Christmas kittens have arrived, identical striped boys, so much alike that I can't tell them apart. Names - Fred and Fred? Not sure this is quite the done thing. At the moment the Freds are busy exploring the family room, while the other house animals are a bit put-out.
Fred and Fred......: Christmas Kittens Part Two. '8:11 AM 23-Dec-184444444444', written by one of the Freds, just passing over the computer keyboard. Obviously a gifted and talented kitten - fancy knowing how to type today's date, hee hee...
Merry Christmas 2018...: Merry Christmas to everyone for 2018. Merry enough, that is, to stay in good spirits (maybe non-alcoholic), and not feel too tired. And definitely not grumpy!
Spend!...: Spend, spend, spend. Presents! Boxing Day specials! Sale price - 50% off! Spend more. Bargains! Sales! Spend money! But not me. Oh no, not wise old me (rather virtuous, smug even, could become awfully annoying old me)...
And then I did spend some money......: OK. I confess. I spent over forty dollars this morning on various little kitten treats - broths, pates, things in jus or gravy, flakes, morsels in delicate florentine sauces... Also I bought some two dollar green jeans from the Charity Shop. Same price as one little tin of cat food. Oops

Garden Journal 2019 Top Garden Journal 2017

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