Big day out...
Today I need to think big. Do everything that visibly needs doing, and then some more. Start early, keep on going until it gets dark. Trim all the large ornamental grasses, finish the rose pruning, trim shrubs in driveway...
Winter Driveway
And there's more. Burn, burn, burn. Run that bonfire all day and burn all the mess that needs burning (can't compost it, sorry).
Pink Camellias
No floating around...
OK - I need to to put on gardening clothes, grab gloves and secateurs, and get out there. No floating around scooping up little weeds or dreamily chattering to Camellias. It has to be a big garden maintenance day - raking, pruning, trimming, and plodding around with the wheelbarrow. And bonfiring - smoky clothes, stinky hair.
Rewards?
What about rewards? A big carb-filled, deeply filling lunch, perhaps? Duck fat chips, chocolate pudding smothered in creamy custard? Alas, am on a Shape Up For Life Campaign. How about a slice of ciabatta covered modestly with smoked salmon?
No, my reward can simply be that I've delivered on my promise to myself, if that makes sense. Just think how proud I will feel! Thinking big, thinking big...
Miscanthus in WInter
Seven hours later...
I did my very best all day to think big. I certainly did big hours! I trimmed two huge Miscanthus (one to go) and three Calamagrostis grasses (this took ages). I kept that stinky bonfire going, adding five loads of gum bark and small gum branches, sourced from behind the cottage, to encourage more flames.
The dogs and the Fred cats kept me company, though they weren't particularly attentive. Fred (I think Red Fred) kept leaping into the wheelbarrow, which he enjoys riding in.
Trying not to breathe much, and not to squash the cat, I barrowed all the pieces of Viburnum Rhytidophyllum over to the fire, and layered them in with the other stuff. Whoosh went the grasses. Gurgle went the branches of Viburnum. Sniff, sneeze, sniff went my nose (am mildly allergic to this shrub, which is why I have removed it from the Island Bed).
Pebbles by the Water Race
Now, apres-gardening, my hands are a bit sore from using the secateurs, and my back feels well worn. It has been a big day. Can't remember doing so much pruning and trimming before. Checked my journal - what was I doing last winter? Ah yes - cleaning up after the big trees in The Hump were felled, sorting out the firewood. That explains it. See the photograph below. Memories...
Aha! Too Busy to Prune and Trim!
Right now I'm burning some of that wood in the log burner. Actually, I am feeling a bit small, but small at the end of a big day is OK.