A Four Piece Dog Pack
Treats!
Something a bit different to end 2020 with. The two brown dogs Escher and spotty Frida are coming to stay for New Year's Eve - another Dogs Day Out! So I'd better get started in the garden before the dog fun (well, I hope it will be fun) starts.
Escher and Frida
The visiting dogs will be lovely, but one (Escher) is big and silly, while the other (Frida) is young and sillier. And neither is cat-proof, so to speak, so the safety and comfort of the house cats is a bit of a worry. Buster has her window to get in and out, and Minimus is safe in (or under) her cottage), but the Freds usually use the house doors. Oops.
But back to the garden : have taken some Hump Garden photographs which all show masses of indeterminate greenery. Can't guarantee that the 'after weeding' shots will look all that much different. Am determined to weed the Hump Garden properly, though. It looks so beautiful when it's cared for. The dahlias are starting to flower, and the bees are so busy hopping from single red to single yellow...
Escher on the Path
Now it's lunchtime, I have a four piece dog pack, there's no sign of the cats, and Non-Gardening Partner (sensible bloke) has escaped. He is fixing the house decking, and has gone off to look for wood. We have been swimming in the pond, chasing tennis balls on the Frisbee Lawn, cruising the newly cleared paths in the Hump Garden, and now we are having a bit of a rest inside.
Brown Dogs at the Pond
Escher is extremely wet and squeaky and Frida keeps wanting to sit on me and have cuddles. Awwww. Trouble is she is not a cuddly shape, with long thin stick-legs. This will be Frida's first sleep-over in the country.
Later...
Oh joy. Four dogs have been gardening with me. So I keep throwing Winnie's tennis ball and checking for brown tails every couple of minutes, in case they've wandered off into country trouble. I'm not sure I've been very productive, but I've flitted around trimming (time to remove the old Euphorbia flowers, very carefully) and weeding (more of the same in the Hump Garden). Have tried to get photographs, but Frida is a dog on the move, and Escher bumbles around off-path with his nose in the greenery.
Cleared Path in the Hump
Well, my dear brown dogs, you'd both better get a good night's sleep and not bark. Farewell, 2020, you strange old year. Hope 2021 is less troublesome, and the world can get back to being connected up properly again.
Charles Austin Roses
For my final photograph of 2020 I've chosen the David Austin rose Charles Austin. Now that its longish canes are propped up by friendly neighbouring plants, it's so beautiful. Enjoy!