The last days of 2020
My Cottage
2020 is fast running out of days. Am suddenly remembering all those things I meant to do this year in the garden! Oops.
Rain on the roof...
We've had some rather nice rain - including splatters on roof of Pond Cottage some nights, while Minimus (my cat) and I were snugly sheltered (and mostly asleep) inside. Lovely to hear the rain, and know you're dry and warm.
My garden is very excited about all this natural moisture. It's so much nicer than my sloshy water buckets and dribbling hoses.
Have been trying to weed properly in the Hump Garden, which continues to amaze me with its - fecundity? Think that's the word. Ridiculously large tracts of potatoes, wonderful roses, ornamental grasses shining in the sunshine. And weeds, including the most beautiful vertical accents of yellow daisy-flowered dandelions.
Autumn Sunset Roses
I haven't decided what to do with one end of this garden area. A few rogue large gum and pine trees still need to come down, so there's no point in spending too much money planting expensive shrubs.
Wheelbarrow by the Hump Garden
Green Carexes, plus white and magenta Lychnis have filled up a lot of the spaces. But I could (and should) still enrich the soil with horse manure, grub out the worst of the weeds, and lay some mulch.
The House Decking is Out
Meanwhile NGP has been ripping apart the old decking by the house. Out with the old, in with the new...
Monday 28th December
Today while the dogs snoozed in their kennels and the garden grew more weeds, we went family hiking in the mountains, on the track to Lagoon Saddle. The more adventurous of our party trudged on through the tussock to find a camping spot for the night. The elders (i.e. Non Gardening Partner and me) stopped at the tree-line, had a drink of water, and NGP produced a huge bar of Whitakers chocolate. Oh joy!
View from the Tree-Line
Then we climbed back down through the forest to the car. Up there we had amazing views of the braided Waimakariri river, and my knees were pretty amazing, too (four hours of up and down). A detour to Arthurs's Pass Village to get petrol, then home, a pill, a hot shower, and bed, knees tingling with delight and Minimus super-smoochy.
Catch up in the garden tomorrow...
I promise I will catch up in my garden tomorrow...