Rain!
Rain!
Rain! Seven or eight millimeters. Yeay! We need fifty - spread out, to properly saturate the ground. But thankful for what we get, yes? Definitely yes!
So that's rain, finally, for the sheep paddocks, and for the hazelnut orchard, and for the shelter belts, and - last but not least - for my garden, going autumnal.
Puddle photography!
This morning I grabbed my Goretex and went out to take photographs of puddles. I'm not joking! I was going to present a selection of different puddles, but really - they all looked the same! Funny how a puddle lifts the gardening spirits.
Then I remembered raindrops on roses (rather more photogenic), and poked my camera into their shrubby greenery. And rose hips - very autumnal. Wet rose hips look so beautiful!
And, of course, the first autumn leaves, unspectacular in their subtlety of colour, but never-the-less evocative. Mellow mood-making, a wonderfully thought-provoking part of my gardening year. We won't mention the leaf rake.
Winnie and Driveway Puddle
Alas, I won't be able to do much gardening today. Not because it's still dripping out there, but because of music commitments. My Blues Band has a rehearsal for a gig coming up soon, and then I have to get organised for a choir concert.
Wet Crimson Cascade Rose
Next day...
Am cruising at half speed, after a sleepless might, and some spirited morning singing in a Byrd 4-part Mass. This was a wonderful musical healing experience for me (the Byrd stayed perfectly in tune, whereas last night's concert was awful, pitch-wise).
I love Byrd! And I love the birds in my garden - the cheeky fantails who hover and flit around my wheelbarrow, and the new bell-bird who tracks me higher up, whistling and chiming his new song. Hope the others don't chase him away (bellbirds are territorial - birds in one area usually all sing the same song). And the bellbirds stay in tune!