The long weekend
A long weekend, the traditional vegetable planting weekend (if one is a conformist gardener). I'd rather like it to be a chainsawing and mowing lawns weekend, but so far Non-Gardening Partner has escaped. I expect him to start doing the house vacuuming - the ultimate avoidance tactic, hee hee...
Am inside for a wee break. I have raked the glass-house path, weeded in the Hump Garden (while looking for my lost hand digger), weeded around the potato patch, and watered everything in the glass-house. So far so good. Am back now to continue my good works. NGP is busy fixing our telephone landline (the house was 'hit' by lightning early this week), so can't really redirect him. Blast!
Herb Spiral
Much Later...
Such a great, productive day I've had. I planted three rows of potatoes, and started trimming and weeding the edges of the back lawn gardens. NGP mowed the lawns, then went to check on the little pump I use for my watering hoses. Oops. It is kaput. So I will have to use buckets and watering cans for the next few days.
Monday 24th October
Have already trimmed more edges on the back house lawn and finished laying the path mulch around the small paths. Bread dough is cooking in the bread maker, so this gives me three hours in which to garden my pants off, so to speak.
Buckets of water...
I've been bucketing water onto the roses recently planted by the Herb Spiral - have organised a take-out bucket with rope, so I can just scoop water out of the race without too much energy. When one is used to putting on, pointing, and then shifting hoses, watering by bucket is hard work!
Lilac Rhododendron
Late lunchtime...
Worked for another two hours, then suddenly the wind whooshed in from the south and the temperature started dropping. One more hour to bread time - having a non-alcohol cider and crackers with cheese, rather hoping it will rain. If it doesn't I'll go back outside for one final spurt.
Mo bonfire...
No bonfire, though - next door started theirs up just before the wind came, and had to spend the next half an hour tipping water on it to put it out. It helps to be aware of the weather forecast, she said primly.
Lost!
And I totally lost NGP. Aha! He'd had a call-out to a real fire, a biggie. Someone (who didn't check the forecast, she said primly again) had a big bonfire near a pine hedge. Up came the southerly wind and whoosh! Up went the hedge. The gardens around the house had just been covered with pea straw for a wedding. Up went all the pea straw. Oops.
What do I love the best at the moment in the garden? I love all the weedy Campion flowers. And the fresh red leaves on the Maples. And the later season rhododendrons. And of course I looooooove my newly trimmed edges.
Maples in Spring