Visitors...
Foxglove
Took some nice (but unexpected visitors) for a wee garden tour this morning. Oh boy! Should have been oh joy! Heard myself making excuses, justifying my garden mess.
Lawns, paths...
The lawns needed mowing - but you should see how beautiful everything looks when I've trimmed the edges. And so on and so on... The pond paths were impassable - but I'm cleaning out debris blown into the water by the big winds, and I have to let it dry. Another path was blocked with fallen branches - but of course I'm still cleaning up after that wind. Am I really? Makes me sound super organised.
Disappearing visitors...
Into the Hump Garden we went. Does this path go anywhere? Oh yes, I said confidently - I'd cleared and weeded it about six weeks ago. Sublimely confident. The visitors did reappear eventually, after some quiet muttering. I haven't actually been in here recently, I confessed.
Mind you, the mid to late season rhododendrons were putting on a wonderful show. And so were the fresh green Gunnera leaves along the water race. The garden was super colourful.
Bang!
Out came Non-Gardening Partner on the lawn mower. Bang! A semi-explosive noise of metal crunching something, possibly metal. Aargh! Had the mower 'found' one of my lost hand tools? Phew! It had found a piece of wood buried in the long grass, breaking the shear pins. For once it wasn't my fault!
Late Rhododendron
My visitors (who were wonderfully nice) left, and I spent the next four hours trying to make up for their less than manicured experience. I cleared a path, I spread more compost and manure on the Stumpy Garden, and I did some edges.
Fence down!
Down comes the Banksia
Then I took to the huge yellow Banksia rose (it's taken down part of a fence, including a large fence post). Flowering has finished, so I half-deconstructed it, dragged canes to the bonfire, barrowed in dry stuff from beneath the hedge to encourage burning. Topped the fire off with the last (!) of the hedge trimmings.
Stuck!
Lay down on the freshly mowed lawn. Ignored the lawn edges which needing trimming. Closed my eyes and smiled. Thought about a nice hot shower and some food. Oops - was stuck! Stiff old gardening body. Tomorrow morning it can go for a swim to shake out the moans and groans.
Tomorrow...
Yeay for swimming! Have spent a busy hour doing the edges around the Driveway Garden and Hump Garden (haven't finished), bringing down the rest of the Banksia (haven't finished). As usual, nothing has been finished, but it's hot work in the mid-day sun. Now I have a singing rehearsal. Tra la la. Vivaldi and Back with an orchestra - how lucky am I?
Flowery Garden
And is life ever dull? No way. Tonight's dinner entertainment is to continue paddling up into the Arctic sea with some Canadian Youtubers. Amazing scenery, going through The Barrens. Have I ever paddled? No. But one is never too old to start watching others, hee hee.