Weeds in the compost...
More compost
Something really unfair has happened - weeds are growing happily in the new compost I've been spreading.
Stern words to self : sulking is not allowed. It will not improve the situation. What's needed is weeding, pure and simple, which I do really well.
Fat hen and nettles...
The bags of compost have very kindly donated fat-hen (Chenopodium album) and annual stinging nettle (Urtica urens) seedlings, to keep my own Alkanet seedlings company. Luckily there are no other undesirables. I have to wear gloves to handle the nettles, but fat hen is easy to pull out. It can be used as a fattening food for hens, but there are no living hens in my garden to eat it up, sorry.
Scratched...
And there's another unfair thing - early this morning Speckles growled at me and scratched my hand. I was sitting on the verandah with him, being nice, not pushy, not doing anything annoying like trying to tickle his chin.
Fred
Be more like Fred...
Speckles needs to work on his relaxation techniques. Be more like Fred, for example, who can be just as feisty in asserting his independence and the limits of his personal space.
But when Fred has a full tummy he relaxes alongside his humans. He even lets that tummy have a few discrete tickles. I wouldn't dare touch the Speckles tummy. Aargh!
Couldn't find my gardening gloves, so decided to bonfire all day instead. Grabbed armfuls of dry flax leaves from underneath the Leyland Hedge. Filled the wheelbarrow with lots of other dry mess. Also cleaned the remaining mess out of the middle of the Island Bed.
There's so much more room in there now. I'm not planting anything new for a while - might grow some Hydrangeas (from cuttings) to fill up the gaps for next summer. I took a deep breath and spread the compost bags around. Hope these new ones aren't so weedy.
The Island Bed
Tuesday 24th February
Right. I'm organised - long pants and brand new gardening gloves. Am off to deal to these weeds. Humph. Not fair. Oh, I've already said that!
Three hours later...
I only weeded the garden where the new Michelias were planted. But I was thorough, and saw other things that needed doing - for example, dahlias to be dug out from underneath the green Phormium and replanted somewhere nicer.
Cricketers Out Of Action
Removed Crocosmias and an old Anemanthele grass with my little digger, rescued a big bearded iris, dug out some perennial Centaurea and replanted it, then weed-killed the path. Kapow!
One session per day...
If I just did one weeding session like this each day, think how lovely my garden would look when I walked around it with the dogs. Have pondered on this countless times. The time of day in which the weeding takes place wouldn't matter, either. Half an hour before bedtime - perfect!
Wednesday February 25th
Today I was busy with music, singing rehearsals, tra-la-la, and so on. But when I got home late afternoon I took my own advice and spent an hour and a half pulling fat-hen and annual nettles out of the recently composted garden below the glass-house. Yeay!