Moosey News : September 2006
Dear Subscriber,
Welcome to September's newsletter. The Moosey newsletters have been running now for over a year, and this month's features a Samoan-style change of garden scenery.
This month's features :
- Samoa - Gardens of Savai'i
- Samoan Journals
- New Shrubs
- The Cats of Samoa
- Haru the Pet Lamb
Regulars :
- Plant of the Month : Pink Camellia
- Animal of the Month : The Sheep (Except Ewe No. 98-346)
- Garden Quote : The Colour of Fence Paint
- Garden Gallery : Daffodils
- Forum Focus : Spring-Cleaning
- Gardening Advice : Being a Free Spirit
- Searching for Moosey : Cats, Cats, and More Cats.
- Coming up this month : Spring! New beginnings, time to make the old mistakes all over again...
This month's features
1. Samoa - Gardens of Savai'i
I went to Samoa expecting sun, humidity, sea, and coconut palms. I wasn't expecting to see such beautiful ornamental gardens.
2. Samoan Journal Part One
Samoan Journal Part Two
Samoan Journal Part Three
An exercise book of scribblings and sketchings has been condensed into three journal pages of my Samoan holiday. Honestly - the ramblings in these pages have already been compacted and condensed! Read about the disgraceful sunhat, the head-butting fish...
3. New Shrubs
I have graduated to my shrub phase, and the Moosey garden is opening its borders to mass shrub movements.
4. The Cats of Samoa
Meet just a couple of nameless Samoan cats, of unusual build and size, who provided much cat-company on the beautiful beach at Manase, Savai'i.
5. Haru the Pet Lamb
Just in time for spring, our small group of selected merino ewes is having their lambs. Hmm... So far we are hand-rearing one little girl, named Haru.
Regulars
6. Plant of the Month : Pink Camellia
I suspect that this Camellia has one of the most beautiful pink flowers in the whole shrub world! See what you think...
7. Animal of the Month : The Sheep (Except Ewe No. 98-346)
The Moosey merino ewes have their photograph in the glossiest of American magazines, called Early American Life - I've just received two copies in the post. Their photo takes up half a glossy page! Apart from ewe no. 98-346 (the mother who abandoned our dear little pet lamb) they deserve this month's award.
8. Garden Quote : The Colour of Fence Paint
Never pick fence paint the same colour as the mulch! An earth-shattering gardening rule, if I can indulgently quote myself.
9. Garden Gallery : Daffodils
Some of my earliest daffodils to bloom are simple souls with warm orange centres. Their colours are so appreciated after the drab of winter!
10. Forum Focus : Spring Cleaning
Northern hemisphere friends are busy cleaning up - their spring is well behind. Those of us in the south are starting to enjoy the colours and flowers of the new spring season. I think that those in the middle must get colour and beautiful foliage all the year round!
11. Gardening Advice : Being a Free Spirit
Hail to thee, blithe garden spirit! You're allowed to be a free spirit! Every gardener is allowed complete freedom of expression in their own garden.
12. Searching for Moosey : Cats, Cats, and More Cats.
- It's a bit of a cat-fest this month. There have been searches for a 'terracotta cat' (oops - the colour of my fence paint), 'hyperactive cat' (the Moosey cats spend more time being 'subactive') and 'Eek the cat'. Lovers of this so-named cartoon feline will be disappointed, as they are firmly directed into a rambling gardening journal, with phrases like 'Eek! The cat has just caught a large rodent...Then there's cat's tail. Check out Fluff-Fluff's bottlebrush tail, pictured in this journal page. You'll also spot Jerome the Grey being 'subactive'...
13. Coming up this month : Spring - the perfect time to make old mistakes all over again!
It's such a joyous time for gardeners and plants. I remind myself that this is the time of new beginnings - is it too late to plant my new trees? And my seeds?
Cheers,