Non-Gardening Nostalgia...
Red Rose Opulence
OK. Time for a bit of non-gardening nostalgia. I appear to be suffering from some form of mathematical dementia. Non-Gardening Partner has just told me there are heaps of series expansions for the number pi. I don't remember ever having seen one. Oh boy. I should stick to gardening...
Wednesday 26th December
So today in the garden I've been thinking mathy thoughts. I really need to get better at this! I can't remember the simple (?) things like pi, but I've downloaded a groovy 'book' on topology for some holiday reading. On a less elevated plane, I'm getting the whole of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven books, to read in the cottage at night. I remember (yes! yes!) loving the idea of the secret passwords...
In a haze of theorems and lemmas (showing off there) I've been dead-heading and trimming things in the Stumpy (AKA Willow Tree) Garden. The whole area has tidied up easily, with no huge dramas. Perhaps a light garden farce with a cast of dearly beloved old characters - mildewed aunty forget-me-not, rakish young-man broom seedling, old grandfather foxglove, and the scurrilous villain campion.
Where Are My Edge Trimmers?
Now if I could only remember where my sharp edge trimmers were (as well as all the elegant details about metric spaces) I'd be content.
Little Mac the Cat, Big Gunnera
Gardening details: I grow many coloured Iceberg roses in the Stumpy Garden - a row of beautiful blushing pink standards, plus the strident burgundy and bright pink. These latter ores have a very garish look when their flowers are fading. In fact they look rather unpleasant. The rich red rose Opulence is shining beautifully, a late bloomer.
Lilli-Puss
Cat Company
Cat detail: Lilli-Puss has kept me company - she's been in one of her super-friendly, ultra-passionate moods. Purring loudly she's been trying to climb up my legs (ouch), so we've had to sit on the garden seat to talk. I've been whispering carefully because Fluff-Fluff had rudely set up an ambush, hidden behind the garage pots. Should Lilli dare to follow me part way back to the house, he'd leap out and attack. Dear Lilli - she is so reclusive, needing a week's worth of love, hugs, and cuddles in one sitting.
Thursday 27th December
Continuing our 'Doing New Things' policy for these Christmas holidays, NGP and I are off to the mountains today. We are going to walk part way up the Hawdon Valley, whence we will wave goodbye to Daughter of Moosey. She and husband are heading for Walker Pass to camp by an alpine tarn.
I'm thinking comfy bed in Pond Cottage with Chapter One of my Topology book. Surely I will be able to understand Chapter One? I promise to take notes...
Later...
+10Change of plan, caused by inclement mountain weather. I've stayed home and have done a lot of good gardening, again with Miss Lilli providing excellent cat-company. Definition of good gardening - removing, with some embarrassment, head-high self-seeded trees (Elderberry and Plum) from the middle of the rhododendrons, without breaking anything. Oops.
Lilli-Puss
Dear Miss Lilli
Dear Miss Lilli, wriggly grey cat, sleek and strong, and so smoochy, thank you for spending two wonderful gardening days in a row with me. Of course, it's my loving, nurturing company that you enjoy, isn't it? I'm sorry that the other cats have chased you away from the other house gardens. If only you could have learned to stand your ground - big lumbering Fluff-Fluff has such a soft underbelly (in every way, hee hee...) and Tiger is a lump of hot air...
Friday 28th December
Ha! We went hiking today - just a day trip up Bealey Spur overlooking the Waimakariri Valley. I took my new camera which does clicky panoramas as well as close-up macros. Near the track Southern Rata was in brilliant red flower, with noisy, excited bellbirds drinking the nectar. Bright scarlet in the green forest is so unusual, so I clicked and I clicked. Oops. Forgot to turn the close-up function on.
- ‘Always remembering everything could get quite boring.’
- -Moosey Words of Wisdom.
As usual, I have so many little things to learn. But that's a good thing, I guess. I need to celebrate my lapses of intelligence and memory. Always remembering everything could get quite boring.
Enjoy the View!
But the trip was wonderful, with good leg, knee, and hip fitness (aaaaargh! the weathering of the Moosey joints!). But I'm still cross about the blurry Rata. No-one else took any pictures of it. Oh well, we will just have to go back in a few days time, before all the petals blow down. In the meantime, enjoy the views!
Tarns on Bealey Spur