Mothers' Day Gifts...

How nice! It's another 'Bring-a-Mouse-Inside for Mothers' Day' day. The cat-mother is me and the cat is Histeria the tabby. Would I possibly prefer a bouquets of flowers and a gourmet brunch? So another scuttling little grey rodent hit the hallway this morning, the third in as many days. But this time I have my secret weapon - Rusty the dog - and he knows what to 'do'. Enough said. Good dog, Rusty.

 My brown-eyed dog...
Rusty the Dog

Monday 13th May

Yippee! I'm wearing my Mother's Day fifty cents Swanndri - a rosy red and black checked woolly overshirt-jacket-thingy. It makes a cheery change from the traditional blue gardening shirt. Fifty cents! It is a Mothers' Day present to me from myself, and so much nicer than a wriggling mouse.

 Hee hee. The self-timer button has been located...
Head Gardener in Red

A Brand New Week

And here's a brand new week in which to hatch brand new gardening plans. Except that at this time of the year, late autumn, the garden has its own plans. Rake those leaves! Trim those dahlias! Tidy up the website! Hey - how did that last item get in? I meant real gardening plans.

Yesterday I spent all day inside poking at the computer - making sure that anyone who visited my Dog-Path Gardens (in the Tour section) would be amazed, impressed, riveted and generally blown over by the depth of my descriptions and the beauty of my photographs. Hmm...

Perhaps today I could do the real Dog-Path Garden work - the blue lupins need trimming, and the dog paths themselves are very weedy. That little Euphorbia called Fens Ruby, such a little sweetie, has spread everywhere. The path to the water is blocked by Pittosporum branches. And so on, and so on...

Later, Lunchtime...

Let me measure my morning. Five barrowfuls of rubbish wheeled to the bonfire. Two clumps of Agapanthus divided and planted neatly in Rusty's Lavender Garden. Fatalities - two large daffodil bulbs sliced clean in two, oops.

Self-timer photographs are not self-indulgent.

Mood - brilliant, thanks to my new 'swannie' and the fact that I found the self-timer button on my camera, hee hee. What a poser. Photographs taken with the self-timer are not self-indulgent. Are they? I mean, someone out there might like to see what the real me looks like. Wouldn't they? A pictorial record of a garden is incomplete somehow without some pictures of the gardener. Particularly one that automatically grins at the camera.

 In the Lavender Garden by the dog kennel.
More Agapanthus Are Planted

Aha! I spent a couple of hours clearing the real Dog-Path Garden, took my dog for a brisk walk down the road, and then I burnt my bonfire. I gave that self-timer button a few more little clicks, too. I've now taken over three thousand photographs on my new camera. Wow.

 Love that new red and black shirt!
At the Bonfire

Now I'm inside, contemplating the fading light and the fast fading autumn colours. At the end of the day it cools off rather quickly - better shut the doors. I'm going to web-garden down the Driveway Garden and around the Frisbee Lawn while the evening meal is cooking. Brahms's gorgeous piano concerto is - gurgling? No. Burbling? No. I'm lost for words. Brahms is spreading the richest, thickest raspberry-jam sounds over everything in my lounge room. Yum? Sounds rather messy...

Wednesday 15th May

OK. It's been a thin morning's work, but scooping up and carting six barrowfuls of mess over to the bonfire is:

I've been less than committed because I have a piano playing engagement after lunch - grubby fingernails and smoky hair will not do. But just you wait...

 A brilliantly bright pink rose.
Zepherine Drouhin Rose

Much, Much Later, Dusk...

I've had to leave the bonfire gurgling in the darkness. So one day, one bonfire, nothing else, but that's OK. Roses Margaret Merril and Zephirine Drouhin are still flowering nearby, and the strawflowers continue to build new buds. Everlasting flowers, maybe? These annuals certainly earn their keep, and I must collect some seeds.

The light outside got dimmer and dimmer, but standing by the bonfire's flames I didn't really notice. Oops. Then it was completely dark!

Now I'm going to do some more web-gardening, tidying up more of the tour pages. I love doing this - searching out newer photographs, checking for spelling mistakes (hopefully not many), and web-visiting my own garden. I always experience much joy and wonderment at the seasonal differences. Summer roses - you look gorgeous! Spring blossom, so do you!

 My goodness, the table and chairs have weathered well!
Head Gardener on Winter Patio

Late autumn - you look rather flat and cold! In fact you look just like winter. Brr...