The wading suit...
The banks of the water race are getting their annual (well, it jolly well should be annual) clean up. As well as the Gunnera to trim there are Carexes and Phormiums to deal to. And excessive weeds. And Shasta daisies to cut back. So it's time for the donning of the olive green wading suit. Yeay!
Me in the Water Race
It's taking me even longer to wriggle into this suit than it did last winter. Perhaps there's been a little seasonal expansion? No comment. The suit is a man-shape with no hips, and has very stiff gumboots attached. Getting out of it is an even more wobbly process than getting in.
Lucky to have a water feature
During this time I remind myself how lucky I am to have a water feature. And a suit which keeps me warm in the snow-melt water. It's slow work, but I know what to do. Clumping around on land in my suit is slow and uncomfortable, so I am allowed to fling all the mess onto the back lawn, to be picked up later.
Clearing the Water Race
Yesterday I almost finished trimming the large Gunnera clumps (just one more to go). I sorted out the excessively watery stems from the drier leaves and dumped everything underneath the hedge (to be burnt when they dry out).
Winter Bloom Strawberry Hill
Today...
Today I spent three hours in the water, starting at Middle Bridge. I worked my way downstream, cutting out dead Phormium leaves, slicing out some Carexes and trimming others right down to their ankles. I also removed some ferns. The perfect 'tool' for this work is the sharp, serrated kitchen bread knife. Hee hee...
Dog News...
Some colourful excitement with Pebbles the dog. She has just presented herself at the back door, totally covered in dark green slime. The culprit is next door's ram (in one of our paddocks at the moment) who has awfully runny green poo. Hmm - a British Racing Green Collie dog. Oddly, with a freshly shampoo-ed country dog one remembers why the dog smells like this, then by association finds the new smell a little unpleasant. Well, I do. Winnie's recovery continues, and she is now squatting properly with equal weight on both back legs to pee. Sorry - as with Pebbles' greeness this may be too much information! No photographs of either...
Winter Bloom Casino Rose
Silly roses...
Some silly roses are still flowering bravely, including a dark pink bloom on David Austin's Strawberry Hill (which is supposed to be pale pink). Oops. A winter saturated colour or a sport? One flower on Casino, the lemon climber, had a bumble bee inside. I don't know if he is alive, just snoozing, or has a problem... It is winter, after all, and tomorrow's weather is supposed to be much colder.
Good morning, tomorrow!
Aha! Good morning, tomorrow. Yes, you're definitely quite wet and much, much colder - going outdoors (even with a suit on) is rather unappealing. Yeay for the log-burner. My gardening has been going well, and my teddy bear knitting is great. Ballet classes online really suit me, and Switzerland's trains (on Youtube) are very relaxing. And the library is back open for real book borrowing. Nice.