Gardening and gazing...
Flames
A wonderful way to spend a day - work hard in the garden, use up lots of energy, then sit somewhere and just gaze at the views - or, if in autumn-winter, the flames of the bonfire. Lovely.
Dogs and cats...
A moment of self-reflection while sitting in the damp grass late yesterday gazing through the flames. I am not very nice to Pebbles the dog. But neither is she to me.
Earlier this afternoon she mouth-snatched at a ball I was carrying for Winnie. I was FURIOUS, bellowed at her, and marched her into the house. No harm done, just a sore thumb. Ouch!
I'm much more tolerant of my cats. Last night in bed Minimus was trying to climb all over me. She lost her balance and slid off down the side of my face, leaving a long, impressive cat-scratch on my left cheek. I only bellowed a tiny bit, then immediately forgave her.
How to get Pebbles to listen? How to modify her undesirable behaviour? By being nicer, and smarter, probably. Winnie my other dog listens. Winnie actually cares about me.
Pebbles the Dog
The saddest thing is this : I don't get the sense that Pebbles cares about me at all.
Ash
Monday 2nd June
Yeay! Am back from the store with new secateurs, a hand scraper, bulb mix, general garden mix, three ruby Astelias (and one silver one) for the Driveway garden, and some purplish tulips (plus two bags of bulb mix) for a patio pot.
It's a beautifully sunny day, though the winter sun seems really low in the sky. Am off to continue the Hen House Garden clean up.
Much, much later...
Another amazingly wonderful day in my garden. Worked around the Dog Kennel Garden, then had a cup of tea by the Frisbee Lawn, and gazed out over the grass.
Then off I went to the Hen House Gardens to clean out more mess. Passed by a messy Phormium and Astelias in Middle Garden, immediately sat down and trimmed their lower dead leaves. Nipped off several new shoots of the Phormium (variety Tricolor), put them in a pot.
Ended up burning six barrow loads. Sat on the rather wet grass and gazed at the flames. Thought about other places I could have been and other energetic things I could have been doing. Maybe I could have been travelling somewhere else in the world? Bike-packing through Mexico, for example. Nope. Gardening and gazing are just perfect.
Phormium and Astelia