An order for rain...
Hello Fred
When will it rain next? If only one could order in rain, timing it to arrive just after a border has been cleared and spread with horse manure and mulch. And indicate what sort of rain, for how long, etc.
Friday 16th May
Worked for four hours. Finished pulling out the last of the Erigeron from the wee curved house garden. I love the little white daisies, but they spread and smother when growing in the wrong place.
Barrowed all my mess to the bonfire, burnt it, and spread all the horse manure bags over the garden. The roses here will love me - they've been neglected for a few years now. I actually semi-pruned the 'flower carpets' (hope this is OK - it's a bit early).
Have put in a specific order for some gentle, overnight rain. No wind please, and just enough to give a moderate drenching. Non-Gardening Partner is busy outside cleaning dry leaves out of the gutters of the Sleepout. He would like some rain, too, when he's finished this annoying job.
White Flower Carpet Roses
Saturday 17th May
No rain as yet. Today I plan to do lots of gardening and lots of music. What to do first? Make a list? Or just drift around in my shorts? Make a maybe list? That's a good idea.
My Maybe List for the Garden
- Rake Pond Paddock leaves, bag up if possible.
- Barrow out more dry mess from behind the pond.
- Trim around the Island Bed.
- Clean up and rake driveway by house, rake up leaves.
- Clean out gum bark from Dog Kennel Gardens, plant Lavenders.
- Light bonfire at the end of the day.
There. A nicely balanced list, and if I do nothing on it then so be it. If I actually finish everything, then woo hoo!
Two hours later...
Only two things done so far - Nos. 3 and 4. Had lunch and finished my book (the latest Ian Rankin, a very solid crime author, never disappoints). Now to relaunch myself.
Manure on the Garden
Two more hours later...
I stayed in one place and kept on collecting mess, cutting out dead Phormium leaves, and trimming dahlias in the Island Bed. Refilled my wheelbarrow to overflowing. But then things got a bit scary. NGP was trying to mow the lawns, and the mower kept coming to a standstill with loud metal-on-metal banging sounds. Eek! Whenever this happens I immediately think that I've left a hand tool lying in the grass.
The first two breakages were caused by 'things' out of alignment (phew). The third time it was a pine cone. Now I would never deliberately (or even absentmindedly) leave a pine cone lying in the grass to disable the lawn mower. But never-the-less I felt guilty and came inside. Silly.
Sunday 18th May
Am just back home from singing a wonderfully contrapuntal Josquin des Prez Mass. A very intricate, rhythmic piece, with lots of latent mathematics embedded therein. While I was out NGP kindly picked up some more bags of horse manure for me. And that rain that I ordered? It's just arrived, better late than never. I will play my piano and start my new jigsaw.