Revelation!
Trim the Ferns!
Have had an early morning revelation (sorry about this). Gardening on a small scale - for example, weeding - produces small scale results, with small scale satisfaction. My garden would look so much better overall if I spent a morning trimming all the ferns. This would be a large scale improvement, visually. A huge morale booster.
Of course it's purely cosmetic, in the grand scheme of things. If the dead fronds are left to make a slimy mess alongside the fern, the new green shoots still unfurl later in spring, and eventually the brown slop gets well covered. But I'll do it. I'll dump the dead brown fronds in piles by the fence-line - they are too wet for the bonfire. It will be a marvellous early spring transformation for my whole garden. Just hope I can find the kitchen scissors...
Four hours later...
And did I? Not a sausage! Didn't feel like wandering around with the scissors bending over ferns. Decided I would continue my weeding so I could sit down. Much more restful!
Found more roses which needed pruning. The white scrambler rose which I think is called Nozomi needed digging out. Piles of weeds on the Hump Garden path needed scooping up and dumping. More nearby spring shrubs are flowering - Eriostemon, Forsythia, the Mansize Camellias...
Mansize Camellias
So that was that. Didn't take my own good advice. But had a wonderful time, and that's what matters.
Next morning...
Yeay! Went into the garden early, spent two hours collecting two barrowfuls of dead fern leaves. Also dug out two rather large and extremely difficult Carexes from behind the woodshed. Three more to go. Needed lots of muscle power to swing that spade.
But I had forgotten there was an all day power outage scheduled. Came inside with plans for a well-deserved hot coffee and for all sorts of house appliances to whoosh and whirr, including the bread-maker. Nothing doing, so went out and met my friend for lunch. Then the weather turned nasty. Drove home amidst hail and sideways splattering rain. Hey! Where did that come from?
Dressed like a summer garden...
Phew! Two hours work was just enough to allow the wearing of my 'new' apres-gardening clothes, hee hee - my slightly silly denim jeans from the Op Shop, with large colourful flowers painted thereon, and my loud green linen shirt. Lovely! I'm dressed like a summer garden.
Forsythia
I've lit the wood burner, so my house rooms are quite warm - but they're really dark. Outside it's glowering grey. There are so many things I'd like power for. The internet would be useful, so I could read my online book or watch another Poirot episode. I'd also like to use the printer, charge my phone, not to mention cook the evening meal in the oven. It's almost too dark to see the jigsaw, but I do have a head torch and a house lantern.