Burning is the issue of the day!
My end-of-March journal ramblings will be rather smoky, with hopefully many flames of inspiration leaping forth. In translation - the fire ban is removed, and burning is the issue of the day! Every day!
Monday 27th March
Good morning to my lovely catlets Fluff-Fluff and Beige Puss (both trying to sit on my lap at once) on this damp, drizzly, warm March day. I've woken up to windless rain - very unusual. Usually the rain falls semi-sideways, angled in for maximum exposure and minimum person-comfort.
B-Puss - B is for Beautiful
What shall I do first today in my damp garden? More burning? Perhaps I should make a list. If I just scratch around happily like a smiley free-range gardener, then things like seed sowing (is it too late?) get missed. When is Easter? This could be my first retirement gardening landmark - I could have all my collected rubbish piles burnt by then, for one. Hmm... Caught between the free-flowing and the timetabled structured gardening styles, I could just do half a day of both. Or I could abandon all commonsense, zoom to a nursery and buy a boot-load of new plants!
Lime Nicotianas
Tuesday 28th March
Moderation prevailed. I burnt for two hours, then went swimming. What will I do first today? Hey - I've just had a good idea. How about burning some rubbish? Aargh! I've checked out Easter - it is in two to three weeks time. So I could get all my fence-lines totally cleared of rubbish by then, and be ready to single-mindedly hit the Easter plant sales. At which I could just buy up absolutely all the two dollar Pittosporums and Hebes. Then I could dig the new entrance garden, put in some instant New Zealand native plantings, sit back, and enjoy!
Hebes
Hebes are amazing plants, regardless of their over-abundance on the sale tables - different varieties flower at different times of the year, with different colours. Hebe Gardens could even become trendy, at which time the Moosey Garden will return to its rightful place in the style landscape, wobbling bravely on the cutting edge of garden design. Ha!
OK. Off I go to burn. Remember those Leyland shelter belt hedge trimmings? Remember those piles of gum tree bark and gum tree leaves? Only a lunatic would try to garden underneath Eucalyptus trees - oh well, at least I'll be a warm lunatic!
Later...
Warm? Over-heated! And I am a very bored lunatic! I am sick of burning, and the lightest of drizzle was a sign from above to stop. I shall revive my flagging energy levels with a cup of hot coffee, some very late breakfast, and some Mozart. Which reminds me - I heard the Ravel piano piece Le Tombeau de Couperin, and I would very much like to play it. Hope I can find the music.
Aargh! Wedding News!
Eek! I have just popped into the Moosey's Country Garden Forum - as a responsible garden web-site owner I like to weed and water the Forum, whenever I can. And, unless my smoke-filled old eyes deceive me, the Daughter of Moosey is going to get married! Eek! Hee hee! A Gardening Mother-of-the-Bride! A Forum request has been made by the intended groom for a Wedding Garden! Aargh!
Unknown Rose in the Birthday Rose Garden
Wait - that probably means a white trellis summer-house with a pointy roof and dripping roses - on a little island in the middle of a new second pond. Hee hee! I will discuss the hiring of earth-moving equipment with Stephen - that's his job. How romantic! What a great excuse to - you guessed it - organise a bulldozer and ditch-digger, and build that pond. The perfect wedding present - a new pond with its very own island!
My Burning Heap :- Aargh! I get soooooo sick of burning.
I am reinspired! It doesn't take much - so off out I go, back to the burning heap. If I can show myself capable of finishing the big things (like the burning) my idea for a Wedding Pond will stand a better chance. Hee hee!
Friday 31st March
OK. This is it. The very last day of a rather less-warm-than-average March. Today I am off outside to do some burning. There should be more to the gardening life than burning. But burning is to be done, and sensible burning demands full attention, and must be done safely, when there is no wind. And, alas, today is perfectly windless. Blast!
White Iceberg Roses
I Could...
I could produce a large list of things I'd rather be doing - like weeding (gently) at the back of the Willow Tree garden (the Strawberry Ice rose in there is great), or trimming (gently) by the Hen House, or buying those birthday present roses. Yesterday at the nursery by the supermarket I found some white Iceberg roses for ten dollars. I resisted - I'm really after the Claret ones. One has to do birthdays properly.
But I digress. I really don't feel like burning at all. Maybe I could fill up the morning with absolutely essential non-gardening tasks - like housework? Or baking? A long dog-bicycle ride with water bottle and a packed lunch would be nice, and I do have my piano performance programme to fill in the afternoon. Hmm...
Nearly Lunchtime...
I am sick of burning. I have been clearing the Hen House Garden, wheeling loads slowly through Rooster Bridge, getting grumpier by the minute. Large chunks keep falling off. Humph. Five more loads, then I will change out of my annoying, stinky, smoky gardening clothes, and take Rusty Dog for a bicycle ride around the biggest country block. I will picnic at the little church (halfway), shut my eyes, and imagine I am in rural England.
Much Later...
I am back from the bicycle trip with a very puffy dog. And I did quite a lot more burning. I stopped sulking and just got on with it. The rubbish I have left to burn is finite, and there is less of it. The Hen House Gardens look better. And we will borrow the chipper from next-door to shred the Leyland hedge clippings. So I reckon my last March day has been pretty successful. And I have 'discovered' three piano intermezzi and one rhapsody of Brahms that I have never ever played before. Nice - a musical reward. Goodbye to March.