Hurry slowly...
Daffodils
Quickly, before I miss anything - outside with the camera! But there's more to mid-spring than just chasing blossom around the garden and lunging to click at daffodils. Take three deep breaths, spend some slow time, read a book on a seat, enjoy the sights and smells (love the Daphne). Hurry slowly.
Monday 21st September
Am I weakened by my weekend weeding? No way! Yesterday I did a massive major four-hour weeding session. I scooped annuals up from the edge of the driveway and planted them properly in adjacent gardens. Today I have a new load of top-soil and compost. There's a positional delay in spreading it. Most of this goes in the Shrubbery, from which I've moved on.
We (me, Winnie and Rusty the collies, and big Brown Escher) are back from the dog park, so there is no reason for any canine naughtiness or boredom. Businesses have, for example, 'loud shirt' days - well, once a fortnight we have a 'Naughty Dogs' day, and one is long overdue. Not today, please! They can all follow the wheelbarrow, bark at the birds, and so on. Weed, plod, and spread. Weed, plod, and spread. I can do this for hours. Easy!
Five Hours Later...
A confession. I haven't done any plodding or spreading yet! Oops. And my dogs have been barking at helicopters, planes, next-door's cars, other dogs, distant roosters, bumble bees - as well as birds. It's been awfully noisy.
Jurys Yellow Camellia
So weeding is all I've done. My fingers feel a little worn and achy. I get rather tired of barking mad dogs, too. At such times Fluff-Fluff the gardening cat shines like a beacon, albeit a fluffy one...
Fluff-Fluff in the Garden
Tuesday 22nd September
Right. Another busy day. The dog park, then some more weeding, before the drizzle. Maybe some spreading of top-soil, where I reckon lots of my weeds come from anyway! Aargh!
Later...
Weeding a large garden is a large challenge. Some days I work really hard, and I feel really happy afterwards, even if nothing has been finished. But I often uncover (aargh!) more problems than I started with. Such is gardening life. Today I found that the 'nasty creeping grass' had indeed crept far and wide through the Agapanthus patch. So I have organised an anonymous puffy bottle of an unmentionable spray, which I'll use as soon as there's no threat of rain. There seems to be a cute new weed everywhere, which spreads itself out like a green lace doily with the tiniest, most tenacious single root. Another weed memo to self : use the squirty weed killer on each dandelion in the Birthday Rose Garden. But not when rain is forecast.
Fluff-Fluff :- Fluff-Fluff is my best gardening cat.
I try. I do my best. And then I look up at the big cherry tree whose blossom is just starting to open. Wow. So lucky. The late Camellias look so pretty and fresh, and there are so many daffodils to pick for the house. Fluff-Fluff, trying to following the gardening action, keeps squeaking 'Wait for me!'. Fluff-Fluff, you have to concentrate and keep up!
The dogs have had another great day, though big brown Escher had to be tied to the wheelbarrow. In his defence, the southerly wind was blowing dodgy aromas from the neighbour's offal pit straight towards his delicate nose. Great. I have a live-in canine wind direction monitor...
Wednesday 23rd September
Today it's properly drizzling, but we are still going to the dog park, with the umbrella. Then I have book group, and then I have jazz choir... So it can keep on drizzling, I reckon! If I get bored I can do some web-weeding...
Thursday 24th September
As usual the first thing we do is go to the dog park. We love the dog park. We looooooooooove the dog park! Then I'm going to a Brahms piano rehearsal. In the afternoon I will be picking more daffodils for the house and working in my glass-house, where steady, silent germination of my seeds is occurring. I also have some wet newspaper bundles of Dianthus and Coreopsis to plant up in pots. Ooh goody - getting ready for flower time.
It is not going to be a 'Naughty Dogs Day' either, because Escher will be tied to the wheelbarrow. I don't care how sad he looks - droopy eared dogs always look sad, anyway.
Later...
I've used up a 35 litre bag of potting mix repotting Hydrangeas, Korean Angelica, and Foxgloves. I've divided up a gorgeous Heuchera, dug up from underneath the big cherry blossom tree. Heucheras are lovely perennials - yes? Yes!