How weatherproof?
Exactly how weatherproof an I feeling? I have already welcomed the arrival of spring - New Zealand gardeners are impatient, and don't bother waiting for the equinox. But the weather has not obliged, sending down a heady mixture of rain, drizzle, and coldish wind.
White Daphne
Yesterday I swooshed around spreading bags of rotted (and delightfully wormy) horse manure on my needy gardens. I was lightly clad, relying on body heat, and this worked OK for a couple of hours. I thought about the new lambs (only two so far, twins) in the back paddock, and hoped the ewe was being sensible. A sensible sheep? Hmm...
Tiddles the Tabby
Thinking about Tiddles...
I also thought about Tiddles, our long-lost tabby cat. A rather odd development - a 'flier' arrived in our letterbox for a missing cat, whose photograph looks exactly like Tiddles. I have compared leg stripes, neck stripes, the fatness of the paws, as well as the face. Oh boy. The missing cat's address is some distance away, in the country sense.
So I'm thinking that maybe Tiddles moved herself into a new home last year, and has now moved on again. If she is still alive, and doing this, then I have to be content.
But back to today. Right. Time to toughen up? Or curl up? With a book, that is... Aha! I've just had a nice phone call. Visitors! Decision made. Time to light the wood burner and tidy the kitchen. And maybe a quick wander around the garden with the gumboots on and the camera clicking. Each day there are new daffodils flopping and face-planting themselves, because of the rain.
Much Later...
Here's the plan. The visitors are gone, and I'm now going to spread all the horse manure bags. Then I can send Non-Gardening Partner off to get some more, hee hee. Better that it (and the worms) are on (and in) my garden, rather than stuck in bags getting wet. And who cares if I get wet in the process?
I'm back. Yeay! It's not been too bad out there. I've spread twelve bags of horse manure underneath the rhododendrons in the Stumpy (AKA Willow Tree) Garden and the nearby roses (which are out in the open, since the fern intruders have been dug out). It's taken ages. I hope these lucky shrubs are grateful.
Camellias - Jurys Yellow and Plantation Pink
Camellias to note : Jury's Yellow has its very first flower, and the big beauty (Plantation Pink) behind the garage is blooming.