Animal farm...
Pebbles the Dog
I've been helping Non-Gardening Partner clean up suckers in the Hazel Orchard. This is farm work, rather than gardening, which might explain why the orchard's climbing roses get a little neglected (oops). Animal farm : Pebbles the dog comes with us, and sits staring at next door's cattle. Nosy (and hungry), they all stand by the fence to stare back at her (and our green grass). Of course Winnie is inside the house in her crate, with two lazy, snoozing Fred cats keeping her company.
Ram alert!
There have been a couple of neighbouring ram alerts. A large chap over the very back paddock almost got through the fence. A black-faced ram in the side paddock is definitely not to be trusted. The ewes can be quite a tease, though this usually involves standing close to the fence and staring. Nothing overly rude, no wiggling bottoms, phew.
Monday 25th May
Oh joy! Steady overnight rain, not cold and blustery, sploshy puddles everywhere. Such lovely sounds on the cottage roof to wake up to. I've done my Zoom ballet class, Winnie has been out for a couple of wet toilet walks, and I've just sent NGP off to get some groceries. The garden is breathing a sigh of relief. Yeay!
Almost lost my camera...
And THE most lucky escape. Where was my camera? Hunted the house - no luck. Daughter arrived, off we went to hunt around the garden in the rain. Getting more and more worried. Checked fence posts, looked in trees (I often hang it on a tree branch, a so-called safe place). Hmm... Tried to remember where I took the last photographs. Aha! The roses on the archway in the Hump. No sign of it there. Down poured the rain.
Finally I re-checked the back porch. Yeay! There it was, covered by a tangle of dusty black plastic bags. Lucky me.
My garden has turned orange...
All my photographs have an orange glow, which makes them look a bit strange. But wandering around outside, the garden colours look just like the photographs. It's so beautiful. And lots of the borders look well cared for. The Phormiums (flaxes) look clean and colourful - and so they should, since I've been trimming and disposing of their dead leaves for days.
Winnie
Winnie the dog...
Could there possibly be a 'boreder' Border Collie in the whole of the dog world at the moment? But Winnie is doing well. Real walks (on the lead) start soon, and the bucket comes off. The Fred cats have been amazingly supportive - no problem being face-licked by a bucket-head dog. They just shut their eyes (it's awfully noisy).
And now the sun has come out. Nice. I'm off outside to bag up the oak leaves on Duck Lawn. Pebbles, my younger dog, says 'What about ME? ME? ME?' You are welcome to come with me, dear dog.
Leaf raking Maths...
So it takes me ninety minutes to fill seven bags with oak leaves. And each bag contains fifteen hand scoops, each of which contains two hundred leaves. These last two figures are estimates. Now for the Maths. Aargh! About four seconds per leaf.
Oak Leaves on Duck Lawn