Cats, Dogs, Jigsaw, Garden...
Time for some cat and dog news first, before I mention the summer garden. I've forgiven the Fred cats for destroying my 2000 piece Christmas jigsaw, now that it's finally finished. Black Fred is even allowed to curl up in the (empty) jigsaw box.
The Christmas Jigsaw is Finished
For the first four nights of 2022 I didn't see Speckles the stray, though something ate his supper each night after dark, every last cat biscuit, the bowl of fresh meat licked spotlessly clean. Silly me, I felt a bit sad, wrote this in my journal :
Speckles the Stray :- Speckles is a young mackerel tabby, not tame at all.
Message to Speckles the cat : if you are reading this (?), please get in touch in person. Or should that be 'in cat'? Please come to the cottage verandah. Love from that nice lady who silly cat-talks to you and feeds you.
Then late yesterday afternoon Speckles randomly popped out from underneath the verandah. I hand-fed him his meat, and tried a discrete chin tickle - no way! He jumped back and ran away, but then did return for more food. Early days.
The Dogs
More cat news...
Meanwhile black Buster dances in and out of the house, full of cat-joy. Minimus continues to be nice (and generous, since Speckles is fed on her cottage verandah), and Lilli continues to be a grumpy old lady. But she's well-fed and much-cuddled, and her life is comfortable, if slow. Mind you, she moves pretty fast when chasing poor Pebbles the dog. The scary cat is coming to get you again, Pebs!
Dog news : Let's DOOOOOOO something! Let's go outside and bark at the wind. Right. Done that. Let's DOOOOOOO something!
Garden news : It's been a bit too hot for plodding around and raking up heavy messes. The blackcurrants (yum) are fruiting, dahlias are flowering, and I've seen squillions of rogue potato plants. My beans didn't germinate, so the Obelisk is partially covered with Sweet Peas only.
The Edge of the Hump Garden
The new roses nearby (particularly The Active, a sport of Mutabilis) are growing well. As are the lawns and the weeds.
Things I love in the Hump Garden :
- The rugosa Rugspin. Beautiful single deep red flowers, and some hips forming already.
- The salmon-coloured Noack Flower Carpet roses. Thick clusters of flowers.
- The Lychnis. I love the magenta colours, as well as the whites.
- The Cercis siliquastrum. Light green leaves, stunning, growing so well.
Salmon Flower Carpet Rose
And finally, a list of things I might do today :
- Ask NGP to mow the grass underneath the washing line.
- Ask NGP to mow the other lawns around the house.
- Ask NGP to help me tidy up underneath woodshed.
As you can see, this second list is not really about me at all. Wish me luck!