A real frost...

 Early to flower.
Tinsie Camellia

Aagh! The first real frost - only minus four degrees, but rather nippy. Guess who has forgotten to take the potted pelargoniums to shelter in the glass-house? Could that possibly be me? Oops.

Early flowers...

Have already taken the dogs for a walk to check the early flowering Camellias. Lovely! And the pink Azalea in the middle of the Island Bed is starting to flower. Such a precious winter colour, pink...

Cold fingers...

My computer keys are cold, making my fingers even colder. But my house is warm. And I am pretty snuggly-rugged up in merino and wool layers. I don't have to go outside to milk the cows (?). And the sun is shining. Be thankful for shelter and warmth, I reckon.

 In the middle of the Island Bed.
Pink Azalea Flowering

OK, I will write a list of gardening tasks for today. Yes! But it will just be verbs. Here goes :

  1. Trim : Buddleias, Dahlia stalks, dead Phormium leaves, etc.
  2. Prune : More orchard roses, and maybe some others.
  3. Rake : leaves off Pond Paddock.
  4. Organise : glasshouse. For example, shift those Pelargoniums.

It's now lunchtime, and still rather cold (five degrees Celsius). I'm sipping some zero-alcohol apple cider and thinking about those verbs. Perhaps if I keep moving...

Much, much later...

I got the verbs wrong. I should have just listed these two : trim and burn. Spent over an hour trimming Astelias and Phormiums in the Driveway Garden. Remembered to trim the Buddleia. Then Non-Gardening Partner appeared with a trailer full of Tagaste trimmings - he'd got in on the act. Spent at least another hour slowly burning everything. Am very pleased with my afternoon.