Sure signs...

The Phormiums look big and beautiful. The dahlias are suddenly ready to be cut down, and the Gunnera leaves have turned brown. And my wool socks parcel has arrived! Sure signs of winter.

 Looking rather serene!
Winter on the House Lawn

Yippee! Wool merino socks to celebrate the official beginning of winter (well, that's what I'm calling it).

Full of good things...

Today has been full of good things. I wobbled my way (happily) through my ballet class, had a great singing rehearsal, and worked in the Hump Garden for a couple of coolish hours trimming dahlias etc.

 All fattened up for winter!
Speckles the Stray

Dug out some sedums hidden away in the interior (will replant them in a better position), pulled out lots of weeds, and removed big fattie Campion plants from around the bases of the roses. Then did some piano playing (some pretty Schumann pieces) while the evening meal was cooking.

Friday 26th May

I'm just had early breakfast with Speckles my wild stray cat. It's one of the most insignificant ways to start a morning, but brings me great joy. And my feet are extremely happy in their new gardening merino socks. No subtle curves and varied thicknesses, no 'rightness and leftness' of feet, just a basic hard-working sock that fits me. Yeay for merino!

It's a day with no social or musical engagements (my car is at the garage) so I can do some quality gardening. What to do first? Gardening? Aha! A load of washing! A load of dishes! Then blunder through some Brahms? Am I in the mood for double sharps and the somewhat artificial 'key' of C-flat major?

 Hmm...
Map of Wattle Woods Paths

A bit later...

The dishes and the washing are being done. Have a guess at what I'd like to do now? Draw some wee maps of the path networks in my garden, and colour them in with crayons. I blame my new merino socks. My feet are so snug and warm that I don't really want to take off my slippers. A pretty lame excuse, yes?

I gardened...

Not good enough! I de-slippered myself and gardened for a couple of hours in the Hump. Mainly I cleared periwinkle and weeds off a path, using the sit-down-get-wet dirty-jeans bottom-dragging technique. One of my old knees raises the strongest objections in the middle of the night if I've used the kneeling pad.

Lots of dahlias to trim...

I trimmed heaps more dahlias. The more I cut down the more I found. There are lots and lots of dahlias in my garden to trim.

My first path map...

Then I came inside, played more Schumann and drew my first map : the Wattle Woods paths in soft crayon colours. Hmm...