Not easy!
Oh joy! Well, not exactly. Firstly, Non-Gardening Partner has kindly shared his Canadian Head Cold with me. Not so pleasant.
Pink Alstroemeria
Secondly I have been beavering away removing more Iris confusa chengdu. This is NOT EASY. Whoever said that this plant was 'easily controlled' is welcome to visit my garden and assist in its removal.
Much later
Better for my head cold to have been sulking in the Iris tangle than lying about the house. I finished the day by putting on my waders and standing in the water race. Yeay! They didn't leak. Laid the heaviest stones to form the base of the stone wall I am rebuilding. Really enjoyed this part - creative and modular, not too hard or too heavy.
Copper Beech Tree in Autumn
More good things - looking around, some of the autumn trees look magnificent. And the newly trimmed hedges look great, and the cleaner-upper of hedge trimmings has done a spectacular job very quickly. There's a big pile of trimmings in the middle of the front paddock (to be burnt at a later time), and he's mulched the mess along the orchard side of the main hedge.
Monday 4th May
First thing this morning it was very foggy, so I sneaked away from my garden to meet my friend for morning coffee. Back home, and back into the removal of the last bit of Iris confusa. A breakthrough! I have reached the large Miscanthus grass.
Foggy Autumn House
It occurs to me that my last three - four? journal pages could be successfully shortened thus :
One day I started to dig out all the Iris confusa Chengdu. I dug and dug. A week later it was all dug out.But some gardeners feel the need to record every little detail, both of their physical progress and their ever-changing mood. That's me, hee hee.
Later, dusk...
Yippee! Four more hours work, the stone wall is pretty much finished, and I've started spreading compost and horse manure on the soil. I am clean, the log-burner is going, and I am very, very happy. My fingers might be very achy, but my feet feel wonderful in dry, warm socks. One of life's little balances.
The Iris is Gone
And so those who work hard are rewarded. My new roses were delivered just as I was plodding back to the house.