May Week 3

Eek! It's so scary for a relaxed, pottering gardener to realise that the month of May is half-finished. But then the Moosey garden is always half-finished. And what about my May outdoors adventure?

Thursday 15th May

Autumn is three-quarters finished. My Dogwoods are almost bare now, and the Copper Beech has started turning a bilious 'safety orange' colour. There's a lot of bright yellow leaf-raking to do in the Pond Paddock under the flowering cherries. And still several of my late roses bloom their hearts out - what stamina! And perennials which I cut back in time are flowering again - catmint, blue convolvulus ground cover, and a clump of blue delphiniums.

I didn't do any gardening yesterday - I went into the Craigieburn Range with my walking group. Conditions above and underfoot were glorious (no wind, perfect visibility, blue sky, no snow) and for once I didn't think one gardenish thought.

Today I'm going to finish spreading the trailer load of manure onto the Willow Tree Garden. This is where my new path network is, and its surface and curves need further refining, as I make sure the paths are sensible and stable.

Good Cat Company

The Willow Tree Garden area gets decent, attentive cat company, too. Percy and Histeria chase each other around the paths, and Fluff-Fluff, all 7 kgs of him, leaps back and forth across the water race (while I plod around the long way). He may not require the new bridge, but I am so looking forward to it!

Good morning to Percy the ginger cat, who has that fluid, comfortable cat-way of fitting on the lap and underneath the table. My morning ritual - I drink my cup of tea and check my mail, Rusty the dog moans and groans, Percy purrs, and Fluff-Fluff, squashed into the smallest cardboard box behind the computer, listens for any hint of action. The ginger gardening cats are ready!

Later...

I only did two hours gardening, but I like what I did! I'm building up the small strip of garden in front of the Willow Tree Garden's blue garden chairs, by creating a knee-high stone retaining wall. Yet again I've run out of stones (story of my life) though Rusty and I spent half a happy hour at the river filling up the back seat of my little car. Tomorrow - maybe tomorrow I'll clean out that trailer. And I must clean out the hen house. Tomorrow...