Silly autumn!
Silly autumn! My singing friend has big bearded irises blooming again. I have a rambling rose which got completely confused, missed out summer totally, and is flowering now.
Rambling in March
Meanwhile the gum leaves keep fluttering down and the first of the deciduous trees are turning yellow. The colours so far are not brilliant, but at least the timing is right!
Wouldn't it be nice if...
And the autumn bonfire splutters on, burning every day since the fire restrictions came off. Wouldn't it be nice if I can have all the dry mess cleared by the end of March? Then all my energy can go into raking, bagging, and mulching autumn leaves - so much nicer for the gardening soul.
Gum Tree Angel
Saturday 29th March
Went out in the early morning dew to poke at the bonfire, loaded a bit more gum bark onto it, ducked the smoke. Did some further burning after morning tea, before going to my afternoon singing rehearsal (hope my hair wasn't too smoke-stinky).
I can do this. I can get all the mess burnt. I can be sensible and leave the composting stuff behind. I can also (hopefully) find my G note in the fourth phrase of MacMillan's Ave Maris Stella, regardless of how out of tune the basses are. Back soon.
Later...
I'm back. The basses were much better, got the G. Non-Gardening Partner has been burning and is now busy collecting the second trailer load. The bonfire is behaving, with the smallest column of smoke going straight up into space. Well, sort of.
Sunday 30th March
Two hours burning, a soapy shower and a hair-wash, followed by my choir performance, followed by a sing-out with my acapella folk trio at the Folk Club, where I officially joined the ranks of the elderly. The (very kind) sound operator insisted on taking my arm and assisting me up and down the two little steps to get on and off the stage. What a hoot! I was gracious, but didn't think I looked that wobbly, hee hee.
Monday 31st March
Another trailer-load burnt, this time full of gum bark, dried Phormium and Cordyline leaves. I added five barrowfuls of dried grass collected from underneath the Leyland hedge, just for variety.
Have just been for a wander to take some photographs. Found some huge dahlia flowers lurking underneath the big gum tree near the terracotta angel. Wow!
Dreaming!
By the way, I must have been dreaming thinking I could finish the bonfiring before April. No chance! April starts tomorrow. March, over and out.