Off to the Shrubbery...

 Very late flowering.
Bright Pink Flower Carpet Rose

I've washed my hair, and am off into the Shrubbery to see if anything vegetative has died. Not that one needs clean hair to spy a deceased plant - there is little connection between the two. Some gardener (me) forgot about summer and foolishly planted roses in here, out of reach of the big irrigation.

It's OK. I'm back, and all is reasonably well in there. Phew!

Wednesday 4th January

I seem to recall that part of my New Year's Resolution was to keep things simple. So first thing in the morning, after I've given thanks, I put on sunblock and my gardening clothes. If required I can play the piano (or go to swimming) in them. They are certainly suitable for a morning vet visit with Rusty the dog. His operation wound is healing well.

Later, Mid-Morning Brunch...

Little Mac the kitten is zooming around the house. He (she?) is such an easy kitten to look after. The doors can stay open, while kitten zooms outside and back in again. And he goes to sleep on Non-Gardening Partner in the evenings. He is still very tiny, though.

 The roses are The Fairy rose.
Little Mac the Kitten by the Pink Roses

So far today I've cleared two whole barrowfuls of mess from the front of the Shrubbery, wheeled them to the bonfire (aargh!) and matched them with two barrowfuls of hedge trimmings. If a foxglove is apricot or white I'm just trimming the stalk, if it's magenta I'm pulling the whole plant out.

Graham Thomas Roses :
Graham Thomas is one of the world's favourite yellow roses - well, I think he is!

Graham Thomas - such an accommodating rose - has all its old flowers ready for dead-heading at exactly the same time. The next-door rose on the fence, Phyllis Bide, is totally sulking, thanks to a pushy self-sown Berberis. I'm to blame here - I'm just not bossy enough. My friends wouldn't agree, but they're not shrubs. Right. I'm back outside for session two.

Much Later...

Great excitement as the 2012 Moosey Calendars are now at the printers. Will there be many mistakes? I hope not (I hope I've got the days and dates of the week in sync with the dates). I need to put them up on the website, and then I can face 2012 properly.

 Free for anyone to download.
The 2012 Moosey Calendars

It's been a big day for Little Mac the kitten. First he came gardening by the Laundry door, and then he followed my friends and me into the pond paddock for afternoon tea. He zoomed over the grass, hid under the decking, peeped at the pond (No, no Little Mac - don't jump!). And then he popped himself into his own cat basket and slept for hours. Lots of sleep for tiny kittens - very important.

 In his cat basket.
Little Mac the Kitten Snoozing

Apart from having a less than positive relationship with my summer bonfire I've had a big day too. And my friend brought me some cast-off plants - Libertia, a Pseudopanax, and a tiny leafed Azalea. They can all go by the little pond and the stream. She also corrected the position of the umpire with respect to my backyard concrete cricketers - I knew I'd got him wrong. What are friends for?

 Their game hasn't progressed much.
Backyard Cricketers

Thursday 5th January

Ha! The burning question (ouch)... will I finish clearing up the hedge trimmings today? The serious parts of my New Year's Resolutions are quite sneaky. I am to give thanks every morning when I wake up and every evening when I retire to Pond Cottage and to bed. I am learning fast. This works well if, and only if, I have done things of note during the day, and am satisfied with myself.

 Sparkling yellow in mid-summer.
Annual Golden Daisy

Sneaky New Year's Resolution

But by far the sneakier resolution concerns the 'See it once, wander off. See it twice - do something!' gardening rule. This has been a terrible idea! I am forever ducking off on tangents to grab the secateurs and gardening gloves, when I'm trying to do something else. Getting to the car is interesting - either I shut my eyes, or I'm lunging here and there pulling out weeds. It takes ages to walk to the letter box.

'Subtle in mid-summer can mean forgotten.'
-Moosey Words of Wisdom.

I have a new belated 2012 New Years Award. It goes to the annual golden daisy, name unknown, whose seeds I acquired rather oddly (they were simply called 'golden daisy'. It's a golden treasure, and must become a regular flower feature in my garden. I do grow the more subtle Layla, but subtle in mid-summer can mean forgotten.

Later...

Yes! The burning of the hedge trimmings is truly almost finished. I've been 'almost almost finished' for a few days, but this is the 'most almost' state of all. There's just half a trailerful, plus two or three wheelbarrowfuls to go. The only reason I stopped is that the ash volcano is absurdly steep, and needs to burn itself flat.