Filling in Holes...
Aha! As a gardener I am breaking new ground, so to speak. I am busy filling in holes left by the tree-stump ripper-outer. Mindless? Maybe after six hours or so. Thankless? No way! Dare I call it therapeutic? Repetition soothing the soul, and all that...
My Stone Wall
Monday 15th September
In the middle of the night I had one of those happily wide-awake sessions which I call 'bed-gardening'. I knew I wasn't going to get away with my stone wall extension. It just wasn't straight enough, and Non-Gardening Partner had already commented in a kindly manner on the bulge and the incorrect angle - as if he was praising a child's inept construction. Engineers have an eye for accuracy of boundary lines, etc. If it hadn't been three in the morning and pitch black, I probably would have rugged up warm and wandered off outside with the spade.
Today, after careful deconstruction and swift reconstruction, I am pleased to announce that my stone wall is bulge-free and properly follows the boundary line. When NGP sees it he will be rendered speechless with my skill. Hopefully.
Tuesday 16th September
Aha! More new ground to break, and more holes to fill in. Luckily there are piles of stony dirt I can use, plus two huge mounds of tree shreddings - mulch for the surface. I've had the best idea ever, too. I've got five climbing roses, rescued last summer and potted up, which could now be released into the Allotment Garden, planted along the far edge. One small issue - they would require some sort of fence. But they would provide a beautiful privacy screen. Maybe chicken netting? Trellis would be rather twee...
The Spring Driveway
But today I need to get the whole of the Allotment Garden covered with soil, all the bigger stones removed, the surface raked - all ready for the vegetables. And I want to superficially tidy up the neighbour's small strip of adjacent land so everything looks easy on the eye.
Blue Pansy Trio
Spring Blues...
My goodness I love September, my springtime. Every day there's more green growth, and the humblest of things (Muscari, Pansies, Forget-Me-Nots) come into their own. Beautiful blues - I even appreciate the pretty little Alkanet flowers, for now.
Not So Much Later...
Blast! I am ready, delightfully disreputable in my 'soiled' gardening clothes, sunnies, face covered in sunblock, and it's raining! Oh well. The garden needs this, and the sky is positively light in its greyness. I shouldn't have to wait too long (clatter, clatter, clatter goes the rain on the house roof). But wait - I've just remembered. My glass-house seedlings! Yesterday I pricked out more Echiums and Cornflowers. Today's first gardening task is suddenly obvious.
Nearly Seven Hours Later...
The rain soon stopped, so I finished my glass-house work and wandered over to the Allotment Garden. I've spent the last three hours plodding back and forth with the wheelbarrow, getting slower... And slower... And slower... Reaching the point where the standing to stare at things was taking longer than the trip to get another load of dirt. So I've given up gracefully for the day.
Rusty the Dog :- Checking the Moosey airspace just in case a bird (or a plane, or a helicopter) should enter it.
Rusty the dog has been following me around, as have a couple of my male bellbirds, squeaking and flitting from tree to tree high above. So there has been much barking, and the occasional bellow - 'Rusty! Don't bark at the birds!' - falling on selectively deaf dog-ears. When I mention the word 'lunch' he is suddenly super-focussed. Funny that.
I still haven't planted anything, though. I'm still thinking about where to put the roses, and the potatoes, and the remaining Pittosporums. I've started to fill up the largest hole, on the sloping bank of the Welcome Garden, throwing in clumps of grass face-down. I'm not sure how much weeding to do, either.
Allotment Garden
Oh, by the way, I've tried to take photographs of the Allotment Garden, but there's not much to see. It's only just spring, too early for much to be happening. Apart from the Calendulas (which flower over winter) nothing's really been planted yet.