Being a child again...
Warning : the following journal entry is quite gloomy. Read at your peril. So have you ever come in from a day's gardening and wished you were a child again? So you could stamp your feet, shout 'IT ISN'T FAIR', and then burst into noisy tears?
Rose Arches in the Hazel Orchard
Oh yes. I have, two days in a row now. I've been working my way deeper and deeper in the orchard, pruning the roses, making more and more mess. How to clean it up sensibly? Ask Non-Gardening Partner for help? I've been collecting the little pruned lengths of wood (next-winter's kindling) and putting them into bags. And I've just kept on pruning. So many thorny canes! Overwhelming.
Spiky Red Camellia
Did what adults do...
Late afternoon I sat on the garden bench overlooking the Frisbee Lawn and became an adult : that is, I did what adults do and sorted out a solution. I would drag all the rose and hazel mess into one pile by the hedge. It could then go onto the bonfire, bit by bit, or I could fill the trailer.
Tasks for NGP...
NGP could get his chain-saw, slim down the hazelnut trees, and cut out some of the oldest rose trunks. He could also completely saw down the two Chevy Chases (hopeless for an archway) and the two Parkdirektor Riggers (ditto).
Next day...
So how did it all go? NGP partially behaved. He agreed with the piling up of mess, but pretended not to hear the bit about the chain-sawing. Off he went on his tractor to shift wattle logs and remove bonfire ash.
The Last Wattle Rounds
I spent three rather sulky hours on my own, watched by black cat Buster. Was wearing gloves, but ended up with bloody rose scratches all over my legs. Shouldn't have worn my shorts!
Finished my day with my camera visiting all the Camellias. The new pink Nicky Crisp is flowering, as is a new shrub which my friend down the road gave me. Both are oh so pretty! This is what gardening is all about, yes? Letting the beautiful things balance the difficult. Cheered me up no end.