digging

After a busy but enjoyable Easter weekend, I've given myself permission to abscond to the garden for today.  It's been a productive morning - not always the case when gardening, but I'm pleased with what I've managed.  Granted, there is still plenty to do, and I haven't even touched the front garden, which fills me with quiet dread when I think about what needs doing.

Much digging and tugging needed for the major project this morning - transplanting a shrub out of a pot into the ground. Which sounds straightforward, but not when the roots have rooted through the pot. What's worse it was on a piece of flat stone so instead of simply growing down through the holes in the pot, they'd gone sideways, splayed out in immovable stiffness.

There was no chance I was going to get the plant out of the pot with any of its major roots intact.

So, I had to get the pot out of the plant. Using a hammer. Whack. The terracotta fractured and I was able to remove it piece by piece, with a degree of reluctance (I had hoped to reclaim the pot). I now have lots of terracotta shards to use for drainage, I suppose.

Of course, removing the plant from the pot was only one side of the procedure; the other was digging the hole in the ground. We have very dense, clay-like soil - on top.  But go down deep and it gets stony - really stony. The spade clanked irritably against the obstacles. Nothing for it - I grabbed the fork instead, driving the prongs between the stones, shaking the earth loose.

Sometimes I think I come at life with a spade and forget to use the fork first. I slam against obstacles with the dull blade and grow more and more frustrated. The fork takes a more careful route - teasing out the earth.  It still requires a lot of strength and persistence, but it gets through where the spade cannot. Sometimes the tool we assume will make the best job, achieve it the most quickly, is simply ineffective.

Such were the thoughts meandering through my mind as I dug - or forked.

Of course, when you slam up against solid rock there's not a lot you can do with either spade or fork.

I suggest, in that scenario, picking somewhere else to dig...

And sometimes, in order to free the roots, you may need to break the pot.



Fork image from Amazon - not the fork in question!

back to the list....

I have returned!! We have been away for a two week break - hence the silence blog-wise. I will try and do a 'holiday post' where those of you who are interested can learn more about it.

Nothing inspirational today, am working through post-holiday washing, sorting out various bits plus doing a bit of quick tidying/deadheading in the garden. Have had a bit of an invasion by Harlequin Ladybirds in the front garden - they have massacred the aphid population which is extremely useful (since we could previously not see buds for aphids), but they are an invasive Asian species which is potentially causing problems for our beautiful native ladybirds. So I have mixed feelings about their presence.

I have excessive amounts of photographs to upload but that will have to wait until I have a chunk of time to set aside for it!

Woke up feeling the coming-back-blues, but keeping busy and trying to ignore them. Have a physio appointment and a dentist's appointment this week. It was very refreshing while on holiday not to be continuously trying to remember what i should be doing every day. I have lists which have 'see other list' as a list item, to illustrate the point. It's not so much about the amount needing doing - it's my silly memory which makes life so regimented list-wise!!

Anyway, I will try and stop by some other blogs gradually over the next few days.

For now - I have to go check my list...

in the garden

We have so many garden spiders at the moment. Out front, while doing some deadheading, I counted 7 without even moving my head. I'm quite happy to have spiders in the garden, although there are, as you know, times when I accidentally walk into a web, which is not very pleasant. Was saved from this recently when I opened the back door - I paused to see how heavy the rain was - and in that pause noticed the huge face-height web which had formed overnight across the doorway.

So, yes, I was doing some deadheading, and re-staking cosmos. The cosmos have really taken off now, splaying about cheerfully, with my needing to rein them in frequently. A week or so back some stems partially broke off in the wind and rain, so I cut them back and then rescued the best looking flowers to display inside:

They looked so lovely and vibrant.

I had to compost them the day before yesterday; they still looked good but were spilling pollen everywhere, which wasn't so good. The bees are loving the late source of nectar outside however. Our front garden looks very colourful despite it being October - in fact I think it looks particularly good at this time of year. The cosmos in vibrant shades of pink and burgundy, frothy pink and white achillea swaying amid golden rudbeckias, and the deep pink of the sedum in between. The potentilla is having a second flush of flowers. All this on a very small scale of course, but I'm pleased with the effect.

The birds are beginning to be more active in the back garden now, visiting the topped up feeders.

Today: 5/10, high

idle chatter

Quite a few special occasions for church members this week. On Thursday lunchtime a Golden Wedding, then this morning a 90th birthday open house, then this evening a 60th birthday garden party. The weather is looking brooding at the moment however - although it's been dry so far today. Also on Thursday I went over to M's for a film night with a few other 'laydees' from church which was a bit of a giggle. Quite nice for me as sitting down and watching something is quite easy even if I am having a 'tired day'. We watched The Painted Veil. Needless to say the film wasn't a comedy - but the some of the remarks made were! So I enjoyed that.

Yesterday I sent £105 to World Vision from my first lot of donations from my anthology. I'm going to say something at the end of the service tomorrow. Because I've not been involved 'up front' for sometime a little thing like this seems more daunting. But still, all I have to do is wave an anthology at them (and possibly say something at the same time!!)

I'm doing all right at the moment but battling with waves of frustration at my various limitations. The headaches annoy me, and the tiredness brings me down, especially when it hits me suddenly in one enormous wave.
I have an appointment at the CFS clinic at the beginning of September. I'm also in the process of changing doctors....all very uninteresting!

The garden is a bit untidy at the moment...Andy hoping to do some stuff this afternoon - I'm hoping to join him sitting on the path next to a flower bed with a bucket to collect weeds - of which there are far too many...

Today: 4/10, medium - high
Friday:4/10, medium high

slugs and snails and..rabbits' tails?

Well, I have almost done all the planting I need to before we go away. Still a couple of more things to put in pots but I can see the end of it now. All the stuff I wanted to put out the front has gone in, and I've done a token bit of weeding too!

Moved one pot to find a cluster of seven snails attached to it, and on removing them found a vine weevil, which made me squawk, then squash it. A couple of years ago I'd have thought 'oh, what an interesting beetle! I wonder what it is?' and leave it be. Did that with the Red Lily Beetle, not realising what it did, and my poor Snake's Head Fritillary did not appreciate my ignorance. The naturalist and the gardener battle it out inside me, but there are those pests I am generous with, and those I am not...

Slug and snails' eggs everywhere. The most common I find look very like slow release fertiliser granules...except they can be crushed (and when I have the time, they are).

Although I also discovered these at the bottom of a seed tray module. Plonked them in a pot of salt water. Much less repugnant than having to kill the adults. I'm rather weird and find snails (and even some slugs) quite cute, in a quirky kind of way.

Anyway, have been on phone to my mum to make some arrangements; they are doing some house and rabbit sitting for us! Charlie is well - he got a bit of hay in his eye the other week, but as soon as I noticed discharge I examined it and got it out. I must have caught it quickly; his eye is perfectly fine. He needs a bath this week (ack, another thing to do); I cleaned out his hutch this morning. He is chilling out in his run, althought the weather certainly isn't chilly - very hot in the sun this afternoon.

Anyway; things to do.


Today: 5/10, medium

rejoice

All right, this is for the current challenge on Salt. The team there have created some absolutely beautiful projects. I wish I could create that kind of impact. Oh well, practice makes perfect (or at least better, I hope!)



This week I need to sort out lots of things, especially in the garden. Various bits and pieces need potting on or planting out. I'm aware of all the things that need pruning, tying back, tidying up, but know I can't set myself impossible goals. There is a continual war between my energy and my ambitions (even on a small scale), if I do. I have to accept that I can't do all that I would like. Feeling very weary. And still haven't posted photos from last week. Rest stop 3 approaches so we'll see how I feel after that. Everything in segments! Sigh. It's necessary, though. In all these things I have to remember where to find my joy. It's that constant need to study my priorities, to see what is most important, and re-order my approach to life accordingly. It's not an easy thing, especially when something in me simply wants to howl.

in our garden

pretty in pink

purple haze

ivy

osteospernum

Can anyone tell me what this plant is?!

pieris

almost open

aglow

azaleas

bluebells

this time in white

casting shadows

forget-me-not

vacant

Energy levels: 4-5/10

Headache: medium high

Yesterday: 4/10, med-high

garden flowers

I'm quite pleased because the marsh marigolds we were given a couple of years ago ( from someone else's parent plant) have finally bloomed this year. They positively glow in the sun.

Also our spiraea looks lovely as always. I love the copious white flowers.

It's common name is 'Bridal Wreath' or 'Foam of May' - which I find very appropriate. Except it's April, of course!

fallen flowers

While sorting out Charlie's hay this morning I did my usual glance around at the state of the back garden. It's been looking quite pretty, but the recent high winds and heavy rain have had an effect. Some of the flowering bulbs are looking quite bent and battered. A few I had previously propped up slightly, and these seemed to be surviving. If I left them there, flat on their faces, the flower heads would soon be devoured by slugs.

I have to confess I am the sort of person who can make analogies about a whole lot of things in life, and sometimes very silly ones, but I was particularly struck for a moment this morning. I thought of how at times in life we are battered and blown around, how we feel bent down and brought low. And I thought of how important it is for us to be 'propped up' at those moments, to have the support we need, so that we aren't eaten up by all the things that beat at us while we lie on our faces. How a little support is no bad thing, and can give us strength for the future. How we often do not see someone's beauty because they are lying face down, like fallen flowers. But lift them up, and they are given a chance to recover, and display all their beauty and colour.

That is what I thought of in the garden this morning.

tiny twins and other things

Went with Bev today to see a lady from church who has two tiny twins! They came somewhat earlier than expected (by C-Section) so they are so small - the little boy is very small but the little girl is teeny weeny! I just kept looking at her hands - the smallest hands I've ever seen. The skin was all wrinkly as if there wasn't enough of her to fill it out. Bev held the little girl and then I had the task of calming the wailing little boy but it wasn't really a task...once I'd picked him up and found him light and easy to hold I tried various rockings and pattings and jigglings. He kept falling asleep and then waking up again, staring at me with his wide tiny eyes. Eventually he fell asleep completely and we were quite happy until my shoulder started complaining and I gave him to Bev where he similarly gurgled, cried and slumbered and gurgled and cried and slumbered. In the past I've not been very confident with babies, simply from lack of experience, but today I was quite comfortable even with him squalling on my lap. Babies cry, and that's OK. He can cry if he wants to, but if my patting him on the back and jiggling him gently makes him stop and gape at me, so much the better. So, a pleasant afternoon. We were there over an hour but it went very quickly. I hadn't got my act together and made a card which was remiss of me, although there were cards crammed in every nook and cranny of the room.

29th February today, which always deserves a passing nod. We all go on about having an extra day, although of course that is nonsense, it is the measurement of time, not time itself. Andy asked me if I'd proposed to anyone today which earned him a blank stare until he gently reminded me of the date. This all means that it is March tomorrow, and I need to sow more seeds, and possibly soon prick out the ones I've done. I never really keep on top of it and end up in plant pot chaos around April and May.

Rainy today, off and on. So will March come in like a lion or a lamb? I'm somewhat hoping the latter as I need to clean out Charlie and it's a bother doing it in the wind and rain.

charlie... and the incorrigible cat

Charlie is back. Mum and Dad brought him up yesterday and stayed over night while Andy was at a conference. On arrival, I simply popped him in his hutch without much ado, but later I went out to give him his tea. Charlie has a very strict diet and can't have very much dried food - his chief food is hay - so he's always eager to get his nose in his bowl and start eating. He saw me coming, naturally, and began to do his usual snorting dance where he hops about making grunting noises. This is normal when food is coming, so I was most surprised when instead of flinging himself at his bowl as I put it in the hutch, he ignored it and came straight to me, flattening himself to be stroked. This was extremely touching and most unusual. Only after I'd stroked him and said a proper 'hello' did he go and eat. So sweet. Bless his little bunny feet.

I am planning to get a bigger hutch very soon. We didn't buy this hutch for a rabbit, we bought it for guinea pigs. Charlie was adopted from a close friend, and came in a hutch of a similar size but slightly different proportions. Since the one we'd previously bought had more height, I put him in there and used the other for the baby guinea pigs, as it had a kind of lip to protect them from the cold. So this time I will have a rabbit in mind and therefore a more appropriate sized hutch. I'll have to ask for it for my birthday, or money towards it, since they are so expensive, especially the big ones. It's hard to find ones that are both sufficiently long but also high enough for the rabbit to stand up in. Also I want it to be big enough for two, if we get Charlie a 'bunny buddy'. Now that we don't have the guinea pigs (*sniff*) this is more feasible.

I shall bring him indoors and let him run around the lounge soon. He was originally a house rabbit so still has the remnants of house training so I've never had any trouble on that score.

Speaking of such things, I am getting annoyed with cat poo. I do not have a cat, but the local kitty has decided our main flowerbed is its toilet. It's a small garden so clearing up piles of poo every day is very disheartening for me - especially when it scrapes / breaks / buries the fragile plants in the process. We put a layer of top soil on the bed and this apparently is kitty toilet heaven - as soon as I see it's been flung into a heap, I know the perils that lie beneath. I am extremely vigilant on this score. You do not want to come across it by accident, as I learnt last year when digging with a trowel. Eugh. I never used those gloves again. It's incredibly stinky and sometimes (ug) mushy. (Also - always take care when kneeling on the lawn...the thought makes me shudder.) I have taken measures and stuck a load of pebbles and sticks and small bamboo canes all over the bed - looks slightly odd but not too bad, just while the bulbs and perennials come up - and scattered some chamomile tea bags (apparently they don't like the smell) and some cat repellent (basically an aromatic powder that they again don't like the smell of). Hopefully this pungent obstacle course will have an effect.

Please go away, cat - you are very good looking (as I know from the occasions I actually see you strolling by) but do you ever speak to me? No, you just poo everywhere. It's not really helping my opinion of you - hmmm?

Now I'm just beginning to steel myself for my annual intensive warfare - with slugs. If I could just make an advance on the feline front...

and other things

Didn't feel like leaving the last entry as the latest entry, for some reason. So, other things. Still have a perpetual headache, which is no fun. Will go back to doctor on Monday. Having eyes tested tomorrrow in case that is a factor. Have found a physiotherapist not far away and someone willing to take me so will also ring them next week. Headache may be related to my atrociously tight neck. Hope it gets sorted somehow. When it begins to throb I feel like my eyes and brain are turning to goo and about to trickle out of my nostrils. What a delightful picture.

Am trying to take control of life a little, even with the limitations of my treatment programme. Wrote a new song last week, the first for ages. It's only the bare bones, but it's quite catchy so I'm hoping I can polish it up. I am also looking to start recording devotional / study tapes for people at church, particularly the elderly who struggle with sight. Rather than slumping about complaining about not using my gifts, I shall try and be a little more creative in my thinking...often we think our health problems stop us from doing things, but there are ways of doing them, although we may not initially have thought of them. The reason I am encouraged in this is that it was something I was thinking about, but then a friend came up with exactly the same idea, quite independently. That felt quite exciting, having another person think I was capable of it, not just me.

Need to pot on my sweet peas, which are growing at quite a rate. They are the dwarf version (snoopea) but even so they need some support already. Probably a bit too warm where I've got them, but don't have many options. They should be ok though; my seedlings have succeeded in previous years - I think only one tray went wrong and that was my first. I learnt from the mistakes I made.

Have other things I wanted to write but I need to get some other jobs underway.....