Off The Edge Gardening

Things I have learnt in the last week:

1.  Longjohns are my new best friend, with my thermal vest a close runner up.
2.  A good hat which doesn’t obscure vision or fall off and cosily covers the ears is imperative.
3.  When the aforementioned hat falls into a muddy puddle and is put on the wing mirror to dry, do not forget to remove it before you drive home.   First Reserve has been called out of retirement.  I hope someone nice has a new hat that doesn’t obscure their vision ….
4.  Fingerless gloves work even though this seems against all laws of nature.
5.  Working in the close vicinity of evil roses can result in peek-a-boo seat of the pants, luckily my dignity was retained due to “new best friend” above.
6.  If you remember to pack two sets of waterproofs, extra fleeces, gloves and hats the weather will instantly turn unseasonably warm and dry.  Do not become complacent, the next day it will all change to seasonably cold and wet.
6.  Hail really does hurt!

I love tractors.  The ones that tickle my fancy are not the modern, all singing and dancing behemoths, but the ancient spluttering, characterful ones.  This beautiful Ford 4000 belongs to George’s Dad and proved yesterday that not only is it very handsome but it is also very useful.  I believe it to be about the same age as myself, so of a fine vintage and in its prime.  We are in the process of revitalising the outside spaces at the farm and surrounding the holiday cottages including rebuilding beds and borders.  Mr and Mrs G have spent the last 4 years working very hard, renovating the cottages and setting up their new business.  Now it is time for the outside spaces to be whipped into shape and that is where I come in!  At present the grounds are mainly adorned with old and poorly-pruned shrubs, on the whole hydrangeas and fuchsias, long past their ornamental best.  There is also an awful lot of pampus grass, seemingly loved by the previous owners and is being removed as a priority.  This project is significant venture but we are plodding on, one day at a time, and though most of the work has been carried out in rain/hail/storm/gale it has been great fun.  Hard work but plenty of laughter and at times very bizarre and I do enjoy a bit of the bizarre.  A bonus of course are the animals, which I love, top of the list being George the philandering kunekune boar.  I have noticed, however, that they are beginning to give me that “not her again with her silly voice and no food” look!

Yesterday, as part of the revamp of an area adjacent to the office, a substantial post needed to be removed in order to install new gravel board.  There was nothing for it but to call International Rescue.  It didn’t take long before Thunderbird 4000 trundled, at a modest but elegant rate, to the rescue.  The post was expertly impaled onto one of the prongs and the admiring audience gasped to see it effortlessly lift out of the ground, and keep lifting, and keep lifting! The resultant hole was at least 4ft deep with water in the bottom, I could have sworn I saw a kangeroo bobbing about down there.  I did suggest a new business venture “Ye Olde Wishing Well” but it didn’t go down terribly well.   For safety it was quickly filled with bits and pieces hanging about.  Now where did that chicken go …..

Hard week, frazzled gardener, so pretty picture, few words, night, night.

Seeds want to germinate, that is what they are designed to do, it is their raison d’être, their goal in life, their purpose.  There are not many decisions to be made in a seed’s life, it must either germinate or not germinate, just the two options and the first is preferable.  There is, I suppose, another option which is “provide a healthy snack” and that is exactly what this little grain was destined to do.  Somehow, undoubtedly with great derring-do, it managed to escape captivity (like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape but without the motorbike and with success).  This new-found freedom from the feeder inspired it to attempt the prime objective, and it triumphed.  The fresh green shoot pushing up through the boards of L&L’s bird table must be jubilant.  We will not dwell on its future, we must live in the moment.

Today was proper winter.  Winter just like in story books.  Not damp and dark, but raw and bright.  After a frosty start, and the first windscreen scrape of the season, the sun rose blindingly.  Where its magic wand touched the crusty ground it thawed, making is quite workable.  Shaded plants glistened with stardust.  Wearing more layers than a millefeuille I stayed toasty warm in this mysterious icy land.  At lunchtime I sat with my face to the sun and basked like a self-satisfied cat.  Or perhaps a self-satisfied gardener.

This post is for L&L ensconced in an exotic paradise.  I am convinced they are not missing us at all and so need to be reminded of all the wonderful things they are missing in Blighty.  Reclining on beachside loungers sipping pina coladas, paragliding off forested mountainsides, swimming with dolphins in the balmy waters, hiking through virgin rainforest, feasting on lobster and kumquat; it may just cross their minds not to bother coming home at all.  Why, it is hard to imagine. I am depending on some pictures I took of their garden to say thousands of words, all of them tempting and tantalising.

Although there are many open flowers on this Camellia “Donation” it was a bud, doing a fine impression of a rose, that took my fancy.  So perfect, like a kiss.

The irresistable pansy with a face that could melt the heart of the hardest cynic.

A host of daffodils is over rated.  A single, admittedly battered, bloom is all you need.

And my trump card, an adorable little hellebore, flushed with pink and green.

So glad you are having a lovely time, but you better come home soon the garden is waking up!

ps Nobody on any account is to mention the weather.

With cold weather on the way this frog spawn is more likely than not, as Private Fraser* would say, doomed.   The frost will do its worst and it will disintegrate and disappear.  However today the sight of this multi-eyed mass was a heart and toes warming sign of spring edging ever closer.  As for tadpole casualties, I’m sure the frogs will have another go, any excuse!

* for those of you unacquainted with this character please Google for enlightenment.

After much deliberation I have chosen a new tree to follow.   For those of you who aren’t acquainted with Tree Following and think I am having another one of my funny turns, I will explain.  This is a wonderful meme, institaged by Lucy at http://www.looseandleafy.blogspot.co.uk, and entails following a tree throughout the year, or for as long as possible, and documenting the detail.  Actually it is more of a tree watch than a follow as on the whole they don’t move far, not unless yours lives in the Enchanted Forest.  Anyway check out Lucy’s great blog and I am sure all will become clear.

So *drumroll* *annoyingly overlong pause* please meet Larix decidua, the European Larch, my new subject.  From now on it will be known as “my tree” although technically it isn’t.  Actually in no way or form is it mine but I am hoping that George wont mind sharing.

I hestitated to pick this tree for the sole reason that its owner isn’t keen on larch (I believe this is more to do with the amount of specimens on their land than a personal vendetta) so I thought it would be contrary to spend the next year singing its praises.  Ultimately the “fors” far outweighed the “againsts” so I am going to take up the challenge and make it my quest to convert Mrs George to the charms of this amazing deciduous conifer.

Here we go again ……

 

Due to birthday celebrations (not mine but I like to be helpful) today was a day off.  We drove through heavy rain to Crow Point car park, the sun immediately came out and we walked the coast in beautiful sunshine.  The return drive was a hail storm.  Someone was on our side today.