EVERYTHING IN THE GARDEN

I spent today doing what I love best, gardening. I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and they disappeared like the proverbial hot cakes. Then I toddled off to the garden centre as they have a sale on at the moment. I have had my eye on a lovely set of place mats for ages but they were too expensive, today I was lucky and picked them up for ten pounds, well worth the wait.

At last I tackled the front garden, it has been the best ever this year but I am ashamed to say that it has not had the attention I usually give to it. The new shears were very useful as I had a mass of lavender plants to cut back , old rosemary bushes to shape not to mention solidargo and pyracantha. I soon had great heaps all over the garden ready to compost. It is quite a long way to the compost heap and fraught with angry wasps in the damson tree whose branches are so laden with fruit that they reach the ground. We have a nest of the huge European wasp here and profoundly disconcerting it is to find one of those in your shirt.

Having negotiated the droopy damson I had to pass the old Bramley apple tree, the local parrakeet's have taken their toll this year and the chewed up fruit is rotting and is now the haunt of even more wasps and midges, oh the midges. I got so desperate that I went about the garden with a citronella incense stick between my teeth, it worked quite well although I admit it was a tad dangerous and I have the hole in my shirt to prove it!Having disposed of several loads of garden waste I mowed out the paths and edged them neatly, then feeling I had earned it I had a very cold beer......lovely. I must say the garden looks better for the hair cut and now the autumn show of Michaelmas daisies will be seen in a week or so. We have a few different types including a pink one which is pretty, I must say that I prefer the old fashioned purple ones I remember from childhood, my mother always had great bunches of them in the house at this time of year.

We had a very simple meal of sausages, eggs, and potato waffles tonight as I had no time to cook, not that my son minded - it is a childhood favourite. I am cooking partridge tomorrow, the season started today and we have some beautiful cabbages ready now and carrots too. I hope the weather continues fine as I should very much like to do some work in the vegetable garden tomorrow although I confess I am getting very tired. The cat Twiggy is in her best mood as she is a true gardeners cat and loves to have someone working in the garden to keep her company, she is such a dear little cat at times and at others a complete menace, that is the nature of the beast as they say. As I write I am watching the evening light fade across the field in the last bright streak of sunlight is gilding the tops of the lime trees in the shelter belt. If it is chilly tonight there will be a mist tomorrow, I shall get up early just in case and try to photograph it for you, mist can be tricky stuff to catch on camera it often ends up looking like a mistake on the part of the photographer, we shall see. I am in need of a bath after all that gardening so off I go before the boys start to bags the bathroom for themselves, and besides I expect I smell rather gruesome at the moment. I wish you a good night and a happy morning.