I am beginning to flatten the garden. This is cutting off at ground level but pruning needs to wait until at least June. When the perennials are flattened I put leaves on them and this year if we get rain I will add blood and bone otherwise it will go on being the 'survive if you can' garden. There are more areas of succulents and some of the hardy things are allowed to multiply as more precious plants die.
This morning is the 5th and clear and sunny. It is to be 23 degrees and I have not yet put on the heater which I have had on by May 1st every other year. The temperature in the house has not gone below 16 which is what I set the heater at.
Spider city is spectacular this morning. I have several areas of spiderville. This is because this year I have not spent all autumn blundering into the webs and being bitten. Mother spider has therefore bred and now her babies are making webs around her and the intricate webs make an entire city. There was dew overnight and the sun is shining through them. The babies make fine webs and are catching small insects. I could see the little insects blunder in and the movement of the web as the tiny spiders moved in for the kill. The whole city was moving. In some of the cities enormous mother spiders are still at the centre but in places the birds have presumably eaten big fat Mum.
There are b'days in May and I am putting up the pix of Mikey and Patrick.
It is the end of May. The heating did not go on until 15th but I have it on 17 degrees this winter. That means my hands are less cold on the keyboard and I don't wear the ugg boots!
The leaves are still on the trees but thinning. The amazing thing is the tomato plants which get very little warmth because the sun is running round the heavens below the oak trees and yet the tomato plants in pots are more luxurious than they were all summer and new flowers are still appearing. This is sub tropical behaviour! I have picked and photograghed one which will ripen faster inside.
Today is Mother's day 2006. Halfway through the month and not a word written. I have been planning my big holiday to Europe which begins on June 1st and my diary has been forgotten.
I see I turned on the heating at this time last year. We have had a couple of cold nights with clear skies but an extra blanket and a pair of socks will see me through until June 1st when I leave. I have put on the oil heater one morning to keep my 'mouse' hand warm at the computer and a couple of evenings I put it beside my chair. I do not want to put the gas central heating on and turn it off for the 6+ weeks I will be away.
No rain in May and even the succulents are sad. I keep thinking that maybe it will rain tomorrow and then I just stop looking.
Some ornamental pistacio trres are seeding in the right spots and instead of pulling them up I will have trees instead of flowers. This will perhaps be better gardening for me instead of knee height which harbours the ticks feeding on the possums or me in the autumn. I will worry about this next year! My holiday is consuming me with preparation and trepidation!
