No Longer In The Shade

Once again we struggled in unaccustomed heat to thin out the rampant wisteria, and compost and bag up the clippings.

Jackie did most of the pruning and photographed the process before

and after her efforts.

As she said, she was no longer working in the shade.

Although the bulk of the composting and bagging fell to me,

the Head Gardener put in a chopping stint after lunch, when

we made more progress.

Fortunately we have secured a cancellation spot at the dump on 22nd.

The evening light as, in T-shirt temperature, we took our pre-dinner drinks on the patio, fell on

two socially distanced wood pigeons perched on the lopped cypress on the far side of the garden.

One flew of; the other remained unperturbed.

It was good to see that potted petunias and pelargoniums and fuchsia Delta’s Sarah.had perked up after recent watering.

We dined on Hordle Chinese Take Away second sitting with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Alma Da Vinha Douro Doc 2018.

90 comments

  1. “the bulk of the composting and bagging fell to me” – well I hope you did it properly. All great artists need a competent assistant.

    I’ll leave it there. I’m sure Jackie will be able to interpret my comment… πŸ™‚

  2. Since I was at work, my husband enlisted the resident neighborhood gardener who went crazy cutting and pruning. Came home to find my prized bougainvilleas cut to the tree trunk. I cried. Its our Spring but not for my garden this year. πŸ˜’

    1. oh no…reminds me of the year, I came home and the lawn care guy decided I didn’t need my grapevine, not only had he cut it back because his mower wouldn’t get to the fence, he got out his spade and dug it all out πŸ™ I de-employed him by phone that night!

  3. Lots of plant material suitably removed. The pics of Jackie are exceptionally good, Derrick. And I have never before seen an unperturbed wood pigeon. Wait, I’ve never seen any wood pigeon before, perturbed or not. πŸ˜‰

  4. You two put in such hard work and your beautiful garden shows the beautiful results! πŸ™‚
    Please stay safe in the shade on the hot days!

    The wood pigeons are handsome and colourful! They probably flew home and talked about the two unperturbed Human-Beans they saw sipping drinks in the garden. πŸ˜‰ πŸ˜€
    BTW: Do they leave deposits?!
    BTW, too: Do you know what they call the poem a stoned pigeon wrote?
    A High Coo πŸ˜›

    You know I always love seeing the fuchsia!!! πŸ™‚
    HUGS!!! πŸ™‚

    1. Do they leave deposits? They certainly do! usually all over the chairs! I love the sound they make, tho’ so that’s alright.

  5. I am in awe of the hard work you both put in during such heat!
    We had an a cloudy much cooler day today but have been assured of sunshine tomorrow! Can’t wait.

  6. Do you have white wisteria there? I’ve only seen it twice: once in the garden of a local Buddhist temple, and once in a pecan orchard in Mississippi. It’s as lovely as the lavender, but where it was close enough to sniff, the white didn’t seem so fragrant.

    1. Yes we have quite a lot of white, over here, several different types, a wisteria with no scent is a waste of space, I think. I love the perfume and sit under the wisteria a long time when it flowers!

  7. I hope you enjoyed a relaxing evening. It was nice of the pigeons to visit. Sounds like going to the dump could be a welcome excursion considering you got a cancellation spot.

    1. Thanks a lot, JoAnna. The slot will help a lot but we won’t get everything in the car in one trip, and won’t be able to return until we get another booking. πŸ™‚

  8. Jackie has carved out a fairy ring of a sky in the wisteria, no wonder she faced the heat! Wood pigeons are sentient beings, patient and persistent, like the potted petunias and the pelargoniums.

  9. That is such a good photo of Jackie!!!

    Your posts always make me hungry–with no cure, as I’m on a fasting diet where I fast for 18 hours a day and I can’t eat for 16 more hours!!! I can, however, always go out with a flashlight and enjoy the flowers! (It is nearly 11 P.M. here.)

  10. Beautiful as usual.

    A booking for the rubbish tip? WOW never heard of here. Then again, local council often have special clean up days where residents can put all their accumulated rubbish, unwanted furniture and garden refuse on their front drive and it will be collected on the designated day for their street.

    Beautiful spring days here gives us plenty of opportunity to eat breakfast, lunch or tea in various parts of our garden now.

    πŸ™‚

  11. Beautiful–as always! I love the header shot of Jackie. The socially distant pigeons, too. πŸ˜€
    I hope the weather cools a little bit, but not too much, for you.

  12. what a labor of love you put in your beautiful garden, Derrick! always a delight to see Jackie! and the pigeons are a wonderful bonus! πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

  13. Such a lovely post. And we shall enjoy these last warm days as long as we can. T-shirt weather indeed! We just planted some fall flowers in our front porch planter, while listenIng to the doves coo while the leaves start yellowing and falling. Boo Hoo.

  14. You and Jackie are such hard workers. Your garden shows the love you put into it. I love the petunias and pelargoniums and fuchsia. They love your climate there, too, obviously. Thank you for sharing your beautiful oasis! <3

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