Continuing Maintenance

On a much brighter morning Jackie trimmed the lower limbs of myrtle while I bagged up the clippings and added them to the row awaiting the local recycling centre.

This, and further tidying, work has improved the views from the patio and down the Dead End Path.

Also in receipt of attention has been the Westbrook Arbour and that beside the clematis on the Wisteria Arbour. It was Mark and Steve of A.P. Maintenance who tidied up the Westbrook clippings this afternoon. They also dug out the roots of unsatisfactory un-flowering forsythia and thorny berberis; took away the garden refuse,

mowed the lawn; and continued weeding the Back Drive.

Meantime, I transferred the compost in the wheelbarrow beside the Oval Bed, shovelled the last of that in the centre bin into the barrow and started to fill the space again.

Later, I read a rather beautiful Anton Chekhov story, namely “The Lady with the Little Dog”.

The spare, subtle, descriptions of place, scene and situation contribute their own appeal to the tale of illicit lovers who struggle with living two lives – one conventional and stifling, the other secretive and stressful. As translator Elisaveta Fen observes ‘The story has indeed a rare delicacy and poignancy in its portrayal of the first genuine love between an innocent young married woman and a middle-aged married man with many love affairs in the past. They see no way out of the impossible situation, yet go on hoping against hope that a solution somehow will emerge’, even if it takes a very long time.

This evening we dined on succulent roast lamb; new potatoes; firm carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli; and meaty gravy with which Jackie drank Blue Moon and I drank Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2020.

101 comments

  2. Your garden is gradually acquiring its marvelous appearance, Derrick, at the cost of much effort and hard work.
    “The Lady with the Little Dog” is one of the most famous of his stories, and there is a Russian film that beautifully expresses the poignancy of this impossible love without sliding into cheap melodrama. This is a rare one for Chekhov, perhaps referencing a couple he had a chance to observe in Yalta. A hint of that is in one of his letters.

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    2. Thank you, “Koolkosherkitchen” for enlightening us about the Russian film that “beautifully expresses” the Anton Chekhov story. I am going to try and find that. It sounds intriguing. And yes, your sentiments about Derrick & Jackie’s “much effort and hard work” is echoed by many of us followers!

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  3. So glad you had some good and helpful labor. We are fortunate to have one of our sons in that role. BTW Sher and I share a taste for Blue Moon with Jackie.

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  5. I am envious of your ‘dead end path’ and ‘back drive’ – both looking astonishingly weed free… all this rain has meant our gravel areas have all developed healthy looking crops of weeds, despite hours spent trying to combat them! 🙁
    Your deep purple clematis is just wonderful – do you know what it is called?

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    1. Thanks very much, Emma. The gravel paths I began with a while ago need further attention 🙂 We have lost the label for the clematis, but Jackie looked it up again – I remembered it was one of the Polish ones – we think Warsaw Nike.

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      1. Beautiful! Thank you; exactly what I’m looking for, and the one I got last year turned out to be a much more pink than purple so I shall hunt for Warsaw Nike!

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        1. There are a number similar – Polish Spirit is another. I bought one that wasn’t much more than a dry twig for my sister’s garden. It survived and flourished.

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  6. You get my mouth watering every time you mention that roast lamb!!
    Your workers are doing a terrific job – as always! (But where’s Aaron?)

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        1. Barry the chimney sweep fits the bill; Richard of KitchenMakers is most thorough and versatile; Nick the decorator is exemplary. We are very fortunate.

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    2. Thanks very much, GP. Aaron has expanded his business a bit because he is now a family man and has to spend more time at home 🙂 He has picked up with us again, sometimes sending equally energetic men who really get on with the job. What they can do in an hour is amazing

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    1. 🙂 Thanks very much, Luanne. When I was 7 Miss Downs told us we should read three books a week. I don’t manage that 🙂 but I do read every day, even if only two pages before falling asleep 🙂

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    1. It was. The AP lads come when they have the time – without warning – so yesterday was a real bonus, after we had done so much ourselves. Thanks very much, Sue

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    1. Actually she tries to stop me, out of consideration for my joints, but, as you well know, we have to keep them moving 🙂 Thanks a lot, Tootlepedal

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  17. Intense maintenance has shaped up the garden handsomely and it wears a manicured look.

    “The Lady with the Little Dog” is a beautiful story. I have read it several times over the years and it has managed to impact me each time.

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  22. Your wisteria is spectacular. I love that intense color.

    I remember liking that Chekhov although I read it a long time ago. His stories leave one with space to consider.

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  23. With all this work on the go – glad you can read in between – you both deserve to stop earlier in the afternoons so that you can sit down and simply enjoy your beautiful garden.

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  24. Seeing the wheelbarrow made me think just how clever it was, and that led me to wonder who invented it?……..

    “While there was always a need to carry food and ammunition efficiently, Zhuge Liang came with the brilliant idea of “wooden ox” a name he gave to the wheelbarrow. Thanks to the wheelbarrow, a single soldier could carry enough food to feed four other soldiers for an entire month.”

    Google agrees with this, more or less, 230BC in China. Zhuge Liang was either the general or the prime minister depending on the source.

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  25. Job well done! And it’s never ending isn’t it? While we don’t have a garden anymore- we did. So I understand. And Derrick- I made a mistake, I was trying to do something on my blog and I accidentally removed you as a follower. I am so sorry. My fingers are sometimes too big and hit the wrong thing on my tiny smartphone. You are welcome to come back if you’d like. Please forgive me.

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  26. Good to see helpers helping! 🙂 (That doesn’t seem to be Aaron.)
    I love spotting the owls! 🙂 I even saw an Owl Trio. 🙂
    I looked at each photo and then went back through them again…this time concentrating on just the shadows made by the sun beaming down. Such unique shadows!
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

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    1. Now he is a family man, Aaron has expanded his business and taken on more, equally industrious, workers. We will see him again. Thank you so much, Carolyn X

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  28. The garden looks wonderful. I like Chekhov but have not read the story you mention. I’ll look out for it. I watched Uncle Vanya on BBC iPlayer recently. I hardly remembered it from reading it many years ago.

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