The One-armed Wheelbarrow

On an overcast, more sultry, morning we cleared clippings and I dead headed.

With no change in the weather this afternoon, Jackie set about chopping up the cut foliage from the plants in the front garden corner

while I transported it to the compost bins and added the more woody sections to the ever increasing heap on the Back Drive.

The hydrangea will stay.

Later, Jackie tidied the area and took

hydrangea cuttings which will be covered with plastic bags and placed in the greenhouse

My post “Five Years On”, from October 14th, 2019 shows, not only the said drive as it was when we first arrived, but also some of the fires that dispensed with the vast amount of brushwood that we cleared from the jungle that was our garden.

It is now apparent that we will need some more bonfires that will call into service the one-armed wheelbarrow in the same way as one was employed before.

Later this afternoon I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2021/09/04/a-knights-tale-27-eventually-chris-twigged/

This afternoon Elizabeth came with baskets of dirty washing to avail herself of our washing machine because hers has died. This took some hours and she shared our takeaway meal from Red Chilli. She and I finished the Comté Tolosan Rouge while Jackie started on another bottle of the Pinot Grigio Bluch.

84 comments

  1. Thank you for the link to your 2019 post showing the original state of the garden! What a lot of work it has taken to make it as beautiful as it is today! And what a show-piece it has turned into!

      1. In my home county in Michigan, we had to call a certain phone number to tell the authorities that we were going to be burning leaves and scrub. Probably so the fire department knows what’s going on.

  2. I LOVE the photos & posts from the past! What a joy to see how far you’ve come and how beautiful your choices have turned out to be. Thank you, always, for sharing your progress with us. Always inspirational!

  3. I’m so glad you mentioned the wheel barrow, you have given me an idea!

    I enjoyed another look at five years on. If you ever leave that house I hope you leave a photo record for the new owners. That said, please don’t leave.

    Forty five years from moving to this house and I still feel we are honoured caretakers of our homes.

      1. Thank you for the link, what a super exhibition.

        You have reminded me that I still haven’t printed and framed many of mine that I want to use for a wall of favourite blog photos, a record I suppose.
        Thank you, Derrick.

  4. Your garden has come a long way over the years. As usual, your hard work inspires me to continue to work on my jungle-ish surroundings.

  5. Before and after! I checked back on the 5yr link and it is spectacular. Do the old tree trunks stay forever or will there be any pressure to have them removed.

  6. I have not realized that your magnificent garden had been a jungle when you took over. The Head Gardener deserves a special medal for valor! Your efforts are also not be overlooked, Derrick.

  7. WHAT changes have been wrought in only five years! I enjoyed the link to the jungle of the back drive – thank you for including that. We are not allowed to have bonfires in our gardens – too much of a fire hazard in the drought. You both deserve a pat on the back.

  8. I have already visited the post that showcases the change the Garden has witnessed in five years, and I admired the transformation yet again. It has acquired a certain character in the ensuing years, that charms the virtual visitors like me endlessly.

  9. It’s so interesting to see the comparison photos…seeing the garden then, in-between then and now, and today. You two have put in a lot of hard work, time, money, artistry, etc…but I’m also sure it’s your love and tender care that has caused the plants and trees to flourish and smile! 🙂
    I’m so glad the one-armed wheelbarrow is still seen as usable and helpful! 🙂
    We like to be seen that was as we become more well-seasoned! 😉
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

  10. I didn’t realize there had been so many changes in your garden. It’s a work of art–I suppose a long, hard work of art! ?
    As usual, Jackie looks happy to be in the garden. She has such a beautiful smile.

  11. Nice job, Jackie and Derrick! That’s a beautiful hydrangea. I recently took cuttings of hydrangeas, too. I kept procrastinating sticking 2 of them, leaving them in water on my sink, and behold they rooted in water. I have never had luck with that before.

  12. Lots of fascinating reading, Derrick. And lots of hard work transforming your drive. Before you bought the property, presumably it had not been used as such for a long time?

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