Yesterday evening Jackie produced two photographs from along the Shady Path and Dragon Bed beneath the strong evening light,
and later of the strawberry moon claiming the sky from the sun.
On a much duller morning she recorded the current progress of her replanting in the Pond Bed.
For more than a week now, the Head Gardener has been slowly emptying and sifting the contents of our centre compost bin. This process is made more time consuming because a full wheelbarrow is too heavy for her to shift to where she wants the material.
Now she has nearly finished I decided to lend a hand and
filled a barrow to capacity and wheeled it over to the Oval Bed which, like all the others, will require extensive weeding before its soil can be topped up. Once again I was performing the role of “The Head Gardener’s Hod Carrier”.
This afternoon we lifted the New Dawn rose that had been dropped by the recent storms, retied it, and placed the white aluminium bench in its corner.
Are your dreams worth waiting to bring to fruition at the expense of a more pleasurable earlier life? This is the essential question behind Anton Chekhov’s story ‘Gooseberries’. I was impressed with what translator Elisaveta Fen describes as the ‘evocation of the Russian countryside on a rainy day and the feelings of relaxation, cleanliness and comfort, experienced by the men after hours of exertion ….. conveyed with Chekhov’s characteristic directness and subtle power’. The author’s simple descriptive skill is so evident in this narrative.
For ‘Nikolai ate the gooseberries greedily’ Nigel Lambourne has depicted this man’s happiness which is questioned by the narrator.
This evening we dined on oven fish and chips, garden peas, cornichons with chillis, and pickled onions, with which we both drank Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020.
Beautiful as always.
Thank you very much, Chrissy
4am here in Sydney. The earliest comment today,
Congrats 🙂
That bench looks like a good place in which to pass part of a morning.
Thanks very much, Anne
Strawberry moon picture is a keeper. How magnanimous of you to help towards the end of the project. Bet that is earning you a lot of good husband points. 🙂
🙂 Thank you so much, Pat
Your garden is so amazing! I wish I was as ambitious and talented as Jackie!
Thank you very much, AnneMarie
Your compost looks magnificent – aren’t worms amazing!
Your roses are magnificent, too. So interesting that you know all their names – did you plant them all yourselves?
Beautiful – you are both clearly very talented, hard working, green fingered gardeners 🙂
The Rose Garden was a mess of a kitchen garden when we arrived. Apart from wild under growth it contained buried concrete slabs, bits of metal, and a bath complete with taps. We dug out the rubbish levelled the soil, laid the paths, then enjoyed choosing our own roses for scent and repeat flowering. Otherwise we wouldn’t know them all by name 🙂 Thank you very much, Emma
Laughing here – “Now she has nearly finished I decided to lend a hand”
I’m pleased you got that, Andrew. Thanks a lot.
I knew the white bench would find its new home! Looks pretty perfect to me!
Thanks a lot, Sue
Excellent looking compost.
🙂 Thanks very much, Tootlepedal
Beautiful shots, Derrick. Fish and chips…yum!
Thanks very much, Jill
I remember “Gooseberries”! It’s widely anthologized.
Thanks very much, Liz. I’m not surprised
The compost looks very good! I like where you have placed the white bench and Jackie’s Pond Bed is filling out nicely with lovely lush growth.
Thank you very much, Clare
!0.30am here in Geelong, and no early rise for me after a Thursday evening a the pub …and your aluminiun bench in a quiet corner is the spot for me !!..
Thanks very much, Ivor
You’re doing a great job! I love evening light. It looks like there are fairies dancing under the strawberry moon.
Doesn’t it just?! JoAnna. Thanks very much
Seems to me we should take as much joy as we can from simple pleasures.
Yes. Thanks very much, Laurie
That is a particularly bright evening and even a brighter moon pretending to be the sun, and it has had a startling effect on the photos.
The juxtaposition of your hard work in the garden with the protagonist’s in Chekhov’s story, coupled with relaxation and contentment felt after a hard day’s work as reflected in eating is ingenious.
Thanks very much, Uma. You have seen my identification.
I beg to disagree. Nikolai is no less a symbol than Gogol’s famous pig wallowing in the puddle in “The Dead Souls.” He even looks like a pig, and his servant looks like a pig, and even his dog looks like a pig. The story is very sharp social satire, almost a call for action. It builds up on “The Man in a Case” and culminates in “About Love,” presenting different facets of ‘a little man” in stifling conditions of pre-revolutionary Russia.
It seems that I have gone on a rampage – I apologize, Derrick.
No apology necessary, Dolly. You know so much more about the author and the system. I do recognise what you say, however, to some extent I identify with a man who works hard to achieve a later dream. That coloured my response. Thanks very much.
You are very welcome, Derrick.
I can see your point of view, yet the dream itself is unrealistic, consuming his entire life, driving his wife to her untimely death.
Agreed
That white owl in your garden is so beautiful! ♥♥
Thank you very much, Sonali
Most welcome ♥♥
nice garden shots and the image of eating gooseberries greedily is curious
🙂
Thanks very much, Yvette
☀️☀️☀️
Hard work but the garden looks absolutely amazing!
Thank you very much, Ribana
Glad you didn’t wait until Jackie was completely finished before offering a hand! 😉 😀 Timing is everything! 😉
Dragon and owl…oh, YAY! 🙂 Love seeing them!
Love the strawberry-moon photo! Goodnight, Sun! Hello, Moon! 🙂
(((HUGS))) 🙂
Thank you very much, Carolyn 🙂 X
Waited until Jackie was almost finished with the compost, eh?
I’m no fool, GP 🙂 Thanks a lot
hahaha
That strawberry moon does look pink in the photo.
The white bench nook in your garden is lovely.
Thank you so much, Merril
You’re welcome.
You both have done so much hard work in the gardens! It all looks beautiful. So this month is a strawberry moon? It was delightful to see it rise here last night.
Sunday is forecast to be around 113 degrees Fahrenheit here, atypical for June. It’s going to be a hot weekend for working outside.
That is certainly hot, Lavinia. I hove you can both keep cool. Thanks very much.
‘The strawberry moon claiming the sky from the sun’ – very poetic.
Thanks very much, Libre
I only learned yesterday that this full moon is known as the strawberry moon, and here it is in your blog. When I read your title, the phrase that came to mind was ‘carrying coals to Newcastle,’ and I found that’s at least reasonable, since one definition of ‘hod’ is coal scuttle, or a bucket-like container for carrying coal.
Neat comment, Linda. Thank you very much
I love “the strawberry moon claiming the sky from the sun” – – – both the photo and the poet!
I always enjoy spending some moments in your garden.
I just started reading Chekhov recently, and Gooseberries was the first story I read. Next is Three Sisters.
Ah. I’ve not read Three Sisters. Thanks very much, Rose
I found an old copy at a thrift shop
Chekhov poses a good question!
Anyway, do you actually have a pond. I don’t recall seeing it.
Thanks a lot, Helen. The flower bed is on a filled in pond from before our time 🙂
Thank you for the explanation, Derrick.
Yes
Sorry for that “Yes” – It was meant for Tootlepedal 🙂
Beautiful pictures from your garden.
Thank you very much, Mrs W
Your welcome.