Friday 10 July 2009

Summertime, and the living.............











is certainly not easy. At least not if you have a garden - and hedges - and lawns - and Border Terriers. As we enter High Summer (in theory if not in temperature) there always seems to be plenty to do. We have yards of lawns to cut and this has been "hedge week", when the farmer has cut our privet hedges and holly and hawthorn hedges that surround our gardens. The birds have all but finished rearing their offspring and have largely gone out of song and into moult mode. So now is the best time. But it is not just the cutting, it is also the clearing up, and this has taken him most of the week.
Earlier in the week I went out to see visitors off the premises. There was the most wonderful sunset - the whole sky was red and the rosy glow hung everywhere. I dashed in for my camera but in that few seconds it had faded and all I got was a faint hint of what it had been like (see photograph above). It reminded me of the inimitable Dorothy Parker who used to comment when people came to look round her garden -"it was absolutely marvellous last week - and there is such a lot left to come out. It's just that this week there's not a lot to see." Anyway, looking at the photograph I am sure you can imagine what it was like three minutes earlier!
Weeds of course are in full grow. Half an hour a day spent wandering round the garden pulling up groundsel, chickweed and goosegrass pays dividends. But as you will see from another of the photographs above - Tess knows it is time for her walk (can dogs tell the time or something?)
And so to the rose photographs. I must say our front garden smells heavenly at present - all the roses are out and so is the mock orange blossom. The rose in the photograph - I bought it "un-named" from Woolworths about ten years ago for £1.50 is in full bloom. It was labelled as a climber and we planted it against our garden wall. By last Autumn it had more than topped the wall and all the flowers were high in the air. The farmer took his long handled pruners to it and cut it back almost to ground level. I thought he would kill it. UK Bob (Diary of an English Gardener on my Blog List) agreed with the farmer that it would probably recover. And they were right : this year it has more blooms than ever and they are at a reasonable height. Would anyone (Twisted Willow, UK Bob) like to hazard a guess at its provenance?
Well, another week bites the dust. This weekend our village is holding an Open Gardens day and also a Scarecrow Competition. You will no doubt hear about it on Dominic Rivron's blog some time next week as his family are intending to create a scarecrow. Luckily our farm is well out of the village so I don't have to make one. Have a good week-end - hope the sun shines wherever you are.

15 comments:

Sal said...

It's a beautiful Rose...the wonder of Woollies eh?
I'd love to visit all those open gardens..have a good nose!
Hope you have a great weekend..and BTW if you aren't going to make a scarecrow,then I think you should pen a poem about one!
;-)

steven said...

hellow weaver, what a rich posting. full of the hard work and pleasure of country life. you see it all don't you - and you know how to enjoy so much of it!!! the flowers are truly beautiful!!!! sunsets - well i've had that same experience so many times and i had to laugh because it doesn't matter how prepared you are, the image never quite matches the glory of what you actually saw!!! nevermind, the picture is lovely. have a peaceful day. steven

Reader Wil said...

That rose is a great big success! beautiful photo too. You must have been very busy! I wish you a great weekend. I shan't blog for a couple of days, but I shall blog next week Thursday again. I'll take a short break.

Jeannette StG said...

T love the particular red of the rose. I really admire farmers, because they work so hard all the time! And your little terrier is cute - begging for something?
Hope you'll all get it done!

Heather said...

I shall be doing a Dorothy Parker on Tuesday as I am hosting our group meeting. I wanted them to come to me last month but someone else got there first. I have worked in the garden all day today as the forecast for us tomorrow and Sunday is strong winds and heavy rain - lovely. Hope you do better for the village open gardens. That sky is so dramatic even if you didn't catch the sunset itself. Your roses are glorious - dear old Woolies did you proud.

Grizz………… said...

That's a lovely rose…and a still-lovely shot of what I'm sure was a spectacular sunset.

When photographing sunsets, I'm always amazed at the light changes second-to-second; a minute is an impossible span to miss. Sometimes you win, and the colors appear richer, but more often you lose, and that astonishing wash of color which sent you dashing off for your forgotten camera has faded into just a hint of its former glory.

Tess appears ready for that walk. And yes, dogs do have built-in clocks. I'm sure of it!

Elizabeth said...

Lovely new header photos.
High summer is a delight.
Yes, a huge amount of work ........but worth it, I think.
(says she who does not have a garden)

Leenie said...

Even though you missed the full color of the sunset--the photo you posted is serene and summery. Best wishes with all your hedges. I wish I could visit and see the countryside in your area. It sounds so pretty. Would like to see the scarecrows too!

Arija said...

Your rose could be one of s few dozen I culd name but without a closer aquaintance pretty hard to identify. Love your manicured garden.

Welcome To Wilmoth Farms said...

Lovely flowers, and sunset...I can just imagine how pretty it was illuminating on those clouds! I'd love to smell your garden, I bet its Heaven!

Penny said...

Funny, I went out and took photos in my very wet winter garden and posted them today. On my backvalley seasons blog.

The Weaver of Grass said...

As a result of reading all your comments I shall whiz round the pen gardens with my camera taking scarecrow pictures!
Glad to hear that Scribe agrees that dogs have built in clocks.
And I must say you are all more than kind about my pretty mediocre sky photograph!!

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Ah, yes, Weaver - the hedges as well as the lawns! There is no end to all this trimming - but it is outside and in lovely environments, so there is much to celebrate too!

I love climbing roses - yours looks wonderful.

Who is Dorothy Parker - I don't know of her?

Anonymous said...

In a part of the world as beautiful as yours, Pat, you should never leave home without packing the camera!

BT said...

What a gorgeous rose it is, I've just told Twisty about it! It often does them good to have a severe prune once in a while or they get very leggy. Lovely photo of your little dog and the farmer's legs!! 'Come on dad'!!