earlier this week i asked my father if we had a triangular length of wood, because i was planning on building a raised bed for the garden. before i knew it, he was wielding a chainsaw and an electric screwdriver, and it was done. nevermind my plans of leisurely measuring and sawing the old planks that used to be the walls of our house, or putting it all together with care and time and elbow grease... but at least i've got one now.
it's a bit late in the year to be starting root vegetables, but this 80 cm x 80 cm square will be sown with radishes, parsnips and whatever i can squeeze in there tomorrow. hopefully there will be time for a green manure crop afterwards. there's four sacks of garden compost in there that i had to buy because i still don't have a proper, working composter. we just have a heap thing going, which isn't very effective, and the good part is invaded by tree roots now so there's no diggin' it up anymore. two more sacks await other containers. i also added some horse manure to the mix, which i also bought for good money although rumour has it stable owners are begging people to come and take that shit away. i would if i could...
even though i'm gutted that the house was stripped of this beautiful wood and red earth paint, i'm ever so glad to get to use it for other purposes... the rounded shape in the corner is from where the white trimming used to be at the top. i saved one bit like that, with a rusty nail in it, as a keepsake a piece of art to be hung on an inside wall someday.
yours truly is very pleased now:
the adder disappeared for a few days, but as soon as i was away for one night it returned to its spot by the house to bask in the sun. i hope it's so wide because of a belly full of voles instead of baby adders. i'm not entirely happy with a poisonous snake taking up residence, but it seems timid enough and i think we can coexist in here. the thing is, i tried the usual vinegar and urine tricks to repel it, but it just won't go, and if i remove it, who's to say another won't take its place, one that is more unpredictable and sly than this?
i wish my camera had a better zoom, so the photo would show its eye in detail. the stare is intense. and i confess that i keep talking to it, even though i know they can't hear very well, if at all. they have no eardrums.
the water mint form gearagh has made new friends with the forget-me-nots behind the sauna. the peppermint cuttings i took from kemiö up and rotted in the glass of water i put them, even while growing roots already. the oregano mint that i already planted is not looking too sharp, either. just as well, i wanted chocolate mint anyway... and there's only so much mint i can use. i have dried stuff left from years back. also, i don't want them to breed and mix too much. the native, wild mint that grows in the lily bed is too nice to lose to cross-pollination.
while in the garden shop, i picked up a couple of new plants, and instantly my herb bed by the front door is looking a lot livelier. it's amazing what a bit of contrast can do. the black leaves belong to 'decorative sweet potato' and they are shading some chervil seedlings in the pot at the front. behind it, the shorter, fuller lavender is also new. i got it because it has buds on every single stalk and is bushier than the one i got before. i wasn't planning on taking cuttings, but the label says "protected plant variety - propagation prohibited" which instantly made me decide to at least try. i mean try and stop me...
in the background some of the remaining old wall-wood can be seen clinging to our fast deteriorating porch. the really thriving bush is hyssop, then there is parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, of course; and lemon balm that isn't all that happy in such full sun. i'm going to take it up and give it shadier ground. plenty of chickweed, too, which i eat as well, and some basil that the snails love me for.
my tiny opium poppies are getting smaller year by year. it's a dwarf variety, the seeds of which i got from one of my uncles, and they sort of eke out an existence of sorts and lurk about. i collect some seeds each year just in case it doesn't come back, but it always has. the buds are barely half an inch tall, and i can't wait to see the flowers emerge from those little things.
i've left the fallen oak leaves on as a mulch, because this flower bed is under an eave and dries easily. it's a tricky spot and there seems to be no telling which plants will thrive and which will die and why.
in addition to all the gardening, i made a pile of poop from hama beads -- a kawaii, blushing one, and a chibi totoro fridge magnet. i promised my old stash to a friends' tween daughter, we made some totoros last night together, but i couldn't resist a bit of fusing while bagging them beads up just now. part of me wants to order tons of different shades and make intricate pieces, but the whole point was to get rid of the stuff, not add to the pile! i can make the same pixelated designs in other ways, like crocheting or bathroom tiling... just imagine a shower wall with a huge totoro holding an umbrella. oh, one day...
something came noisily down the chimney, a bat or a mouse, i thought, but no. a water bug, and a smaller one at that. if it was aiming for the water barrel, poor shot i say.
