Share cropping

No wonder I can’t concentrate in my office this afternoon. I’m being gassed by lavender fumes.

I decided to do a third chop of the crop as it is warming up again. And no rain forecast for a few days.

But as I was wading into the incredible lavender thicket, I had to gently brush the bees aside.

Gently mind you. I am sharing this crop. So I didn’t cut the whole lot. Just a third of the flowers.And the bees were incredibly busy; I hope the two local beekeepers appreciate all my amazing flowers and pollen.

And then deciding that I don’t have time to sit outside in the shade stripping the flowers from their stalks, I just dumped them in my office.

And I have been gently getting woozier all day. Silly me.

I will have to move to the living room for the heavy concentrating work. Or shift the lavender.  That might be a better solution as my office is very neat and tidy right now and perfect for getting one’s head down.

And speaking of heads down. Artur is still in his tin bucket. That makes two weeks now which is odd. He usually gets bored with his location after a week.

And I’m still getting covered in soil every time he staggers out of the pot and comes and sits on my lap.

Adorable creature. He is pleased to have me to himself again after a weekend of house guests. But it was such a tonic to have such lovely and enthusiastic friends wander over the farm.

I gave myself a small treat (after the lavender harvest) and picked a bucket of flowers for Daniele. The last of my lilies. I really need to do a mass planting next year to replace the bulbs.

And then I played in the dirt.

More soil excavated from this steep slope. I’m slowly getting there.

Actually I need to take off about another cubic metre of soil, but I’m still dithering about taking the lot. I have to carry it in buckets and dump it on the top of the walnut path.

And I also took two wheelbarrow loads over to the  oaks up on the courtyard terrace.  This winter I am going to plant more hornbeams here; so it pays to start stockpiling the extra soil.

By lunchtime I downed tools as it was just too much fun being a gardener again.  Maybe tomorrow I can sneak out and do a bit more.