Slow to mow

Almost May and I have only now done the first long mow.  I did the first terrace below the road and a rough cut of the orchard.

I need to cut my curves now so they settle down over the next six weeks and take on a bit of structure.

It was fun to crank up the machine and roar off on a long, long walk. Plod. Pause to empty the grass catcher and pile it onto the orchard trees as a mulch. Crank again.

And unlike the strimmer, the mower works perfectly every time.

But I only started the mowing late this afternoon. I had the delight and joy of a visit from Teo and Leslie first. And they came bearing my favourite gifts: spare plants!

Phlomis, monarda, winter flowering jasmine, cornus, peche de vigne (don’t know that one in English) and three special soft fruit bushes – a tayberry, loganberry and a strange red raspberry vine. (And I’ve bound to have forgotten the varieties of the other gifts.)

I can’t wait to get them in the ground and watch them romp away.  Teo has warned me the tayberry is rampant. Bring it on, I say.

But I won’t plant until late tomorrow afternoon when we have a predicted temperature drop (or plummet if you are pessimistic) with some stormy weather and rain.

We ate asparagus for lunch along with plenty of hearty salads and cheese, all in the sunshine out on the terrace under the vines.  I know it becomes habitual in summer, but to eat outdoors after a long winter is still a treat.

And speaking of treats: here are my newly emerging tulip Abu Hassans in the barrel in the middle of the potager. Lush and lovely.