The 9pm gardener

It wasn’t even dark. But I found myself watering and doing the last bits of gardening at 9pm tonight. It was hot today. So I took a few hours away from the baking heat in the middle of the afternoon to stay indoors.

Ironing, if you are curious. And getting a first look at my lovely new book Mediterranean Landscape Design by Louisa Jones.  I would love to sit down and read it cover to cover. But not just yet. That is something to be savoured, and it can’t be done when one has a teetering pile of laundry to reduce.

Also I had to nip over to the village to drop off a letter and cheque to the builder.  (And try and avoid the huge throng of people at the village for the walking festival.)

So that took the hot part of the day.  But before long I was creeping back out to do unathletic things – picking blackcurrants, eating white currants. (I like to wait until my white currants are positively pink) cajoling Artur to come up from the cool shade under the potting shed.

He has a tick right between his whiskers at the moment and I just can’t get him pliant enough to remove the offending parasite. (I gave up in the end and took him up to Jean Daniel to deal with. Hopefully I will find him tick free and chirpy tomorrow morning.)

And then when it relented slightly, around 7pm I went back to watering.  The orchard, the potager, the grasses on the pool bank. It’s all done.

And I’ve just finished making a fast batch of cherry and apple cordial. A busy evening indeed.

Tomorrow, mowing. Hurrah. I need the exercise.