Strange Days
23/09/2017 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaSeptember is one of the most beautiful months of the year here in Dursleyville. It’s real Goldilocks weather. Not too hot and not too cold but just right. An added attraction is the wildflowers and weeds blossoming everywhere and driving the birds and bees berserk with all the tasty nectar.
It’s also the time for a favourite serpent ritual. I like to celebrate all the solstices and equinoxes by watching the sunset on the beach. Since the exact date is usually a bit wobbly, this problem is easily solved by watching several sunsets in a row. Along with this ritual is the quarterly update of the Big Green Book with an assortment of 5 year plans, 1 year and 3 months plans (often more honoured in the breach than the observance)
It makes more sense to do things this way rather than what most other folks do for plotting and planning which is to save it all for 1st January.
Nothing like starting New Year’s resolutions about 10 days before the year actually ends. That gives them half a chance of becoming proper habits
But this time the weather has been seriously strange. Was just about to head down to the beach to conclude an afternoon of coffee crawls on Wednesday 20th when the drizzle started. Soon it become a proper downpour and it was obvious there was going to be no visible sunset that particular day. It had been a gorgeous sunny day until about 2 hours before sunset
The next day was also drizzly and miserable so any sunsets were definitely off the menu. Spent some time instead pruning a woollybush that had gotten rather wild and windswept. It had gotten so big that one of the main branches half snapped off at the base and it looks pretty sad and shapeless. I should have nuked it a bit here and there long before it got so crazy and messy.
So half of it has to go. Pity because the shade comes in handy in summer.
Christmas will be early this year as some of the sawn off branches would make perfect Christmas trees. So I will just put the best of them in big pots and decorate them with green and silver baubles. They will stay green and gorgeous for about 3 weeks and then they can get turned into some sort of fluffy teepee or granny flat for creepy crawlies
Today while not raining was still a bit grey and not likely to have a proper sunset. It is so strange to have so much clouds and grey days in September.
But the inner serpent still wanted to celebrate the spring equinox so did the next best thing and pottered on up to Kings Park which is a riot of green and growing things.
Got to gawk at all the gorgeous weeds and see the sliver of a crescent moon through the clouds. The birds were also going berserk and there are just so many of them this time of year.
Also got started on the latest lists and figured that it’s time to get back on track with the grand goal of having a gorgeous garden by Friday 13th April which marks 20 years of living in the Lair. Got to have something to show for all that time other than a wild untamed jungle and an unencumbered title deed.
It’s nearly 5 years now since banishing the mortgage goblins and others who shall remain nameless.
As well as the garden, the grand plans also include a list of books to read in the next 3 months and online courses to do. Figured that one is a lost cause. Much more easily distracted than I used to be. So many books and so little time.
Looking over previous lists, there are quite a few items that end up on the long finger with no progress at all.
Still not made any scarecrows or made a teapot tree and that deck of DIY tarot cards was supposed to have been finished four years ago.
The teapot tree is inspired by an article about a gardener who collected old chipped china tea pots and cups and just hung them in the branches of an old tree as a quirky feature.
On the other hand, the wish list of trees to plant has proven particularly productive. Added 2 peach trees (presently covered in pretty pink flowers) a Buddha’s hand citrus, a white sapote, patchouli and an assortment of mulberry tree cuttings since the winter solstice in June.
The orange trees are on their second lot of blossoms this year which is seriously freaky. This is the time of year they are supposed to be blooming but also had a first flush of flowers back in July. The aroma is truly intoxicating and one of the greatest joys of the season
This is also the time of year for open gardens and Sustainable House Day when greenies open their abodes to the public who can peek and snoop and be generally nosy about all the green goodness.
Totally pigged out last week end with some amazing houses and gardens. Now Izzie wants her very own straw bale house. And no big bad wolf is going to huff and puff and blow it down. But that is a tale for another day.
It’s also the time for a favourite serpent ritual. I like to celebrate all the solstices and equinoxes by watching the sunset on the beach. Since the exact date is usually a bit wobbly, this problem is easily solved by watching several sunsets in a row. Along with this ritual is the quarterly update of the Big Green Book with an assortment of 5 year plans, 1 year and 3 months plans (often more honoured in the breach than the observance)
It makes more sense to do things this way rather than what most other folks do for plotting and planning which is to save it all for 1st January.
Nothing like starting New Year’s resolutions about 10 days before the year actually ends. That gives them half a chance of becoming proper habits
But this time the weather has been seriously strange. Was just about to head down to the beach to conclude an afternoon of coffee crawls on Wednesday 20th when the drizzle started. Soon it become a proper downpour and it was obvious there was going to be no visible sunset that particular day. It had been a gorgeous sunny day until about 2 hours before sunset
The next day was also drizzly and miserable so any sunsets were definitely off the menu. Spent some time instead pruning a woollybush that had gotten rather wild and windswept. It had gotten so big that one of the main branches half snapped off at the base and it looks pretty sad and shapeless. I should have nuked it a bit here and there long before it got so crazy and messy.
So half of it has to go. Pity because the shade comes in handy in summer.
Christmas will be early this year as some of the sawn off branches would make perfect Christmas trees. So I will just put the best of them in big pots and decorate them with green and silver baubles. They will stay green and gorgeous for about 3 weeks and then they can get turned into some sort of fluffy teepee or granny flat for creepy crawlies
Today while not raining was still a bit grey and not likely to have a proper sunset. It is so strange to have so much clouds and grey days in September.
But the inner serpent still wanted to celebrate the spring equinox so did the next best thing and pottered on up to Kings Park which is a riot of green and growing things.
Got to gawk at all the gorgeous weeds and see the sliver of a crescent moon through the clouds. The birds were also going berserk and there are just so many of them this time of year.
Also got started on the latest lists and figured that it’s time to get back on track with the grand goal of having a gorgeous garden by Friday 13th April which marks 20 years of living in the Lair. Got to have something to show for all that time other than a wild untamed jungle and an unencumbered title deed.
It’s nearly 5 years now since banishing the mortgage goblins and others who shall remain nameless.
As well as the garden, the grand plans also include a list of books to read in the next 3 months and online courses to do. Figured that one is a lost cause. Much more easily distracted than I used to be. So many books and so little time.
Looking over previous lists, there are quite a few items that end up on the long finger with no progress at all.
Still not made any scarecrows or made a teapot tree and that deck of DIY tarot cards was supposed to have been finished four years ago.
The teapot tree is inspired by an article about a gardener who collected old chipped china tea pots and cups and just hung them in the branches of an old tree as a quirky feature.
On the other hand, the wish list of trees to plant has proven particularly productive. Added 2 peach trees (presently covered in pretty pink flowers) a Buddha’s hand citrus, a white sapote, patchouli and an assortment of mulberry tree cuttings since the winter solstice in June.
The orange trees are on their second lot of blossoms this year which is seriously freaky. This is the time of year they are supposed to be blooming but also had a first flush of flowers back in July. The aroma is truly intoxicating and one of the greatest joys of the season
This is also the time of year for open gardens and Sustainable House Day when greenies open their abodes to the public who can peek and snoop and be generally nosy about all the green goodness.
Totally pigged out last week end with some amazing houses and gardens. Now Izzie wants her very own straw bale house. And no big bad wolf is going to huff and puff and blow it down. But that is a tale for another day.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-23 06:50 pm (UTC)Our local weather is uninspiring, but at least it's changing from bloody scorching hot to just damn hot, so things are improving. (Give me clouds and grey days any time ;)
Cloudy Cat
Date: 2017-09-25 03:51 pm (UTC)Started using a sneaky trick of late. Would go past that tree and think that the big trim would be a good day's work. Best left for another day.
But then last Sunday got the notion of just spending 20 minutes on it to get started. Was amazed at how much I could do in such a short snippet of time so did another 2 20 min installments and now it's all done. Of course it's going to take a good bit longer to actually deal with the pile of chopped branches and twigs
I guess the lists are kind of like Nanowrimo. You set some grand crazy goal of 50,000 things to do, manage about 20,000, feel like a failure but then realize that is 20,000 more than would have got done without the goal.
Sometimes an item will sneak itself into getting done long after I forget it's even there. But the inner serpent is still busy plotting and planning in the background.
I've found that putting stuff on autopilot works far better than relying on passion or enthusiasm. That seemed to be the secret of your Week from Hell. So much energy is wasted deciding what to do and when to do it that if stuff is all mapped out for you in 30 minute chunks then you just follow the list until it bores you to death.
Winter is coming. Do enjoy your grey rainy days.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-24 01:34 am (UTC)Saw a peek of the delights of Kings Park a few weeks ago on Gardening Australia. I must get over to WA one of these days.
Wild weather
Date: 2017-09-25 03:35 pm (UTC)Must go peeking at Gardening Australia. Not having the goggle box, got to see such things and Gruen on the Big Mac. So many things to watch and so little time.
But if you do ever venture into the weird wild west, there's oodles of room at the Serpent's Lair and the Izzie would love to have you here. Actually some ten years ago the bus to Kings Park used to go past the end of the street. I made the most of the opportunity to get up early in winter and catch the bus up there in time for the sunrise over the city. I so miss doing that. They changed the route and had the KP bus run to the airport instead. As if tourists would want to go straight there from the plane with luggage and all.
Was back at KP on Saturday and while reading the paper at the cafe there got to watch the ducks waddling right inside as if they owned the place and willy wagtails and honey eaters were flitting about in the trees and on the chairs and tables too.