Friday 13 May 2011

Hedges & Lawns

 It's Saturday morning, 7am, first cup of tea for the day, and a morning of dumping the weeks rubbish at Eco, then getting some new brake shoes for the van. The latter is a must as, because of towing such a heavy trailer most of the time, the brakes tend to wear out super fast, and are now pretty much metal on metal and attracting quizzical glances from the general public because of the screeching and grinding!
It's also May, and EVERYTHING is growing like the clappers, and that means virtually non-stop hedgecutting and mowing.


 It also means the best time of the year for colour. So many things bursting out in all of their glory right now to mention, but I had to get a picture of this Ceanothus as I passed it while doing my round of mowing at the estate of cottages in Mudeford. Quite something eh?


 All of the various Phygelius are now at their best. Fresh new foliage, coupled with their wonderful spikes of bloom. Reds, whites, yellows, salmons and pinks......one of my favourite plants.


 The last hedge of the week. My youngest daughter Rebecca had a weeks holiday from her work and had emailed to ask if she could help me one day as she needed to get out of the office and as she put it 'catch some vitamin D. Both daughters were taught to have a strong work ethic, as in their youth from about 8 to 16 years old were made to work alongside myself and Amanda, and soon learnt that money has to be earned. As such, they're both not afraid of hard work. Notice how clean she has left the ground, and didn't have to be retold how to do anything. This particular hedge is quite the monster as only about a third is in the picture, and it's about 8 feet wide.


 And of course one gets to wear the stylish headgear that goes with the job, pretty glamorous eh?


 Then at the end we had a drive down to the harbour to catch a cold one and watch the tide go out.

Now, well I'm aching like a trooper, but had better get that stuff to the tip.
TTFN!

3 comments:

  1. Good morning from Edinburgh, Gary! We're both blogging early. You're looking for brake shoes, I'm looking for shoes. But I may go to the allotment instead - much more enjoyable than shoe shopping.
    You HAVE brought your daughter up well! It's amazing how much rubs off just in terms of absorbing attitude. I didn't think our son was particularly interested in all the housework skills we'd made sure he had, but now that he's away at uni he keeps his student flat very clean. Untidy, but clean.
    This is such a strange May, I can hardly grasp everything that's blooming already.

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  2. Great photo of you and Rebecca!
    That Ceanothus is stunning.

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  3. Fun to catch up on what's going on across the pond. Love the gorgeous Ceanothus and your beautiful gardening work. Fun to hear about working with your daughter and your outings with Amanda. Excited that your long-time clients are "taking you with them" to their new home. What a beautiful view they have, and what fun that you and Amanda get to relandscape such nice grounds! Blessings to you both....

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