Winners and losers in Book of summer

The work on the garden continues.
I realised that part of the garden was completely unaffected by the weed killer I applied. I had found an assortment of bottles and sachets in the shed that must have been years old and I used them. In one area the celandine was all shrivelled up and in another it was as lush and vibrant as before. I actually like celandine. It reminds me of my childhood. When I was 9 and 10 and roamed the English countryside, and explored the woodland area for flowers and treasure. I used to pick bunches of the yellow celandine and took them home to stick in jam jars, but next day they were wilted. It would be so easy to pull them out but they have lots of tiny bulbs attached to the roots, which would spread. So I need to try and kill them off at the root.
I found a bag and a half of red bark clippings. So I cleared a bed in the top half of the garden. It was mostly rubbish and dried leaves,old planks of wood. Pruned the rose bush, which in the summer is rampant with ruby red flowers. I moved more rotten wood from around the lovely yellow forsythia, which is in bloom. Now you can see it. I shoved in a few more bits of plants and covered the soil with the red bark. That was one days work. Then there was a raised bed with an old fushia bush next to it. The bush is looking quite dead but it will most likely have survived the severe cut back last Autumn. The weeds on the bed had shrivelled so I pulled them out and loosened the soil. I put in a few bits of plants and I have a tray of pansies that I can take over and split my primulas to make a bit of colour. Then I cleared a bit of the path in the two areas. Using the spade to scrape away the soil and weeds.
I applied more weed killer. When that has worked I need to level off the ground a bit but I am doing other stuff while I wait.
The right hand side of the raised bed used to be a pathway but it is very uneven and rocky so I need to level that off and make it easy to walk on. It leads to the Arbour that is covered in pale pink clematis in the spring. I have an old photo of Mum and Cliff sitting under that.
So I am concentrating on the top part of the garden, nearest to the house, but so many old pots and buckets and old wood, it is taking some clearing.
I think my next job after clearing away the old wood I have moved up the garden, is preparing the area for the sweet peas plants I bought. The wire netting was pulled away from the wall to cut down some of the ivy. I need to put it back and get the soil ready. Near there, is a container (about 4ftx3ft) full of compost. The are two smaller containers, one of them on a stand which I may use for tomatoes. Mum loved getting stuff like that for her garden but never used it. I think I will use the large one for salad veg and herbs in the smallest one.
The area that was the neglected lawn, I will probably fork it over and try and sow some seed before I go away next week. Although I probably won’t get time as I have to take a day off to take Cliff to the hospital on Wednesday for a bone scan and then we both have eye appointments in Derry on the Monday after.
There is so much to do, it is hard to know the best way round it. I am trying to think of it as 8 sections, maybe 10 as there are a couple of areas I haven’t even thought about, especially the old summer house and the area where the old greenhouse was.
I also don’t have as much energy as I would like and Cliff likes me to sit and talk to him. My garden is also getting neglected and I noticed yesterday that my neighbors had given their lawns the first cut of the season.
It would help if I could sleep.
Yesterday was the Grand National. (Biggest horse race of the year). I used to have a little bet on it when Patrick was alive and going into the betting shop. Some other races too if he told me of a name he thought I would go for. Only small bets. Yesterday I went online and paid for a £5 bet and got a free one as a new customer.
When I was at Cliffs he had turned the tv on for a few minutes and I saw this cute little horse and it turned out to be the one I had picked out. For the simple reason that my cat is called Tiger and this one was Tiger Roll. And it won! My other horse wasn’t even mentioned. I had already been trying to get Naomi to come out to dinner with me. So after all that excitement she agreed to come. We went to 55deg north but could only get in the Bistro. We had passion fruit daiquiris and chicken and garlic fries and a trio of small desserts. Then to the pub for a couple of cokes. I was driving. That was my £31.25 winnings all spent. It was nice to get out though and good to do while Morgan is away at her Nana’s.
I have to go and collect her from Nana’s at 5pm. So as James lives about a mile away from her, (about 20 miles from me) I did what I said I wouldn’t. I told him that I would be doing that and asked if he was free earlier. Fail!!!! He said he wouldn’t be home until 7pm and is rarely free at weekends but meeting up would be good. Alarm bells. Although I know he is into his sports and going out with mates and has family. He is like me and doesn’t like sitting around. Works hard and gets a life.
I messaged back to let me know. And a chatty few messages followed but no arrangement.
Still not counting my chickens. It may take a while.
Just as well I have lots of holiday plans coming up.