My Poor Garden

I really love my garden and I take great care of it. Recently it has been impossible to mow the lawns because of the continual rain and high winds. The oak tree at the bottom of the garden has lost so many branches recently, and when we came back from our Atlantic fiasco I noticed more branches were down.


This morning two gentlemen arrived with chain saws and ladders and amputated the branch that was still hanging. Badger had a joyful hour playing with the men, stealing their tools, tripping them up and bringing her ball to them to play catch and fetch.


Men up trees.



Badger's favourite toy - her deflated football. This was punctured the night that Jack came a cropper on the flower pot during an exremely rough game of footy with Tortoiseshell, TCA, The Musician and Badger.

Yesterday my friend, The Master Potter, came to see me for lunch in the delightful deli that Ann and I hang out in. During the afternoon there was a cloudburst, to put it mildly. We sheltered in Netto (the cherries are still excellent) and then braved the storm to walk home. On the way we negotiated the Rue Clumber stream burst. Water was racing across the road and into the Junior School. We got to Boulevard Dickens, where the zebra crossing was under water; we had no option but to hitch our trousers up and paddle happily across the road. I was wearing sandles but M.P. was wearing posh leather shoes. Where were our wellies in our hour of need. Mine in the back porch and her's in her cellar.

Horror of horrors. We got home. My back lawn! My football pitch! My dog's public convenience! My pride and joy! Flooded. Flooded and more water pouring in every minute.

First:


And then:


And then:


Oh I could have wept. So what did I do? Well obviously I did the only thing possible and sent Badger out to play:





This morning amazingly, and some would say miraculously, my lake had disappeared. We had been thinking of turning it into a swimming pool. I still have the plank from Mistral 48. I knew it would come in handy. I was googling the price of fish to stock the lake. I had been looking forward to having rare ducks and geese arrive in order to lure Maalie down.

So, it's almost back to normal. Still nowhere near dry enough to mow, still looking bedraggled, unkempt and sodden, but at least I don't have to paddle to the compost heap today.


Scaredy has deigned to come outside without the risk of wetting his feet, although the little sod went out during the night as be brought me back a mouse at 3.00 am.
Badger still delightfully badgering Scaredy for a game of chase.