Luke has been and chopped down the huge bouganvillea with the chain saw leaving a huge pile of foliage and branches filling the space between the gum tree and the house. I borrowed Wendy's electric chainsaw and tentatively and cautiously chopped a few branches all the time envisaging the thing slipping and slicing into my leg before you can blink. I spent most of the weekend feeding branches into the mulcher and closing my ears to Hugh's tirade about my conventionality, my thoughtlessness and my lack of consideration for the environment, the amount of electricity I was consuming etc. I persevered and had done two thirds when I managed to chop through the power cable with the loppers and throw all the safety switches in the shed and the house. It started raining then so was forced inside.Daphne came and wandered around the garden and created a map of every major plant in the garden. She was inspired and anxious about the major changes to the garden structure by the removal of the bouganivillea. I am excited by the new possibilities opening up. It does mean that the rubbish between myself and the neighbour is exposed and must be dealt to. Hugh is dreaming of creating a croquet lawn, but it must be around my plantings. I am thinking of espaliered fruit trees. I must speak to the neighbour soon. Daphne is forcing me out of my comfort zone of just scrabbling at the garden and challenging me to think of the garden in new ways.
On Saturday evening a puriri moth came battering against the glass door, attracted by the light. It fell to the ground and immediately started laying its eggs on the deck. It is a creature of great beauty, but I couldn't help thinking of my citrus trees which are suffering from borer, which is the juvenile stage of the moth. Maybe its not true and each of those eggs doesn't have the potential to destroy a citrus tree.
The beautiful soft camelia is flowering. I used the macro setting on the camera which was probably a mistake as I've failed to capture its beauty.
I am amazed that my plum is sporting a plum at the most inappropriate time of the year when it couldn't manage it over the summer. Maybe I'll get to sample the Wilson's Early before the birds get it if it ripens.
