Saturday, April 28, 2018

Good old Rain Gods!


Thank you Huey! It is so nice to wake up this morning to hear the gentle hiss of rain on the tin roof that covers the back part of our house. And to look out upon the garden and see the pathway covered in a shiny film, I know that finally the plants are getting a proper watering, a soaking of their souls that a mere gardener with a hose and a watering can cannot hope to provide. 

Pictured below is soggy land this morning, bathed in the dull light of low grey clouds.


I am sure I must have mentioned it a few times before on this blog, but I love watering the garden. Even though we didn't have much of a garden in the home where I grew up, as a little boy I still loved watering the garden. All we had then was two hydrangeas, a lawn and a row of unruly oleanders that didn't need any help whatsoever from wistful little boys. But for me even then, watering the garden was a lovely time of quiet contemplation and daydreaming.

Despite my lifelong love of watering our garden, some mornings I do get a bit sick of it. As the weather cools down (finally!) this autumn, the garden's established plants don't need extra water, but we always have some new crops that need a regular drink. And so yes, some days even one of my favourite things can become a chore. Sigh. Being a grown-up can be so boring sometimes ...

And so here's truly heartfelt thanks to our Rain Gods, for doing a wonderful job and also letting me have the morning off.




3 comments:

MDN said...

Jamie, it's been raining a lot here too, things gets boring after seven days of non stop rain, but on the other hand everything will be green and lush when it stops. Have a great weekend!

Phil in Newy said...

Hi Jamie (& MDN)

Wouldn't be too quick thanking the "rain gods" - they've been asleep at the wheel lately. Our griping on your blog woke them up. Squeaky wheel etc. Amen to all your observations. We have a full tin roof, so the gentle hiss can be a mighty roar - which is also good.

Newcastle (inner 'burbs)is quite clean-aired since 2000 when BHP closed down, so after a rain like this week's the mornings have a forest floor smell that I like to attribute to the my tiny garden. The oldies over the road have a rusty iron roof and wartime paint on their weatherboards and their yard still sports a hydrangea, an oleander and a frangipani. Didn't they all, when we were kids?

Watering by hand is satisfying but I have a set of raised vege beds and numerous pots, so to prevent inconsistency I distributed poly drips & drip pipes everywhere with the usual filtering, pressure regulation, suction, and flushing devices. Cost about $1000 for all the bits. Ensures a good soaking in dry times. Drips into top soil; no spray jets lessens evap.

I like the paving in your yard. It's reminiscent of old-style garden yards when most folk grew their food (19th century) because, well, they had to. My aunts in Eastwood had a yard just like that back in the 50's but there was a chook yard at the back fence. Where's yours! What is that in the photo at the end of the path, Jamie? Looks like a doorway in the back fence. Is there more garden beyond or some optical illusion?

And well done managing to hide the foliage of that tree in the middle with a handle on its trunk. Would be a fine place for a staghorn, but SWMBO would probably complain. Unless as is likely, you hang the wash.

All the best, Phil.

PS: It's great I found your garden blog. I get to do posts without the admin hassle of having my own :0)

Jamie said...

Thanks for your comments, MDN and Phil.

MDN: I know what you mean about non-stop rain. When we get a rain depression called an "East Coast Low" it can rain for a week, dumping rain in buckets-full, rather than thimbles-full.

And Phil, that door at the end of the path leads to Pammy's art studio. It used to be my garden shed but when she started working from home we converted it into her studio. There was a second, rickety old shed on the right side of the main shed, so we knocked that down and built a brand new, but tiny shed for me. As our garden is a bit small, I have attached a big mirror to the wall of Pam's shed/studio, so from the garden you see a reflection of the garden in it. It seemed like a good idea, but male birds in the mating season bash themselves silly trying to fight themselves.

Cheers

Jamie