Wounded Soldier #2

Here is poor little Shandy with her war wound, we can certainly hear her coming now, like a canine Long John Silver, thump, thump, thump!
She must remain in pot for ten weeks, and allowing for her building back the strength in her leg, that will be February before she is back on rabbit chasing duties, I wonder how many babies they will have by then?
Perhaps we will not be rabbit free next year after all! On the whole she seems to be coping with it rather well, but it is difficult to keep her still and out of the mud, Giles had to resort to a long lead and her basket placed outside so she could watch us work. As you can see she was not best pleased, it could be a very long ten weeks!

"Properly trained a man can be a dogs best friend"
Corey Ford

Wounded Soldier

We had a morning of high drama today at Norton Conyers. The rabbit hunt passed uneventfully and we settled down to some seasonal digging in front of the orangery. Then Giles came up with the brilliant idea of flushing the rabbits out of their warren by putting the hosepipe down, it worked a treat and we were soon chasing at least three bunnies around the garden like loonies. Boy are they fast! Shandy as ever was giving it her all and finally managed to corner one in the forcing house, unfortunately this is also where all sorts of things that may come in useful like panes of glass are stored. The next thing we heard was a crash and then Shandy emerged triumphant with a huge rabbit, it was bucking and kicking and managed to escape twice before she finished it off. Only then did we notice the blood running down one back leg, scooping her up Giles decided it looked bad enough for the vet so we wrapped her leg in a tea towel and off he went in a hurry. We were all really worried but she will be fine, she has cut a tendon but they have stitched it up and put her leg in plaster so it cannot move. So that is the end of our rabbit hunts for a while until our secret weapon is recovered. Photo to follow on Monday, when we will all sign her cast and draw pictures of bunnies on it!

"Time heals all wounds"
Geoffrey Chaucer

A New Friend

Early morning rabbit hunt

Our days at Norton Conyers have now settled into a time honoured routine. We start each morning with a rabbit hunt, although despite evidence to the contrary we seem unable to find any. This year Giles is determined to wage war on them early so we are well ahead with the cutting back, meaning they have less places left to hide. There has even been talk of electrifying the yew hedge, which acts as rabbit central, as a means to deter them. Not all wild creatures are so unwelcome however, we seem to have been adopted by a robin that has moved into the peach house. Whenever we sit down to tea or lunch out he or she pops begging for crumbs. Giles is going to try and tame it to take crumbs out of his hand and so has started sharing his cake by placing some in strategic locations, which he will then slowly bring closer to where we sit. This is annoying Shandy somewhat as Giles never shares his cake, not even with her!
I have tried to get a photo but our little friend is a bit quick as yet, I shall keep trying though. Yesterday the robin serenaded us with a very pretty song as a thank you, much louder when inside. I think it will make a very charming addition to our workforce.
"A single rose can be my garden..... A single friend, my world"
Leo buscaglia

Bed Time For The Salvias

It was a murky start this morning with thick fog which was slow to clear, so thick in fact that I almost missed my bus as it came looming out of the mist taking me by surprise. Once at Norton Conyers it was time to dig up salvias, some require moderate protection over the winter and were placed in the greenhouse, more tender specimens went into the peach house and some were left in the main border to take their luck with whatever winter will bring. As we emptied the stone troughs we planted tulip bulbs for spring cheer, although it will probably just be us that get to appreciate them. November is the best time for planting these colourful bulbs, any earlier and they become susceptible to tulip fire. We are now well on the way to finishing the cutting back as the size of the compost heap can testify!

Finally a quick mention of a really good plant to show up in these dank days, Ceratostigma is a wonderful doer against red brick walls where is seems to glow with a particularly vibrant colour.

"I saw old autumn in the misty morn stand shadowless like silence"
Thomas Hood

A Stick Up The Nose

That was what I got for my troubles after returning from the half term break. It is a common gardeners problem but not one that has occurred to me before, I must make a mental note not to do it again, it hurt! We were continuing with the big cut back when it happened and upon bending forward I managed to impale myself, luckily Alyson came to my rescue with a tissue, I never carry them myself as they are useless when it is wet,(now there's a thought if someone could invent a stay dry and dirt free gardeners hankie I will gladly forsake the back of my glove, there's money to be made there someone!) needless to say I bled freely. Mind you it's better than a poke in the eye! That makes me wonder if that part of the garden will grow better next year, I'll keep you posted.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the garden the salvias are still looking fantastic, making one doubt that it is indeed November, they are still covered in bees too, but they had best make the most of it as we will be bringing the ones we want to save indoors very soon, as well as the dahlias. There is frost forecast at last this week so we must say goodbye to those gorgeous mellow autumn colours and prepare for winter.
"Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons"
Jim Bishop