Let me tell you about
mirt, it's something that affects about half the population including me. It's spread by animals but more so by people, ironically mostly by those who are not affected by it. It's almost impossible to get rid of and if left does not clear on its own but even the smallest outbreak can spread rapidly requiring intensive treatment. Those who are not affected by it tend to be men or children, because if you haven't already worked it out,
mirt is mess & dirt and the treatment is that Augean task known as housework. And what led my thoughts in this direction? Scroll back to this morning, having risen early I resisted the temptation to climb back into bed for a few hours sleep after doing my early morning jobs and instead decided to tidy the kitchen. After washing up my breakfast things (such a pleasure not to be faced with a pile of saucepans to do after
Linas' cooking) I used the soapy water to wipe down the
rayburn. That's a nightmare to keep clean as it is always hot and you can't use
abraisives on the enamel surface. Having wiped the
rayburn I thought I might as well take down the ornamental plates that sit above the
rayburn and give them a wash. Then not wanting to waste that bowl of water I wiped over the wooden cupboard doors. The cupboards are quite high so I got a chair to do the job properly and wipe over all the way to the top and the cupboard lintel. Noticing some dust at the top of the cupboards I thought I'd do what I usually do, get out the hoover and use the nozzle thingy to suck up all the dust on top of the cupboards behind the lintel. I've changed hoovers and this one
didn't reach so well so I thought I might first clear the worst of the dust with a damp cloth. This involved me standing up on the kitchen counters and contorting myself to see what was up there. It was YUK, not only plenty of dust but on the side of the kitchen over the hotplate the dust was mixed with a lot of grease!! A couple of hours and many buckets of hot soapy water (and that was after scraping off the worst) later the cupboard tops are sparkling clean. (I shall get some tin foil and line the tops of the cupboards to make
cleaning simpler in future.) During that time I spent a lot of time thinking about housework and the concept of
mirt and yes I did wonder exactly why I was cleaning the tops of the cupboards. This is something that no-one will ever see but I shall have the satisfaction of knowing it is clean and not a haven for germs or smells. I mostly get fed up with sorting out everyone
else's mess because they really don't care. When Peter came downstairs and I told him about the cleaning I had been doing his reaction wasn't 'Yuck' or 'Poor you having to work so hard' or even 'Your poor back having to do all that climbing and twisting'. No it was simply 'Why? No one can see up there and we don't store anything up there' Typical
mirt ignorer, it simply doesn't affect him until he loses something and then it must be because I've moved it.
Having done more tidying up in the kitchen I headed out for a quiet afternoon in the garden. The morning's low cloud/rain had cleared and though still grey it was warm and dry. I gave myself the gentle task of dead heading some of the flowers while listening to the bees buzzing away in the lavender.
Then I had visitors. My neighbour's 6 year old son and 2 dogs. This is their new hound puppy, Sapphire, Active having gone back to the hunt kennels. The damp spots on the step are where Sapphire had been licking up some of the ants that were swarming on the step, then they would tickle her nose and she would be pawing at her face and sneezing before going back for more.
In the meantime Fred had climbed up on my stone wall,
to get to
Elwen who was sitting on the roof hissing at him.
Elwen and Patch's mother still lives over at the stables so perhaps Fred was just being friendly. Jack stayed a while helping me with my dead heading before wandering off with the dogs, or at least trying to, it always takes a while for both dogs to follow him. A gentle rain then set it so it was back indoors for some early blogging.
Red Admiral on buddlia.
It was back to work on the weeding of path around the pond, the only bit not done would have involved crawling under the overhanging very wet montbretia so I left it. Instead I made a start on pulling out a lot of the native flag iris which are taking over. As I cleared away the foliage I spotted this waterlily that had been hidden from sight. A lot more of the flag iris needs to go as well as the grass and all the dead and nasty foliage in the water.
Linas is back from Plymouth for one night. He came up with a friend as they both had things to do locally and he'll be off again tomorrow. 
A ringlet on a weed! in the golden marjoram.
Down in the bog garden the astilbes are flowering well though I'm finding it hard to understand why with at least 8 or 9 varieties planted there they seem to be mostly pink or white. I'm sure I've planted some red ones as well. The overhanging branches are making that area a bit too shady so later in the year I'll be getting out my bow saw to make a few adjustments. And apart from some more general tidying up that has been my quiet day.
The nicest weather was in the evening when I took a little time to sit and enjoy the view and watch the swallows swooping to catch the midges. The nest is full of chicks cheeping which is reassuring as I was wondering if they had already gone. The nest is in a different part of the outbuildings so I don't know if I'll be as lucky as last year when I was able to photograph the fledglings sitting on a ledge.
I've been outside all day and have been weeding the path around the pond and doing some mowing as well. Next to the pond is my wildflower area which is currently full of flowers, mostly red clover and bird's foot trefoil. The ground there is very poor and wet, ideal for wild flowers not so good for grass and definitely no good at all for vegetables (no topsoil). I mow a couple of paths through the area so that it looks intentional and not just a forgotten corner and I'm pleased with the way it has turned out.
I will admit to also finding a sheltered spot and spending time simply reading and enjoying the scree garden. Th butterflies are visiting the bright purple buddlia (my favourite one) but nothing more exotic than cabbage whites, peacocks and some ringlets flitting about.
The blackcurrants have been hanging like luscious bunches of black grapes so today while the grass was not so wet I picked 6lbs. I had planned to use them in a couple of crumbles when the family come to stay but with so many I think I might have to make some jam as well. I freeze them as they are as they are much easier to top and tail when they are frozen (is that a tip, I'm not sure). I thought that I would pack the ones intended for desserts into separate bags with the sugar and cornflour already mixed in. I'll also mix up some crumble mixture and freeze that separately so that it will be quick to make the crumbles when everyone is here. Tip 1- I always grow my blackcurrants near the hen run so that when I clean out my hens (Tip 2 - deep litter hens on wood shavings usually free from a local joiner/wood store. Its so much easier to clean out), the dirty shavings can go straight on the blackcurrants which are shallow rooted and can use the nitrogen for better fruit production. The local blackbirds were not that impressed with my fruit picking and as I worked at one end of the blackcurrant bed they were at the other picking their own fruit. There are raspberries growing there as well but I'm not sure if the birds will leave me that many. Maybe this year there will be a good wild blackberry crop. We're always a bit later than other parts of the country. Sam - what's the blackberry situation in Gloucestershire? and last year there were none.
I've also started tidying up around the pond. Everything has got very overgrown and needs a good sort out. Already I have cut back all the alchemilla which has finished flowering and was flopped right across the path. A final walk in the evening sunshine to collect the re-cycling box and that was my day.
Having done more tidying up in the kitchen I headed out for a quiet afternoon in the garden. The morning's low cloud/rain had cleared and though still grey it was warm and dry. I gave myself the gentle task of dead heading some of the flowers while listening to the bees buzzing away in the lavender.
Then I had visitors. My neighbour's 6 year old son and 2 dogs. This is their new hound puppy, Sapphire, Active having gone back to the hunt kennels. The damp spots on the step are where Sapphire had been licking up some of the ants that were swarming on the step, then they would tickle her nose and she would be pawing at her face and sneezing before going back for more.
In the meantime Fred had climbed up on my stone wall,
to get to Elwen who was sitting on the roof hissing at him. Elwen and Patch's mother still lives over at the stables so perhaps Fred was just being friendly. Jack stayed a while helping me with my dead heading before wandering off with the dogs, or at least trying to, it always takes a while for both dogs to follow him. A gentle rain then set it so it was back indoors for some early blogging.
