Friday 3 August 2007

Previously on The Cats Tripe

sun set

Updates on recent posts...

The new vegetable plot is looking so good we have irrational fears for it, and some rational ones it must said. Already seeds are germinating, we have two sorts of radish, beetroots, peas and Paul almost convinced me that a few onions were poking their heads up but maybe it was grass. Apart from a dread of failing good fortune and some unforeseen catastrophe destroying our hard work there is the ever present threat of deer and other vermin which might well damage all our hopes in one night. Even the feral cat isn't entirely safe, the soft earth has tempted her to befoul a spot already. We have plans for protective enclosures but they're not yet in place. It's a worry.

We've decided to double the size of the plot over the next year. Paul has cleared down the rough grass and we will cover the ground with black plastic until next March. This worked well on the piece we've already cultivated and should enable us to rotovate the fresh earth in time for crops next year.

The cat, that most wicked of creatures has not been at all well these last couple of days. We're not sure what upset him but he was sick and dopey, unable to eat and wanting only to sleep. Today, he's a bit better and eating best steak. Does he rule our lives? Of course not.

Each night this week we've been out late, risking total vivisection by midges, trying to catch a glimpse of the barn owl. A couple of times we're caught a good view, out of the corner of our eye, just as we've decided to give it up for the night. That barn owl is a tease.

And if the owl is a tease, the buzzards are positive flirts, sitting on hedges, flying overhead and generally putting on some amazing aerial displays accompanied by heart rending shrieks but they're clever enough to only do it when the camera is pointing in another direction or there's not the slightest chance of recording their antics. I think they're holding out for a licence fee.

flowers

This Buddleia x weyeriana has a long history with me. The original plant was rooted from a cutting stolen from a Worthing front garden years ago after a drunken Karaoke night at the Elms in Broadwater. That plant produced a cutting for the garden in Ouville, now that plant has made a child for the garden here. It really is a most obliging rooter, just stick a bit in the ground and stand back.

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