I wish my brother was here! I saw the effects of his work on my dad’s garden a few weeks ago and I’d appreciate some of that on our wilderness now.

Cos wilderness it definitely is! I’ve never left so much alone and to be honest, some flowers have benefited. Cerinthe I’ve planted over the years have suddenly flourished. Roses are budding beautifully and buttercups and forgetmenots are everywhere. Alliums and aquilegia are looking pretty all over.

But dandelions and sticky willow are rampant and brambles are doing their thing too! Gardening with limitations has suddenly bit me in the backside.

But the spiky stuff and the sticky stuff are exhausting to eradicate for sure. I need a long cold fizzy beverage before I try to do some more. And the front has a few issues as well. There are loads of things to appreciate but finding a dead rat on the path this morning has kind of shaken me.

I didn’t mention that to my neighbour who was using her walker to get busy with her weed killer on the drive. Where our ancient mares tail pops up at frequent intervals in her paving. So neglecting that plants eradication has not done us any favours… c’est la vie!