As I got up today, I looked out of the window and realised that it was raining. So I consoled myself to a day indoors as I followed chased Resident Cat down the stairs to administer his morning meds. It’s been a bit of a week, you see, as Buster (whom you met last week) jumped down from his cat tree and landed awkwardly, inflicting on himself the equivalent of a human sprain. As the vet was doing the biz on Monday morning, she noticed a wound that I’d missed. A wound that was identified as the result of an attack by another cat. A wound that had become infected! It transpired that the sprain was a lucky happenstance as I might not have noticed that wound for a few more days, by when the infection would have set in and become more serious and very painful. So this meant painkillers (for the sprain) and antibiotics to clear up the infection.

That translates to three pills and two doses of liquid stuff every morning and two pills and one dose of liquid stuff every evening. And anyone who knows cats knows ……… So, on Tuesday morning, I donned a modicum of protective clothing and commenced the process of inserting the meds into the mouth of Resident Cat. Repeatedly.

An hour later, I had succeeded and could retire to repair the damage to my armour whilst contemplating the repeat performance that evening. Somewhat sensibly, I had agreed with SWSNBN (you met her last week too) that she should come this week on Thursday, rather than Tuesday, by which time I hoped to have found a way to subdue the patient.

And so Thursday came. At the appointed time, having noticed that her chariot had appeared on the drive, I opened the door to admit SWSNBN. Hardly had I turned the catch when the door was pushed open, trapping me betwixt it and the wall as I contemplated my luck that the door handle was at navel height and I only had a bruised stomach. Had it been about 15 cm lower, my eyes would have been watering and my voice a couple of octaves higher. Meanwhile a banshee flew past, screaming (as all good banshees do) “Where’s my little guy?”. The apparition moved around the house before spying him, hiding underneath an Acanthus, and proceeding out into the garden. My presence was then acknowledged with a snap of the fingers and a shout of “Where’s my coffee?”.

Anyhow, back to today, as I caught the little chap blighter, got his meds into his mouth and decided to celebrate with a pause for coffee. Not just any coffee! I deserved something special so I prepared my coffeemaking gadget to produce the perfect caramel latte (large), pressed the big green button and went to let Resident Cat out once I’d confirmed he hadn’t managed to cough up any of the pills. The coffeemaker bleeped and I went back to retrieve my perfect mug of coffee. And realised I’d forgotten one major component; enough to spoil the whole thing!

So I emptied the drip tray into the sink and started again. This time remembering to put a mug under the spout.

There we go (my sister is now going to ask “Where are we going?” Cos that’s what she always does.

Which brings me to the whole point of this post. Cos it’s Saturday. So oft we jolly well go.

1 Dianthus

We’ll start easy, so to speak, with a little collection of Dianthus. No, not your classy tall ones with all sorts of fancy names; rather the little ones that are often planted out as annual bedding. These are, though perennials and, in one of our better decisions, SWSNBN and I decided to plant them in a few front-of-border groups without a care for colours. And they’ve turned out to be a nice mix. And they’ll be a lot less hassle than the taller varieties that simply spend their lives flopping over everything unless you prop them up. There’s actually only four pots planted there so I guess the pots contained more than one plant each.

Incidentally, though I refer to one of our better decisions, it would be more accurate to refer to one of those “You’re the boss, it’s your garden so how would you like it?” occasions where SWSNBN goes through to motions of seeking instructions which she promptly ignores and carries on as she thinks best. I seem to encounter a lot of those occasions.

 

2 Isoplexis ‘Bella’

Twisting 90 degrees right from the Dianthus we find this little gem. There’s another over the other side of the garden somewhere, planted in the right position by SWSNBN but now swamped under something else. I got them simply because I liked the look of them. All I know about there preferred growing conditions is an assumption that they like being in the ground. I’ll read up on them sometime. But, meanwhile, I guess I must have put this one in the right spot as SWSNBN has not embarked on one of her “I’m not criticising you but…..” lectures. And it’s looking healthy. I’ll be able to tell you if the other one (definitely in the right spot) is similarly healthy when I find it.

 

3 Turk’s Cap Lilies

Another quarter-turn to the right and a hop, skip and jump away we find this group of lilies. Don’t know if they’re “Martagon” or not – they were a freebie pack of mixed bulbs that were stuck in a container to see how they turned out. They’ll go somewhere else in the autumn. If you squint you’ll catch a glimpse of the more permanent resident, a young Hydrangea.

Talking of containers, on Thursday in a rare break from my “make me coffee”, “cook me a pasty” and “miaow” duties, I decided to plant up a couple of containers with some surplus bedding plants. But SWSNBN had finished planting a border (as per instructions save that the plants went where she decided and stuff the planting plan) and so I was un-ceremonially pushed aside as she took over the task (“I’m not criticising but this is my job!”). Seems (“I’m definitely not criticising”) that I’d put exactly a centimetre too much compost into each container ……. Still, she laid out the plants on the surface of the compost to see if I liked her proposed layout. “Will that be OK?” she asked, giving me a glaring look that defied me to disagree. Noticing a ring of seven little Petunias around the edge of the container, I commented “Well that’s about eight so fine.” “But it’s seven!” she exclaimed. “Yes.” I replied “and seven is about eight. If there were eight plants then it would be exactly, not about, eight.” So there!

4 Geranium

Moving swiftly on, we come to this plant. It’s a Geranium but which one. I’ve labelled it “Geranium var. unk ex Gill” Which gives me a hook on which to hang a mention of He Who Shall Be Named, the glorious Mr Prop to whose blog you should now pop to find links to other Sixes of the Day. If you’re a regular reader of his blog, you will know he often gives plants the “var. unk” epithet. I’ve added “ex” meaning “came from” or “formerly belonged to” or “propagated by” as you wish and “Gill” cos that’s the name of the person who gave it to me. So don’t bother to Google that full name cos you won’t find it.

Here’ you’ll find it in the fernery, a new addition to the garden about which I’ll chat in a future post. The fernery is, of course, planted up (by me) with ferns. And also with other plants (by SWSNBN cos she knows best). The funny-looking thing on the left of the photo is my hog house, which provides winter accommodation for hedgehogs but is currently vacant. The hogs are still around though.

5 Sambucus nigra

This has lurked behind a Camellia for several years, not really going anywhere. “Maybe we ought to relocate it,” suggested SWSNBN. “I’ll think about it,” said I. And when she wasn’t looking, I attached it to the garden fence, forcing it out into the open, so to speak. And it responded by lurking madly and growing to a high height in a matter of five months. That’s a 2 metre fence it’s towering over by more than a metre.

So I think we’ll leave it just where it is.

I may put a slab of concrete around its base to be sure.

Or a brick wall. security fence or sommat like that.

6 Mystery Object

I’ll finish with this.

 

This isn’t a competition so no prizes, sorry, but can you guess what it is. It’s a “thing” and you can include things in your six as long that the thing is in the garden. And it’s in the garden. Furthermore, it will be used exclusively in the garden and will remain outdoors most of the time. It may occasionally be put in the shed out of the way. Enough clues. Ideas in the comments please.

SWSNBN isn’t allowed to participate cos she knows what it is. And knows what it might be used for if she’s not careful..

Until next time.