Autumn is just around the corner. Surely it should still be about April. I went on a buying spree intending to get things to fill the newly cleared side bed. Annoyingly, most of the things on the list weren’t available. For now, I have put a net up as the climbers, that were cut back pretty much to ground level, start to regrow and have planted some bulbs. In fact, the main consequence of the plant buying trip was that I somehow lost my debit card. I got it ready as I approached the checkout. As if by magic, by the time I reached the checkout it had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. The twenty something on the checkout was very impressed that someone as ancient as I had an app and (after a bit of faffing) was able to use it to block said card within five minutes.

The pond does now have water and plants. It looks a bit murky but some insect life seems to like it. I’ve tidied up the large raised bed, which was looking very much past it best. The olive tree now has a larger pot, as well as a few tiny olives. I picked the single apple that was my apple harvest.

I acquired some wallflowers and chrysanthemums. I also ended up with a sunflower that was self-seeded from the birdseed. Apart from sparrows, I have been deserted by smaller birds, I hope they return in the spring. I always knew that moving house would deplete my supply of garden birds. I do still get visits from jackdaws, magpies, wood pigeons and herring gulls, so I have to make do with those.

Unless I can get any of the plants on the wanted list, there will be a lull in gardening over the winter. It will just be the continuation of the convolvulus wars and a bit of tidying. It is still very much a work in progress and I am still not completely happy with it but it is on its way.