they call it an indian summer; when the sun loiters, its heat lingering, you'd be forgiven for in fact believing it was still summer. until you spot a deciduous tree looking all forlorn. and then you noticed that the sun was buggering off early. the mornings are crisp (but mostly i'm still in bed so this is only a rumour) but once the sun clears the roof tops it's balmy, beach going weather. but better. cos the light is subdued- not the burn you to a crisp intensity of midsummer, but a somewhat gentler, more refined light. filtered.
but we're still so busy!
i said i'd be in the garden by autumn. well, i went out and mowed the cursed lawn, again, today. but that's not what i mean by being in the garden. i dug a hole the day before and that just depressed me.
when we moved in i noticed a bunch of yellow buttercups, ranunculus repens, growing in a patch down the bottom of the garden. and it was, down the bottom. it made sense that they would be there. because these golden treasures like moisture, they tend to hang about where it's wet. my neighbour said- when it's high tide in the winter your garden gets a bit inundated... so i thought, i'll dig me a hole and make a soakaway pit. by alleviating compaction you can sometimes do away with problem wet areas: dig yourself a hole (actually, not just talking about potentially offensive topics, for a change!) usually to at least 1.5m (taking care to support the sides once you get beyond 1.2m) and then put some rocks, rubble and other bits in there. these larger bits tend to create greater spaces between particles and therefore allow water to drain away more freely...
unless you live between a river and the deep blue sea.
i dug 60cm down and got water. i dug another 20 cm and the hole began to fill up to my ankles. i've taken to visiting my hole at various times of the day to see what happens. like at high tide, for example. or low tide.
not a lot.
so, i can still fill my hole up with various rocks and other bits of debris. but really, i need to just come to terms with my watery garden. plant more trees (they'll drink the water & thus lessen the soil's need to percolate so much water). redirect water that may potentially drain there (like capturing the water off the roof before it runs to the bottom of the garden). or make a water feature.


but with a stunt baby who has discovered he is a fish, making a water feature at the bottom of my garden is just plain asking for trouble.

on the rest of the diy front, we've had a bit of a rest. more like resting on laurels. other than hole digging (and mowing lawns and cleaning up after chickens and baking and washing and being a mama) i haven't really done a lot these last coupla days. and i feel awfully naughty.
cos we've still got so much to do!

putting some photos on is one of them!

(usual story)
xx
mama b