Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Mid-autumn


Our autumn here is progressing pleasantly. We've had nice warm weather, better than summer because there's no wind. The leaves are turning slowly and falling gently around us. My daily chore now is collecting the pear tree leaves from the lawn. I rake them up into piles, and Thomas comes and scatters them to make a nest.




The vegetables have grown - now, above...


....and then (about three weeks ago)






Katydids live on until the first frost - they've had a long season this year 


Camellia sasanqua "Yuletide". The stripy leaf is a Phormium tenax (New Zealand flax or harakeke)


My old boots are on their way out. I bought these when I was about 19 or 20. I am now 57. They were very expensive at the time, about $280, and I quailed at the expense and bought them anyway, because when I put them on, they felt just like gloves do on your hands. They are La Sportiva boots from Italy, and they have been wonderful. I've used them for hiking all over New Zealand and for my first hike in Tuscany, and worn them as snow boots and as gardening boots. How many miles they have walked through mud and water and over rocks and shingle I don't know, but now the soles are starting to separate from the uppers and the padding around the tops is frayed. I've had nearly forty years of comfortable wear out of them, and when they finally go, I'm going to bury them in the garden with full honours.

1 comment:

  1. Your garden is looking good. Here we are (finally) getting cooler days and nights, but lots and lots of wind. And no rain.
    The boots don't owe you anything. Will you replace them with the same brand?

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