” I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of Rolling Ells too.”
And with that rallying cry ringing in my furry lugs, fpu went to do battle with six rather large heavy paving slabs, armed only with a pinch bar, a discarded tree stake, a house brick, a bale of soil improver and a pair of gardening gloves.
It’s amazing what a weak and feeble biped can do with a bit of leverage. “Don’t say I never learn from you!'” she exclaimed, upon mpu’s arrival home from Playgroup, “You’re always on about Levers&Rollers the well-known songwriting landscape gardeners, so you are.”
Mpu had come home via the Garden Centre in order to expand the CookieCutterCottage arsenal of rollers, and they spent a happy hour shifting the rather large etceteras into the Garage of Earthly Delights. With a remarkable lack of bad words…
Purreviously, because my amanuensis has been too busy to help a poor abandoned kitty to blog, the Pergola of Opporchancity was erected into its new position…
…a load of pink gravel and black plastic was removed from the Herb Garden (use your imagination for goodness sake) and wooden edging put in place (old ship’s floorboards)…
…not one but two trellises constructed from shelving offcuts and fixed in place…
Apart from that and a bit of appliqué and a visit to Dobbies at Monifieth which cost mpu an armandaleg in compost, pebbles, grit, manure, potted bulbs and herbs, and where the lunch is plentiful and cheap (though not by the standards of m’Correspondent in Indiana!), nothing much has been happening.
Now we are back to freezing and the ground is too hard to work and all we want is to get Out There and Do Things!
Obviously me’n’Marmers get out there and do things every day, but that’s another story…
What a whirlwind of activity you are. If only we could drum up the enthusiasm and activity. I feel shamed into venturing into our jungle this weeknd.
Our pergolla of opporchancity took askew in the Autumn winds – Mr ML propped it up and re-set it in concrete – we must check how it stands on it’s own.
Our non-herb patch is still looking forlorn, so must address this too. Though, as said armandaleg is restricting this project for a while. I’ve been promised a new bed (human sleeping variety) since 2007!!
Perhaps we could hire your services for the summer!! 😀
It’s easy when you have the time MadLamb, but hard to find the time when you have a job and a home to run!
Most of the potted plants were on a threefur, which helped.
Oooooo one is mightily impressed and, like Madlamb, somewhat humbled. A textbook example of basic engineering principles. And how very kind to put up Cat Ladders to go with the Climbing Frame! I hope you boys (strangely absent in the photos above) realise how lucky you are…
We know when to stay out of harm’s way. Just imagine if we had been curious kittens sneaking under a hundredweight slab at the very moment fpu lost her grip and had to let it fall back into place. It doesn’t bear thinking about. Anyway, we were warmly snuggled up together on our Lovely Blankie…
I still need to get out in the fresh air now and then. Started the New Year late (due to calorie-filled holiday to parents) and trying to up my activity. Today only on 753 steps so far – the down side of working from home once a week. (Yesterday I did make 5900!)
What a busy pair your pu’s are KC,but I am rather glad you and marmers supervised from a safe position
Talking about “Indiana” whats new from mjc???
A very nice dog. Looks smarter than a waggonload of monkeys and as pretty as a picture!
I am jolly impressed, so I am. It puts my humble kitchen building activities to shame, although yesterday I also lived hopefully by putting some seeds into my propagator, which Fudge The Incredible Heat Seeking Cat will sit on top of, knock over and helpfully shite in the compost. I see it in my crystal ball…..
Yes , indeed, you can go here to see Jen’s kitchen building activities..
shameless attempt to Pied Piper away all your blog fans KC.. apologies…
Shameless landlady? Your neck is brassier than Thatcher’s hairdo! And it’s not as if I hadn’t put you in my Meaty Chunks right from the beginning…
Oh bytheway, yer link disnae wurrk but!
What you lot need is a good load of snow. You can come over here and have some for a knock-down price, honest! Then you can all stay indoors with clean consciences (if you had them in the first place). I join in the general round of applause for this rather startling demonstration of outdoor engineering skills – isn’t this the sort of thing that Discovery channel pays soft dollars for? Alternatively ….. “för which Discovery channel pays soft dollars?” I also noticed the division of labour, fpu rols and heaves and mpu pays … and pays …. and pays. Maybe gardens are almost as resource-demanding as boats.
The difference being that with a garden you actually see things grow, whereas, with a boat you just see your money sink…
10/10 for grammar Cap’n. Take a Gold Star and go to the top of the class…😀
There are differences between gardens and gardens, it would appear. But ’tis true that all boats sink … in the end. Here it would be appropriate to quote a mournful ditty concerning a sinking boat, but Hélas! one does not spring to mind. Now ’tis coffee time, fare thee well.
Nonsense, KC. There were many ways in which you could have helped. You could have done some pond digging, helped hold the end of the marker string, tested the pergola for stability and the trelliseseses for secure attachment. You’re just a blanket potato…
http://www.seacoastnh.com/Arts/Poetry/Seacoast_Poems_of_John_Albee/
There you are Cap’n, there’s bound to be a bit o’ sinkin’ and such in here…I rather like his style.
Me’nMarmers are awfully taken with being Blankie Totties and are almost tempted to rename the blog!😆
Blankie Totties! 😆
I was watching the TV, and it was plugged in and switched on, and there was a programme on about Egypt, and the building of the Pyramids, and after reading, & viewing this weblog post, I wonder, have we progressed? Maybe KC, and Marmers could have been positioned, and slab(s) placed on their backs, and with precise team-work, carried the slabs from point A to Point B. Just a thought, that’s all…
But Tws, that would mean me’n’Marmers being flattened to our detriment and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t like that now would you?😯
Hi Tws, I too wondered about a pyramid connection in terms of technology, but I think they need more than loincloths in Fife!
sheepskin loincloths? (of course Madlamb would be out of bounds!)
Jesuschristonabike. I HATE links in comments I really do.
Good followers of the church of KC and Marmers- go here and read my blog, if you so wish.
We quite fancy the sheepskin lioncloths, but even I wouldn’t suggest skinning a friend, Mia m’dia!
Poor landlady, there there there (imagine a furry paw soothing your fevered broo).
Right, don’t say I’m not good to you, I have now added both your personae to Meaty Chunks…honestly, you bipeds! The Two Faces of Eve😀
Next time I visit I expect to find the Pool of Oblivion resplendent with Green Leafy Things and Itinerant Wildlife. See to it, won’t you? Paddy still savouring his forestgallopinghappycrappingfox meetingpoodlesniffingadventure.
The very thought of a happycrappingfox is enough to make myself and my plump chum very glad we don’t go forestgalloping😆
aw thanks Kc, you’re a pal! I do feel a bit split into several bits on occasions…it’s jolly nice of you to take account of this. 😆
H’m, a late comment perhaps but I am sure none the less vastly welcomed by the devotees of KC-land. In them there pomes av MR. Albee I could not find a single sinkin’ ship, not nowhere (tho’ time bein’ precious like, I durst not read ’em all). But he did use the word “tansy”, substantive. What, dear co-worshippers, is a tansy? Pray still my craving, for ’tis dire.
Tansy is a herb whose purroperties, alleged or real, are many. Abortificant, vermifuge, Law-Keep-Away, poultice…
Seemingly, washing either yourself or your clothes in tansy water makes the boys in blue leave you well alone. Aye right…
Highly toxic constituents mean it is not recommended for home use, but it is readily available here on t’web.
Maybe that is not what Mr Albee was on about.. Sorry he let you down with the sinkin’ Cap’n😆
But on the other paw, having got the bit firmly atween my fangs, and being determined to deliver up a shipwreck pome for my Capitain, try this for size
http://www.seacoastnh.com/The_Arts/For_Better_or_Verse/Ballad_of_Jack_Ringbolt/
(One day landlady might divulge in words of one syllabub, how she does that ‘here’ thing which means not having big ugly links…)
Female staff is now seriously wondering about her father’s sense of humour – his nickname for her is Tansy! 😎
Oh dear Mia, I’ve been trying to find some really nice girly things about Tansy to make your fs feel better, but, sadly😥apart from being a very pretty flower, wherever you look it’s all worms, toxicity and Vera Drake…
From female staff – re links – have you tried right clicking on the subject line and choosing the rename option ( or ‘save as….’)?
someone’s been busy! with all that activity its a wonder fpu had the energy to blog!
Energy levels are rock bottom as we speak morrolesssocks, but, as Scarlet O’Hara said, “Tomorrow is another day.”
O Fearless and Sagacious Hanimal! To think that “tansy” concealed such perils, ti’s a pretty name. For the stirring pome, many thanks. This is the stuff to make hairs grow on the most innocent breast. I felt particulary attracted by the following stanza:
A rough, hard-featured countenance
The storm-tossed captain wore;
But his heart for tender innocence
With love was flowing o’er.
One simply cannot have enough of this sort of stuff these namby-pamby days. And it must have been a powerful force that could propel the corpse at high speed with a 42-pound shot in its shrouding.
🙄
Migod Capitain, that could huv been wrote fur yew!
Surely you mean OMG, KC, and that doesn’t stand for Orchestral Manoevres in the Garden, although in your case it could.
Read Robert Service, Cap’n Puggy, for heroic pomes of derring-do, and in particular the last stanza of The Cremation Of Sam McGee.
Puggy’s Last Stanza… LOL etc :0)
Oh Jeeliepiece and on Valentine’s Day, too. You are sweet!
And I ifnd the idea of a lioncloth strangely appealing.
Don’t say I’m not good to you Puggy, and all the best with the Offspring and Education.
You can’t go calling the Cap’n Puggy he’s already bin kissed and turned into a prince…unless there’s a reverse order…
I hope there is 👿
You prefer frogs taddoe?😆
Now,whatever gave you that idea?😆