I am so dirty right now, even my dirt is dirty.

I’m not talking about the nasty kind of dirty, but the good kind of dirty you get after a day of digging, weeding, yanking indestructible Rose roots and Dogwood out of the ground, and… after many hours of those tasks… turf-laying. My muscles are shaking from the effort of revamping a whole corner of the garden, and it feels as though my fingernails will never be clean again.

…but I never regret a day spent in the garden, and I love the way mud smells and feels as I rifle through it to tug out the bindweed root, or liberate a stray worm from the spade’s path.

Treats from the day include:

A curious Robin who supervised our doings all morning.

Joey. Posing no threat at all to aforementioned Robin, Joey spent the day demonstrating how much lovely napping you can do in the garden if you can find A. a nice shady bit under the apple tree; B. a grand old canvas BBQ cover which has been lunched out on the patio; C. a nice, verdant bit of lawn. Joey’s approach to sleep and self-care in general is exemplary and I very much enjoy the unquestioning sense of entitlement and confidence with which he approaches life.

The garden spiders are amazing right now. They have set up an intricate set of webs all around the composting bin where there are many tiny flies, and seem to be growing exceedingly fat as a result of this advantageous placement. I am afraid of house spiders, but the garden ones impress me with their furry legs, their amazing webs, and the beauty of their markings.

This abandoned and extremely fragile nest was discovered in a thicket of indestructible Dogwood*. I do not know what lived in it, but it is long empty and was just a beautiful thing to find in amongst all the leaves and ever-enterprising brambles.

I hope that during this week there will be time to plant some daffodils and to begin a long perusal of seed catalogues… we have lain turf down in order to give space to our Damson and Apple tree, and to create a sweet little orchard corner. I want to put chamomile (dyers, maybe?) and primroses out there, too…

Ah garden dreams, and dirt.

* really, what is Dogwood for?