Nearly mid-winter...
Patio leaves
It's nearly mid-winter, the perfect time to check the garden out. Plants that are in the wrong place are more easily noticed. So are dead branches, and shrubs which are past their use-by date.
No furious gardening bursts for me today - I gently trimmed, weeded more edges, and pruned dead wood off the Sally Holmes roses by the garage (good luck, girls). Then I made a start cleaning up the Dog Kennel Garden. Spent the last hour of daylight happily bonfiring four barrowfuls of leaves which Non-Gardening Partner had cleaned out of the gutters.
Wednesday 28th May
This morning I peered out at the early morning fog, drank two cups of hot tea, and listened to Brahms's piano concerto. Then took several deep breaths and played my piano for nearly five hours. Abeniz' Iberia Suite. Five hours! That's lots for me and my old arthritic fingers...
After five hours I should have been better, right? At least happy with slight improvements, yes? And thankful that my fingers were still working by the end pf the day? Because they were. Can't take anything for granted, though.
Thursday 29th May
Ha! First this morning I tested the idea that five hours of practice made a difference. Alas! It didn't. Because I upped the tempo (not deliberately) and then kept making new mistakes, stumbling over different notes. Ask myself (not for the first time) why I insist on playing a virtuoso piano piece and expect to master it in a week. Reality - it will never, ever, ever be perfect. And that is why one gets up out of bed each morning (I think it's one of the reasons).
But no gardening was possible - it was my busy day out, where I drive from this rehearsal to that rehearsal, ending up in the evening taking a choir. But I had time to take some pre-winter photographs. Seem to have done more music than gardening this week.