Gardening with the ladies...

I have been seriously neglecting my front garden.. the grass has got to above ankle height the shrubs out of hand and there is more gravel in the flowerbeds than on the path. It doesn't help that whatever is wrong with me is making me feel exhausted and I hate that, everything seems to be taking twice a long.

It's no good,it has to be done..The sun was shining today and the ladies were restless,so the feathered army were allowed out early to help with some gardening....hmmm..I use the word 'help' loosely.
They followed in a troupe behind me,up and down as I mowed,scratched about and did some pruning for me..
I personally thought the bergenia looked better before...thanks girls..a little too harsh with the old snips there.

This is..or rather was..a really lovely large patch of alchillea terracotta.

and this batch of five frothy heuchera has practically disappeared along with the lovely dark leaved sedums next to it! I know the season is nearly over,but I've had so few flowers this year in the front..what a boring looking garden..it is meant to have great swathes of dusky autumnal colours round about now..and all I have is leafy shrubs from hen-height up.
Edward..(who Harry has been calling 'Nathan' for some strange reason lately..don't ask, he's odd, it must be something in the water) Anyway, Eddie/Nathan the incredibly naughty bunny,had us up with torches when he escaped the other night..thinking it was all a game tearing round the garden for 4 hours in the dark, eating things he shouldn't ,stamping his feet in defiance and making us all really cross, so I wont blame the ladies completely, I know hes a bit partial to these plants too.

a quick break for some preening and a little nap in the long-awaited sunshineyou just can't get the staff these days..

and then it's back to work......bug,slug and worm hunting...and some more pruning.
The conkers are all ripened and ready to burst from their spiky jackets.Descending on us like hailstones of the richest mahogany.There certainly isn't as many on the tree as last year, we collected 10 bin liners full then !

No longer do I leave a big bucket full of conkers by the gate and no longer do the passing school children come and collect them up shouting out when they find a huge one ..some of the schools round here banned conker fights for health and safety reasons....and the two little boys who collected them up with absolute glee to share amongst their friends a few years ago are now big 6 foot stinky boys with girlies, rugby and bikes on their minds instead.
My mother in law swears that leaving conkers in a dish in the corner of the room deters the spiders..we have teased her about these strange old wives tales she comes out with and I've got to say I've never heard that one before.. but as I'm not a great fan of those eight -legged fellows, I'll give it a try..she certainly never seems to have any in her house!