Slow painting

Sunday 13 December 2009

Still working


It may not seem like it from this blog, but things are still moving slowly at the allotment. A bit like this worm, disturbed as I cleared out the dahlias that seemed like a good idea at the time. I did have a slight pang of regret as I dug them out. They were strongly established, with huge tubers. But they need staking, and they don't attract bees, and they get so heavy and sodden in the rains of September and October. And they're full of forky-tails (Scots for earwigs). So it was out with them the other week while the soil was still workable.

In digging them out I disturbed not only worms, which of course I was glad to see, but several ladybirds hiding under fallen leaves. The work went all the more slowly because I kept gently relocating the ladybirds under a different pile of leaves, and they kept stolidly heading back to where I was digging so I stopped again and...

I see other garden bloggers are still busy, but I've had no time to visit. I hope to have a big catch-up treat once this last crazy week of work and school end of term finishes.

7 comments:

Tash said...

The shot is so cool - the thumbnail enticed me over. My grandmother in Pula, Croatia had a garden full of dahlia's...an amazing amount of different varieties. She would sell them at 'pijaca' - open market - in Pula, borrowing a bit of the table from the flower selling friends. She used to dig up the roots every winter and store them inside for the fear of frost. They did just fine the following summer.

D said...

Hello Linda, is it not amazing what occurs beneath the soil as we sleep. Hope you had a great weekend.

L. D. said...

I bet if I dig far enough down I could find a live worm somewhere, but we are having freezing rain this morning. I really like that ladybug photo. Thanks for sharing.

Jenn Jilks said...

Lovely critters! Thanks for visiting My Muskoka!. We are having MORE snow tonight... )-Q

Jo said...

A ladybird in December. I hope she manages to find somewhere warm to snuggle up again. Yes, it's a busy time of year. My daughter moved up to high school this year so no more Christmas productions at school for me.

donna said...

Oh, Linda, I always luv a good photo of a worm:) I need to do some reading about your weather there in Scotland. Here in the upper Midwest of the USA, we're covered with 14 inches of snow. There's also ice out there and subzero temperatures. Would be nice to be digging in the garden in December. Enjoy.

Peggy said...

Hi Linda, I am not doing a lot of allotment blogging either at the moment.The post photo is a good one, I was wondering what it was not thinking that any one would be out disturbing worms at this time of year!