Usual December weather
Actually, scrub that last entry. So far it is not particularly good for the garden that I have been made redundant, because I am now thinking that I will have plenty of time in the New Year and therefore don’t have to make too much effort now. But in my defence I will say that the weather has been normal for the time of year; i.e. either it is freezing, and too cold for making mortar, or raining, and too wet for making mortar. As all future development depends on the stepping stones being in place, this means no progress has been made on the garden directly. I have, however, been working hard on tidying up the garage, which eventually will enable me to find all my tools and other things which have been buried under layers and layers of disorder, thus making it easier and cheaper to get on with things as soon as the weather gets more reasonable.
Today it was a bit damp but sometimes sunny, and I confronted the leafiness of the shallow pond.
Leaves in shallow pond
I have been getting the leaves out with a sieve, which sounds much easier than it actually is. I think a coarser sieve would be easier to use because the water would drain out faster and the holes would take longer to block up with blanket weed. There are now fewer leaves in the pond than the picture shows, but it’s still too many.
The callicarpa, which is still in pots, has been happily berrying. This picture is slightly over-exposed but still very purple.
Callicarpa berries