Level 2 Chi Kung. Microcosmic orbit.

Now fully back into term time, with the start of Saturday Stagecoach and guitar lessons. Everything went smoothly and, when I returned with Kate and Dash about 1330 in the afternoon, it was to discover Nick vigorously attacking the scrubby mess under the trees on the righthand side of the front garden. There is an old, and picturesquely tortured-looking, prunus at one end. We will keep the prunus of course, but the rest of the bed is a mess of self-seeded holly, ivy creeping over from next door and generally uninspiring dross. There is a rowan, which will stay, but I might grow a clematis or something up it’s trunk. Six months ago I ordered a kowhai and two kakabeaks (one white and one red) to go in this bed, thinking that I would give them an easy start by planting them in spring. But because they were part of the same order as the feijoa trees, they didn’t finally arrive until shortly before we went to Italy. We managed to get the feijoas in the ground but the rest had to stay in pots while we were away. Unfortunately it seems the snails have had a good go at the poor kakabeaks and they are looking very sad. I will have to take up my old passtime of going out snail-hunting in the evening, equipped with a torch and a half-brick.