Pot luck

These pictures were taken at the beginning of September.

The rainbow was magnificent, it really looked as if the place where it touched was on fire. It is not only double on this picture, later on it touched the other side and became treble. A wonderful moment. Many 'pots of luck' could be found! Lucky moments that will linger on our minds as we turn in to a winter of which everyone predicts it is going to be 'severe'. When I scroll back in my pictures and on my blog in the winter time, I realize how much I should hold on to the present, and enjoy the heaps of leaves that have to be blown away and raked, the work still to be done still in the garden. Healthy work though that keeps me in shape.

We have been lucky this year to be able to rent a tiny piece of land on an island in the lakes. The character of the island should remain natural. Everything that you plant should be asked permission for and should not have a cultivated character.

Our neighbours on the island lived it up with planting beautiful hydrangeas and the flowers below, the butterflies flying about plentiful.

The hydrangea was planted on the island as a left over indoor pot hydrangea and became a huge shrub, hanging over the waterside. The water level is so high, plants and trees must like and endure wet feet. It has lovely pointed petals, holds both blue and pink flowers.

My mother used to say: 'Jacoba cannot leave the house and garden without a bunch of picked flowers'. It has to be admitted: every garden I visit I ask 'Can I take something home from your garden?!', sounding more like a summon than a question. The world would not be the same for me without flowers. So, I went home with a few of these and am trying to make them grow, also on the island. It will be exciting what winter will have done to it all when we return in Spring.

We worked hard on the island last Saturday, the men digging a channel for electricity, the women trimming the trees and shrubs. Maybe we will be back there when the lakes are frozen over for a New Year's reception and maybe skating, but the sailing season is now definitely over, the boat on the side.

I must admit that I do fancy sitting in the house for a while and having time for other things. Plenty of manuals to read and the ins and outs on photography to be explored.

My internet connection has been very fickle and my 5 year old laptop is becoming cranky, slow, the memory full, and whatever you can experience in computer life. The keys I have used most are smooth and shiny, the . key does hardly work anymore - I have to press it a few times. The comments left on everyone's blog disappeared into cyberspace forever. Leaving me in despair and throwing the laptop in a corner. But! Last Sunday I ordered a new one, apple red, and on its way from Ireland. The garden utensils will rest in the garage for a while after Tuesday.

The hydrangeas in our garden were top heavy, the sight of them a bit sad, many of them touching the ground, full with sand. Cutting and trimming them back left me with a huge heap of flowers, appearing more in quantity than when growing as a plant. My sister, living in an appartement, will love the bunch (no sandy ones!) I will take her this afternoon.

When I woke up this morning the first thing I did was having a look on what I had done yesterday: it is OK. Sometimes you have to be rigorous in a garden.