Lunch break for us all.

I've taken the risky step of sitting down for a break (I'm not sure I can get up again after a back breaking fight to the death with that blinking bamboo - I won!). The hens have had all morning to peck around the lawn and bath in the dry dust of the greenhouse floor. I'm pleased that Sweetie only picks on birds bigger than her. Last week she chased a rook away from 'her patch' under the seed feeder but today she is hanging about with a tiny chaffinch and dunnock, bless her. It's a risk business, letting our chickens scratch around under the feeder as wild birds and their droppings carry disease but as our girls are fit and healthy and only allowed out when we are at home then so far so good. Right now they are plonked down, having a rest (just like me) after a hard morning's work. Shakira is busy laying an egg and could be a long while.

I am feeling more fit to drop after that tussle with the bamboo. A friend of mine had to get  some muscle in to dig hers up before she made it into a bamboo hedge. I'd never risk it running free straight into the ground. For me, the only way to have bamboo in my garden would be to pot it up first. Much like mint, it is a bit of a thug and if you don't want it taking over the area you'll need to contain it. As my choice for the garden is the more cottage, herbaceous type I'll be removing all the bamboo.

Here it is, doesn't look much, does it but I had my work cut out trying to get it out. In the end I had to dig down about two feet and the same width to get it out.
I've got one of the leggy mahonias out (one more to go) which was balancing on the slope in a precarious fashion. They stems have been handy to hang onto (as long the holly-type leaves don't get me) as I've slithered down the bank. In fact at one point I slid all the way down the length of my prostrate spade after stepping back onto the handle. It has a plastic handle. so had no grip and I ended up, like a game of snakes and ladders, at the bottom of the slope withing seconds.
I've now shifted some of the large 'rocks' that have contained the embankment; I'll stack them back up, brush away the main bulk of the earth and then hose down the road to clean it up then I will need to plant up the new plants and water it all in well.I've got quite a way to go and all I want to do is catch up on my much needed sleep. As Eric says in Gardener's Questions Time, "Upwards and onwards"......., next time I write I hope I'll have prettied the area up but right now it's a real mess.
The birds are doing their best to attract a mate and it's lovely to see them dance through the air together. What a lovely time of the year.