
Christmas came early with a storm system which brought just under an inch of rain in a series of brief thunderstorms over a twelve hour period. That's a very welcome tenth of the annual average precipitation which has been lagging behind in this hot, dry year.

It was lovely to wake with the sound of water cascading down the rain chains into barrels and to see dimpled puddles everywhere.

Of course the roof leaked and in some new places. Sigh. For the first time in a long time, put lights on in the house while I prepared and drank my morning cup of chai. Normally I like to watch the daylight come up naturally until the south facing rooms are flooded with sunlight, especially at this time of year.

By 10:30 in the morning the storm system had moved on. The sun came out. I discovered that the grass, which tends to have grown to smother everything in the garden by the end of the growing season, came out reasonably easily in the dampened earth.

I had intended to just quickly clear around the base of a few perennials and the fruit trees so I could mulch with that lovely garden gold I fetched last week, but five hours later the job had morphed into something much bigger. As these things do.
I cleared almost all the front kerb appeal project, rearranged some rocks, had a quick break for lunch and then moved on to tackle the grass infested pomegranates and rosemary bushes.

No mulch has been spread yet and the sun setting is calling time on outdoor work for the day. I have, however, remembered how much I enjoy the actual work of gardening: digging, pulling weeds and/or grass, moving rocks, clearing and neatening. It is really satisfying.
The weather was perfect for it today, fresh after the rain with warm sun and not much wind (that's spring's delight). In the growing season it tends to be too hot and buggy to be pleasant working outdoors, so garden maintenance gets away from me.

Tomorrow's decision will be: do I clear this (above) overgrown eastern front sector, most of which is destined for a rockery planted (in spring) with largely xeric plants, or do I mulch?
I'm thinkingng some mulching of front shrubs, pomegranates, plums and saffron crocus will be the priority since the mulch/compost is still sitting on the back of the truck and easily driven near to where I want to distribute it, which in this case is the front. Ultimately what I don't distribute in this way, will be unloaded outback.
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