Remembering Winnie - and her garden

The Lady Of The House here,  making a brief return to the blog to give you a gardening update.

Those of you who shared Winnie's adventures with us will remember that a zoom around the back garden was an essential part of her daily routine, resulting in this....

That blue pole thing the Man Of The House is standing beside is our rotary clothes drier, by the way.

Early attempts to dissuade her proved ineffective and we soon realised that the look of  pure joy on her face as she raced and cavorted meant that the lack of lawn seemed a small price to pay.

It's nearly ten months now since we lost her.

Monkey - who joined us in April - only makes one brief 7am trip into the garden each day to take care of business and can't wait to get back in the house. He loves his three walks a day but has no desire to spend any time in the garden at all. He also doesn't do zoomies. So the garden looks a bit different these days. The rotary clothes drier is wearing its autumn cover too.

Here's a funny thing......

There was just one particular spot, in the dirt track she created, where Winnie loved to dig. 

When she died we decide to plant a ballerina apple tree in it. But you can see that it's been joined by a few other items that we haven't planted.

The sunflower has probably grown from a seed put out for the birds on the nearby bird table. I've never seen one with so many heads on one single stem. I've counted 14 today.

Winnie left her mark on the garden - and on our hearts.  The grass has grown again but I think it's always going to be Winnie's garden. And she'll always be in our hearts too.

In the garden with Winnie

Sometimes I do wonder if I am trying the Man Of The House's patience a bit too far with my digging in the back lawn. So I sneak up behind him to check if he's cross.

But he isn't - and he even throws my Winnie the Pooh toy for me (see picture below) and plays with me. He's the best.

Winnie's second Christmas carol

What? Who? Me?

Actually, that headline is ALL WRONG! Today's carol with new words is ALL the work of the Lady Of The House. Feel free to tell her it's rubbish.

(Sing to the tune of While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night)

Oh, Winnie get some socks tonight

You've dug another crater

The house is full of grass and mud

I'll have to clean up later.

Long greyhound toes trap so much dirt

You've brought in half the garden

You never seem to look ashamed

Or say "I beg your pardon".

If Santa brought some Greyhound boots

The floors would stay much cleaner

And when I saw you digging

I would be a little keener.

 

I wonder if you want to get

To sunny warm Australia?

I don't think you can dig that far

I think you're doomed to failure.

I'd miss you if you went to Oz

I hope that you're not going

The good thing is that thanks to you

The lawn does not need mowing.

("That's because we have no lawn any more, really" - the LOTH)

Yes, yes. We get it. Fine.

Changing the subject, we have had a few requests for "Silent Night" so we are going to work on that next. 

Actually, I WILL. Because the LOTH is clearly not in the proper Christmas spirit.

There I was - digging this hole.....

Recently, one of my friends on Facebook asked me if I had any tips on how to stop her greyhound digging holes in the garden.

I did not understand this question.

Perhaps she mis-hit the keyboard and she meant how do you START a greyhound digging holes in the garden? Why would anyone want to stop a greyhound having THIS much fun?

I find that when you feel you have dug far enough for one day you should do a few laps of honour.....

And then stand back and admire your paw-work.

The only tip I have come across is that SOME people apparently create a sand pit as a special place for their greyhounds to dig in the garden if they don't think their garden and lawn would really benefit from our novel approach to gardening.

This week, the Lady Of The House is passing on some of my best gardening tips, I believe, while she is in a production of the Tony award-winning musical The Secret Garden with Little Theatre Company. She is very tired and lying on the sofa right now. Three more shows, LOTH!!! Get up and get on with it!!!

Here's the LOTH (all in black) - who plays Mrs Medlock - with Katie Ireland who plays Mary Lennox. Katie is the LOTH's cousin's daughter and we are all very proud of her.

Here's a scene from the happy ending at the end of the show. I don't know if there are any greyhounds in it or not, but if there are it would be a very very happy ending.