Garden Fatigue

Our windowsill cactus is blooming again, as it has done almost every spring since 2019. I think those nubs around it are old blooms from last year, but maybe they're new buds. In any case, I'm glad it's still happy.

It's happier than I am, I'll say that much. Blame the Russians.

Yesterday, the gardeners came to trim our garden. They arrived about 9:30 a.m., just as the rain slackened, and after I went to work they spent several hours in the back garden, pruning the roses and buddleias and ripping out all the ivy invading the borders. They trimmed the large hebe and several other bushes in the front and gave us several inches more space to go up and down the front steps.

I was mostly happy with the result. It's still quite "full," but looks neater than it did.

I was very happy with the back. They didn't strip all the ivy on the fence and in the trees, at my request -- I want to leave some cover for the birds. But they took a lot off the ground and the pruned roses look much better.

Our bulbs and day lilies are more exposed and although the lawn is sodden and muddy right now, it should fill in well when growing season begins.

The one thing I wish they hadn't done is rake up all the fallen leaves I'd left in the borders and piled at the back of the garden. I was deliberately allowing them to break down as mulch. Oh well.

At work I spent the day in a training session learning about Chat GPT and Artificial Intelligence. This isn't something I use much -- in fact not at all, up to now -- but I can see how it might be beneficial for certain tasks like synthesizing data or composing routine e-mails. (I confess there is a blogger who commented once or twice on my blog many months ago who I strongly suspect uses Chat GPT to compose her comments. They're always very detailed and yet they seem blandly artificial. I will not name names!)

After I got home yesterday evening, I wrote to the Russians and our landlords and asked them to pay their portion of the fees for the front garden. I'd already paid and was seeking reimbursement. (We're responsible for the back but not the front under the terms of our lease.)

Mrs. Russia responded by knocking on our door and complaining that the trimming in the front is inadequate. She feels they should have done more and went on and on about how they'd promised four hours of work (I don't know where she got that number) but spent less than one and left the bushes too large. Possibly because I was halfway through my evening gin & tonic, I lost my temper with her and said I was finished dealing with the garden and went inside and closed the door, leaving her out on the stoop.

This morning, after about two hours of sleep (jet-lag and annoyance), I wrote and told her that I don't expect her to pay for work she feels is inadequate, and I will ask the gardeners for a more thorough trim. (Which I am doubtful they will provide.) But I also reiterated that the garden isn't our responsibility and all future communication about it should go straight to our landlords.

Dear God, I am so tired.

To finish on a happy note, I took my glasses to the optician yesterday who managed to rescue them after they'd been fairly badly mangled during my trip to Florida. I dropped them at one point and an earpiece broke off, and the other earpiece got bent in my luggage. Miracle opticians! My glasses are fine now -- at no charge!