Now that many clients have had a first cut at least of their lawns, home finally gets to the top of the list, and I had cracking service from John the Paysagiste (highly recommended), who mowed and strimmed and didn't attack what may be our first home bee orchid (or it may not). I can now see where asparagus might come up and there doesn't seem to be any demolished stems so I might even have got away with leaving it quite so late!
The lawn is now even (apart from hidden traps built by chickens), so the neighbour's ginger kitten has had to stop pretending to be a lion stalking chickens (really ostriches) hidden by scrub, and has to try to emulate a cheetah racing across the veldt. The chickens had been quite happily mooching around destroying things, when I heard a kerfuffle and there was the pretend cheetah charging around the lawn - he took quite a bit of evicting. Once one of them gives him a good hard peck, it will be OK, but it is annoying in the interim. Here is the lawn without scenes of Africa being replayed.
Ginger Boy is not the only cat stalking the garden, as our own Zola is trying to make up for lost time in her quest against lizards. Yesterday evening she sat patiently among flower pots, pretending that she wasn't at all interested in lizard activity, but watching and waiting for her arch enemies. It was perhaps just a little too cool by the time she took up her post, so no luck, and I have filled in the Zola sized gap with another plant pot since then.
It's not only outdoors where cats stalk - or rather intimidate. Poirot used to sit and sleep on top of the wardrobe/linen press in the bathroom, but has given up jumping. Instead she sits on the chest of drawers (she has a circuitous route to there avoiding all jumping) and glowers at you while you are on the loo, until you can't concentrate and have to give up and give her treats.
We are up to 7 Asian Hornets in our trap in the garden now - that is rather a lot! As they are all queens, this is a good thing of course.
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