Freak accident

Today was marked by an extremely freakish accident. It was while I was in the Crazy Bed, planting snapdragons. I was scrabbling about in the dirt, heaping it around the little plant when I suddenly felt a sharp sting on my left little finger. I looked down instantly, just in time to see a wasp fly away from the ground where it had been sitting, watching me. Well, before I shoved my little finger onto its butt.

Unfortunately, the little bastards don’t die after they’ve stung you, they just fly away, looking for another target. I know because I watched it go as I stuck my finger in my mouth and started sucking on it, getting a mouthful of dirt and wasp poison. Of course, I looked it up on the Internet to make sure.

And it was a female…because male wasps have no stingers. It seems that the stinger is ‘attached’ to the female reproductive organ. That seems a bit scary.

Anyway, my finger was fine so, apart from washing it with antibacterial soap, I didn’t worry about it. And no other insects stung me for the rest of the day.

As well as the snapdragons, I planted sweet peas (against the obelisk and the new fence) and lupins in an attempt to fill up the Crazy Bed. I have to say I didn’t succeed. It’s quite a sizeable bed.

Another big thing today was the first mow of the new lawn. (Note that it’s now a lawn. Before Chris the gardener did his thing, it was just grass.) I set the mower to the highest level and went for it. It cut like a dream, smelling lovely and filling the catcher three times before I finished.

I was a bit concerned with how Emma would be (the poodles have never been bothered with the mower and generally just sat and watched) but she was as good as gold and, afterwards, spent an age rolling all over it.

Late in the day, once the sun had dipped down behind the house, I climbed out onto the roof to take this photo of the Crazy Bed.

It’ll be lovely when all the flowers come out. Rather than what she’s done with the hot border, Mirinda has designed the Crazy Bed to be a riot of colour, resembling a cottage garden more than anything else. And there’s still quite a few plants to go before it’s crowded enough. But at least we’re getting there.