Cosmos

The new bed which is mainly filled with dahlias, peonies and sumac also has a scattering of annuals, including cosmos daisies which are lasting well and which have heaps more flowering in them yet.

I’m pleased with the colour that this bed has provided in its first year, despite the neglect it has suffered. At least I’ve watered it fairly regularly through the dry spells. I’m hoping that the cosmos and other annuals will self-seed for future years.

It’s been a steady day after a night disrupted by a possum messing about and cackling fit to bust just outside my bedroom window. It woke me three times and at 12.45am I cracked.

The Killer Dog was unleashed.

She looked and sounded the part initially: bolting out of the door, hackles raised, growling nicely. There was some scuffling and clattering of claws on bark, then everything went quiet. There was a stand-off between the possum - now up a tree - and the Lion Hound, who rapidly lost interest at its base.

After a minute or so she decided she’d done as much as she could and since I wasn’t showing any sign of turning up with a gun to dispatch the lion / possum, she trotted back to the bedroom door with her ears pricked, head and tail held high, looking terribly pleased with herself.

She’d done her job. Good girl.

Miraculously there was not a peep from the possum for the rest of the night, although I was woken by blessed rain a few hours later.

https://youtu.be/-c9-poC5HGw