Monday 18 January 2021
After a weekend of not doing much and staying at home, as per government guidelines, I had a really hard time getting to sleep. After tossing and turning half the night, I woke up at 4:30am. Feeling terrible and absolutely shattered. Still, I’m a stickler for routine, so I got my weights out and did a bit of exercise to wake up my brain, before breakfast.
This week I’m working without Laurence, as he’s on annual leave, writing new music. Working alone can be nice, especially on days like this, when you’re operating on about four hours of sleep and aren’t capable of cohesive speech! Still, I miss having someone to bounce ideas off, chat with and help me lift heavy things as well!
Today I worked on a site that is split onto two levels. On the lower level, there is a lawn, an ornamental pear tree, a coppice-style planting of Hypericum patulum, Pyracantha coccinea, Berberis julianae and Ilex aquifolium. On the higher level, there is a beautiful magnolia tree, two symmetrical L-shaped beds used for bedding, as well as two herbaceous borders.
I like this garden as it feels quite concealed and private and has a lot of variety in terms of planting types, with the bedding, topiary, lawn, trees, coppice and herbaceous borders. There is even a mini topiary maze, although the lockdown hasn’t been kind to it and it is looking more like a thicket than the manicured Buxus it should be.
Today, I spent a lot of time in the coppice area, clearing out leaves, weeding and giving a nice cultivate. I had to dodge a few poos, courtesy of the police dogs around the corner, but on the whole, it was a quick job. I must admit that there was a moment where my springbok rake was so caught up in the shrubs that I felt like screaming, but seeing the job done makes you totally forget the pain of it.
Tomorrow, I won’t be working on my Tod, as I’ll be joined by another member of the team. I’m looking forward to having a chat and getting to know them a little better. Hopefully I can get a bit more sleep tonight so I don’t scare them with my eye bags.
Lili Barras-Hargan 