The Nursery

Since putting a solid roof (Colourbond Steel) on the deck, where previously it had only been Shadecloth (nylon mesh), this end of the deck is becoming more and more like a nursery. Shelves, boxes and an electric propagating tray all bear the results of gardening activities when it's raining. Oh, the joy of standing under a metal roof, listening to the rain and messing about with plants and potting mixes.

Self Portrait Tuesday - HAIR

Now I know I should find a good hairdresser and get it dyed!

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No, not a foreign word, just the letters that always seem to be in the Word Verification for comments now. Guess we're all getting to know our keyboards just a little better.

CARS! Don't you just love them?

I'm not a car fanatic and I don't know much about what makes them tick (apart from petrol, oil, water and air), but I do know when something doesn't sound right and it would be unwise to continue. That was my situation this afternoon whilst midway between the Recycling Centre on the other side of town (where I had been collecting empty flower pots) and a garden centre a few klms away (where I wanted to buy more pea straw). Loud, rotating, scraping sounds from the vicinity of a rear wheel are not the usual sounds that I like to travel with. After my first thought of "Oh blast, is that the transmission up the creek, or what?" I discovered a lot of positives about my situation in the next hour or so.

1. The side lane on this busy road (Hindmarsh Drive) was wide enough for me to pull off the road.
2. I had charged my phone and actually had it with me.
3. The NRMA operator said someone would be there within the hour (they came in less than half).
4. The mechanic could actually HEAR the noise when I moved the car.
5. There was a very wide flat area of ground only about 100metres down the road where I could pull right off the road and mechanic had room to work.
6. After removing the wheel the mechanic could actually see the problem ( a pin had come out of the handbrake and it was moving on the wheel hub - or something to that effect).
7. He arranged for a tow truck to take the car to the dealer where we usually get it serviced (although I'm not exactly happy with their service as I've been telling them for 2 years that something was not 'quite right' in that area but they could never identify it. Today's episode was obviously the result of an untreated problem of many months.)
8. The tow truck arrived in about 15 minutes, and I got to ride in the truck, too.
9. Richard was able to meet me at the dealers with the other car.
10. Now they HAVE to fix it because I can't drive it away until they do.
11. And luckiest of all, it was a beautifully fine sunny day, whereas 24 hours earlier it was absolutely bucketing with rain.

So, taken all round, about the only negative was that I didn't get the pea straw. But gosh, there's always another day.

It's Never Too Soon To Start

These photos show that even two-year-olds know what is fun.

Showing Grandpa how it should be done.


"I'm still working, so why isn't Grandpa?"

Sunday Stroll.

The sky was overcast this morning, and since I had read on someone's blog that garden photos should be taken on a cloudy day rather than a sunny one, I thought I'd take a little stroll around the garden and see what I could find.

Daffodils. I really like the pale ones on the right but I don't remember their name.

Mauve lamium, a great little groundcover.

Apricot 'Winter Joy' wallflower.

The ever-present Osteospermum (African Daisy). They self-sow by the hundreds but they are good value.

These stocks have been flowering continuously for more than a year.

Shay's tulips, planted in celebration of her birth. You can see why we need to re-sow the lawn.

The much-maligned Centranthus.

Bronze Fennel for contrast, and for aniseed flavour, if you like it.

I know they are as common as can be but I've forgotten their name.

No Secrets Left.

There will be no secrets left in this family soon. Apart from this blog, Michelle has Shells and Beans , Russell's girlfriend, Shannon, has Kirby Kid , and now Tanya in Townsville has The Purple Giraffe .

At least my siblings will have no excuse for not knowing what's going on in the family now.

5 Things?????

Ms*Robyn tagged me so I will have to crank my brain into gear and give this some thought. Pardon any creaky noises you hear as you read.

5 things I plan to do before I die

1. Finish the garden (finish the garden, finish the garden, finish the garden, finish the .... you get the picture).

2. Use all of my accumulated fabrics (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, - what a joke!)

3. Finish writing my life story before I forget what it was.

4. REALLY tidy my house.

5. Be a better wife, mother, sister and friend.


5 things I can do

1. Propogate plants.

2. Sew clothes for myself, other people, dolls, and grandchildren (hint, hint, ShellyC )

3. Fall asleep watching any movie at anytime.

4. Find beauty in almost every flower, tree, cloud, sunset and every new day.

5. Make Chocolate Pudding.


5 things I can't do and probably never will

1. Swim properly.

2. Listen to or like talk-back radio.

3. Walk past a plant nursery without going in.

4. Squat or kneel to weed the garden (I can, but my knees can't).

5. Become computer literate (this is the second time I've typed all this, having hit the wrong button and deleted it all the first time.)


5 things that attract me to the opposite sex

1. When they talk to me like an equal.

2. Beautiful tenor voices like David Hobson and Russell Watson.

3. When they are wonderful fathers to their children (like my son-in-law).

4. When they treat their sisters well (like my son).

5. When they overlook all my idiosyncrasies (like my husband).


5 things I say most often

1. "Is it time for elevenses yet?" (or quarter to nines, or half past tens, or two o'clocks .... or any time that's perfect for a cuppa).

2. "Oh dear, I'm missing Dr. Phil."

3. "Would you like to cook dinner tonight?" (the answer is always 'No' and he never does).

4. "I just want to check the emails (blogs, actually)."

5. "It's a perfect day!"


5 celebrity crushes (note: these are all past tense, or dead)

1. Peter Finch

2. Harrison Ford

3. Jimmy Stewart

4. Johnny O'Keefe

5. Omar Sharif


5 people I would like to do this

ShellyC - shellsandbeans
Shannon - kirbykids
Calidore - calidoresgardenramblings
Zoey - perennialpassion
Chloe - chloesgarden

She Has Arrived.

Sara arrived safe and sound in the Netherlands. Most of her luggage arrived with her but her bag of hockey sticks did a detour somewhere and arrived a day later. She says the weather is unseasonally warm according to the locals, her apartment is good, the pitch they train on is good and not too far from home, there are people there whom she knows, and she has internet access. The last item being almost the most important thing for a mother on this side of the world. Now I can relax knowing that she is happy and easily contactable.

We DO have white sheep in Australia.

Today we travelled to Cowra for the Cherry Blossom Festival and a walk around the Japanese Memorial Gardens. Unfortunately, a couple of recent unexpected frosts halted the blooming of the cherry trees in their tracks and set them back a couple of weeks. Normally they would be in flower now but we only spied one little flower. However, the gardens were beautiful, as always. We will probably wait until our cherry tree blooms and then take another trip over to Cowra, and Young as well, to see the blossoms. After a few years (although it seems like forever) of only seeing brown paddocks, it was wonderful to see the grass so green, the crops growing and the dams full to overflowing. And I can honestly say I have never seen so many WHITE sheep in Australia in one day.

The last comment harkens back to 1993, which we spent in England. I couldn't work out why I noticed all the white sheep so much. After all, we have sheep here, but I never seemed to notice them. A few days after returning to Australia we took a drive down to Victoria and, just outside Canberra, came upon a paddock of sheep. Ah, the penny dropped, so to speak. In England the sheep are clean and white due to the rain and the fact that the grass is green all the time. Here, the grass dries off and the wind blows the dust into the oily wool, turning the fleece the same colour as the grass or dry ground. They just blend into the background and you never notice them. But today, the grass was green and the sheep were white, and didn't they look beautiful.

Below is a series of photos of the Japanese Memorial Gardens at Cowra. Excellent use is made of water, rocks and sculptured plants. Shrubs close to the lakes are pruned down to a metre in height so that overall views of the gardens are not impeded.















On the left is gardener trimming the Diosmas so they don't flower as they attract too many bees for such a public garden.





Group of Bonsai maples.


Bonsai pine.