Flowers for.............

Yesenia

Hydrangea, Blue & White Agapanthus, Statice and sprays of Abelia schumanii (pink)

Vanessa

Featuring Aeonium chocolate  with aged hydrangeas, white agapanthus, sprays of
Abelia grandiflora (white) hebe, sead heads of altromeria and  Euphorbia 

Veggie success

Yellow peppers - quite a few developing, not as delicious
  as the red but at least we are getting some this year.

Strawberries - need to get them before the snails and slugs do.

Tomato - Don Burke rated this the best tomato last year.
So far only a  few have ripened on my bush but there are plenty there. I am also growing Black Russian, Tommy Toe and a variety of Roma.

Beetroot - I wasn't going to grow them this year but an available
space changed my mind. I will try to use them whilst they are
small this season.

Egg Plant - the plants have been flowering for a while and I was
starting to think that I was not going to get the fruit but
 fortunately they are now appearing. 

Sweet Corn - I have fond memories of my grandfather
growing corn . I so hope that these will be yummy.

Leeks - coming along well, I could probably start
using them if I  needed to, or I can wait for them to get bigger.

Remaking de fence

During winter Rod and I replaced the fence between our neighbours on the eastern side and ourselves. The previous fence was constructed from permapine channel with inserts of lattice. A very vigorous McCartney rose which originated next door was encouraged to grow on the fence which over time pulled the fence down. We needed to complete the task in Winter due to the hopper ants which live in the dry stone wall and make it impossible to be any where near in the warmer seasons. 

The first job was to remove the rose. Then a temporary fence was erected about a metre in on the neighbours side so that we could work on this project without their dogs escaping. Recycled colourbond roof sheets were used with new permapine lattice. We reused some of the channel but the rest was purchased for this remake. 

Pleased with the result I now think we need to continue the colourbond creating a back drop to the garden border. You may notice that we also need to make repairs to the garden bench. Indeed it is never ending.

Ashwell Designs Glassy Art

This has been a project that has taken many hours to complete
 and uses recycled  scrap glass and 70's  plastic sphere light shades.

I love textured glass. I love the way light plays on the tiny faceted surfaces.

Add a LED light on a timer and you have an illuminated garden feature.

As with most projects that you try the first time you can often think of other ways to improve on some aspects. I have 5 more light shades and lots more ideas, just need more time. Thanks to Rod for being switched onto my project.

Courtyard

Bordered by the Laundry and Family room the Courtyard enjoys a sheltered position.

440 x 440 mm sandstone look tiles leftover from our Sitting room create a border and central inset,
surrounded by  red paving bricks . This visually acts as an anchor for the table and chairs.

A faux door crafted by Rod, complete with old key and brick doorway always attracts attention from  visitors seeing the Courtyard for the first time.  Either  side of this door two Lily Pilly's have pride of place. Trained as standard balls from tiny seedlings bought at a fete for 40 cents they have been extremely successful.

The Courtyard occupies an area that was originally a concrete tank stand. Many hours of strenuous work was carried out by hand to remove bedrock which had acted as a solid base for many, many years.

Alex's Garden

Alex's tree is a Blue Atlas Cedar - Cedrus Atlantica Glauca

Surrounding the tree are White Agapanthus with Erigeron planted at the very front. 

A resting place for Alex's deceased pets is aptly under his tree.

Alex's car parked near to Alex's Garden.

Alex's tree lived in a plastic pot for a few years before the ideal garden was created. When first planted in the garden the tree did not have one central leader, however, many years later this has not proven to be any disadvantage to the overall shape. Alex's tree is turning into quite a stately specimen.

Aly's Garden

Aly's special tree is the weeping cherry 

Aly's garden is situated adjacent to her brother Alex's garden - one day I hope that will be seen as significant

5 Japanese Maples bordered by a box hedge have proved to be the perfect replacement planting.  Previously 4 Iceberg Roses planted in the Eastern bed responded with leggy growth to the shade provided by the extended building. 

Aly and Asher have a special bond, how appropriate that he is pictured in her garden

Aly's garden is in fact the second attempt at a special garden area for her. Soon after she was born we planted a Robinia in a garden on the north side of the house. All was going well until one year parrots flew in a chewed all the flower buds off the tree. The following year they returned and chewed off not only the flower buds but all the new leaf shoots. We thought that the tree would die so watered and fertilised it well. To our delight new leaves appeared and it gained momentum until the following year and every year after that the birds returned to massacre the tree which eventually died.

Beautiful Sunset

Friday 11th January

Not a bad morning's work

This morning I created a new garden path  complete with 2 steps and a rustic bench to sit on.

So pleased with my efforts I decided to go into Stirling to spend my  Cleveland  Garden Voucher I received for Christmas. Meet Rusty.

The seat is a bit rough but will do until a better option becomes available.  Watch this space!

Italian inspired garden

Step 1 - remove lawn

Step 2 - lay tiles on mortar with a brick border

Citrus planted in Terracotta pots

Step 3 - roll out black plastic and cover with white gravel

Fresh gravel always looks so beautiful

Tiled feature - terracotta pots will sit on the corner tiles

Dynamic

After searching the internet for Black and White Damask fabric I found some advertised on Ebay. 2.2m of 140cm wide fabric arrived from England. During the last week Aly was at Regency Park (before breaking for the holidays) I suddenly realised if I didn't get on and sew the fabric into a quilt cover I would miss my chance to keep the project secret. A flat sheet from a set of black bed sheets was used as the back. The black pillow case that came in the set was unpicked and a narrow flap of off-cut damask fabric was inserted. To finish the envelope off, 5 black press catches were attached to the base and one on the pillow. I was more than happy with the end result and ecstatic that Aly loved with her Christmas present.

Stoned again!

When we recently heard that Basket Range Quarry had gone into receivership we ordered 10 tone of random walling to be delivered so that when we are ready to build more walls we will be able to match with the walls Rod built last year. Will 10 tone be enough?

Christmas Creations

This amazing gingerbread house was proudly made by Aly at Regency Park as part of her Patisserie course. It made a beautiful table decoration for Christmas Day.

 A white chocolate cheese cake with white chocolate shards decorated with silver balls didn't stand up to the drive to Kingswood on Christmas Eve - but it still tasted awesome.

Before Christmas Dinner platters of fruit and savory nibbles catered for those who couldn't stay for the main meal. Pineapple, cream cheese and cherries were  most popular.

Christmas Cup Cakes looked and tasted sensational. Days of baking meant that everyone could take some home to enjoy on Boxing Day. Chocolate cakes were topped with pale blue frosting and snowflakes, Vanilla cakes were topped with green frosting Christmas trees decorated with white chocolate stars, Chocolate fruit pudding cakes were topped with Chocolate ganache and white choc (custard) dribbles and decorated with red smartie berries and mint leaves. Red velvet cakes were topped with ganache and decorated with smartie wreaths and lollie bows. SEASONS GREETINGS!

Back again with a newby

My last post was in August. Where have I been you might ask? Well I got caught up in the busyness of Spring chores. Too busy even to stop and take photos. I regret it now that Summer is fully upon us and the garden is showing signs of heat stress. Maybe a New Years resolution to keep blogging every month of the year is in order for 2013.
My latest addition to the rabbit clan is Moustachio. He was born to Martha on 30th August along with 3 siblings. Saddly Martha and her sister Moo died of Calyci virus when the kits were only six weeks old. The kits are immune to the virus while they are young, but Sooty the smallest of the litter was not so fortunate.
At the end of August I had a total of 9 rabbits and now there are only two, Mo and his father Baxter. I'm so glad that I sold and gave away some of the kits and a couple of the 9 month old rabbits before Calyci arrived.
After a suitable quarantine time I will be on the look out for a female bunny to restore some balance to the gender ratio.