24 Feb 2018

The next day I finished clearing this garden bed and felt a small sense of victory! Weeds: 0 - Me: 1      😀  I also got the path between the two gardens cleared as well. When I got to the end near the steps I spied a bit of green so started tugging at it. It was well covered by earth and grass had grown over it but in the end I got it free. Lo and behold a perfectly serviceable price of windbreak fabric! I got most of the dirt off by shaking it. It is 2 - 3 metres in length, and in the photo you can see it folded up near the right front corner by the steps. For now it is spread out in the greenhouse on the unused garden bed. I'll give it a hose off one day soon . . . or more likely put it out on the patio area on a rainy day and let nature wash it!

I remembered when I made the garden steps waaay back I built a couple of small ones from near the main set of steps to the gardens we first built. There was grass covering them however I was able to locate them and free them of the grass. All the steps make it a lot easier to get around the section. They all need some attention though as I've noticed most of the steel reinforcing rods are poking up above the wooden fronts . . . just waiting to catch toes unawares! Time to replace the wood I think. They have been there for years after all . . . since 2003 according to my garden diary!

In the next photo the hens nesting box is in the lower left corner. Just behind it is the first garden we ever built and retained. It is now bulging out at the front though so needs something done to it. There are tyres with potatoes growing in them and a slightly munted flower windmill which I shall soon replace as it brings a smile to my face when I see it twirling in the breeze 😀

Boar has mentioned building another greenhouse on this site. At first I wasn't too keen but now I think it's a great idea. When I mentioned it the other day he was a bit more cautious about the idea so I shall leave the idea with him and see what happens.

Top left of the photo is a peach tree grown from a seedling. Pa grew it from a peach pit from the tree at his place. Braveheart discovered a lone peach on it yesterday so there is hope for it yet! The grass has grown up around it, and honeysuckle vine and convolvulus both do their best to strangle it  😟

Top middle of the photo is yet another Hebe shrub! It is self-seeded like all the rest. If you look closely you can see a dark patch in the gap . . . which is a compost bin hidden by the Hebe. So the Hebe will be going for two reasons. #1 - I want to be able to access the compost bin again. #2 - If we do build another greenhouse the Hebe is in the way. The bees like the Hebes but I shall grow some other plants and flowers to attract bees.

Late in the afternoon our neighbour, D, gave me some lupin seed. He had mentioned it as a nitrogen fixing crop the other day and I'd said it was something I would like to do. It is very timely as I will sow it on the garden bed I just cleared.

Today I remembered another reason I often found it a challenge to get up to the garden for any length of time. Soon after I got my boots on and got up the back to do some clearing I heard wee voices, at first happy but then squabbling, sometimes crying . . . the usual things that seem to happen when a few children of similar age are together. "That's right!" I thought to myself. "I remember getting all the way up the back, not being there very long and having to go back down to sort out squabbles, fights, feed young children, have willing helpers disappear after a very short time etc." The difference today was that they weren't my responsibility - they were their parent's! So I was able to carry on and spend a couple of hours up the back. When I'm the only one looking after any/some of the grandchildren I might get a little bit done, depending on what else is happening at the time.

I remember chatting with my late mother-in-law around 25 years ago and sharing how lovely I thought her garden was and wishing I could get mine looking better. She thanked me and then quietly said that her garden had not looked as it did now when her children were young - they used to dig roads for their toy cars in it! Her comment has always stayed with me and given me hope that eventually I will get on top of it - it just takes time.  😊

23 Feb 2018

It's so easy to get a bit behind . . . Hopefully I'll catch up a bit this week. Although it has taken me a few days to write this post so we shall see!

The 23rd Feb was last Friday and a special day for Sunshine who turned  6 years old! Sunshine loves unicorns!

We all went to her party at home, a family dinner, hosted by Moneypenny and A-M Prof. It was a lovely time. Spending time with the grandchildren is always special. I had cuddles with Blossom as I walked her in the baby carrier. At nine months old she is a bit heavy for me to just carry in my arms. She was tired and I was able to get her off to sleep for a while.

Earlier in the day I went to my Life group and when I got home I found Braveheart, Halfpint and Battler had come over. Frosty got busy with the weedeater and later Braveheart got stuck in as well. It was great as they got a lot of the backyard mowed which means it looks quite a bit tidier  😁

While Frosty was busy further up the back I got busy picking up all the fennel I'd cut down a couple of days ago. I filled a whole chook feed sack!

A number of years ago Boar brought home some old ceramic stormwater pipes and dug them in as garden features. There was one that had a sycamore growing out of it and Braveheart managed to get that one out . . . after removing the pipe from the ground! Another one had a clump of grass in it and I managed to get it out without removing the pipe from the ground.

The roots had found their way all the way to the bottom of the pipe!

I think I'll plant some herbs or a creeper type plants in the pots. Something useful and pretty to look at.

The next challenge was to clear one of the gardens. In the photo below there are two gardens. The windbreak and wood sticking up in the air is actually a taller frame we built quite a number of years ago. Underneath it is one of the shorter frames. They are both on the higher of the two gardens. The one I began clearing is below it . . . yup, the one with all the blackberry, long grass and weeds etc! According to my old garden diary notes it is garden number seven.

I pottered away, after putting on my leather gloves because blackberry = thorns. Over about an hour I had cleared half to two-thirds of the garden bed. It was made a lot easier as the grass had been mowed in front of the garden. Before this it would have been quite high, nearly the height of the garden, if not higher! There is still a clump of fennel in the corner of the garden, well the stalks have been cut off. It will get dug out.

I cut up all the blackberry stems and for now have put them under the seat so no young children stand on them. They run up the back barefoot so thorns in feet would not be a good thing!

That was it for that day! A good day where quite a lot was done. The party at the end of the day was a lovely way to finish the day  😊

22 Feb 2018

Here is a photo of one of the weeds the day after having salt applied. It's already starting to wither.

The ivy below has a few spots of burnt edges, but I suspect will need multiple applications. I may end up just pulling it all out!

Today the one thing I wanted to do was to cut down the Hebe by the trampoline. I know the flowers are good for the bees . . . but there are a few that have grown in places where they're in the way. The one below has grown out over the trampoline which is not helpful for the grandchildren who want to jump on it!

In the photo below you can see how the trunk is growing over the step Boar made for the children (ours!) to climb onto the trampoline.

One of the girls came to see what I was doing. They are pretty tame. We only have the two now . . . maybe time to get a few more.

The hebe took me only around 10 minutes to cut down with the pruning saw. It looks clearer now  😁

Later in the afternoon I was looking after Mr Magoo, who turns 5 soon, and I suggested we go up to the trampoline. He jumped happily while I cut down the other Hebe beside the trampoline.

Again it's in the way and will only get bigger. They self-seed really easily . . . At least they seem to on our place!

A lot clearer 😀 Now there's only the honeysuckle, gorse, blackberry, convolvulus, wandering willy and long grass to get control of!

I get a lot of pleasure from these wild flowers I planted late December. It was a wildflower mix and once they took off they grew quite quickly.

Today was one of those days where I was reminded why the place gets so wild and overgrown. It's what I call "an in & out day." In other words I seem to be going here, there & everywhere most of the day meaning getting up to the garden can be a real challenge! I got done what I wanted to though so was happy about that.

This is the first post I've done partly on my phone. We are down to one computer - my laptop. So I need to share it with Boar, which means he uses it in the evening. If I want to keep up with my blog posts I need to use some evening time too. So time to get used to doing it on my phone. As long as I load the photos during the day it works out well 🙌