Off to see my granddaughters!

Today I will be flying to the NW of the state to visit my granddaughters. Some of my readers may have read about the wonderful surprise I got when a Down to Earth forum member gave me enough Frequent Flyer Points to be able to pay for a return ticket. That was amazing!  I will be leaving our city during its annual Carnival of Flowers which is showing off its many beautiful parks and gardens and am heading into drought territory where there hasn't been any significant rainfall for a couple of years. It will be dry and brown there with the odd green lawn interspersed amongst the dirt patches which used to be lawns. It makes one appreciate living in an area where we are able to grow a vast array of flowers.

 

I thought I would have a last check of the garden before leaving to see what would be ready to pick when I get home. Doing nicely is the red hippeastrum which hubby grew from seed in the back yard. It will be moved to the front garden eventually.

 

 





 As we get older we are trying to cut down on the amount of work required to keep the garden weeded etc. so hubby is spreading sugarcane mulch on as much of the garden as he can.

 



 

In order to make it easier for him to turn the compost we invested in a tumbler composter but once assembled we realised that we couldn't lift the lid off as you have to put your fingers into those three holes on the lid like you do with a ten-pin bowling ball. That just wasn't easy for us to do so it went back to the hardware store and we will be buying a different one this week as they are on special.

 

 

I noticed that the heat has been too much for the freesias so just as well I took a photo of them a couple of weeks ago when they were in full bloom. The summer temperatures at the beginning of spring have been too much for many of the plants. 

 

 

I squashed removed a few figleaf beetles as they just chew and chew and chew and it would be nice to actually be able to pick a few figs this year so we are trying to get rid of the beetles without having to spray and will also be protecting the fruit from the birds.  

 

 

 The tamarillos are ripening quickly and this year I hope to make some tamarillo chutney for the first time.

 

 

 

The mulberry tree is laden with fruit and it will be well and truly ready for picking in a week's time so I look forward to adding mulberries to my breakfast cereal and cooking mulberry pie.

 

 

 

At one of our Simple Living Toowoomba group's swaps a while back I picked up some lavender and when I got home I just stuck it in a pot to see if it would shoot and it certainly did. It is now flowering and looks very pretty. Eventually I will transplant it into a more 'aesthetically pleasing' pot.

 

I hope to be able to write a couple of posts on what it is like to live in an Australian mining town while I am away. Now I have to finish packing those little bits and pieces I have been collecting over the past couple of months for the girls. It should be a fun week. Nanna will probably come back exhausted! :-)