Blooming

Today was one of those perfect days that Perth puts on in early spring - blue-skied, warm and sunny. We went to see the Art in Bloom exhibition at the Art Gallery. This is a biennial event where various lucky locals get to interpret gallery artworks with flowers. There were some very clever displays, some making you see the original artwork in a whole new light.

I really love the Art Gallery of W.A. - the 1970s building (though not terribly inspiring from the outside) has stood up very well with the passing years, especially the winding staircase.

I love the familiarity of the gallery's collection, and they have great special exhibitions. The recent Patricia Piccinini show was brilliant (I went three times!) The landscaping outside the gallery is also a real pleasure. There's the wetland garden with its beautiful metal sculpture, and now there's the Urban Orchard - a fantastic idea! Today there was also a lily pond - it was grabbing everyone's attention.

It occurred to me as we were walking through Perth, that the city itself is starting to bloom a little. All the mess and disruption from the underground rail line and the Northbridge/railway station has started to settle down, and although there's a long way to go it's all starting to look very promising. I know that in many ways Perth lives up to its nickname of "Dullsville", but on days like today, you have to love it just a bit!

And finally, here's something that's blooming in my garden right now.



Although it had been chopped back to a fraction of its former self because of our deck/pergola, it's looking (and smelling) just wonderful.

Feeling relaxed

I'm feeling very relaxed after my week off. Some gardening, a little shopping (Trenery, I love you), catching up with my sisters, and lots and lots of reading and knitting.

I confess that I also watched an awful lot of TV - ten nail-biting, heart-stopping hours of The Killing. (In my defense, I did knit while I watched.) I've also been reading a Jo Nesbo and have just finished the audiobook of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I'm obviously rather fond of Scandinavian crime fiction/drama.

On the subject of knitting, I have knocked off two of the projects I had lying around, and started this one. I'm using some Malabrigo laceweight yarn I bought ages ago - and have now christened this gift. It wound the yarn very efficiently - thank you Judy!

The gardening continues - the third of our veggie beds is now planted. This one has snow peas (I hope it isn't too late for them), ruby chard and green beans. The first bed (planted three weeks ago) is going great guns - we have already been picking leaves for salads.

Back to work on Monday - looking forward to the next little break!

The prospect of a week off

Yesterday I planted the second of my four raised veggie garden beds. This one has mostly root vegetables - radishes, carrots, beetroot, plus leeks and some lettuce. Next there will be a bed of legumes (beans as it's springtime) and then a bed of zucchinis/tomatoes/eggplant. The plan is to rotate the plantings each season. So far so good.

I also did some major weeding in our last patch of wilderness. This is how it looks at present.

The old shed will be coming down, possibly to be replaced with some kind of studio - possibly along these lines. One day!

I have a whole week off work - I have a very long list of things I'd like to do. I probably won't get to all of them, but I am determined to finish a cardigan I'm knitting as well as several other crafting projects I have lying around. Oh, and I also plan to watch Volume 2 of The Killing and to make a largish dent in this pile of books.

Wish me luck!