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!

Happy birthday Kati

As of today, there are no longer any children living in our home - we are all adults. Our youngest daughter Kati is now eighteen.

I was talking with some friends recently - when we start having children, we're still young. We're then so busy and involved with raising children, that we don't really notice twenty years or so just flying by! All of a sudden (or so it seems) we're middle-aged.

Well, eighteen years have certainly come and gone very quickly, and our baby (like her older sister Maddie) is now a lovely young woman. Happy birthday Kati - we're very proud of you!

What a difference two weeks make

Just to recap -

2 weeks ago.

1 week ago.

As of Friday.

Lars and his crew have worked a miracle in the backyard. We now have a spot for our outside table, plus a Pete's Veggie Patch-inspired set of four raised beds for growing vegetables. I got to work yesterday with newspaper, pea straw, soil, blood & bone plus some home-brewed compost and planted the first bed. I'm using this book as a guide for planting. So far I've planted a salad garden - lettuce, silverbeet, mizuna, mustard greens, spring onions and garlic.

It's so nice to have a workable backyard again. I can almost see myself enjoying the long hot summer looming on the horizon. Oreo has found himself a new spot.

Of course, depending on the election result this may all be academic. If the Liberals win, we may just have to go and live in France....On a brighter note, here are some pretty things I found in the garden this morning.

Spring is about to spring

Winter (or at least the season that passes for winter) is all too short in Perth. I look forward to it every year, but it really only lasts for two, maybe three months. This year, it's been quite cold but very dry. I'm really hoping that there is still more wintery weather (and lots of rain) on the horizon.

There are already definite signs of spring in our garden - the freesias are starting to flower and bees are buzzing around the viburnum bushes.

At this time of year, it's really very pleasant to drive along the highways and freeways in Perth where the median strips have been planted with Geraldton Wax. Although the foliage is insignificant, the pink and purple flowers in spring look very pretty. I have one Geraldton Wax bush in the front garden, and it's just lovely right now.

Lars the Landscaper (not his real name, but he is of Swedish extraction) has been busy in the backyard. The knee-high weeds have gone (hooray!) and yellow sand is being spread.

Our cat Oreo used to like hiding in the weeds - I'm not sure what he thinks of the sand, but he was assuming some very odd poses on it this morning!

A weekend away

No gardening this weekend - we took ourselves away to York. Apart from wanting to have a break, it was also a chance to test Smart on the open road. She acquitted herself very well indeed - the hills outside Perth weren't a problem, and getting up to 110kmh was a breeze. I even managed to overtake a few people!

York is a lovely old town - beautiful old heritage buildings and very pretty countryside. They wouldn't have us at this place - hmmm!



Instead, we stayed at the York. It's a grand old hotel which has been very nicely refurbished.



The York has a terrific restaurant - we had a truly wonderful meal there on Friday night, as well as breakfast both mornings. The breakfast is included in the price of the room, and has the be one of the most generous ones you'll get anywhere - and delicious!

There wasn't anything special on in York this weekend, which was great. We wandered up and down the main street and down to the river. We checked out a few op/junk/antique shops and Martin did some sketching.

We lazed around and watched mindless television. I read and knitted. We even managed an afternoon nap or two - I think the transition to old age will be a very smooth one!

This morning we tootled back to Perth (via Beverley - we somehow missed the turn-off to Perth!) All in all, a pretty well perfect weekend.