Weekend Reading

The backyard at 3pm with Gracie's woollen blanket drying in the sun.

Hanno having a rest while he fixes the pathway in the chook run.  That's the mini Cavendish banana in the foreground. He's going to cut the pups off and transplant one to that bare space on the wire fence.

All citrus grow too many flowers at the beginning of the fruiting season but tend to either drop them or lose them to birds or insects in the following weeks.  Our main orange tree is bursting with flowers. I'll pick many of them off soon to help it grow a good crop of large fruit instead of many small fruit.

Weekend Reading

More work in the garden this week. It's been good to be outside although the wind is annoying as it dries out the soil too quickly. Hanno is preparing the corner of the garden to transplant some banana pups so we have more bananas and, hopefully, at different times.  Overall though, these mini bananas are easier to tend than the taller ones. The minis grow to just about a metre tall so checking the leaves, removing dead leaves and harvesting are much easier. After a question from a reader on IG, I searched for these mini bananas online and found Diggers has them in stock. In a frost-free climate, these are a valuable addition to the backyard.

Weekend Reading

I've spent time every day in the garden this week. The warmer weather has promoted growth and the two tomato plants have grown a lot in a week. There are plenty of flowers out now too. Today I'll finished the planting with a punnet of foxgloves - surely the sweetest flower name of all.  My aim was to get all the planting, weeding and mulching done before the hot weather, and we've done that, so from now on, it's pruning, dead-heading, fertilising, watering and a little bit of harvesting. Speaking of which, Hanno harvested the curly kale on Wednesday for his annual pork and kale feast.

Weekend Reading

I showed you a photo of our sofa recently but I've gone closer now so you can see the Australia cushion made by my sister, Tricia. She upcycled an old wool blanket, made the little pom-poms from scrap materials and embroidered the Coat of Arms. I love it. I want to make another small cushion for this area, I've decided on the design so I'll go through my stash to make sure I have the materials I need.

After spending almost two years growing out my layers, my hair is now a blunt cut below my shoulders. I like having long hair because I can wear it up or down. But the sad truth is it takes a long time to wash and dry, and the shower, which is a dangerous place for me anyway because of my dizziness, becomes a slippery accident waiting to happen with shampoo and hair conditioner on the tiles. So I'm having my hair cut short again next week. It will be easier to care for and in summer I can wash my hair every day if I want to. I hope I don't chicken out before the big day.  😳