Our news this week has been full of reports of snowstorms in the US and Europe and now the power outage in Texas. I can't imagine how awful that must be for the residents there with no water, electricity or heating. No matter where you are, I hope the days ahead are better and brighter for everyone.
The weather is starting to change and although it's still warm, I'm starting to plan the garden and sent away my seed order last week. I also collected some seed pots from Woolworths in the kids' plant seeds promotion. From Eden Seeds I've ordered: Rosie O'Day Alyssum, Cleome Four Queens Mix, Dahlia Redskin, Evening Scented Stock, Rose Mallow, Nigella, Virginia Mixed Stock, Old Spice Sweetpea, Single Wallflower, Cerise Queen Yarrow and Pirella leaves. I want to buy a couple of Japanese wind flowers too when they come into the nursery. From Woolworths there are seeds for silverbeet, green onions, phlox, aster, tomato and lemon balm. I'll have to cut the cottage garden back to fit it all in and I may have to move plants around. But that's okay, it's part of the housekeeping of plants and I enjoy doing it. Hanno's zucchinis are growing well and I bought six Kipfler potatoes to grow in a grow bag so I put them out to chit this morning. I can't wait for the season to begin! What are you growing this year?
Each week inches us closer to autumn, my favourite season. I can feel the markers of transition already so my head is in the right place, I feel optimistic and strong and even though I want to be in autumn NOW, when we get there, I want time to slow down so I notice and feel every minute of it. I'm glad I can't manipulate time because I think we'd all be in trouble if I could. ⏰
Here are some of the articles I've read and watched this week. I hope you find time to browse through them while you relax with your feet up.
- Ready, steady grow… Have you ordered your seeds yet?
Autumn is definitely on it's way here in Armidale and like you, I love Autumn best. After getting off to a good start with rainfall we've had a couple of months of well below average rainfall again. I actually check the rain predictions for your area as well since you mentioned you hadn't had much a few months ago. We are so grateful for the water in our tanks and I hope yours have been filling up too.
ReplyDeleteMy garden is still full of summer veg but soon it will be time to plant out onions and garlic, brassicas and anything else that will survive the frosts. Soon it will be time for cosy fires and pots of soup simmering on the stove!
Madeleine
HI Madeleine. We've had a small amount of rain in the past week, mainly last night. The tanks are full but the soil is still dry. I'm looking forward to soups on the stove too. Yum.
DeleteRhonda I have to say that photo of you on the front page is beautiful. You look happy, unstressed and kind - I want to look like that!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jo Jo. I feel happy and unstressed most of the time and I try to treat all the people I meet with kindness. I don't know if I'm successful though. xx
DeleteI thought of you with your water tanks when those poor people in Texas lost their heat, electricity, and water. Living this way is a relief when emergencies come. (especially if you are older.) Your garden sounds exciting. I agree that it's nice not to be overly busy. So glad to hear that your workshops are going so well! I am loving Zoom. It's fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI have alot of the woolies seeds but havent got lemon balm yet and its something i want in the garden!
ReplyDeleteIt will be 35C here on the Darling Downs on Monday Rhonda so I am not looking at autumn just yet; but it is a relief to know that the bulk of the hot weather is behind us. This will be our first autumn on our retirement property and I am so looking forward to planting out the March garden. Very different conditions from the coast but I can't wait to get it started. Kind Regards Shona
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reading links, I often come back to them :) I see you have the wisdom to know when you have taken on enough and the confidence to say no to 'too much' - something a lot of us (including me) need to practice more :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Rhonda for thinking of those of us here in Texas and beyond. We are on day 4 without water but are lucky that we still have heating. Many people are going through extreme hardship at the moment, made worse by the fact we are in the middle of a pandemic. Your thoughts are most appreciated. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe news reports we're getting are shocking. Are you able to go out to get water or is water being delivered to the homes without it? When will the electricity be back? It's bad enough when we have an outage here that lasts a few hours. I can't imagine how you look after a family with no water, electricity or heating in the middle of a frozen winter. Hang in there and stay in touch with us. I'll be thinking of you and I'm sure many others here will be too. xx
DeleteWe were lucky enough to get our water back this afternoon - best shower of my life! It rained on Tuesday morning so we collected a lot of water to flush toilets etc. We also had quite a bit of drinking water in our hurricane survival kit for drinking. A lot of the stores are closed and the drinking water is being rationed. There are collection points that you can go to pick up water that is being handed out. In truth we are one of the lucky ones as we had power throughout although we lost internet and the cell phone reception was very bad so found it difficult to get info. Many others have not been as lucky. We are in Houston and it’s much warmer now so things are starting to thaw but a lot of people have burst pipes to deal with on top of everything else. Thank you again for your thoughts. It means so much to know that people are thinking of us at this time.
DeleteI do love hearing what your plans are Rhonda and the links are much appreciated xx
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, I am curious about why you are thinking of the subject of dying? I would be very interested in reply as I wonder about this topic a lot myself lately having had an old friend pass away recently. Is it advancing age that causes us to ponder this topic somewhat more? Julie
ReplyDeleteIf you were the same age as your friend and you're young, the shock of early death may have sparked fear in you. But if you're older, I think it's normal to reflect on death when a friend dies.I think about death as part of the never-ending thoughts I have about life. It's not something I think about constantly, but it's certainly in the mix. I'm in my 70s and think I probably have about another ten years of life. I want to live with awareness of others and what's around me as well as self-awareness - taking time every day to think keeps me on the right path.
DeleteHi Rhonda. I am in Northern Europe and it is coming up to spring now, our season for planting. Can you explain to me why you are 6 months ahead of us so it is your autumn but now is your time for planting? Surely the days are getting shorter and colder so why plant now? Thanks
ReplyDeleteAustralia is a very big country spanning from tropical regions in the north to areas in the south with cooler climates for much of the year. I live in the sub-tropics and theoretically can grow food all year. However, the summer here is very hot and humid, there are thousands of insects that fight us for the green leaves and we waste too much water trying to keep the garden going in summer. So we instead of using the hot months for our garden, our growing season starts in March - around the time it starts in England, and extends till November which is when we stop planting. We then rest until March when we starts it up again.
DeleteThank you for finding that amazing Serger video!!! So many good tips that I can add to my toolbox.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about you thinking about death and then I read your reply to a comment above. I am in my seventies and do think about it, especially since my hubby died four years ago. I got all my financial and other info in order so it is organized for my kids. Plus I am throwing out alot of papers, etc. thinking of them, so they don't need to do it. I love gardening too and wrote many garden articles for magazines. My blog today shows my gorgeous red magnolia in bloom. Gracie looks cute peeking out at us.
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