Weekend Reading, Gardening and Baking

This week went by so fast and I didn't get everything done that I wanted to do. But there is always time next week. Hanno had another bleed into his eye and had to have a minor operation at his eye specialist's rooms. I drove him over and got him safely back. I had my hair cut yesterday and the rest of the time I've been doing my normal chores and gardening. I'm pleased to tell you that the garden should be finished tomorrow. I just have to put down some weed mat, which I've cut out, plant a new rose - Elina and lay mulch on one garden. Kerry dug a hole for the rose last week so tomorrow I'll half fill it with our compost and water the area well. The rose is soaking in Seasol at the moment and will be planted this afternoon when it's shady. Roses can live for 100 years so it's a privilege for me to introduce it to a new home. I hope it has a long life and continues to watch over this land when I'm gone.

It looks like a bandicoot has been digging around the roots of my climbing rose.  I'll cover it with weed mat today and hopefully the bandicoot will look for food in other parts of the garden.

A trug full of rainbow chard for lunch yesterday. I used it to make a pie.  Photo below.

These are baboon flowers - a flower from South Africa that baboons eat. They're planted next to the mini pickling cucumbers. 

Here is the more practical side of the garden, I've just moved a mauve trumpet creeper there but I have to move it to a larger pot today. It's also an area where I put plants I want to keep but have no room for - now an agave and a clump of iris. Also a bird bath, bee hotel, comfrey clump and compost heap.

I'm looking forward to having the garden finished and the start of the pruning, watering and maintenance stage. It's a wonderful place to sit and think and will be worth every minute I've put into it. I've got a pair of binoculars now so I have a better view of what the birds are doing even in trees far away.

This is the pie I made with the chard. It's filo pastry with chard, onions, garlic, eggs and cream.

And for morning teas - a vanilla cake with lemon icing.

These biscuits will go to Jamie and family. They're dark chocolate with pulverised Brazil nuts.

One final piece of good news, I'm featured in the next edition of Taproot Magazine, Sustain. Savitha Rao wrote an article about four of us simple living bloggers. I'm looking forward to reading it. Thanks Savitha.

Thank you for being here today. I love having contact with my readers and it always inspires me to write more. Have a wonderful weekend, take care of yourself and take it easy.

🍋 🐝 🍋 🐝 🍋  

Weekend Reading

• Hanging up on scammers: how to protect yourself from phishing phone calls

• Asylum seekers and refugees building a new life on sourdough starter

• Animals ‘shapeshifting’ in response to climate crisis, research finds

• ‘There is so much bad behaviour everywhere’: how to raise a good child in a terrible world

• The Great Model Railway Challenge

• Homemade Toys — Easy to make, fun to play with, and great for gifts!

• Making your life your job

• Landline celebrates 30 years of rural stories

• Landline - here is a wonderful story on sewing and mending skills

• Full vitamin vegetarian salad

• The week in wildlife – in pictures