Lavender

I keep harvesting this stuff from the garden. I have no idea what to do with it.

Any suggestions?

Um, hello

There's just not a lot I can talk about in public at the moment.   But we're plugging away - Hayden's applying for jobs with all his might, and I'm making coffees each day like you wouldn't believe.

I have found a bit of time to get back in the garden, though.  After months away from it during our monster Wet Season, I've recently discovered that not all our plants are completely dead.  Some have gone.  A couple have thrived on all that water, but most are just looking a bit straggly and stressed.   But the thing about caring for plants is that if you get their situation right -  just enough water, just enough sun - they do grow beautifully, all on their own.  Sometimes it takes a while to find that right position, but once you do you can rely on them - they usually come good.

Bougainvillaea

Lots of good things have been happening recently.  We've had beautiful weather in the ramp-up to summer (no spring as such here); I've finally grown out of the woeful haircut I got a couple of weeks ago; Friends is back on telly instead of that awful dating gameshow and, best of all, our worst closest noisiest neighbours have left.  Gone.  Moved out.

We have a lot of close neighbours, as next door to us is a row of six tiny hovels, each with a tiny backyard courtyard that abuts our fence.   The first of these hovels, the one closest to our kitchen and living room, was where the worst neighbours lived.  We called them the Trash Family.  We could hear every word they said when they congregated in their little courtyard to drink and smoke and scold their children.  "No.  No.  Noooo.  No.  NO. NOOO!  Just sit down and drink your f--ken milk!"   

And then, just last Wednesday, we noticed that they were cleaning.  By Thursday they were gone.  My bougainvillea, which had done nothing all winter but look wan and bedraggled, has finally started to flower.  I feel much the same way myself.

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Update:

We have new next-door neighbours.  They are Victorians, and they are already holed up inside with the aircon on all day and all night.  Er ... summer has not even got going yet.  They are in for a rough time.

Gentle days

Winter is definitely here. I know this, because I’ve got a cold. Winter’s here, we’re still sleeping with no more than a sheet on top of us, I haven’t even looked at my cardigan, but I’ve got a cold already. That doesn’t seem fair.


However, I’ve still been enjoying our perfect days of gentle sunshine. My cold is pretty bad, so I’ve not been venturing outside much - the front balcony is about as far as I’ll go, but at least there I get to see what’s happening at the start of Townsville’s “spring”. Actual spring and summer are a bit too hot for plants, so our growing season begins about now. Both Hayden and I planted seeds in our balcony garden a couple of weeks ago, in preparation.

Hayden doesn’t want his plants growing up to be wimps, so he hasn’t given them any fertilizer or potting mix, just plain dirt and a bit of water every couple of days.

My babies have got the full wimp treatment, and not that it’s a competition (of course it’s not) but mine have actually poked their little green heads out of the ground.

Winter’s lovely here.