Time to Clean up the Garden

 We have been having some lovely weather here, cold in the morning then sunny and around then by lunchtime 20C mark give or take. Perfect for garden work. 

Flowers and Roses.

I started on the front first, 2 weeks ago,  pruning the roses, digging, weeding, fertilizing then finally some mulch. It is going to take a while, especially as I had a busy week with  the dentist twice, the chiropractor, and 2 art groups, this week. I last for about 2 to 3 hours, have lunch and then start organizing the house and getting it back to normal again, and re arranging everything as I go. My craft stuff is everywhere.

I have planted a few more winter veg. then covered them against the white moth.

Of course there is still plenty growing, beetroot,capsicum, parsley, bok choy, carrots, snow peas,cherry tomatoes, as well as all the seedlings from 2 weeks ago.

The blueberry patch now has a rhubarb transplanted from the back garden into one of the pots where a blueberry had died. I also put in various flowers around the spaces. I divided the rhubarb into 8 and another two are planted in the corner near the glass house, so 3 will be growing hopefully. The rest I sent to the Community Garden.

Blueberry and now Rhubarb Patch.

 The lemon and Mandarin trees are just about ripe, as we have had a few  2 - 7C degrees, very early in mornings, which is perfect for sweetening them. I am also still picking avocados off the tree out the back, there were 12 on it.

Mandarin

Lemon

 I am hoping to make lemon butter/curd, which I recently read freezes very well and is back to normal once it thaws. Wish I had known that when the kids were home. It only keeps 2 - 3 weeks in fridge due to the eggs. 

John has started putting together a new shed we have had for ages and never used. It is only very small. He also put together a new dresser for me. Everything seems to be in a Mecanno type set, these days.

The New Shed, maybe for fire wood or tools.

The Poinsettia as well as the Orange Agave plants are out.

 The top garden behind though is still a mess. Some of the soil has been moved. I will get on to this when the front is finished. As yet need to find a Landscape guy for the Artificial turf, and the Gazebo roof is still not done after 5 years of asking, as well as the pond and given up hope they will ever be done.

Artificial turf in the middle of all this, raised beds on sides.

My little tropical garden is doing well also.

Plus the Alexander Palms from Lord Howe Island are growing nicely. When they are big enough I will put 3 into a pot. They like to grow together.

I bought a Pink Chrysanthemum and put it where I sit for lunch if its not too cold. Eventually I will plant it out somewhere. The flowers are holding on for weeks.

The twins, our youngest grandchildren turned 10 yesterday, so I have been making them a card each, the years are certainly going fast,

  It is such a nice time of the year at the moment, and  I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather.

Till Next Time.

Collecting Heuchera

 I had a surprise turn up this week, John had bought some baby Heucheras and a couple of fancy leaf  Rex Begonias from   Australian Plants Online.

Heucheras I potted up from their tube stock.

Heucharas like semi shade to full sun, and I have had them before in the back corner garden but they died. They are a bit of a ground cover clump, but can grow up instead and you need to prune them every couple of years to take out the middle clump. from which you can then regrow from the stem hopefully.

Earlier this year I actually bought another group, of Heucheras from garden express and they have grown quite a bit. 

The little Begonias are the same variety, and I also potted them up from tube stock. They propagate from leaves placed on the soil with a small rock to hold them down. I haven't had much success doing that though. 

Painters Palette Begonia Rex

 Once the small ones grow a bit bigger I will put them in a nice pot and the whole lot is going to go in my shady corner.

 Yesterday I woke up with a  bad migraine something I don't get very often, and in the afternoon had a very painful  gallstone attack, so was reliving the year before when I had my gallbladder out. So today feeling very wiped out with a niggly pain in my stomach. 

If it happens again will go to the hospital but as I have already been there last week for bad heart palpitations, wasn't keen on turning up again. Will watch my diet, no fat, or meat, and go back to the vegetable soup I did before while waiting for the operation. Hopefully things will settle.

I had video call, before this happened, last Wed. to my RA specialist and he tells me I have to change medicine, as my Neutraphils are super low at .5 and probably lower now as the day before took my injection, I now have to wait a fortnight for new blood tests to get the ok to start again, and so the drama of arthritis pain goes on, he also is getting my knees x-rayed which is causing me the most hardship.

Roses I picked today so beautiful and cheers me up.

I also saw my local GP  last Friday, as a result of the hospital and she is sending me to the Heart Dr. again for more testing probably a Holter Monitor, plus found another skin cancer she has to freeze off but due to the Neutraphils being so low which causes infections, I have to wait for the next blood test, so will see her again in early Nov.

 She also wants to send me to a therapist for depression and anxiety and give me some tablet to make me feel better. I turned that down, will try to cope on my own, for the moment.

For those readers who believe in praying, please add me to your list. As I ask for prayers I think of all those who are struggling with Covid, or Cancer and probably how much better off I am, but it has been a very long year though. 

 

Till Next Time.