Around the Spring Garden in 120 Seconds

Chris and I spent the long weekend getting the yard, gardens, pond and driveway cleaned up for spring. We raked and weeded and pruned, so that we will be able to enjoy the rest of the summer weekends ahead with things other than just gardening. (I can't believe I just said that, ... I LOVE gardening!) I took some photos for you, and I can't believe how advanced we are for the end of May. I swear that some of my July blooms are already coming in. I hope it isn't a bad sign. If you click on this postings title link above it will take you to my Spring Garden album and you can have a tour. When you get to the album, please click on "Slideshow" to view the photos better. I am very pleased with how my perennials are coming in so full in year 3. Chris and I agreed that from now on, the May long weekend will be our "get the garden and yard ready for the summer season" weekend.

A Home for Koomboola

  Yes, finally! Here he sits in a perfect spot to watch over the woodland garden.

Interesting Spider

This is a picture of a very interesting spider I spotted on my Japonica yesterday. I found this picture on the web, but it is exactly the same. I have googled it but can't get a good identification. The closest I found was a white crab spider, but the red markings were in the wrong place. Since I have never seen one of these, I thought I would share.

Englishmen Should Not be Let Out

 

Well here is Chris's latest invention for a total cost of $1.50. He has created his own version of a "Rider Lawn Mower" by using his Dad's motorized scooter and bolting our gas powered lawn mower to it. He thinks he is very clever, and can save himself a lot of hard work pushing the manual gas mower. I think he should be locked up! Who in their right mind would do such a thing except a red-neck Englishman.

Driveway Landscape

 

Just a quick snapshot of both sides of the driveway which seem to be filling in nicely this year, and everything is in bloom now as well. The Lithadora (top right) this year is stunning with the many blue flowers, and the variegated broom is really loaded with flowers. You can zoom in by clicking more than once on the photo. Chris's new workshop can be seen in the background.

Unwanted Garden Guest

 

Well take a look at this slug I found in the garden today. It was so big, Chris wanted to run and get a tape measure before I took a picture so we could emphasize the actual size!!! 8 inches! Never seen one that long, and don't want to again. The funny thing though, is that we have never had any slugs at all in the garden these past few years, and this year they are everywhere! Anyway I took this monster across the road and let him crawl away in the rain forest. if you click on him you can see how long his antenae are.

REAL HUMMERS (Not the Automobile)

 

The Rufus hummingbirds arrived back on March 30th this year... round about the same time as the previous years, almost like clockwork. We have two species around our place, and the other is the Annas hummingbirds which stay year round on Bowen even through the cold and snow. We have so many of these precious little Rufus hummers in the spring and summer that they are almost a hazard.. it is like being in the midst of a star wars battle at times. Of course the Rufus and the Annas don;t get along much either. I have a feeder out front which the Rufus use, and one out back for the Annas. Here are 2 pictures of the Rufus hummers taken by my friend Kelli on April 29th out on our front patio in the sun. The 3rd picture was taken over the winter, and is an Annas hummer at the back kitchen window feeder. You can click on them to enlarge.

The New Mondo

This is Mondo now. I have added a few more plants and stained the lattice. Very much a work in progress.. have yet to tackle either side of him yet. Ha... a life-time challenge. I must be getting some sort of mental therapy from this, just not sure what.

That Darn Shed

 

The house we bought came with this dreadful garden shed that I have been asking Chris to take down or at least move. It is just in the wrong place as it is in plain view from my kitchen window. Well, since we are into year 3 now, I gave up. I decided to make lemonade out of lemons. The kitchen view side now has a trellis on it, with a newly planted virginia creeper vine which I hope will grow up and over, and on either side of the trellis are my garage sale mirrors and to the left a tikki wind chime. On the front, we took off the door, and I put up geko carvings on each side (another garage sale), hung a mirror on the top and planted a trumpet vine to the left, which I also hope will take off. The other 2 sides I don't see, so all is good. I asked Chris to pose with Jake in the front of my new project.

Lazing on Sunny Afternoon

 

These were taken tonight around 5:30pm... both kitties in the garden, basking in the sun as it sinks in the west. Smoke in the bush behind the bamboo... and Gypsy up front by the spirea. What a life they lead. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on the collage as many times as you like... I didn't use my zoom so they look small in this collage.

Ducks Unlimted

 

If you build it they will come..... or so the saying goes. When we first started to create this living pond out back in 2007, we really wanted it to be echo friendly and to attract frogs. They say that frogs will only come to a healthy pond..and last year we got a frog!!. This year, I have seen 2 of them hop into the pond.. so this is great news. The other thing we wanted was to try to attract ducks. I even tried decoys last year, but to no avail. Well, Chris called me this aft to come up to the pond as there was a pair of ducks having a bath and preening themselves. I grabbed my camera and got a few shots - a nice pair of mallards. They spent about 40 minutes there before flying off. Needless to say it was the highlight of my day, even though they did leave there calling cards all over the rocks by the edge of the pond, and muddied the water quite a bit. A wonderful afternoon interlude.

Garage Sale Treasures

 

Did I tell you how much I love garage sales? Well the season is here and yesterday I hit a couple of sales, on a specific mission looking for garden art or accessories. I found these 3 items for $1 each. The frog is an Indonesian hand carved piece of art that is also a music maker. The stick in the mouth is used to strum the back of the card to make a real croaking sound. I simply had to buy it because the African drummer at the conference a week ago had these as part of his back up music. What a coincidence that I found this treasure. I love it, and it sound just like a frog. Jake hates the sound. The other 2 treasures are an Indonesian statue for my garden, and a Polynesian flamingo mirror for the garden shed (you can see the woodpile reflection in the mirror). I also got an old black bench... forgot to take the photo.. but it will go in the garden someplace as well. (Chris wants to put it on the bonfire, but it is very nice, and will be very good in one of the garden rooms).

Drumming

 

So today I attended the first day of a human resources conference. We started off the day by drumming. African drumming!! I loved it! Did you know that for hundreds of years, drumming has proven to be the most effective team building activity in all cultures? I learned that the drum is a very ancient tool for communication and community building. In Africa, before any major tribal decision is made, the community gathers together at the centre of the village to make music. We made music this morning. Each participant, and there was at least 800 people in the room, got a drum.... and we drummed for 75 minutes. The photos aren't very good because I haven't mastered the zoom on my digital yet, but I did get Chris to snap one of me at home, outside drumming in the sun room. You can click on the collage. I had a few take-a-ways from today as well, which I will share: - Your world is perfectly organized to create and support the behaviours you are currently experiencing - The most important capacity you possess is the ability to influence behavior; be it yours or someone else's - Will is a skill - At the heart of all chronic problems are crucial conversations you are either not having, or not having well - Anytime you are stuck, there is a crucial conversation keeping you there

RE-CONSTRUCTING MONDO

 

So last blog post was deconstructing Mondo.. so here are some photos of this weekends efforts to landscape the monster. Hard to capture, but I have terraced the slope, and there is actually now a pathway. I have dug up a lot of plants from my garden and moved them to Mondo. If everything takes... in a month or 2 it may look good. I now have to tackle the inside side of Mondo....removing sticks, logs and other debris. It could be a full time job if someone paid me. Click on the individual photos to enlarge and get a better view.