More beasties

30/5/10

I didn't get around to finishing my last post about all the lovely plants I got for my birthday and the tags are still sitting on the coffee table in the living room, covered in dirt. The last plant is an argyranthemum aka pink daisy. The first daisy so far.

I haven't been gardening as much lately because I have decided, on T's suggestion, to go to the Bar. So I have spent some days sitting in the Bar Association Library, reading Ritchie's Practice and Procedure in NSW or at home reading ethics and evidence.

My lovely mother-in-law was very generous on my birthday as well and I have ordered more plants from Digger's Club:

BLACK KNIGHT BUTTERFLY BUSH BUTTERFLY BUSH WHITE CLOUD WHITE LADY CHERRY PIE BLUEBERRY 'NORTHLAND' STRAWBERRY 'HOKOWASE' 10 STRAWBERRY FRAISES DES BOIS CLARY SAGE 'VATICAN WHITE' Kath gave me a lovely orange tree. I planted it next to the Kaffir Lime tree, maybe a bit too close, we'll see. This morning was the first day of no rain for ages, so I weeded for half an hour and planted out more broccoli, lots of leeks, chives and some curly parsley. The broccoli already in the garden is being eaten by caterpillars, so I sprayed with confidor, but I am going to get a cheap blender so I can make up some chilli and soap spray and use that instead. That way I can hopefully lessen the impact on good bugs. Here are some photos I took this morning.

Tired but happy

9/5/10

Big day in the garden today. It's my birthday next week and yesterday T and I went to Swanes and T bought me lots of beautiful plants. It was a perfect autumn day today and I wandered out to the garden, gardening basket in hand, to plant the first of my presents, a blushing pink iceberg standard. The growers notes say, 'Blooms best size and colour when formed in cool weather...flowers have an exquisite pink blush, painted as if by hand. Occasional flushes of white blooms during the summer or when flowers are forming in hot weather'.

It has taken me five years to refine how I plant. The soil in my garden is clay-very dense and usually I have to dig the clay out completely and replace it with potting mix. I used to dump the clay in a pile absent mindedly and then have to put it in a bucket and take it to the compost. Now when planting I have two big flexible buckets, one empty, which I fill with dug out clay or poor soil and another, full of potting mix. I also soak the plants in another bucket or weak seaweed solution before planting as this is encourages strong root formation. I keep a bale of sugar cane mulch near my compost heap and once I have dumped the clay, I fill the bucket with mulch and mulch all around the newly placed and well watered in plant.

T bought me three David Austin roses, 'The Prince', 'Sharifa Asma' and St Cecilia.' 'The Prince' is described as a short, bushy plant with 'rich, royal-purple, full rosette flowers and a strong and delicious Old Rose fragrance'. 'Sharifa Asma' is medium size with upright growth. It has 'Delicate, blush pink flowers with a delicious fruity fragrance'. 'St Cecilia' is a medium, bushy shrub with 'Beautiful, slightly open, rounded flowers of pale apricot pink. Very strong and delicious myrrh fragrance'.

I planted 'The Prince' in the front garden, beside the rosemary and the burgundy/white iceberg standard. I planted the other two in the back garden. I pulled out 'Othello' because it has never flowered, I put it in a pot. If it doesn't flower in spring I'll chuck it. I planted the two new David Austins in a bed with a pomegranate and 'Marie Rose', which is a lovely, tall bright pink rose with a strong, musky scent.

T also gave me a daphne, which I planted under the Japanese maple, with the blueberry bush on one side and an azalea on the other. They like free-draining, acidic shade, warmth in winter and protection from strong sunlight in summer. I am hoping I have planted it in the perfect spot.

I will continue later, dinner is on the table.

Globalisation

1/5/10

In 2007 we visited Istanbul. I ventured to the Grand Bazaar twice, it was so big and the spruikers so insistent that I navigated perhaps 1/10th of it before slinking away, defeated. Even so I found the most beautiful ceramics, the colour of jewels, glossy as melted chocolate. I carted them back to Sydney, feeling smugly that they would be unique here. Today I ventured to Orange Grove Markets in Rozelle and what do you know? My dazzlingly coloured exotic ceramics were displayed for all to buy. That's globalisation.

I also bought a chilli plant and some punnets of Cos lettuce, which I planted this afternoon. I went to the markets with a dear friend and on the way home took some cuttings from succulents in her courtyard. I love looking at plants in my garden knowing they come from a friends house, it's like having a little piece of them. However, plants, unlike animals, often are not a reflection of their owners. My friend grows the hardiest of plants that withstand complete human neglect, but she is the most delicate of exotics, requiring tender love and gentle handling. Everyone deserves tender love, however some are more robust than others. I wish those that were more robust would be more empathetic towards those that are not. I am reminding myself of this as well.

Flowers

23/4/10

Cosmos

21/4/10

I am looking out of the window of my study. It is twilight and some cosmos that self-seeded this year is waving gently in the breeze. It is very peaceful here, despite the fact one of the busiest roads in Australia is at the end of my street. Lane Cove National Park is at the other end.

Today I meditated in the garden. As usual my thoughts scattered in all directions and I had to reel my concentration back time and time again, but by the end of half an hour I felt serene and just sat, looking at a cloud passing and listening to the lorikeets. On the way home from visiting a sick friend last night, T suggested I need not read Buddhist literature, rather, I should simply live life thoughtfully, think of others and do something for someone every day. 'Simple'. He said. I do question Buddhism and see that one can easily stray into narcissistic introspection if one is not careful. The reason I started meditating was as a preventative strategy for depression. The concept of mindfulness, of being aware of what one is doing all the time and awareness of the moment is a practical skill that is bound to assist in decreasing the tendency to ruminate, which occurs when depressed. The capacity for gloomy reflection is lessened if one does not place the mind elsewhere when brushing one's teeth or eating or cooking....

Lunch with the girls

On Friday, after arriving home from Bowral, I planted lots of lettuce, some celery, mint and more thyme. The garden bed near the front gate is shaping up to be a scented garden, with lemon geranium, cherry pie (heliotrope) and thyme. The aim is for people to be able to brush against the plant when they come in the front gate and release delicious scents.

Today two friends came for lunch. I baked some bread and made vegetable soup with pistou. Kath bought over a lovely raspberry cheesecake and I poached pears in red wine spiced with cinnamon, allspice, cloves and peppercorns. We sliced the pears and ate them with blue cheese. The combination worked really well together.

Mini-break

16/4/10

Yesterday I took one of my nephews to visit my brother in Burradoo, near Bowral in the Southern Highlands. I spent the afternoon hacking away at jasmine that was smothering a cherry tree and encroaching on a number of camellias and other trees and shrubs. Blackberry was also flourishing. I cut about 3 skips worth of green waste and hardly made a dent. Sometimes I become dispirited, knowing it will be difficult to convince the family to have a working bee to try and tame a bit of the 1 and a bit acres of garden at the family home, then I become immersed again and it's ok.

Today I bought two punnets of cut and come again lettuce, some lovely dark green thyme, mint and some celery. I planted the mint near the parsley, so it will be easy to pick for tabbouli. I will plant the spring onions, when they are ready to plant out, nearby for the same reason.

Reading Delores Claiborne by Stephen King as well as Living Meditation, Living Insight by Dr Thynn Thynn and Barnaby Rudge. I have been meditating each day but become distracted very easily, even by wondering whether I should be practising different types of meditation. Next week I want to go down the the national park at the end of our street and sit.