Sunday afternoon in the garden

It's been a while since I posted some pictures of the garden. I haven't spent much time in the garden lately. It's been cold & wet for one thing but it's also a bit lonely without Abby here to supervise my very amateur attempts at gardening. It rained all morning yesterday so when the sun finally broke through at about 3 o'clock, I went for a walk to get some air & when I came home, decided to take a few photos of some of the late winter beauties of the garden. You can see my preference for white flowers! Earlicheer daffodils have a lovely creamy colour & the white geranium is always reliable. I don't think I've ever killed a geranium. There used to be a white daphne next to the geranium but it was in one of Abby's favourite spots for digging & it didn't survive her attentions.

Then, there are the single white daffodils & snowdrops. I wanted to take some photos of the pink striped camellia but the rain had ruined all the flowers.

The most exciting thing is that the rose garden is going well. We've had some high winds & quite a lot of rain but the roses are all still standing &, as you can see, one of the Squire roses has started sprouting. I can't wait for the first roses to bloom.

Abby's Sunday morning

Hot today & hot tomorrow. Summer has arrived with a vengeance. It's predicted that Melbourne will get to 40 degrees today & tomorrow so Abby & I are prepared for a quiet Sunday staying as cool as possible. We were up early, watering the garden before breakfast, Abby keeping an eye on any birds that stopped for a rest & a drink.

We've been lucky this year as the weather has been pretty benign. A few hot days & a patch of humidity but also a fair bit of rain (too much for the flooded areas of northern Victoria, unfortunately) so the garden hasn't suffered much at all.

The catmint I planted especially for Abby is thriving. Of course, she hasn't even given it a sniff, she's completely uninterested. Maybe when it's big enough for her to sleep under...

We'll be spending the afternoon in the cool living room with books & iced tea at hand. I hope your Sunday is calm, peaceful & full of good reading.

Abby's (& the dove's) Sunday morning

It may not look like the most comfortable place to laze around but Abby loves to lie on the drain hole at the bottom of my little back yard. It's her first port of call on sunny mornings. My block has a slope & the drain is, of course, at that lowest point to let gravity do its work when it rains. It's a good place to roll around scratching one's back & hoping I'll come out & give her a stroke & a cuddle. Actually that last photo isn't the most flattering one ever taken of Abby, she looks enormous. You can see her looking at me very dubiously in the second photo, wondering why I'm standing at the top of the stairs with the camera.

We have a pair of doves who visit each spring & they're back again this year. They return to the nest they built a few years ago on the back porch under the eaves. Sadly, I've never see any young ones so I don't know if there are eggs in the nest or not. It's in such an awkward spot that I can't see inside. It's lovely to hear the male dove running along the top of the porch & hear them both cooing.

Well, back to work tomorrow after a lovely, relaxing week off. I'm still coming to grips with baking in the gas stove & I've just taken a Coffee Crumble Cake out of the oven. If it turns out well, I'll post a photo later. It was a gorgeous mixture with sour cream & a soft, fluffy batter. All the crumble topping seems to have ended up in the centre but I'm a bit worried about getting it out of the tin. I didn't have a springform tin so used an ordinary one. Fingers crossed.

Later - well, it looks pretty good. I did lose a little of the topping turning it out but it was much better than I thought. There'll be some happy librarians at morning tea tomorrow!

Abby's Sunday afternoon

I have to share these photos of Abby. On warm afternoons, she likes to sleep under the back stairs where she can catch any passing cool breezes. It’s a concrete floor & I bought her a bed to lie on after I cleared out all the junk (like the old Venetian blinds) that she liked to sleep on. This morning it was such a lovely day that I took the striped cover off to wash & left the foam insert on the back porch to air in the sunshine.

Even without the comfy cover & the attached lambs wool pillow, this is still the comfiest bed in the house (when my lap isn’t available).

Early Spring

It's a gorgeous early spring day in Melbourne today. I'm not a football fan so the horror of a draw in yesterday's Grand Final between Collingwood & St Kilda has had no effect on me at all. Except that I'm not looking forward to another week of hype leading up to next Saturday's replay! I was out early this morning hanging out washing & watching Abby stalk the magpie that's taken up residence in the garden. I've been wondering if the bird is an omen for the football as Collingwood are known as the Magpies but I can't work out what sort of omen it is. Certainly not an omen for a draw anyway. I took a few photos while I was out in the garden, mostly of plants I planted in autumn &, thanks to our lovely wet winter, they're all doing well. The white daphne above, I wish you could smell the glorious fragrance.

The hebe along the side fence.

The daisies.

All the lavenders I planted back in March/April have thrived. I suppose they're pretty hard to kill but I'm still surprised when they survive.

And here's Abby in one of her favourite spots when the sun is gentle rather than scorching. Just outside the back door, peeking over the doorstep.

I've done some baking too. A date & walnut loaf & some choc chip muffins to take in to work tomorrow. The muffins are a great recipe that I can mix up & put in the muffin trays today, keep in the fridge overnight & bake at work tomorrow in time for morning tea. Chocolate is always appreciated on a Monday morning & if people are feeling the need for something less decadent, they can have a slice of the date & walnut loaf.

Have a lovely Sunday, whatever you're doing.

Abby's autumn Sunday morning with pink flowers

It's a beautiful autumn day here, started out cloudy but the sun has burst through & now it's warm & sunny. The garden is looking very pink at the moment. The camellia & cyclamen are blooming. You can just see the leaves of the coconut geranium in the cyclamen photo. I planted this in a pot which sits in the herb garden & it has the most gorgeous scent whenever I brush past it. I was picking parsley for dinner the other night & trying to find it by scent & feel as it was almost dark. The coconut geranium was quite a distraction as it's grown quickly & wound itself among all the other plants.

Abby is sunning herself on the back porch at the moment but earlier this morning we were in the front garden investigating the autumn leaves. I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday wherever you are.

Abby's Sunday morning

There's been a real hint of autumn in the air over the last few days & Abby & I are very pleased about that. Autumn is my favourite time of year - probably because I'm so relieved summer is over for another year, but I just have so much more energy in autumn. I start making plans for the garden, start thinking about all the baking I'll do in the cooler months ahead & look forward to winter Sunday afternoons of reading. Abby has already started getting into her autumn/winter routine. Instead of sleeping in the garden or under the tree in the front garden after her morning patrol, she prefers to settle down inside when the weather cools down. That's my old dressing gown she's snuggling into. She decided it was time I bought a new one not long after she came to live with me by snuggling down into it one day when I'd left it thrown over the couch. She looked so comfortable that I just left her to it & bought a new one for myself.

Abby's Sunday morning

It may be the middle of February but it was dark, humid & drizzly when Abby & I got up this morning. So, instead of rolling around in damp grass or on the wet footpath, Abby took the sensible course of a quick tour of inspection outside & then settled down in her favourite spot for another sleep while I got on with the housework & ironing. This is my reading chair & in winter it can be a race to see which of us gets settled there first. Abby usually wins. I've just been for a walk & it's stopped drizzling but it's still humid & more rain & thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon. The rain is wonderful. Melbourne's already had its average monthly rainfall & we're only halfway through February.

Abby's Sunday afternoon with pink lillies

Abby was enjoying a warm Sunday afternoon in the front garden when I took these photos. I couldn't get a photo of her & the pink lillies in the garden bed behind her in the same shot so they got a photo of their own. I love these lillies which have just started blooming in the last day or two. I'm not much of a gardener & every year I forget that they're in the garden so I'm always surprised when I wander out for the newspaper one summer morning & there they are.

Abby's Sunday morning

It's a very hot day. I put some washing on the line at 9am & brought it in at 10.30. Very gusty north wind BUT a cool change tonight which Abby & I will be looking out for. Abby took her usual tour of the front garden early this morning & spent some time eating grass & rolling around under a tree. Not long after I took these photos, she was under the back steps in the coolest spot on a hot day, waiting for the change.

Abby's Sunday morning

Abby relaxing in the front garden this time, between a camellia & a hebe. You can see by the droplets of lovely rain on the camellia that we had showers last night after a cool change. You may also be able to see a little burning on the camellia's leaves thanks to the very hot day we had on Monday. It's a cliche that Melbourne gives you four seasons in one day but we've certainly had our share of seasons this week. 43 degrees on Monday followed by the hottest night for a century & a prediction of snow on the Alps tomorrow. Today is a lovely 20 degrees & Abby enjoyed a stroll in the garden followed by a snooze on the front door mat in the sun.

Abby's Sunday morning

Here are some photos of Abby enjoying a cool, sunny Sunday morning in the back yard. She usually starts her morning in the sun, then moves to her favourite spot under the back stairs when it gets hotter. Yesterday was a hot day, tomorrow is going to be even hotter, today, after a dry cool change last night, is not too bad. While Abby enjoyed the early sunshine, I watered the garden, made lemon slice, did some laundry & now I can relax for the rest of the day. Of course, Abby has been relaxing since she woke up...