Major disappointment

Oh the disappointment!

Not just one failure, but two!!

The "soy sauce in vegie oil" method trapped three earwigs. 

BIG fail.

So I tried again.

This is the "poke holes in sides of plastic container and pour in water with linseed oil on top" method.

The lid goes on and apparently they are attracted to the smell of the linseed oil and climb through the holes and drown.

BIG fail!

They obviously had trouble finding the holes because I only caught one!

Method 3 (taking place tonight)............take off the lids.

This is earwig damage on our devoniensis rose which grows over the arch. EVERY single rose is like this. It is so discouraging.

Bill is having way more success than me. His potato patch is flourishing.

And so is this tiny little maple seedling that he found near the hot water service. We had maples outside the windows that have been removed for the new room, so this is a chance seedling that has popped up. Very exciting.

My garden lovelies this afternoon....... 

Pretty primrose foxgloves

An old fashioned iris

A white one......

....and this one. It always reminds me of Bill's Aunty Betty. 

A view through the arch on my way back from inspecting our persimmon tree which  is being  eaten by who knows what. Must go out with a torch tonight and have a look at what's going on up there in the orchard. Maybe earwigs too.

Bill has decided to have windows in his new shed so that he can look out on the world while he is making stuff.

We are going to plant banksia roses all around the rose garden as a hedge. They are ready to go in but I think tomorrow will be too hot. I will wait until Saturday.

No workers today. They will be back tomorrow.

Holes in hollyhocks, earwigs and action plans

Caught in action!

This unknown creature was having the time of its life when I captured it ready to chomp a few days ago.  I didn't really think about it again.

But then I found these holes in every single hollyhock leaf in the garden and began to research what might be causing it ( the same thing happened last year). 

The strange thing is, it doesn't affect the flowering process, it just looks ugly.

Seems like "holes in hollyhock leaves" is a much googled topic ..........

So I have an action plan. 

I am going to go outside with a torch to investigate what's going on, because apparently they hide during the heat of the day and just come out at night.

 I also have an action plan for earwigs. They mutilate the Devoniensis rose that grows over the arch. It saddens me because that rose is so beautiful when it is in flower. I think they hide in the fencing.

Vegetable oil with a splash of soy sauce!!!!

I am using jar lids as the containers.

There was a party going on at the frog pond this morning at breakfast.

And we finally have a baby willy wagtail sighting!!!! Bill originally saw two little beaks but the other one must be tucked away.

 It would have been stifling in there today. It's outside the granny flat which faces north.

We were away all day today but came home to find our workers had been busy. 

They will be back tomorrow.

We had Face time tonight with this little boy and his Daddy.

He makes our hearts sing. Bless you little man.

Door handles and dogs

 First iris to flower. 

Door furniture. How hard can it be?
Have you heard of flush bolts, panic bolts, barrel bolts..??? And how about parliament hinges and broad butt hinges and latch, euro, privacy and lock levers?
In the end we came home with the brochure of the handle we wanted and told our builder to work out the rest! 
We don't care how it locks to be honest.....just lock it!!

Dog love
Amy's little pooches were here for a sleepover at the weekend.

The weather was perfect for them to be out and about.
 Toby's tail was spotted a few times wagging above the rubble and shed piles.....so much to sniff and investigate. 

 Bill sorted through the rubble pile.
 He wanted to start putting some things aside in a might come in handy pile, in case it all got taken away when he wasn't looking.

This is the keep pile......( including the barrow of bits)

And the real rubble pile....

 Toby and Trip took Bill  for an early walk...........(6.30am)

I finished sewing the binding to my granny squares quilt.

The irises are starting to bloom.
This one is called Berry Bliss. It's gorgeous.

And this one is just purple.....beautiful though.

In the potato patch we have shoots already.......

And behind the shed paraphernalia.......  

......were these tree seedlings that I lifted and planted months ago. Look at them now!!!!

Special little dogs.