Rain and salad

The birds were going full throttle out there this morning, most likely discussing the 32mm of rain we had. 

Thank goodness.
Last night's garden wanderings had me thinking that there was nothing noteworthy to show you.... everything was looking very hot and bothered and in desperate need of some water.
But the storm clouds were gathering, so we watched and waited and I managed to find a few things to photograph that were still hanging on.

 We've been trying to keep the grass seed watered. It's a bit patchy but starting to get some coverage.

This banksia rose has sent out a shoot to start climbing the archway.......that's a good start.

Only one yellow poker is still blooming but I have cut the stalks off the finished blooms and left  them on some dirt hoping that the seeds might do something.

I think we've just about got this as square as it will ever be. Now it's too wet out there to do anything at the moment!!!!

Amy's update from Cambodia....
This is her lesson on food.( oh yes, that would be right up your alley Amy! ) 

The little guy down in the left hand corner is the one to watch out for... he's having chilli in his!

The teacher standing at the back of the classroom  went back to Siem Reap with Amy in the tuk tuk after school.
 I thought he must have been going to the Bug cafe with a few of the volunteers for after- school drinks, but no.
He was going to uni from 6pm until 9pm then riding home on his bike ... a 30 minute journey... to his one room hut that he shares with his Mum and sisters.
 They all sleep on the floor.


Aunty Dell
Vale Aunty Dell.....a  lady who loved a good laugh and lived her life enjoying all the simple things. She was 97.
A much loved part of our family.

Her remaining siblings out of eight .....

The twins....Pat and Enid, then Len and Betty.


Another may be project......

The ends of our garden bench burnt in the fire.

I'm sure it would be happy with a new lease of life.
Need to get that wire brush out again.

Hope you had some much needed rain at your place ......I can hear a frog...bet he's happy too.

It's not about how you look, it's about how you see

I have read many ways of saying this message but I really like this one.....and it makes a great tee shirt too Amy.

The kids have come to town.
It's puppet making day in Siem Reap.
Their task was to make a giant leaf insect for a  parade in a few weeks time.

Mission accomplished, I'd say.

The potting shed
There has been some more eyeballing going on.  
Where to put the potting shed....
Where to put the raised garden beds.......
How far between the beds and the shed.......
What can we see and from where.........

The beds look so much bigger here than they did in the tiny space at Kew.
We managed to fill one of the beds with appropriate "earthy stuff "so that I could get the herbs into some dirt.They had been left overnight and were all looking pretty sad I must say, but a good soak might see them rejuvenate.
 I'm hoping so.

 The little stands that you see on the bottom of the boxes go into the ground( holes made with the crow bar) and a bit more eyeballing and adjusting sees them sitting flat (well, flat-ish).
The flat square in the foreground is the floor of the shed and the bit in front of it is the veranda

All on hold now.
It's too hot to be out there.

Sewing machine table
The Singer table is in position and looking a treat.
Thanks for the suggestion Jo.

The concrete pot on the table was the only pot rescued from the potting shed. All the others fell to pieces as soon as we picked them up. It has some battle scars too.

A new seating arrangement in the garden room
On the other side of the french doors we have put a small round table and two chairs.

It's a read- the- paper kind of table.
Or a cup- of- tea kind of table.
Or an eat- your -breakfast kind of table.
Too hot for the blinds to be open today. It's been a scorcher here. We are struggling to keep the water up to everything including ourselves.

That little boy.....

Flynn wanted Kiann to take his photo.....
And then it was "tantrum central" when the ride stopped apparently.
No.......never....that wouldn't be right!
They've been baking up north in the Pilbara.
Stay cool everyone.

On this day.... February 9 2014

It was hot.

It was windy.

 It was a curtains-closed kind of day.

That's a high alert day for us.

We could see the smoke in the distance coming our way.

We gathered up Amy's little pooches, packed the cars, turned on the sprinklers and left ( with me worrying about the water bill )!
We spent the afternoon at our safe house. Thank you Callum and Elana, Merrill and Kevin.
After long hours of waiting and wondering we returned to this............

It was quite late in the afternoon by the time we were allowed back in.
Bill wanted to drive around the back but Amy and I needed to take in what had happened out the front, so we parked there.
I will always remember that strong smell of smoke and burning. 
As we drove in, we remarked on how weird it was that the plastic tubs of water that Amy had put out for the birds and animals had remained intact. You can just see one over to the left.

All the photos that follow were what we saw that evening......

I don't remember having a sense of gratitude that we were all safe and that out house was still standing.
 It was just complete disbelief that everything else was not!
Now of course, the gratitude far outweighs the disbelief. Not just for our house and garden but for everything else in our lives and more importantly, all the people in our lives.
So if you are one of those people reading this, then that's you!

Yesterday I asked Bill whether he would have done anything differently and his reply was.....
Taken the moke instead of your car!

The only thing that comes to mind for me is to leave the trees longer to recover.

 One we thought was completely dead has only just recently covered itself in beautiful new growth.

We are especially thinking of Sam and Amy today. They have processed the whole event differently and their material losses were significant.

Bill has shown immense patience waiting for his shed to be built. He has equipped himself with every tool known to man over the last few months.
He could probably build his own shed! 

Now, back to that new/old potting shed and all those gorgeous herbs. 

Flowers and love letters

Day 3 at school.......

Trips to school in the tuktuk..( or is it on the tuktuk)..Amy???

The well...

Amy was very happy with her first planned lessons. She said the kids loved them and the teacher appreciated the work she did very much. 
She is in the office tomorrow morning and meeting the kids from school in Siem Reap for puppet making.
 It is a huge day for them.
 Some of the children have never been to the city before.
She's calling it........ the afternoon with the puppets and the poppets in Siem Reap town!

She has the use of a bike to get her where she wants to go. 

Potting Shed..... Part 2
We returned to Kew to pick up the rest of our herb garden this morning.
Violet , the kitty cat kept her eye on us.

Bill.....We won't be able to fit all that stuff in.
Me.....Oh yes we will!!

We stuffed those herbs in the back on a tarp and had Vietnamese mint in our noses all the way home!
Gorgeous.
We  Bill dug them out roots and all ( except for the mint) and we are hoping they might survive the transplant. I am certain they will.
 There was oregano, thyme, sage, basil, parsley and chives.
All way too healthy to just be bulldozed into the ground.
Didn't trust our rusty trailer with the weight of dirt and floor and veranda boards and raised bed boards, so hired a trailer for the day.

Fishing buddies...

Well, one fisherman.
And one strawberry loving fishing buddy.
Two gorgeous boys.