Coral Bay, magpies and tiny shoots

We have the fire going here as we speak.
No such requirements in Coral Bay by the look of things!
Beach babes........Flynn and Aunty Amy. 

In fact Bill had the bonfire going here as well today cleaning up the sticks and burnt wood from the fence that he had taken down.

And while I was up there, ( and while the magpie had gone searching for food) I couldn't resist taking a photo of the woodpile. 
I don't know what it is about them but I love a good stack of wood!

I noticed Bill has his own stone walling going on here!

This is the fence that Bill removed today.
With just a few distractions.
Click on this link....

Bill's Magpie Encounter

Scary!!!

 It was burnt anyway so now that the burnt bits have been removed, we have an opportunity to consider how we might replace it and where to put the gate this time. 

Just when we thought that Bill would need to get the chainsaw out again ( heaven forbid) I noticed these tiny bits of new growth on the deciduous trees out the front. .......

I know it's not much, but I can't tell you how excited I was to find these little greeny, bronzey shoots.
I'm even including this miniscule tip as a sign of life!

Can you see it??? There's a couple actually.
Very exciting.....


One floor pillow finished.

I think we might be planting trees tomorrow.
Enjoy the beautiful day everyone.

Mr Magnolia and the hedge that needs to go

The first of our magnolia flowers appeared today.

When Sam was two, he was given a book by Aunty Audrey called Mr Magnolia and this was the first page.

And now every time I see a magnolia tree I find myself saying exactly that under my breath......... (I suspect Sam probably doesn't!)


 The sky looked like this for most of yesterday. 

So it was a worker- free day for us.


This is the view from inside our new room looking out on the garden. Joanne pointed out to us that the banksia rose hedge  should really be moved back. We had noticed that too. It just doesn't look right.
 So Bill headed out this morning to start taking down the fence....

And I started taking some cuttings to replace it.

....and a few other bits and pieces.

AND THEN I had another thought.
 We don't have to have a banksia rose hedge at all. We can have another kind of hedge!!!
We will move the fence line back further so the view from our new room is within the rose garden and research some other hedge plant to go all the way around the three sides of the rose garden to enclose it.... a bit like a walled garden room.
Please post some ideas if you have any. They would be most appreciated.

The rest of the day was spent discovering what was new and trying to evade the swooping magpies which terrify me.
This pretty dutch iris has just started to bloom....

....and I was thrilled to find this Lambley Dumble salvia  that I thought had disappeared. It's not looking terribly robust just yet but it will get better if something stops chewing it!

Amy flew to Perth and then caught another flight to Karratha yesterday to stay with Sam, Kiann and Flynn.
This morning at 5am they drove to Coral Bay for a few days....a 6 hour drive.  She must have started the trip in the back with Flynn, who wanted her (Ahmee ) to draw him a big shark ( 5am, dark, journey has just begun, Amy not a good morning person at the best of times.........love that boy!!)

Some of my favourite browsing magazines are garden catalogues and this one arrived yesterday. 

Clive Blazey suggested that..."less is more when we work with colour".
Mmmm......there's no chance of that here. Our garden beds always look like a box of smarties..!
I can't help myself.
Same with my patchwork......

This is the top of a floor pillow. It's huge!
I used the scraps of Notting Hill.
It needs to have piping attached, a bottom sewn on, stuffing added and a button sewn in the middle.
Trip and Toby will probably think it's for them!

Windflowers, date pudding and curing concrete

A White family gathering at Riddells Creek yesterday for Father's Day.

And because Bill is a father, I let him cook lunch!!!
Thanks Bill. It was delicious....roast pork and veg.
Thank you Sue for your yummy date pudding and for bringing a box of Caroline's caneles and dainty treats from Gracious and Delicious in Geelong.

Even though they are claimed to be a weed ( very poisonous too I think), I still think arum lilies are very elegant and I love them. Thanks Sue.

Windflower seeds.....pink I think.
I would love to be able to get these anemones to grow Jo. Thank you for the seeds.

~~~~~~~~BUILDING UPDATE~~~~~

The concreters returned this morning at 7.30....no RDO for them today. They started on Bertie's garage....

...then moved on to the tank stand base

.....and finally The Big Shed!!

Now the concrete needs to cure( builder speak).

Changing our minds~~~~~
Just a couple of weeks ago we talked about reducing the size of the mulched area under the trees at the back ( now that half of them are gone) and turning it into grass.
Fast forward to today....
Bill spent the morning spreading mulch on the native bed inside our backyard. We (I) have changed our minds again and decided to leave it as is!
 That's what happens when you are born in the Year of the Snake apparently. You have to spend time processing things before you can reach a decision. (the complete opposite to my garden man!!)

This is how that mulched area looked before the fire......

The clouds are gathering speed out there this afternoon and the wind is blowing a gale. 
I love our views of the changing sky here.

This is how it looked on Father's Day 2011.

And this one was taken in early September a couple of years ago. The flowering cherry has budded up ready to bloom. There is now a massive space where the gazebo used to be.

The tulips stand out like beacons out there today. I'm surprised they're still standing upright in this wind.

Stay safe everyone.

All pegged out

Late afternoon sunshine on a glorious Spring day.

The concreting men were back yesterday. 

They prepared the shed/garage for Bill. 

Then they did the smaller garage at the back which will replace the structure (???) that was used to house Sam's car.

We couldn't believe how big it looked.

It will be three separate spaces though.... the

garage, Bill's shed and an open area in the middle to keep the wood under cover. Just like before.

We have been having morning tea with the workers each day and sometimes I even make scones.

 Yesterday one of them brought along a creamed sponge cake!!!!

Perfect!

The country folk are experts at recycling. Mum's friend Olwyn used her Milo tins to give us plants from her garden. 

This one is called an ox tongue lily. It has been in her family for generations and she gave us a bulb to try.

It's tucked away in here.......

I couldn't bring myself to plant it in the ground so it has gone in a pot.

Mmmmm......watch this space!

Bill has been watering our tree seedlings today. We purchased a few extra watering cans to make the job a bit easier.

( This is how I found them when I went to take the photo........!!!!!! ???)

Wildlife update

There are now two magpie chicks to be fed up in the penthouse apartment.....

.....and these little guys were having the time of their lives today ducking and diving on the frog pond.

We were very happy to see these fat, green buds on our flowering cherry tree outside the kitchen window. This branch is fine but we're still not so sure about the rest just yet.

Bill and Amy did some mowing at Mum and Dad's last weekend....... click on the link below....

Pa's Mower

.....well, once they got the mower started that is....!

Concrete and freesias

What a perfectly matching word to it's object... concrete.......!!!
It's cold, hard, heavy, messy, grey and lifeless. 
But my gosh, we were thrilled to see some concrete this morning after three days of dreary weather and gloom.

Good on you concreters. I would struggle to do your job.
I'd be tempted to throw in a bit of colour!

They will return tomorrow to prepare for the shed and garage slab which they hope to pour on Monday. The weather is looking perfect for that time frame.

These gorgeous flowers could never be called concrete. It just wouldn't sound right. 

And the perfume is heavenly....thank goodness the naming Gods called them freesias.
It's the same with hyacinths ..... a perfectly sounding name for these glorious blooms.

Bill has been mowing the Long Paddock today. It looks a treat!~

Nearly 7 months ago.....

Today.....

 Not quite from the same spot but looking back towards the dam....ughhhhh

~~~~The Lavender Walk~~~~

I have had to do a lavender count every day since planting the lavender walks last week. Three of them have been dug up by rabbits and tossed aside!! I have tried to rescue them and replant them but one is completely mutilated. Pesky little things!

I'm glad in a way that it's been too cold out there to start planting all our other tube-stock. Some of them would have turned their toes up in the freezing conditions. I have just been making sure they stay watered. 

Sam and Kiann have moved into Karratha into a new house owned by Rio Tinto. They are very lucky to have been able to do that.
 Flynn put his working boots on to lend a hand.
The finger point is his thumbs up sign.....obviously a bit more work required there!