Curiouser and curiouser

This.

Talk about making a statement!

It started with me noticing a bundle of dry grass sticking out of ONE of the tubes.

In the following days, more of the tubes filled up.

Some google research told me that the insect responsible for this curious display was a female grass-carrying wasp (scientific name of odontia) lining her nests for the developing larvae.  I plonked myself in front of the bug hotel and waited and watched.

And before too long, she appeared…..such an industrious little worker.

One of my daily routines is to visit The Potager, which is where the bug hotel resides attached to the fence palings, so I get to observe what’s happening up there each day. I shall continue to monitor and wonder.

The Potager…..my little enclosed playground.

A Potager is historically an ornamental kitchen garden. There’s not much kitchen stuff going on in there let me tell you!

It’s been weeks since I blogged.

Lots of photos to share since then, in no particular order.

A couple of days ago my friend Sigrid invited me to visit Lavendula, an 1860’s Swiss Italian farm at Shepherds Flat. It was an absolute joy. A feast for the senses.

Rows of lavender, historic stone buildings, a glorious tree -filled garden to explore and 100 acres to picnic in, a cafe and lavender inspired goodies to purchase.

I’m looking forward to going back there with Bill.

Last three photo credits…Sigrid.

Bill and Sam are building a veranda out from the shed/garage to stop water flowing in and flooding the area when we have torrential downpours.

They called in the experts to get the measurements and building supplies list ( thank you Dean and Cara ) and proceeded to set about constructing. How difficult could it be!

It’ll be a work in progress.

Looking out from our kitchen table.

It’s our $10 rusty metal dish purchased from the tip shop.

The addition of a solar powered contraption turned it into a real work of art.

Not a huge fountain of spray ( hardly even a spray to be honest ) but still a joy to look out on every day.

Apricots galore. Stewed, dried, fresh and shared. 

An enjoyable visit from Mima and Andrew in late December. 

Florally goodness from the garden.  No flower cart during Summer. It’s way too hot for them out there.

Flowers for Sara.



Amy and Helen were here in early December. They picked up some furniture and we celebrated an early Christmas with them.

A photo of Pearl in their gorgeous living area at Nungurner.

Pondering how to use these beautiful tea towels from Viv. I can assure you I won’t be drying dishes with them.

Feeling very clever making this little vase out of a used cardboard coffee cup and some woolly stuff from the box marked Macrame in my sewing room.

Inspired by dailyart_unity on Instagram.

Looking forward to making another one using some twine from the op shop.

Contemplating what to make from this vibrant stack of colours purchased online.

It’s a Layer Cake. 40 pieces of fabric measuring 10 inches by 10 inches.

It’ll probably be a winter project.

Photo credit from Pinterest.

Anticipating lots of seed collecting in the coming weeks. One of my favourite pastimes.

These are Larkspur seeds.

Some bits that made me smile.

I’m going to keep making my lists about…..well, everything really. That’s what I do. Can’t help myself.

But in particular a list of some possible plantings and rehashing of the Roundabout Bed. It’s currently a hotch potch.

I hope you find something to wonder about in the coming days.

Enjoy the week everyone.

Please don’t ask me.

Haha….
This is me right now……loosely speaking. 

Mind you, I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to have a proper small business with deadlines and commitments and I have huge respect for all those who do. 

I don’t know how you do it.

I’m just picking flowers and putting them out for people to look at……when it suits me!

Actually that’s not quite how it works but it’s almost true.

When I stop to think about it….

I sow the seed.

I nurture the seed.

I plant the seedlings.

I water the seedlings.

I feed the seedlings.

I pick the flowers.

I arrange the flowers.

I wash the jars.

Mmmm, there’s a bit going on I suppose. And that’s not to mention all the thinking, mulling, considering that goes on with every one of those processes. Known only to those who know me well and know how much I need to think about Every. Little. Thing.

These photos were taken this morning in the flower cart.

Every morning sees me out there fluffing around and checking everything as though it’s an actual retail store. It brings me all the joy that owning small businesses must bring to those who do have their own retail outlets but without the financial columns that have to add up every week. 

I still feel a huge sense of excitement when someone actually pays for what I get to do each day. And if they don’t, then that’s okay too. The joy comes from the whole process.

And just to make sure I’m not resting on my laurels, I’ve gone and ordered more seeds! That’s just how it is. The impatient gardener.

Mostly seeds of flowers I haven’t grown before. The excitement comes from growing new things and being curious to see how they look in real life and what value they can add to my picked flower repertoire.

Of course none of this would happen without Bill helping me with all the hard stuff. And there’s plenty of that let me tell you.

He has just finished building a couple of raised garden beds in the orchard area for some more bulbs to be planted. I will order them in Summer after poring over the catalogues and making choices of bulbs I can’t do without. Apparently. One of my favourite things.

He also restored the old garden bench that was burnt in the fire….so that we can sit and look at said flowers. I sit and look all the time. Bill ? Nope, hardly ever. It has come up a treat though. 

I found this gorgeous rusty shallow bowl at the tip shop for $10.

During the holidays, I’ll have a go at cleaning it up to make it into a birdbath of some description and put it out the front in amongst our new native plantings.

More flower photos.

This sunset stopped me in my tracks a few nights ago.

Gosh I love looking at the sky in all it’s fascinating glory.

The girls love a good sky too. They get plenty of them in Lakes Entrance.

Sam visited them a few weeks ago.

They’ve been building a hot house using bits and pieces salvaged from their local tip shop.

It looks perfect there. 

These made me smile.

Christmas.

I suspect that selfies with Santa will not be an option this year. 

This is probably my favourite.

Hope you all get to do some pah-ru-pa-pa-pumming over the festive season.

Thank you for still clicking on my page in anticipation even though the entries have been so few and far between. 

Merry Christmas everyone.