Where to put my Mother’s Day Gift

I have been so busy Making May Count that I didn’t get a chance to share the excitement with you.   Saturday was productive but in a more laid back way.  I continued moving thousands of photos across to my super storage device.  It became essential as things became so chocca block full I was stopped from taking any more photos.  While it was productive it was non gardening productive and found me still in my PJs at 2pm.  This was all the more frustrating because I hadn’t done any gardening and it was a gorgeous autumn day with a mild warmth and a clear blue sky.

Driven by a need to keep the garden in focus I decided to replant my Tahitian Lime tree.  This is a lucky tree that survived the Great Orchard Massacre of 2019, as it didn’t actually get planted and was found bereft of leaves but alive.  I brought the survivor into the greenhouse and nursed it back to health.  It recovered well – almost too well as it big enough to get in the way in the greenhouse.  So, I decided to replant it into a big pot and keep it on the deck by my office.  I even had a bag of citrus mix to plant it into.   There was a large pot that had successfully grown a lime in at the old place but unfortunately died of neglect during the move.   All I needed to do was to drag the old container out of the chicken coop where it has been languishing for the last couple of years and empty the contents, replace with fresh soil, and plant the tree.  Easy.

I got as far as dragging out the container before deciding enough was enough.  The container was heavy, and the dead tree was spiky, and I was a namby pamby who had spent the day in her PJs and wasn’t really up to a big job.

Feeling a little defeated I woke up the next day to Mother’s Day and a fabulous waffle breakfast and an amazing chiminea as a gift.  Hubby the Un-Gardener thought it could go nicely on my deck by my office but upon reading the instructions it said don’t put on a wooden deck or it may burn.  After a bit of discussion, we looked at other options.  We thought for a bit that on the corner of the yet to be built house deck would by a good spot and we could set concrete pavers within the deck, without changing the surface level wouldd be great.  But there were two problems – the deck doesn’t exist yet and won’t for some time as I have grand plans for a grand deck and the technicalities of creating a windbreak that doesn’t obscure the view were just too complex.

Then we sparked upon a great idea – out the back of the house was a bit of an eyesore with water tanks and had become a bit of a dumping ground.  It was also a wind tunnel and a lot of the sand had been eroded by the wind.    Going with the premise a fire would only really be used at night, then the view wasn’t important, so we could put up a fence.  So long as that fence doesn’t obscure the view of the ocean from the house, which it wouldn’t.  Then we could create a nook, out of the wind for warm fiery evenings with a marshmallow or two on a stick.

Fired up with enthusiasm Hubby the Un-Gardener and I got out there with a tape measure and started dreaming.  Very soon the dreaming turned into making things happen and we had worked it all out, mowed the area and even dug three post holes.  The only thing stopping us from progressing further was we had no materials.

Looking at the space it seemed a little larger than what was needed for a fire pit.  Instead of reining in our idea and making it smaller, we decide to expand on the vision and will put in an outdoor kitchen with built in BBQ and Pizza Oven.   The location couldn’t be better.  It is just off the back door, which is off the kitchen and will be out of the wind.  And it will also be just off the grand ‘yet to be built’ deck.   I can barely wait.  I hope my vision is the same as Hubby the Un-Gardeners.  But so far so good, and it is nice to be working together on this landscape project.  This will certainly Make May Count.

Come again soon – I still have a lime tree to plant.

Sarah the Gardener  : o)

#MakeMayCount