Accidental Sabbatical Recently I’ve been so busy in the doing that I looked up and realised that the days have quickly turned into weeks and I’ve kept myself to myself. It has felt a little strange, but kind of refreshing. I have been sharing my gardening ups and downs for around 15 years, with any breaks completely intentional – for holidays, illness (not that that … Continue reading Accidental Sabbatical
Things I want to achieve in May 2025 May is autumn’s last chance, and the mornings feel a lot closer to winter than they did at the start of Autumn. But technically it is still autumn so if a task is listed as an autumn task in the gardening books then I won’t feel guilty getting it done now… well maybe a little bit of … Continue reading Garden list for May
But I want to build Rome in a Day! I have a fire in my belly and some kind of inflammation in my brain. I love my garden and I have a grand vision for it. For the parts of the garden I have already created, there is a standard in my head that I like it to be at… all the time. The thing … Continue reading But I want to build Rome in a Day!
Creating a Blank Canvas I have been working hard on Room Three of The Palace Garden, although there isn’t much to show for it at this point. Just a patch of weed free earth. Having said that, getting to a weed free state has taking a long time and a lot of effort. As with all the rooms In The Palace it began as a … Continue reading Creating a Blank Canvas
Downsizing This year we have experienced a shift in our family with a couple of significant things happening. Firstly, we have become empty nesters. After years of attempting to fill hollow legs and bottomless pits, the teen lads have well and truly fledged the nest. They no longer require a gardenful of produce to keep them healthy. They are more likely to reach out their … Continue reading Downsizing
The consequences of going away It is always nice to go away somewhere tropical to relax and get pampered. Don’t get me wrong for what I’m about to say, because I’ll take a tropical holiday any day of the week over the ordinary day to day. Not that my ordinary is a normal ordinary, but you know what I mean. But… The moment I first … Continue reading The consequences of going away
Out here on the coast the sandy soil is pretty much held in place with the kikuyu grass, especially on the hills and I have no problem with this. The last thing we need is erosion or even worse – a blow out, where the wind whips away the sand causing a deep hole. Once you get a blow out it can be difficult to … Continue reading How I keep the Kikuyu Grass out of my garden.
Historically May has been my least productive month. I prematurely convinced myself that it is close enough to winter that I might as well just settle down in the warmth and cosiness of indoors and wait for things to get better outside. The thing is, May isn’t really that bad in the grand scheme of things and it should really be spent finishing off projects … Continue reading Making May Count … Again…
From time to time Hubby the Un-Gardener has meetings with clients away from home and more often than not it is at a café location that roughly halfway between them both. So, this week when he told me a client suggested meeting at the wonderful café at the Auckland Botanic Garden, I told him he wasn’t going there without me. The weather this week was … Continue reading I’m coming with you
One of the main reasons I went and found myself a Handy Helper is the garden had got away on me. I had been managing the garden and my projects, but it was a very fine balance. It just took me losing my balance and falling down and twisting my ankle to lose my grip on the garden maintenance. And it went south in so … Continue reading Weeding for miles
