Rapid Progress in the Garden.

 Lately we have been putting a lot of time an effort into the garden. Both vegetables  and flowers.

This was yesterday's harvest.

It looked and tasted yummy. One of my favourites.

 The blueberries, asparagus, courgettes and strawberries  need checking daily. The peas are only days away.

 Colourful spots everywhere .

 Yesterday Today and Tomorrow have seeded all around. They go with yellow and white and pink and are aptly nicknamed..

 I'm thrilled with my new Attention Seeker rose.

 Planted in front of it are a row of bedding dianthus.

The birdbath with clean water. It gets very warm and grows red algae if it's  left ( and I want the birds to have a clean wash - tho some leave droppings in it ) The piece if metal is to allow bees to climb out if they topple in.

 Other garden visitors are not all welcome. This fellow ate poison. 

 He looks very healthy ( altho dead. ) It  has had a diet of avocados, compost bin scraps , citrus fruit and who knows what else. Luckily a neighbour sets lots of traps around the area or we would be over run because of our  proximity to water and lots of vegetative cover.

I put poison bait  down one of its many holes and tunnels under a cherry tree. Another got caught in a trap R set then  it dragged it away under a bush.  Several days later I found it by smell....I have a very good nose. I  also got one baby rat.

****

 Yesterday I spent the morning with my very dear friends in our little sewing group. We are so happy together and hand stitch and talk and eat and drink and laugh a lot. My therapy. We take turns at hosting. We do lunch out  quite often if there are birthdays or some other reason. I really really value their friendship.

 My hand sewing is slowly progressing.

 

Books and Reading.

 Last weekend we went to the Lions' Used Book Sale at the race course. It is always well attended but not too crowded by the time we got there. There was as usual an extensive selection of books; puzzles;  sheet music; tapes and  CDs.  I only looked at books for myself and the 2 grandsons and jigsaws. R looked for his own books. We came home with this haul.

On our  old bookshelf we have reference books and keepers. Among them is my ( about ) 66 year old copy of Companion to English Literature. My Mum bought it for me when I was in the 3rd form. I used it a lot then and at Teacher's College and occasionally ever since.

The book  I am currently enjoying is in large print ( never had that before and don't need large print )is Emma - A modern Retelling, by Alexander McCall Smith. I enjoy his writing. Before I started this I refreshed my memory of the original Emma by Jane Austen using my old Companion.

This new retelling uses all the same or similar characters. Direct quotes are in bold. I'd recommend this for a light, satirical read.

Now it's Fruit Tree Flowers.

 

 Feijoa Flowers. ( related to NZ pohtukawa tree )

 Lemon tree. All citrus looks like this ( mandarins; oranges; grapefruit and Tangelo )

apple tree

strawberry( sorry a bit blurred ).

Avocado.

persimmon( Buds only just forming but stay green like this.)

 and passionfruit

  Not today as   this one is plum but it has already set fruit so have the pears.

Today it's Flower Photos.

 

 Gazanias near the clothes line.

 Philadelphus that has great fragrance.

 Graham Thomas rose.

 A new rose called Attention Seeker from a local grower Rob Somerfield.

 

 A mixed planting under a cherry tree with dark maroon snapdragon flowers.

 

A fabulous coloured Sweet pea. (   I will be saving seed off this one )

 The same bright colour on the banana. This plant belongs to elder grandson. He planted here beside our ones.

 

Vege Garden Photos.

 A few warm sunny days without strong wind has seen us both working a lot in the garden. Both vege and flowers are flourishing. Some watering of new plantings is necessary.

So Many New Things.

 Yesterday we had our old computer updated to be able to run Windows 11. I am so glad I have always kept a hard copy notebook ( plunket book! for NZ readers. ) with all the computer up grades , passwords , and "how to do " in it.

 3 weeks ago I had to buy a new mobile  so I could use the G4 and G5 network. ( my old phone was 10 years old-an expensive one when I got it and I had looked after it )

 We no longer have a landline as all we were getting were scam calls.

 Mostly I find if I don't know how to do something on the computer or my phone I google it and get lots of answers.

 I don't want to be a luddite so I am practicing all the new stuff and trying to help R do the same.

 I think Ill go out to the garden now....I now how to do that without further training!

Flowers with 3 Petals.

 I've been picking flowers from the garden that have 3 outer petals.

 Dutch iris, Bearded Iris and New Zealand Libertia.

 white Dutch iris.

 NZ native Libertia..

 *****

 I haven't done much sewing at all but my Grandsons have.They have both made small quilts and pillow cases  under my guidance and achieved very  well. 

Aged 9 Grandson did every part of this except the border which I put on.

He made 2 pillow cases also in green.

 Aged just 7 Grandson made this cushion and a small quilt and pillow case.

 Both confidently use the Bernina and know( about safety ) and stitch length, starting and finishing. Also zigzag and straight row  quilting with the walking foot. They also can cut carefully with the rotary cutter. Lots of measuring involved too.

They are back to school today.

 

Daffodils and Blueberries.

 Another very punishing wind blowing today.

My second round of daffodils will have broken necks no doubt. The one below called Tahiti has been looking very bright and Springlike.

 In a large pot the tiniest one ( a miniature )  I have called Minnow has just a few flowers out .They really are small ( about .5"diameter ) and make a tasty meal for slugs or snails. I've looked but cant find the chewing culprit.

 

    

 New Blueberries.

 R has been busy building a new bigger wire netting cage for my Blueberries. First we took the old plastic netting cage down. Here the 3 fruiting plants are with no surround.

The varieties are Blast in the middle with an Oneal on each side. The middle one has very small berries but lots of them. 

 photo from last Summer.

 I looked for but couldn't find any more Oneal plants which is what I wanted but have 2 new ( to me ) varieties called  Tasty Blue and Blue Star.

There may be room for more than 2 new plants.

 Here is the very secure new cage. ( you can just see the plants inside - click to enlarge ) 

 Later I hope to get the 2 new plants in the ground.( but it is not very pleasant outside here today. )

Bumble Bees.

 We have had such a lot of rain recently that when the sun does come out I have noticed how busy the Bumblebees are on the Pieris bushes.

 In front of the house on either side of the wide concrete area going up the drive there is a clump of about 10 bushes. It makes a

 

spectacular sight.( and leaves a white carpet below )

 I am holding the branch up so you can see what the bumbles are collecting. The hang upside down if necessary.

There are lots of bumble bees as well as native bees and other small insects. 

Fascinating to watch.

Sashiko Seigaiha

 I have finished my first ever piece of Sashiko. My friend Jan gave it to me for my birthday. She had a trip to Japan earlier this year and got all the ladies in our little sewing group pieces of Sashiko.

 The instructions were in Japanese but it was self explanatory really.The diagrams worked. It was easy.

 I googled the word  seigaiha . It literally means blue sea and waves. It is a traditional Japanee pattern of overlapping  concentric circles to create the appearance of waves.

 I made a cushion cover to put it on . I sewed it on top so if it gets spoiled when in use I can remove it and the cover will be still usable

 Still on a Japanee theme. 3 of our flowering cherries are looking great. The tui,wax eyes and sparrows are enjoying them.

After Frosts some Sunny Days.

So nice to be in the sun in the garden! We are between seasons.

 Late Winter flowers still about 

 are the  Queen Protea and ones that are always out in July like Polyanthus, and Hyacinths. 

 The daphne can be smelt from some distance( with the sun on it.)

 Add to that early daffodils.

 And little pink camelias.

 So today I have enjoyed the sunshine and my garden.