How does your garden grow?

 

good morning!

 

when i last wrote,

i lay down my pen...so to speak...

&

took a rest.

 

it was like at the end of all those 500 posts

i'd finished

&

really didn't know whether i'd take it up again.

 

 

 

but this morning

after a dry spell

i leapt out of bed and there had been a storm in the night.

the world was new again.

 i had a desire to write again as well...

to share something fresh.

 

 

 

i don't know quite where i'm heading

with all this

but as with life itself...

it'll just unfold

&

a story will be told!

 

 

 

oh what a beautiful morning...

oh what a beautiful day....

 

doris day here is warbling away!

 

have a great day...

 

 

 

naturally Carol xox

 

 

 

 



Post No. 500!

 

 

hi!

 

i was just about to write 'good morning'

but the morning has escaped already...

&

it's already past noon!

 

 

 

this is my 500th post.

they've been written over nearly 3 years.

my 1st was in august 2010.

it was written with as much angst

as anticipation.

it was a scary thought

that anyone but family might read my writing

&

i didn't know what family may think either!

 

 

 

now

we are old friends, my blog and i

&

all the people i've met and spoken to.

i look forward to spending time here...

some days more time than others.

 

 

 

my creative mojo has waned

but that's just part of life.

i've crocheted, sewn and knitted here

&

you've seen it all.

today i'm excited about my daughter's

garden transformations.

i'm her assistant

&

todays task as been to water all her babies

as they sun themselves under our bright blue queensland sky.

 

 

 

i do have a tiny jumper to finish knitting

&

with life a little less chaotic

maybe my creative mojo has just temporarily

ducked out for a cuppa...

here's hopin' anyway!

 

 

naturally Carol xox

 

 

 

 



A Bit About This & That!

 

hi!

how are you?

 

today i feel the need to just chat a bit...

 

 

 

life is full of little opportunities,

like the time the sun was just shining perfectly

on this tiny spiderweb

&

despite its broken unevenness

it made a moment beautiful.

 

of course not all moments are beautiful are they?

 

mr m has had a heart infection over the past few weeks

fortunately after many tests

the most recent tell us he's on the mend

and his heart size is back to normal...

 

then mr m's dog became very unwell...

it turned out that she had a two cancers in her uterus.

a week and a half ago

she had a hysterectomy and the vet took out the aggressive cancer...

the size of a baseball!

she's on the mend

&

bouncing about like it never happened!

 

 

 

ms b is transforming our garden

she's truly a green thumbed girl

like her auntie jill and both grandmas.

she's planted this pot of sweet Williams

&

tool boxes full of pansies and renunculas

to bloom in spring.

lavender and mondo grass to withstand the summer heat

&

fuschias, hibiscus and frangipanis

now grace our garden as well.

what a treasure a good gardener is!

 

our tiny kai is now 3 months old!

it has sped by and he's growing up

faster than a weed...hehe!

check out this bright baby boy...

 

he's the apple of his grandma's eye.

 

how are things at your house?

we have plenty to be grateful for.

 

 

naturally Carol xox

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



Around the Backyard...

 

hi!

 

i know it's been a while...i apologise.

 

things have been pretty stressful around here

&

when i'm in turmoil

my creative energy leaves me completely.

 

there were a few years

when i didn't get 'round to anything creative at all...

probably serving out the dinner attractively

or brushing my daughters hair into a ponytail smoothly

were the artiest things i did at that time.

 

well thankfully

those days have passed

&

i have only needed a few weeks so far...hehe!

 

 

i thought i'd take you on a little tour

of the happenings in our backyard today...just for fun.

 

 

 

 

 

i haven't seen this variety of pansy before...

we found a metal toolbox to plant them into...

much cheaper than a ceramic or plastic pot.

 

 

 

 

 

we couldn't resist buying this stunning hibiscus either.

 

 

we have had many days recently

cleaning walls and furnishings

and rearranging the furniture

to fit an extra body in the house.

 

 

 

we thought a pot of lavender

at the front steps

would be just the thing to survive

the intense afternoon heat

of queensland's summer sun.

 

i haven't bought seedlings for ages

&

it was a lot of fun shopping for them

with my newly arrived home daughter!

 

are you thinking of spring yet?...

just a few weeks away now

down here in australia!

 

 

naturally Carol xox

 

 

 

 



Rain Fruit!

 

hi there!

 

this year has been mostly very wet

and there are good things happening in the garden.

 

one of those good things

is that our washington navel orange tree

has tripled in size.

 

last year it gave us one beautifully juicy orange...

 

this year

{all being well!}

there will be three....

 

one

 

 



 

two

 

 

three!

 

even though they're green still

they're a decent size already.

 

the coffee bush

has grown too...

 

 



there are some other bunches of beans

but the camera missed them...

or maybe it was me!

 

mr w is looking forward

to making  his own coffee with these.

 

i've finished my friend's beanie

but i can't find my big needle to sew it up...

oh dear!

i'll have to go and look again!

 

 

naturally Carol xox

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Suddenly!

good morning!

 

just popping in here

to wish you all a wonderful weekend...

 

&

 

 

to show you these...

 

 

the garden bed was dry

and there weren't even any weeds surviving....

 

 

well,
the rains came and

the weeds sprung up first...of course...

as weeds do

 

 

then all of a sudden

these popped up too.

 

 

 

of course
these aren't innocuous mushies
but
deadly toadstools
beautiful in form and colour only.

 

my baby blanket is growing

and i've added another colour.

i'll show it to you again really soon.

 

bye for now!

 

naturally Carol xox

 

 

 

 



Lovely in Lavender...

 

but even better

spiced up with a bit of paisley!

 

 

 

 

this is the second out of three

that i'm making for my friend debbie.

 

the first was for her daughter,

this one will be for her

&

the third

for her to give away at christmas.

 

 

 

the bag was made from an amy butler fabric

and was beautiful to sew.

i'm a real amy butler fan.

her fabrics are always beautiful quality

and the colours always better in real life than on the screen.

 

 

 

these baby staghorns

have been growing here for over a year now.

 

i am thrilled

'cos when i lived in canberra

i tried to grow ferns from seed.

they germinated

but the humidity level is normally very low

and i didn't have much success beyond that.

 

here, living on the trunk of an old jacaranda

these have sprung up naturally!

they're living on the west side of the house

where they're shaded in the morning

and in the afternoon

they are shaded by the tree and the fence

so they thrive.

 

 

 

this hardy fern

grows verdantly out of an old tree stump!

 

it shrinks away over the cold and dry of winter

then springs back to life every spring.

 

 

we are expecting a super cell to hit later today

and the air is so thick and muggy

i think i'm turning into a puddle

and will melt away through the floorboards soon

if it doesn't rain soon!

 

i hope you're not feeling quite so uncomfortable!

 

 

naturally Carol xox