A quick visit to the land of make-believe!

We had quite an adventure today!

Mike got a phone call early in the past week, asking if we would be interested in Channel 7 using our VW Kombi for filming of the series 'Packed to the Rafters'.  So this morning, we drove to the location where the Rafters 'live' and after much waiting around, truckloads of gear arrived and were unpacked and set up and shortly afterwards, the stars arrived and the fun began.

What was actually being filmed, I think, is a promo for the series that will be shown next year.  It entailed the Rafters packing into the Kombi for a holiday away somewhere.  And it entailed all the cast lining up, each laden with what they wanted to take on holidays with them and on the call of 'action', they all rushed to the side of the Kombi, only to be turned away by 'Dad' Rafter.  There was a baby bath and bouncinette, a folding cot, a playgym and multiple packs of disposable nappies, (remember there was a new addition to the family last year?), banana lounges, picnic baskets, fishing rods, surfboards, eskies, golfclubs, picnic tables, footballs, bags and baskets and all the paraphernalia that could possibly be required for a trip - you know, getting away from it all and taking it all with you!

They yelled 'Quiet on the set!' and I had to muffle my laughter!

And why was I laughing?  Because I suddenly realised what we must look like when we go away on holidays in the Kombi!

Anyway, it was great fun and will be on television in about three weeks time.  So keep a look out for it!

Good evening . . .

and welcome to the blog of the world's most lazy and ineffective gardener!

It's been ages since I had a happy, productive day in the garden.  Oh, I've had weeding days, days last week where I pulled out weeds that had been there so long, they had roots that went to China.  Runners of kikuyu that were longer than I am tall.  Almost impenetrable carpets of yellow oxalis that, when I dug into them with the garden fork, I ended up digging into bulbs that are just starting to sprout but which were totally unable to be seen in the weeds.  Ugly!  And depressing!

But today, by some stroke of magic, I had a productive gardening day.

My first job was planting a new clematis in the pot vacated by my mum's dear departed climber.  It's called Multi Blue.  My first job was to get the old potting mix out of the pot.  Old potting mix is usually spread on the garden somewhere, but this lot I first tipped into my garden barrow, where I removed 25 grubs from the mix!  Good grief!

This is only some of them, I had already fed a whole lot to the mynahs!

Because the clematis was being planted into a pot on the verandah, and because the pot is a big terracotta one, I decided to plant it into the biggest plastic pot I had, which was then buried into the new potting mix.  Hopefully that will save the clematis from drying out quite as quickly as if it was just in the terracotta pot.

Next, I moved a buxus out of a pot on the verandah and into the pot vacated by the recently departed buxus.

Things were starting to really work!

Quite quickly, I realised that the whole garden bed along the front of the verandah was a shambles.  The tall bearded iris were drowning in a sea of fallen rose leaves, and without too much thought, I realised that I got a whole 2 stems of flowers last year!

Out they came!  Some have been replanted around the feet of the while Iceberg standards and the rest will go along the curve of the driveway/path.  That will be tomorrow's job!

When I brought the irises from my previous garden, somehow a little piece of violet came too, despite my best efforts to leave them behind.  I kind of regard violets as 'almost weeds', but decided to replant the ones I removed today with the irises and have spread them out around the base of DA Leander and Reine des Violettes.  I think it's called recycling!

Tomorrow, I will continue to work my way along the front garden bed, I have weeds to remove (oxalis - aargh and onionweed - double aargh!) and spent mushroom compost to spread and dig in and nepeta 'Dropmore" and stachys to plant.  It's going to be a good day!

A Day at the Races

Yesterday, for something completely different, we played 'dress up' and went to the races!  To Royal Randwick for the Emirates Doncaster Day, no less.

And not just as some of the crowd, either.  My son's girlfriend works for another airline and was able to secure four tickets and took her mum, my daughter and myself as guests in the Emirates Marquee, where we rubbed shoulders with celebrities from the world of sport and entertainment.  We got to drink a seemingly endless supply of Moet champagne and nibbled canapes and such whilst trying hard not to stare open-mouthed at the parade of fashionistas around us.

The two girls almost instantly turned into fiendish celebrity stalkers and proceeded to have their photos taken with everyone they thought was half famous!

There were Rugby League teams,

and famous ex-cricketers,

and gorgeous heptathletes,

and ex-netballers and current newsreaders,

and 'Packed to the Rafters' stars,

and 'Ready, Steady, Cook'-ers!

What horse won the big race?  Who knows!!  All we know is that after it was all over, we climbed back on the bus and made our way home again to our much less glamourous existence, where we wear clothes, not fashion, and where our faces are used to smile out of, not make us our daily bread.

That said, the champagne was lovely!

Monday again! Again!

We have house guests.  An old friend of Mike has recently sold his business in Queensland and he and his wife packed up their stuff, hitched the caravan to the car and set off on a grey nomad trip.  Not that they are particularly grey.

They arrived here on Friday and have now travelled up to Little Hartley in the Blue Mountains to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.  And left their 2 little dogs here for a couple of days.  Welcome to Kurrajong Doggie Day Care!

This is Chloe, a sweet, quiet, TINY girl, 7 years old, cross Papillon/mini Fox Terrier.

I think she is missing her human mummy quite a lot.

This is Buddy.

He is a 3 year old Jack Russell/mini Fox Terrier cross.  He has total ADHD.  He is a tightly wound spring on 4 legs.

How come I'm outside?!

This morning, I took all my doggie companions down to the olive trees and picked the olives from one of the trees.  Well, some of the olives from one of the trees.  I left the ones up high and the ones that didn't look real choice.  Even so, I got a jug full -

which are now packed in sea salt, according to the recipe of the Italian mother of a neighbour of ours.

They have to stay in the salt for about a week, then you soak them in water for about a week, presumably to get the salt out!  I can't wait to try them.

In the meantime, the other 3 olive trees still have their olives on them.  They must be a different variety, because their olives are all still green.  I could be picking olives for some time yet!

Bye quilts

Today, I took to the post office two quilts, neatly folded, which were stuffed into a postage bag and posted to a far away destination.  They are gone!

I wish I could say I am happy with how they turned out.  I am however very happy that they are finished.

We bought this dining table on eBay.  It is made from recycled floor boards.  How convenient that there is a large hole in the timber where I was sitting, stitching the binding.  I always knew where my scissors were!

This is my Auntie.  She is the last surviving sibling of my dear old dad.  She still lives in the house she moved into on the occasion of her marriage to my uncle.

My auntie is now approaching 98.  She has been married over 70 years.  She broke her shoulder late last year, falling off a ladder while sweeping down cobwebs!  I do so hope that the quilts keep their feet warm through the upcoming winter.  They may not have been made with great accuracy, but they were made with love.

No news is no news

And on and on I stitch.  I have finished the quilting on the second quilt and am now hand sewing the binding around the edge.  It's like never-ending!  My fingers are like minced meat due to my being completely disabled when it comes to sewing with a thimble on.  It never seems to be on the right finger at the right time.

I have taken time to plant some bulbs I received in the mail from Vogelvry Bulbs in Tasmania.  Near the front steps, I've planted a little patch of Galanthus elwesii, the original Snowdrop as distinct from the Snowflake which I also love.  I admit to confusing the two names often.

I also planted a patch of daffodil Avalon.  Love daffodils!

Otherwise, I have no news!

Monday again

The first of the quilts is finished!


When I first concocted the idea of making this pair of matching quilts, I thought to myself 'I'll make a pair of matching quilts, nothing complicated, just something quick'.  What is that sound I can hear?  Why, it's the sound of quilters the world over, laughing like drains.  The moment you think they're going to be uncomplicated and quick, they turn into the absolute opposite.  And I'm going to get in first and admit that I have been less than careful and accurate and that I have committed great quilting transgressions with this first one - including trying to quilt it with the backing fabric only minutely larger than the quilt top, and ending up with one corner where the backing didn't reach the edge of the border and was therefore fudged with an extra bit of backing.  Dreadful!

We have a new resident at the Kurrajong garden!

His name is Merlin - now Merlin the Great or Merlin McTavish or Merlin McDougall.  He is 9 years old and a purebred Cairn Terrier.  He was rescued from the pound 2 years ago and rehomed with a lady who neglected him badly - despite being a house dog, he's been locked outside for the last 2 years and when she surrendered him back to the rescue organisation, he was matted and flea ridden and with 'dry eye' which hadn't been treated for 2 years.  So he's been in a foster house for the last month, learning how to live inside again.  We saw him on the rescue website on Friday evening, rang them up and he was ours by lunchtime Saturday.

He is an absolute sweetheart, calm as can be, doesn't bark, LOVES his food and is getting on nicely with our Daisy and Ewan McGregor.


Welcome to our garden, Merlin!  We love you already.