Hey True Blue

I am convinced that grass and weeds can put on six inches overnight, the growth factors of everything is quite astounding at the moment.  Thankfully the good stuff is growing too, the shrubs, vegies and fruit trees are all looking happy flush with new leaves and flowers.  But boy are we busy keeping up with the mowing and the weeding!  I mowed the orchard the other day.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned before about my obsession with getting as close to edges as I can, you know, to get every last blade of grass.  You may ask why I have photographed Helga?

 There is a bit of red evidence there on the grass.  That red thing alongside Helga is an old carpet, I use them to smother weeds and grass.  I wanted a pristine cut edge right up against the carpet.  Alas I overdid it just a touch.

 Next minute Helga gobbled up and sucked in a great mass of carpet.  She spat out as much as she could, then proceeded to seize up completely as her underparts were strangled by carpet fibres.  I had to call my darling handyman to save the day for me.... :-)

I harvested the celery and most of the beetroot yesterday.  Silly me left the celery in just a bit too long so I wasted a bit as it had deteriorated.  It's never quite so bad with wastage around here though as something will make use of it.  First port of call is the chooks, but they choose to dislike celery, fussy buggers.  Second choice is the worm farm and then if there is still stuff left over then it goes into the compost heap.  Very little actually goes into the bin.  Anyway, the celery is all chopped, blanched and frozen for soup and casseroles, and the beetroot is cooked, sliced and in jars with spiced vinegar.  Goodo.

Some of the celery is in the fridge for one of our favourite treats, chunder buns!  Grated cheese mixed with chopped celery and moistened with tomato sauce, then grilled on buns or toast.  Delicious!

 The plants out the back are settling in and putting on new growth.  Although all the spaces are irritating me, I am trying not to overplant, as it my usual habit.  I am however popping in seeds of a few vegies and herbs, annual things to make use of the good soil mix that I will be watering regularly over the summer.  I've planted cucumber seeds along the front edge in the hope they will grow and hang down over the retaining wall.

It's taking shape.  What is terrific is that when the sun hits the front verandah, the shade hits out here.  So there will always be somewhere shady to sit and read a book around the house.  We really must paint that door, it's meant to be deep Manor Red, not undercoat turquoise!

The Scarlet Robins are out and about, they watch Steve's construction with interest from right up the back.  I will be thrilled the day I see one fossicking around in the new plants near the house.  They are great to photograph, being so damn proud of their beautiful selves, they will pose motionless, puffing their lovely red chests out, for that perfect shot.

Lord Neo on the other hand, is not that easy to snap as he is usually charging round the house at the speed of light.  He has taken to night time marauding of places he is not allowed, such as the breakfast bar.  I know this due to evidence left, usually involving the chewing up of pieces of paper into a trillion pieces.  During the day we have a compromise, he can sit on the bar stool and watch my kitchen proceedings, but not one paw is to touch the bench top.  Of course we like to irritate our mother by deliberately putting one paw on the benchtop, then sit back and wait for the response.  He is a baaaad boy!

We finished the tuna after five days of eating it every which way.  God it was good, so yummy.  This was the final hoorah, sushi!  Happily though, there are a couple of packs in the freezer to look forward to.

 And stone the crows, we actually went out at night!  First time since we lived here I think!  Thank you dad for the gift of tickets to see John Williamson.  He played at the Albany Entertainment Centre, a place we've been meaning to visit but not got around to.  It's a lovely building, sort of like a mini opera house, nice intimate seating of just over 600 and has great acoustics.  It was a good night, a cheerful, relaxed performance that made us feel proud to be Australian.  John has the oldest accompanying guitarist I've ever seen.  Col is his name and he plays a mean bit of slide guitar.  We've both been humming Hey True Blue ever since, although I keep laughing to myself about his song about the Family Cat who was a bit upset, cos they left his balls at the Family Vet.....