Lemon tree very pretty

I have a tiny fruit! Noticed it two days ago - what a nice surprise. I wonder what will come of it - will it wither and die...or come to something?

Update 22 March 2016: The fruit is a little bigger!

Ficus pumila #1

No, not peas...

It's my new ficus! The creeping type which covers ugly things in the garden, eventually.

I had a call from Lisa at the local Plants Plus, to say they had finally come in..and so trotted off to get one. I would like 4 of them, but can't afford that just now. They are lovely, fresh and green.

Will buy another today - where will I put it for best effect? I have a couple of ideas.

I'm after more horse poo too. I just went round this morning collecting the chook poo and placing it on the side garden out back. Anything to support those plants - the 'soil', such as it is (rubble really) is crappy and I'm struggling to keep things alive therein.

Watermelon days

With this disgustingly hot weather lately, every day over 30C easily, I thought I would get the feathery girls some watermelon as a treat.
Of course, I ate a substantial part of the 'meat' of the fruit for myself, but left a 'rind' for the girls - which they loved!

Here they are, going at it hard...

Quiet chooks are happy chooks. Mine are very quiet, well behaved, gentle, super-social and friendly.

Dorothea (lower hen) is looking the picture of health at the moment, with lovely lush body feathers and a glowing red comb.

The big divide

I totally exhausted myself mowing the front lawn today. Being just on the mend from a bout of flu, I have no 'herbs' left for energetic things at the moment. I really pushed to get it done, as it was looking so untidy out there, and I'm so prominent on the street as things stand at the moment (till the trees grow up a bit). I was unable to walk for a short while, let alone push the mower, and crying at how dreadfully physically weak I felt. Now have a cold sore for my efforts!

One of the benefits though was that I could see progress in one strip of the front lawn. There's a patch that made me feel 'ah yes!' when I stood on it. For just one or two seconds, I felt like I was standing on a millionaire's manicured garden lawn (if I closed my eyes).

I don't know what type of lawn has taken hold - perhaps the seed I had randomly scattered months ago. It felt soft under foot, and was green and lush after the short (i.e., miniscule) rain shower we had today.There is still some brown discoloraton in there, but overall...mmmmm!

However, there are larger patches of the lawn where the battle still rages between large round weeds with huge outstretched runners, most of which I tried to cut off whilst mowing. Tried to shorten them a bit anyway. This is the one - what's it's name?

I don't know whether I should poison these, dig them out (probably - next time it rains and the ground is properly sodden - not any time soon according to weather reports - March is supposed to be more of the same as stinking hot Feb, with 30+ degrees (C) every day (though April could bring good rains - and cyclones)....or.....hope that the 'good' grass strain will take over eventually. I'll just keep throwing seed about when it's wet too.

For a second, just a brief second, I felt I was 'winning', and that felt very good.

Other patches of ground are hard, dry and cracked. A round of topsoil and mulch on the top would be good, but that will have to happen when I get more doh-reh-mi.

Now it's back to bed with me to rest, coping with the fluey-rigors of being sweaty one minute and cold the next.

Talk about a 'divide'!

The second pink coral groweth

I think it deserves a post all its own as it has made great progress, and has begun to climb the fence, at last.
More updates to come. I am watering it religiously each evening (I know it likes lots of water).

Many things need doing and moving around but I am sick in bed with flu (3rd day). I tried mowing this morning and almost collapsed in a crying mess with the effort. Gave up, had a shower and went back to bed. I did manage to sweep out the back yesterday afternoon though. It felt good to be out, up and doing. I am so needing to have my energy back.

Chook-house update

Bernie (bless his heart) put the nesting boxes on the back for me, and restored the roof with something more protective for the girls.

I still have to work out a way to insulate them from the cold in the winter to come.

The plastic over the top, with two bricks, ain't so attractive but it shelters the girls a little when they are roosting on the sticks (seen on the left, through the mesh).

The most beautiful girl in the world...

ONE of the two most beautiful FURRY girls in the world!

How can I possibly strip the bed to refresh the sheets while she is sleeping on it?

And here she is, reclining on the sofa today (10 Mar 2016) -