Hello!
This was a well deserved cuppa at the end of the day. It was t-shirt warm for most of it & no rain!! Super! We shoved two loads of laundry through – we were so far behind on sorting all the linen from when we had a houseful so it was good to get that done!
I started the day with a bit of bartering. A friend dropped by as she wanted some seeds/seedlings – and I have more than I can sensibly use, so I like sharing the ‘food’ around!
Anyway, Sharon gave me these gorgeous soaps and I loaded her up with whatever seeds she needed, and some seedlings (like the lettuce, self seeded silverbeet & some parsley)(oh and strawberry runners). We both felt very happy with our deals! And her two-year old Lottie, helped me collect the eggs! Super effort – only one cracked! LOL
Onto my flower garden project – out the back where the strawberries were I wanted to create a colourful garden of flowers – encourage bees and for general enjoyment.
We took the old parts of Ruby’s strawberry bed home and I thought I could grow sweet peas up it. It had some manky netting that I figured the sweet peas would happily cover.
Did I mention at some point in the past about me being aesthetically relaxed?? OK well I am, Jeff – not so much!
The netting came off, chicken wire put on, and then he painted it bright red!
This was yesterday. Today it was dry so I put it in the little patch that I dug and added compost to.
I had some seeds soaking – the sweet pea which I have now planted all around Hal, so hopefully when grown up and over, the red peeking out of the green will look rather good. We shall see… I also had some marigold and sunflower seeds soaking and I have scattered them around in the rest of the area. Time will tell if this is a disaster or not!!
So – on to the raspberries!!
Remember that super bit of polypipe I found at the beach last month? (Story here)
I am thrilled with it and totally want more! Two steel droppers and voila! Pipe over top, and you have a very sturdy structure!
Time to sort the netting. We had to ‘sew’ two nets length ways. Using a wool needle and fishing line!
This basically took forever – ask my Mum – I am SO much better with a stapler than a needle! 😀
Finally we were done – ok I quit just before the end and have dubbed the unfinished part ‘the entry’
The netting went over fairly easily, despite the wind starting to kick up again.
Now I can get in and weed, mulch etc without the chickens coming in to redesign my mulching techniques!
Oh – and we found a hole.
I stepped on a part of the yard that totally sank like a mini sink-hole!
It was amazing how easily digging into this spot was – and how far down the shovel disappeared!
We (ok Jeff) took the grass sods off the top, dug out the area (yay – topsoil for me) and then we (me) refilled it with the dirt we have from when the bore was dug – packed it down and regrassed.
Well – happy to have achieved lots today! Best be off to bed – girlfriend arriving tomorrow on a spur of the moment weekend trip to Tasmania! I love random events! I wonder if she likes weeding?? 😀
Cheers!
Great job, everything looks wonderful! Love the bartering of goods, too. Wish I had a friend that makes soap! I am glad to see you all getting warmer weather. We are currently in a drought in Mississippi and it doesn’t feel much like fall as the temps are still in the 80’s. I long for cool, crisp days. The mornings are getting cooler though. I have been envious when I read about you being cozy by the fire.
Thank-you!! I love hand made soap!! This lot was made from goats milk too, so very smooth!
Still pretty warm where you are!! Will be nice to see the rain again. I know what that is like waiting for rain (Yes I can remember when I wasn’t whinging about too MUCH rain! lol)
Yes – the fire makes winter worthwhile! 🙂 Have a lovely day!
Your raspberry patch looks lovely! What a great idea you had with the pipe!
Thank-you Julie! Altho I can’t take credit for the pipe idea – I have seen this done on my cousins property and thought it was so clever. Was great to have the chance to try it out!
The red trellis looks great, and the pipe netting awesome! Great work!
Thanks Jennifer! Was awesome finally getting through a good day’s work! Looking forward to seeing how the flower garden turns out!