It’s been a mild winter this year, the climate is definitely changing. These photos were taken in July 2011. I do wish it would snow at least once each year, it's so pretty.
Since the weather never really drove us inside for more than a day or two we didn’t get around to decorating the rest of the house as planned, instead we started a new garden area and worked on the old garden.
All in all it seems we don’t have much to show for our efforts this year. We did pick up quite a few $4 trees and various other plant bargains though and went on a bit of a planting rampage. I also managed to get some sandstone bricks for around 7 cents a piece for edging garden beds, as well as some good sized bargain rocks for the oriental and fern gardens. It seems no matter how many plants we get our hands on it’s never enough and there is always room to pack in more. As always, looking out for sales and using recycled materials is vital for staying within a budget - but it also shapes the aesthetic. Old (and odd) materials add character and the often random mix of plants keeps things casual.
A lot of the ground work has been done now anyway, we’ll add in structures and gates as we can but we need to line the oriental stream as soon as possible so that I can get the rest of my motley crew plants in the ground. I found a great product called concrete canvas which you just lay out and then hose down. It sets to form a watertight liner. I called for a price. It’s $14000 for a 200m roll! So we will be lining it the hard way with plastic, chicken wire, and hand mixed concrete!
We have been quite garden focused in the past year or so, I am impatient to finish the interiors of the house and to continue with Tea Parties this summer. The aim is to invite guests more frequently to enjoy the garden, have lunch, or come for a cake decorating or art class.
Covid has really thrown a spanner in the works for many if not most people and we are no exception. Weddings have been postponed and cancelled so I haven’t made any wedding cakes in ages, our Barnyard Bonfire BBQ was cancelled, and I feel a bit uncertain opening for Tea Parties this spring so I’ll hold off a bit longer until we see what the ‘second wave’ is doing. Hopefully we won't have level 3 back again here in Canterbury, fingers crossed.
Meanwhile back in the kitchen:
Comments