something for Daisy

a few more things taken to Villa Maria to make the house our home..little by little bit by bit ~ today we had an inspection of Inglewood so we loaded up the trusty ute with garden bits and went to work on Villa Maria for a few hours while some people wandered around Inglewood.

I took my potted bay tree down and put it in a corner of the garden. funny how things just fit & look like they belong...

and I took something for Daisy ~ my GreenMan.. I bought him the day after Daisy died and he has been watching the garden at Inglewood ever since [along with the blackbird].. but now it is time to move on to Villa Maria and he is guarding over my garden there now.. [along with the black bird]
we met a neighbour while we were there & had a chat.. she told us that down in the little creek there are endangered frogs.. that is good. that they are there means the water quality must be fine & that the land care group know about them means they are safe.. I cannot wait to move so that I can hear them of a night ... I did some gardening, planting comfrey under the citrus which will bring nutrients up to the roots & Dutch husband planned the new chook pen... I put my Alice in Wonderland statues along the Citrus Walk and all I need to do now is hang some tea cups in the citrus tree where the Mad Hatter now lives....

slow progress at Villa Maria

[dutch husband the brilliant builder.. he is definately a keeper I think! - I love that man!]

the bathroom has taken longer than expected.. the plumber extraordinaire [read, Miss Sophie's boyfriend who is a plumber] has been working on our bathroom after work and on Saturdays.. he has finished all the rough-in and now it is time for the tiler to do his bit. Our tiles are sitting all boxed up just waiting. then our bath, shower and vanity will go in & then the final plumbing will be done and finished !!

[as dutch husband tore the walls down in the bathroom, we thought we had discovered asbestos so had to wrap it all in thick plastic and will have to pay to have it dumped safely.. but it turned out that it wasn't the dreaded substance.. oh well better safe than very sorry...]

during this past week, I have been going down at night to pull up some more of the stinking carpet and underlay.. I have only two more rooms to do & they will be done after a few walls have been knocked down.. this renovation has turned into something bigger than we expected but we are having fun and enjoying the process.. I take dinner down at night and we sit among the rubble with a glass of red for Joe & green leaf tea for me. [with me dressed very elegantly in a pair of grey tracksuit pants, an old skivvy & a flannelette shirt & sometimes even beanie on my head - it is winter here and Villa Maria does not have any heating.. which brings back memories of Inglewood when we were renovating - it was middle of June and it started to snow.. no heating and holes in the walls.. brrr.. but a lovely hot soup simmering on the stove]

[this wall above is going sometime this week.. we have a retired builder coming in and doing it for us.. that will open up the dining room alot and will let so much more light into the space]

[and here is the art desk.. we also put some huge storage cupboards in - they are a mauve colour and for the walls I have chosen bright pink and turquoise.. very much the same as I have at Inglewood..although my choice might change once I go to the paint shop to choose!]

the tree-feller is booked in for next week to remove some cypress & other shrubby weeds.. this will open up the garden a little and allow more sunlight in to the citrus trees. The oranges are ripening along however the damn possums are feasting on the fruit. My garlic is in and has now sprouted and I am ordering the potato tubers this week.. the gardenias are settling in very well and a lovely rainy week has helped them along. and I found a worm!!!!

3 more gardenias & that is one garden done.

a busy day today at Villa Maria.. dutch husband went down early to jackhammer some more of the bathroom floor up, while I gathered some comfrey and fallen leaves at Inglewood to take down to Villa Maria to enrich the garden. a quick stop at Todarello's fruit shop to buy 3 more gardenias.. then into Springwood to get some lunch then to Villa Maria. [and do you know, that while I was at the deli buying some pastrami for lunch, I bumped into one of my friends from my sewing days.. she looking very glamorous and me in my garden clothes.. hair looking like a fright.. but for once I didn't really care.. after the first initial 'oh no'.. I just didn't care. I love my life.. and I am beginning to love who I am]

[this is the jade plant that the previous owner left for me.. I replaced the pot and this pot is a vintage one that i have had for years]

donning my garden gloves and work boots.. I began digging. My friend Marion has told me to dig small holes throughout the garden and put some leaves and comfrey in it, fill it in with soil and that will encourage the worms. so in the gardenia garden I did that among the plants.. planted the new gardenias.. and then watered them in & mulched them with pine needles that i had also bought from Inglewood.

we make cups of tea on the stove with a saucepan of water.. we don't have a jug there yet and it is very much like camping. we have two plates, cups and glasses. tea bags in a jar and sugar in a container.. making do with what we have.

after lunch, I began to fix the garden around one of the orange trees.. the poor thing is pretty much growing in shale. so I grabbed the sledge hammer and broke all the concrete and rocks that surrounded the trunk.. mulched heavily with cow manure, comfrey & autumn leaves then lucerne... hopefully the worms will come back.. I sure hope so.

[the Marian shrine that Joe built me for Mother's day.. I am planning on a garden around it but still not sure what to plant. I am thinking of taking some cuttings of my yarrow from Inglewood & planting it around the statue.. .. ]
so, a very physical day in the garden.. and all the while I was accompanied by Daisy the blackbird...