Productive days and bad ideas

Big ol' photodump today.

Lemon flowers at night


The store that sold this had it labeled as a lemon tree. We picked one of the fruits a while back and Greg was pretty sure it tasted like key lime. I'm thinking this "lime" has grown too big for a key lime and maybe it's a persian lime? I'm leaving it there to see if maybe it will ripen and actually be a lemon. *shrugs* it's a nice plant either way.

Some pics of the baking I've been doing:
( spidercakes and wedding gift )

Greg and Rhonda "saved" us some pieces of the cake but forgot to bring it over until last night. They should have just eaten the whole thing, as intended, and quickly. Whipped cream and strawberries just don't keep. Jason criticized my use of strawberries when he ate a piece last night saying they tasted terrible. Tonight I finally got the time to cut off a piece and discovered Jason's error. The strawberries had (as expected) gone bad. I mean hey, it had been 5 days with no preservatives, what did he expect? What was unexpected was that they had not only fermented (he figured I'd put a liquor in the cake - silly boy) but that they had also grown mold. I cut off everything that had touched a berry and ate the topmost portion of the cake. I'm not sure even that was a good idea. Not sure if I feel a bit queasy because of what I ate or just the thought of it. And that's the "bad idea" part of this post.

Today and last night I spent out in the yard weeding in preparation for swapping out some plants and readying the garden for winter. And also because I wanted to decorate for Halloween. A little later than I wanted to, but with the trip and the rain this was the earliest I could get to it. Spent about an hour weeding last night, and an hour putting up decorations, and another 5 hours on it today. The garden is finally prepped for the new planting (and I went out and bought more plants tonight) and I have at least some decorations up. There's more in my head, but this is at least a start.

In other news, I have the most idiotic "gardeners' tan" now. It's like a farmer's tan (short sleeves) combined with a lorry driver's tan (right arm more than the left) with the added yuck of stopping at the wrists where the gardening gloves were. And really, "tan" is a generous name for it. It's a burn of course. I figured I'd be okay this time of year. I figured wrong. At least I was wearing a hat so my face didn't get done. And of course I was careful to keep Georgia in the shade.

( Scary yard before and after )

( gratuitous baby pictures )

That's it. Time to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow with lots to plant.

Digging in the dirt

Managed to motivate myself to get out there in the sun today and finish the work on the garden. I actually really like gardening. I think I've said this before, but it's one of the few "around the house" tasks that gives me a real sense of accomplishment. Sure, it's hard work and involves a lot more heavy lifting and putting your back into it than say dusting, but the results of the work are easily observed, not hidden in a cupboard (dishes) or drawer (laudry) somewhere, or almost indistinguishable from the non-done state (like vacuuming). It's also something that once done tends to stay done for a while. I shouldn't have to do anything other than remember to put the water out on it for a while. Maybe I'll have to dead-head the mums occasionally, but that's a quick task. And the mulch should keep the weeds at bay for a few months.

First I had to get Georgia all ready for an afternoon outside. All dressed and strapped into our rocking seat thingy.

Ready to go outside and garden with mum? Yes!

She's started to respond to things other than just our faces, which is kinda cool. I really do need to work on a mobile for her room now.

Baby is going to set her toys on fire with laser eyes!


Okay, enough gratuitous baby shots. On to the garden...
Had everything planted by 1pm when I took a break for lunch. Went out just now to finish laying the mulch, put away the tools and tidy up. Just to jog your memory, here's the very sad before and a lovely after:


I went with yellow and red mums and yellow snapdragons. Mostly because those were the cheapest things I could lay my hands on that I liked the look of. You can also see the hibiscus that hasn't made its way back inside yet, and the bottle brushes that are destined for the back yard. For about $35 in plants and mulch and about 9 hours of sweat equity I'm pretty pleased with the result. Looks like a new garden!


Tomorrow is shopping with Rhonda, Thursday I'll plant the planters and the bottle brushes in the back yard and I'm done with gardening for this year. No more visits to garden centres to ogle the pretty plants, I promise. Still have to complete the Halloween decorations, and I'll need to buy a bit for that, most notably a sledgehammer and green light bulbs, but technically that's not gardening.