A winter Sunday with a bare weeping mulberry tree

How different my tree looks in its bare skeletal state. A little boy had as much fun hiding in it the other day as children usually do when it is in full leaf and they are hidden. His Grandma said shut your eyes and push the branches aside with your hands...........I tried to show him the best opening, but it was more fun to push through.

Today was a bit like that, a push through as I managed to get back to church and to finish my last spot on this two months roster as part of the worship team. We begin at 8 am with a rehearsal and then sing for the 9 am service and the 10.45 am one. I thought I may only make one but was thrilled when I was able to make it through both.

A bit ironic as I remember the step instructions..........

Four steps up to the platform, and I am trying to remember "good leg goes first going up to heaven" and" bad leg goes first going down to hell". We managed and it was nice to be defined by something other than someone recovering from another surgery or disability.

I even managed to make it through Coles and wisely decided that was enough. Got shopping inside and unpacked and made a coffee, had a shower and fell into bed and slept. I think somewhere around 6.30 I had a small meal and then slept again. But it was good.

So as the tree begins to come into leaf, so I too shall come into increased strength and ability to walk. I left crutches at home and felt quite safe. Not bad just a calendar month and a couple of days after my second total knee reconstruction. Now have bilateral hips and knees, and may they behave and be good.

MAGNOLIA STELLATA

One of the plants that had begun to blossom was magnolia stellata. I love the flannel flower look of this plant and it is a delight to cut and bring branches inside to watch them blossom into flower in the warmth of the house.

This shows the bud before being fully open. It is a lovely delicate magnolia that flowers for quite a few weeks as does the Magnolia Nigra beside it.

The Magnolia soulangia around the back of this side of the house has a shorter flowering time and has loads of buds ready for its short but glorious flowering.

I must remember to watch it as it cannot be seen from a window, or not easily and a good prune would be in order this year and would provide a lovely display inside where I rather than my neighbours are the recipients of its glory. Not that I mind sharing but being renters I have no great sign that they care much about the outside of the house.

I remember back to when I lived in a unit which I rented, that the girl on the end and I used to use the top of the stairway to put a few pots also I had some alongside the wall. I seem to recall we even popped a few things down in the car park. I think a gardener will garden anywhere.

A Grey day in Melbourne

The little white bits at ground level are jonquils and some snowdrops to show that while we are having a nice cold and even a wet winter, spring is still coming. It was nice to come back after almost three weeks away and find that not too much had advanced in the Spring blossom and floral stakes.

As most gardeners are aware, for some unknown aesthetic reason, silver birch trees must be
planted in single or uneven numbered clumps. So I was somewhat saddened to have to pull out the weakest and smallest of my three birches after our sad hot and dry summer. My buckets had not saved it no matter how hard it tried. It was outside the range of the sprinkler when such things were allowable and I had not wanted to waste water so when it went on the concrete I moved it back but the tree obviously did not get the same start as the others and water did not send the roots down deep enough to withstand a drought.

It is the second silver birch I have lost. I think the last was in the '84 drought or there abouts and it was a lovely tall top grafted one which I had out the back. However removing it lead to a complete change of layout of my back garden and it probably would have been in danger of removal when the house was extended.

So before I went to hospital I managed to get a nice, slightly taller that the one it replaced, new silver birch and took great delight in the rain that fell after it was planted. Once I survived the first couple of nights in hospital I managed to snag the window bed.......just as well given it was a 10 day stint, and each time the rain blew against the windows I rejoiced at the rain that was hopefully watering my tree.

So here is my new baby. Hope there was enough rain for the roots to go down deep and that there will be enough rain to see it through this summer.

It is actually the one you cannot see as it is in the foreground and the low light and the larger tree in the trio behind it, does not allow for much of a view.........but it is there and it is growing.

Friday 13th is such a good day...........only one Moggie no black cats.

I am home. Left here morning of June 26th and had total knee replacement around 3.30pm.

Yes you are more sore after knees than hips, and after 10 days in a shared ward in hospital my tolerance was tested by I managed not to throw a wobbly. Lots of other people passed through, the last being a family where the wife gave a kidney to her husband whose body had needed to be prepared for it. Lots of full room with family but was good to be part of the joy when he passed "wee" for the first time in 5 years or so.

Hope all has still gone well, the wife was taking a bit longer to recover.

Had a shared room first night at rehab, then my own wonderful single room. So lovely

Was lovely to have my quilting friend Judyth there as I arrived and a lovely box of flowers. It is the one time we seem to catch up as she lives close by.

Gail and Pauline from Patchworks Unlimited are working hard for the show and I missed seeing them this year but good to hear of all the exciting things they will have ready for the Melb show.

Again I seemed to be the star pupil at rehab and got to a 93 deg bend before I left.

But oh bliss to be home.

I did not get this much water, but Mum did splash a little water in the spa for me.