I LOVE AUTUMN .................................AND...................I LOVE SPRING

and I did not want my surgeries for shoulder replacements to cause me to miss out on either of these seasons....and just as my leaves are turning and I have, in God's grace been home to watch them and to plant my bulbs......do I confess here that a few more end of seasons special tulips arrived today....

BUT

TODAY WAS THE DAY OF GOOD NEWS!

It was time to visit the surgeon and have to confess that I had not been very.....now what was that word, and he filled in 'dilligent' and I said...yes that is the one, in doing my exercises.  But Praise God he was thrilled with my progress and my odd manner of working the exercises rather than doing them so many times a day has worked and I have exceeded expectations in my healing.  God is good...and I cannot claim anything but being a recipient of His amazing grace.

My friend who drove me in was sitting in the waiting room and I stood and said "catch' and I slung my sling which she expertly caught.

The surgeon asked me did I have a physio and I said Russell Thompson and he said.....great that is who I wanted you to see....so what a great fit that is....I now will be doing some exercises for the next important stage of the full use of the shoulder with someone I have known for years and who is about the only Physiotherapist I really trust to touch me.  I am even covered by my health cover so that it will not cost me anything.  

And I have the next appointment with the surgeon in late July when we will set the date for late Spring surgery so that I do not miss all my bulbs during my five days in hospital but will be recovered in time for Christmas.

 I crept out in the dark to take a night photo of my glory vine at night with the night lights on underneath all the foliage.

Still not in full color but after a freezing wet day which will help the color develop I am looking forward to the final show.

We left early and had a reasonable drive into the city till we got to near Victoria Street which took us around 45 mins to crawl up to where we turned off.  But we still had time for a coffee before the appointment.
for a coffee and half a slice each.  We came home straight away before the weather got any more nasty and I was able to fit in a couple of chores together with what my friend wanted to accomplish.

And YEAH I AM ALLOWED TO DRIVE AGAIN!!

I have been so blessed to have a special friend who has cheerfully taken me hither and thither and others who have taken me here and there ....together with a wonderful team of carers from our local council who are still assisting me in the dressing process.  A little more physio should hopefully bring that to an end in the not to far distant future.  But God's Grace and goodness directly and through others have made this a special time in the year 2012.

garden wandering again.

 I love this Salvia which grows very vigorously but hates frost. It is quite a robust bush and this one is in a pot at the front, so only needs watering but it is a lovely blast of color in Autumn and very easy to grow from a cutting.  It is the most bushy of all my Salvias.

This is another robust...you can't kill me fushia  that is along my front deck and grows very vigorously.

Even allows those who must pop its buds to play happily.

Another very easy one to strike.

Persimmons are another favorite in my front garden.

This goes well with camellias and fushias which are of a similar color and are in close proximity. 

I often forget to prune the dead flowers off these bushes to get the maximum amount of flowers.

I do have one more variety but these are outside my bedroom and walk in robe windows and are lovely and tall again after the years of drought.

I love it when they virtually cover the windows and give just that extra privacy.

I now have blossom tree, Prunus Elvins, at the front of the bed which is full of bulbs in Spring and it also gives good cover.

A smaller salvia.

I adore this glorious blue.

It never fails to cheer my day when I am out in the front garden.

I guess I should try to get a cutting of this to grow.

Who knows!!

 Then it was a walk down my neighbors drive to try and attack some of the migrating vegetation.

These white sasanqua camellias were too lovely to touch right now but will need a good trim back when they have finished flowering.

Mock Orange or 'Philadelphus coronarius' was the one we had our first attack at....it needs a lot more pruning from both sides of the fence.

Tis a lovely friend if kept under strict controls.

 The pink camellia bush is also pretty but they are so quick to fall that picking them is of little value, although I did venture to pick some white flowers which have been happily falling from a vase on a window sill above the sink.  At least they are somewhat controlled.

Tis a lovely wall of flowers at this time of the year.

These are outside my en suite window.

Already petals fallen...

Shame he gets the best view and probably least appreciates it.

I looked up this poet today and some autumn leaves.

Someone I have always loved.  Amy Johnston Flint.

The red sea Place

Exodus 14
Annie Johnson Flint
(1866-1932)
Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,
Where, in spite of all you can do,
There is no way out, there is no way back,
There is no other way but through?
Then wait on the Lord, with a trust serene,
Till the night of your fear is gone;
He will send the winds, He will heap the floods,
When He says to your soul, "Go

And His Hand shall lead you through, clear through,
Ere the watery walls roll down;
No wave can touch you, no foe can smite,
No mightiest sea can drown.
The tossing billows may rear their crests,
Their foam at your feet may break,
But over their bed you shall walk dry-shod
In the path that your Lord shall make.

In the morning watch, 'neath the lifted cloud,
You shall see but the Lord alone,
When He leads you forth from the place of the sea,
And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed,
You shall no more be afraid;
You shall sing His praise in a better place,
In a place that His Hand hath made.

Yesterday was a perfect Melbourne Autumn day...

So after getting my handyman to drive my car up to Aldi where we purchased sugar cane mulch and some nice herb seedlings, we went to Bunnings and really bought up on the compost, mulch, chook pellets etc.

Of course I had to step over the beautiful One and give it a tummy tickle first.

I have found the Ezi Wet compost and mulch to be good value over the past couple of years and the top sugar cane mulch was from Aldi and half the price of the one underneath.  Seedlings are primula to go out the front to mix with the bulbs and then some fresh lettuce.
Coriander which did get planted in the bowl which I had almost exhausted, and there is Oregano and another herb that escapes me to go in pots outside my sliding door.....easy to slip out and cut when cooking.  Some plant food..

The Hellebore bed is showing wonderful fresh growth.  I must treat myself to one lovely new color this year.  I have built up a nice collection over the past few years from a group the nursery was throwing out at $1 a pot.  Looked a bit sad but grew well.

Moggie sits at the door and guards this bed.
We also bought a bag of daffodil bulbs at Aldi and planted those and one lovely bag of white daffodils at Bunnings plus some that I had ordered from Tesselaar mid season clearance Three lovely tulips, one lot of mixed daffodils and some freesias to go in the rose garden where jonquils are already in flower.  I also had a big bag of white hyacinths from Garden Express clearance  They are all in one lovely round bowl pot.  I like to get a selection of bulbs...this year they were birthday gifts then I am always tempted by the later specials.

Watch this blog in a few months for a lovely bowl of white hyacinths.

Soil looks sad and uninspiring now...but I planted 12 treasures in that soil...so I have hope.

And hope is something wonderful.

I was reading about hope in a bible verse this morning and thinking about taking devotions in a nursing home in a week or so...and reflecting that while that may seem a hopeless place to be...it really depends on whether you have a hope for eternity or not.  To the one who accepts by faith that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin and has satisfied the justice of God, the need for the punishment of death for sin.....that price I could not pay but was paid for me...when I accept this by faith I am free to accept the love of God and the eternal hope that the Holy Spirit plants in my heart.  I can be in a nursing home...which can sometimes not be our first choice of final earthly residence but have hope that the next home I live in will be one that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 14 when He said......'I go to prepare a place for you.'  What a hope!  Much better than my bowl of dirt.  I am set free, not from living the best life I can but free from hoping that how I live will be good enough to satisfy both the love and justice of God...this work has been done on the cross.  It is up to us to accept this by faith or be left in a hopeless situation to face the judgement seat of eternal God.

It was a glorious day with a beautiful blue sky and leaves beginning to show Autumn color.


While over the back fence came the serenade of native birds having a glorious time in the big flowering gums that are around the edge of the oval behind me.

The flowers are so pretty and colorful and I have them across the street at the front as well.

A vase of Dahlias from the vegie garden area.

These are around 6ft tall.

 If you look carefully at the photos underneath you will be able to see  native bird.  Probably a Rosella.

They were making such a happy song as they sipped at the nectar in the flowers.

I feel very blessed to have these trees as a backdrop to my garden although the big ones across the road are sometimes a little frightening in a storm as boughs can come down and do quite a bit of damage.

I tend to forget that when I am enjoying the birds and the floral display.

Turning and twisting to get to that nectar.

These trees were some distance away so we did well to get the picture as clear as it is.  They are over a 10ft or so fence and are extremely tall.

 

 Flowers and leaves from the vegetable garden area.

Lots of weeds to clear away and huge dahlia bushes will soon be tidied away and the ground prepared for next year.

These roses are Brindabella thornless and are great in an enclosed space such as a vegetable garden.
Time I finished this lot and will show you more autumn leaves and the front garden later.

Counting down the days

Suddenly time is taking on a new meaning.  It is just over one month since I received a new shoulder and one week until I see the surgeon and hopefully obtain permission to drive again and equally hopefully get to sling the sling.....it can be somewhat hot and is a total pain in the neck, figuratively and physically when sitting for any length of time.....especially two church services last Sunday when I was blessed to sing in the Worship team.  We rehearse at 8 AM and a lovely young Chinese lass was my carer to help me dress and she came early and said today that it made her happy all day, to think that she had been my enabler to get me to church.

I was picked up by one lovely friend and delivered home after the second service by another.

Monday my wonderful friend rang and asked if I wanted to do things.  I had planned to spend the day at home rather than ask anyone for a ride but did have a list of things that needed to be attended to.  So had a wonderful day paying accounts at banks, going to the post office, claiming medical stuff, taking things back to shops, calling at the Vet for food and worming tablet which Ms Mogs has so far avoided.  My fault....tis still in my handbag.  Also got to the supermarket so it was a pretty special gift of time to be taken around.

Today was home and watering the garden.....doing a little tip pruning....chasing one wicked minx that escaped through the side door and almost found her way into the jungle (a lovely jungle) up the narrow side of the house.  I think the view baulked her just enough for me to grab the little furry brat and haul her back inside.

Oh I forgot....we also went to Dymocks book store where I spent a $50 Christmas voucher on a lovely new Maggie Bear cook book.  Oh dear, finding that link is going to cost me...I did not see a copy of the book of Stephanie's in Werribee.

I also sneaked in a marked down Marion Grasby cook book.  Given the price here the markdown to just under $20 was a good purchase.

I have managed to shift all my cookbooks to where I can reach them and have transferred the gardening books to the top of the refrigerator shelves.

I have at least two other Maggie Beer cook books, so was glad to add this to the collection.

I was beginning to think I would never get to spend my voucher so am very happy to have my books.
I also have to commend Scoupon for giving me a refund on a company which was not available when I rang to book a car detailing.  Not all the companies that offer goodies are prepared to help out when things go wrong, so heads up to Scoupon.

I also was rejoicing around 1 AM  last night when I found two Target receipts that allow me to take two items back.  I thought I was going to miss out but a new search and destroy mission got me the goods.

There are several piles of paper around the decks here and someone....black and white and furry is helping to throw them to the floor.  I found her eating last weeks roster.

 My minor pruning sessions in the garden today allowed me to pick some of these for a vase on the table.  They have grown to about 6 ft tall.  Magnificent.
I am dedicated to removing black spot from roses and pulling out a non grafted passion fruit which is springing up all over the vegetable garden.

The vine leaves are starting to show autumn color and will soon be featuring in photos but I have managed to keep one vase and some Singapore Orchids from another box from my hospital time....these ones are from
Flowers vasette and while I have had to take the dead roses out the greenery is still looking good.

I notice they have Master classes in winter.  I fear it will involve saving pennies but their arrangements are beautiful

Tomorrow is garden day with my handyman so we shall see if my car still wants to start after standing idle for a month and visit Bunning's for Compost, Chook Pellets and Potting mix...and just maybe a little plant in their somewhere.

We have a bundle of white hyacinths to plant....I think in a lovely pot and then a mix of mid season mark down daffodils and freesias.

Some tall pruning down the narrow side is in order...maybe going from the other side of the fence.  before too much new growth comes on the magnolias and late rhododendrons.

This magnolia needs to be cut back to where I can actually cut the blooms for inside.


And seeing a tulip photo, I remember that I have some of those in the refrigerator which I must remember to pull out to be planted...although another week in the cold would not hurt them.

The new ones are pink and frilly.

I am beginning to like pink.  Tis a minor concern.

we moved these Lillies out of the hellebore patch and they are going to grow lush and lovely under a Chinese Elm in a back corner.

They had grown rather prolific.

So have the Chrysanthemums which sadly needed some water.


They will be around for Mother's Day not doubt.

They are spreading all over the place and make me think that stakes could have been a good idea but they do look rather "out of place"

I found a few late tomatoes.  Also found one being used as a play ball on the kitchen floor.  Now just whom should we blame for that one!!