a little bit of garden DIY...

I spent hours in the courtyard last weekend. Hours. This appears to be a necessary evil when you have neglected it for the entire winter!  There's still quite a bit to go but I managed to do some rearranging, put in some new sprinkler thingies, pull out a mass of weeds (don't talk to me about honeysuckle!), toss some very large concrete pavers over the wall (don't ask, you don't want to know!) and plant some flowers and veggies.
I also did a very simple little DIY involving a mirror, a pot and a new little space in the courtyard where the rickety old bench used to be...voila!

This little spot under the growing maple tree lets me see the sky (reflected in the mirror) while reading a book, having a drink and without straining my neck!

and as a bonus...the pot is a place to put a bit of gardening paraphernalia...just whip off the mirror and put it back on when done. Clever huh!

As as for that bench where Buffy used to sit...

...I'm using it to grow a herb garden! 

Poor vampire slayer...

all photos by me taken on the iPhone 4S

buffy...

I have to confess that I don't have very much to say today. I'm on the highway to Newcastle again, and if the weather forecast is correct, the windscreen wipers will be on. I'll be listening to Radio National or singing along to something in the CD player. You can do that when you drive alone. You can even sing along to John Denver : )

But it occurred to me, while thinking what I might write about, that there are some of you who might be new to the townhouse who haven't had the dubious pleasure of 'meeting' Buffy...or as we ever so affectionately call her around here...the vampire slayer. I took a couple of snaps of her last night as she was enjoying a little breeze that had blown in to the courtyard garden. I have no idea how she gets up on top of that wall because it's all she can do to haul herself on to the sofa these days. But I thought she looked...well, tranquil : )

And I can assure you...that doesn't happen very often! She does need a new collar though. It's letting down the beautiful bling tag that Rachael bought her. I'd better get on to that.
It was Australia Day yesterday. I read a book. Perfect.
Have a lovely weekend won't you? 

Jackie French's garden...

I spent yesterday with a group of lovely friends on an Open Garden Scheme tour of Jackie French's garden...

For those who don't know, are too young to know, forget they ever knew, never knew...

Jackie French is a well known and award winning author, columnist, speaker, presenter. She's been on the tv and on radio...she writes and talks about a lot of things, especially the bush and fruit trees...and historical fiction and non-fiction, children's stories, gardening...she's pretty extraordinary.

Jackie's home in the beautiful Araluen Valley near Braidwood NSW was open over the weekend and she was the hostess. So generous with her time and clearly an expert with a vast knowledge honed by an inquiring mind...

 

I lost count of the hundreds of trees, shrubs, plants that she and her husband Bryan care for. You can read a lot more about it on her website as well as about the 140 books she's written...yes 140!  It was a fascinating talk, most of which went right over my non-horticultural head, but wow, what a lovely place to spend a few sunny Sunday hours.

Of course I had to buy a book :-) 

This is part of the foreword ...
"Once upon a time I bought some land. I wanted to build a house, an orchard, a world of peace and plenty..."
Can't wait to read it.

Bless.

soul food friday ~ being in the garden

I have to say that the little townhouse garden is excelling itself so far this spring...

I wouldn't call myself a brilliant gardener...I'm certainly not very knowledgeable about trees and plants and flowers...not like Sarah

But I am completely convinced of one thing...

  ...there are few things more restorative to a sad heart, a tired body or a worried brain than spending some time in a garden...

 admiring the perfect loveliness of a simple little flower and being grateful for the chance to sit for a while and just look

 even if it's only in the confines of a small courtyard garden. Actually, especially in a small space...it reminds me that we don't need all that very much to be happy.

Gardens allow us to just 'be'.

...even if that small garden is inhabited by a mad cat :)

The slayer and I send you our best wishes for a wonderful, serene weekend. Go and smell some flowers  if you can. And as Elvis says...

 This week for the first time I'm joining in with maxabella loves...

all images: a tranquil townhouse

another long weekend...home and an exhibition

Lucky old Canberra had another long weekend...two in a row...we're a bit spoilt aren't we :)  But then again we have politicians to contend with on far too many weeks of the year so I guess it evens out.  I did a lot of stuff around the house and went to an exhibition, because you know I love both of those things.

The exhibition was the Fred Williams Retrospective at the National Gallery of Australia...seriously one of my favourite places in the universe. And I have to say that I think this was one of the best exhibitions I've seen for a while. Did you know that Fred Williams was the first Australian ever to have a solo exhibition at MoMA? No, I didn't either.  Beautiful, beautiful work...the colours were spectacular.

 

 

 

 

Click on the NGA link above to see lots more.
I came home with stuff...thank goodness the 100 day challenge is well and truly over! The exhibition catalogue was a must...Buffy says hi...and that's the last orchid spray there too.

An elk necklace...I have been after one of these for ages so I had to get it when I saw it. I have no idea what it was doing with Fred's stuff but I didn't question :) And a fridge magnet. I love fridge magnets. Do you?

My very good friends Chris and Terry came and helped take the faded green fibreglassy stuff off the pergola (I have no idea what it's called apart from ugly). Well to be honest, Terry did the hard bit while Chris and I fetched and carried. It didn't take long. Terry's toolkit rivals a Bunnings warehouse with a gadget for every house or garden issue imaginable. The courtyard looks so much better...

Now the wisteria just needs to do it's work and get over the pergola. It will let so much more light into the living room in winter now too without the horrible green stuff. I also picked up the drill once or twice myself over the weekend...attached a hose reel to the back wall and moved the automatic water timer thingy to a more convenient position...and look...a coat rack courtesy of Ikea, me and a power tool. 

Quite pleased. Probably shouldn't have left my boots lying higgedly piggedly on the floor though. Never mind.

friday flowers...

Well, this is a first for me, posting a picture of flowers on a friday :)

The lavender is from the courtyard mess garden which is slowly getting a spruce up for summer...I've given up on spring...this weather is ludicrous.
Anyway, it's another long weekend in the nation's capital and rain is forecast...what a surprise!
Still, I won't complain, and thanks to the lavender by my bed I'm assured of a very good night's sleep.
Have a wonderful weekend, long or otherwise, and thank you for spending some time with me this week. I love it when you do that :)

a restful weekend...and a thank you

It's Monday again, a day that comes around far too quickly for my liking. There was a time in my life that I lived for Mondays...sad but true. But not anymore. Nope, those days are blessedly gone. Quite often I have to work on the weekend. Not as in actually attending a workplace somewhere, but more a case of finishing something to meet a deadline that hasn't been able to be achieved during the working week.
But not this weekend. This weekend I did things just for pleasure, and it was good :)

Friday night was a movie, free, courtesy of a double pass win from the ACT Writer's Centre...the Fred Schepisi adaptation of the Patrick White novel The Eye of the Storm...brilliant stuff.

As soon as we stepped out of the movies I hightailed it across the street to a favourite bookshop The Paperchain in Manuka and bought the book. I haven't read Patrick White since the enforced reading of The Tree of Man in high school.  He's easier to read when you're a bit more grown up I've found. Loving the book. It's scary reading a book after you've seen the movie don't you think? There's almost always disappointment one way or the other, but it doesn't seem to be the case with this story. Movie and book are both excellent.

It was lousy weather on the weekend so I did a lot of reading and I even had an afternoon nap on Saturday. I never do that! It may have been because I was a bit exhausted after hoofing it around the Lifeline Spring Book Fair. I came home with a few pre-loved books...20 to be exact...but such a bargain, ending up at around $4 a book. Yep, definitely a bargain :)

A trip to the Grower's Market near my place on Sunday morning yielded the week's supply of baby spinach, rocket and coriander and some plants for my new veggie patch from Bunnings that I put together last weekend...all by myself with only a few minor injuries involving a concrete paver.

 

And hallelujah the wisteria is finally sprouting. About time!

And last week's poppies hung in there really well and can now be joined by this week's new bunch from the markets...seven bucks well spent.

Do you like ivy? I know some people don't, but I love it. My grandma's name was Ivy, so perhaps that's why. This has appeared over the courtyard wall and there's no way I'm getting rid of it. I'll just have to be vigilant and not sit on the bench for too long lest I be strangled by it!

And the orchid was disappointing this year...a bit ratty, but still lovely in all its imperfection.

And before I forget, because I can be such a lame-brain sometimes, a big thank you to Jennifer, the blog mistress over at A Sampler who gave me the versatile blogger award a few weeks ago. 

Please go and visit Jennifer...she's a writer and a reader (so you can see the attraction!), who, as she puts it "fled the film and TV industry a few years ago to give motherhood a second whirl...". Gotta love that!
I hope the week ahead brings lovely things your way.