I have been saving since Covid lock-downs ended for just the right garden statue. Locally, the one I liked has been priced three times the amount it was before Covid. And yes, it was the exact item because they have not order any statues in since mid 202o. I have been disappointed with local garden shopping since Covid so I just kept putting a few dollars aside each week in hope.

Early last week, on our way to Kirra Beach just over the Queensland border, we visited Ballina’s Summerland Garden and Antique Centre which is often advertised on our local TV station. (Ballina is about four hours north from our home and about two hours south of our holiday destination) There we found five statues in a variety of similar styles and priced almost $300AUS cheaper than the one locally. We decided to think about which one while on holiday and purchase it on the way home. Which we did. We had named her Maid Marian before we bought her.

Maid Marian has been placed pretty much where I want her. We’ll let her settle in before I plant something in her flower pot.

Archived in: 🦋 I’m in the Garden

This post was created a few days ago and scheduled for today. By the time you read this we’ll be well on our way to Queensland for some warm sun, rest and relaxation.

This photo was taken on Tuesday. We picked the last of the spinach, beans, salad capsicums and peas for the season as well as some fresh tomatoes, early spring onions and a couple of chilies. And of course, fresh herbs. Norm did a quick dash to the store for some fresh beef mince to create a kind of taco meal. Leftovers were great too.

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The heavy rains have finally gone and the April sunshine has arrived. Temperatures over the past week, after the wind eased, have been in the mid to high twenties. That’s Celsius. Saturday morning was a good day for enjoying the garden after just a little tidy up here and there. The corn has doubled in height in just a few weeks and the beans are finally flowering. Spring onions and leeks usually do well during Autumn so we planted seeds back in February and they seem to be thriving.

Our salad garden is still thriving with snack capsicums, tomatoes, lettuce and beetroot (out of photo). Spinach and silver-beet continue to grow all year although slow at times. We even have late season strawberries growing.

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Despite rain bombs and a windy hail storm during the past few weeks, the Hibiscus shrubs are flowering in their pots in the front garden. We haven’t been able to do much work in the garden this past week due to wet weather and the more than usual medical appointments we have had with more to come. It’s been nice to return home each day to see colour in the garden.

Archived in: 🦋 I’m in the Garden

Matthew 26:42–46 records that Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. Each time He expressed His willingness to obey His Father’s will. The garden is the place I meet with Him, talk to Him and listed to Him.

Jesus prayed in a garden: Matthew 26, wept in a garden: Luke 19:41, John 11:35. Jesus healed in a garden: Luke 22:51 and Jesus rose in a garden: Mark 16

One of my favourite hymns is about the garden: Author: C. Austin Miles

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.(Refrain)
I’d stay in the garden with Him
Tho’ the night around me be falling;
But He bids me go; thro’ the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling. (Refrain)

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We have had quite a bit of rain over the past few weeks including three days of rain bombs and wind. We discovered on Friday that we had a lot of water under our back verandah. Norm did some creative cutting and digging and spent a few hours playing in the mud.

With two trenches dug, the water finally started to flow out. It will probably take a week of warmer days before we can lay a couple of drainage pipes in the trenches and replace the turf.

The lawn is quite spongy still but we no longer have our own private mud bath. It’s draining away quite quickly and we have regained access to underneath. Fortunately, the only items we store under there are water containers which we had taken out earlier in the week to fill with rain water already collected in garden trugs. Note: there was no water under the house when we remove the containers.

The wind and rain came mostly from the south-west and came under the back awning. With the gaps in the deck paneling, the water went straight through. Over the weekend we also laid an outdoor vinyl matting along the back deck to lessen the amount of rain coming through.

We had already placed same from the back step to the back door and it has worked successfully. It won’t stop the rain completely but it should help in future weather storms. The trugs are overflowing again and although the rain has eased there’s no sign of sunshine. We have been repeatedly told that a drought is on it’s way… Those notifications have mysteriously disappeared from the TV news and local government notices.

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The humidity and high temperatures have finally eased. Autumn has begun with good planting weather. Norm re-potted the Raspberry Bush that desperately needing a larger pot. It’s a little early but we needed to save it’s life.

Norm also put some of the skills he picked up at the gardening workshop we attended a few weeks ago.

While I planted corn seedlings next to the seeds I planted a few days ago.

Our garden has been a place where we can both enjoy.

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The back corner of our yard has gone wild. Bottlebrush shrubs in large pots mostly grow here surrounded with native grasses. The red pot in this photo holds a Melaleuca. They can grow huge in Australia but this one is destined to be stunted by the size of it’s pot. Because the Bottlebrush is a short lived shrub the Melaleuca could be given a bigger pot in a year or two. 🙂

We have finally beheaded the last two giant Sunflowers. Since this photo was taken, they have been stripped of their seeds to be replanted and added to the bird feeders for the Corellas and the occasional pink Galahs that visit the garden.

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We love our garden, especially in the cooling late afternoons in Summer. Apologies for the missing photos. Media library ate them. 😉

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It’s just the second year the Crepe Myrtle has flowered. This year it’s covered with blossoms ready to burst open. It’s rich colour adds vibrancy to the back garden attracting bees and birds like a magnet.

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Caught unawares, these two lorikeets are often in the garden. Here they are after a meal of wild-bird seed and fresh apple.

Other couples, notably their scaly-breasted cousins, join the union. I wonder if that’s the marriage celebrant over near the fence.

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We have seen this blue tongue lizard often this week. I’m sure he’s made our garden his home.

The vegetable garden may look healthy but this hot summer is messing with producing our usually good harvests. Keeping water up is easy enough when the trugs are filled by heavy downpours of rain and hail but the ground is so dry within a few hours from the scorching heat that it is a never ending chore.

Archived in: 🦋 I’m in the Garden & 🦋 Down on the Farm

Happy New Year to all Riverside Peace followers. I have posted a few summer garden photos Norm and I have taken between Christmas and New Year while I give an update of where I’m at now and my 2024 plans.

I’ve been a little out of my normal routine since my total right knee replacement on November 2023. A whole new routine, mostly rehabilitation, has taken over. One thing I have return to is the garden – with limitations which is why I trained Norm.

I have been writing a little too and I plan to post at least one new poem and/or devotional post every month. I won’t promise more than this because I’m also taking on the huge challenge of learning to sign in 2024. At a few new followers request, I’ll be re-posting some my most popular poetry and short devotions from my book ‘Glimpses of His Glory’. I’ll add a few others from time to time as well.

The lorikeet above is a regular to our garden and especially loves the apples Norm tosses onto the lawn in the evening. I find the garden provides rest and relaxation.

These final 3 gallery photos show the cheeky sunflower that’s growing in our vegetable garden. It has grown above the back fence and follows the summer sun across the sky. It can be seen by everyone who drives by. I have also returned to river and other local walks. I’ll post these photos too each week.

Have a very happy and safe New Year and a healthy and blessed 2024.

Archived in: 🦋 I’m in the Garden

Because we were traveling late on Sunday, I was unable to prepare photos for this week’s I’m in the Garden post. It’s been beautiful weather and very relaxing in the Hunter Valley NSW wine country. We’re mostly just taking a breather from all the appointments we have had of late and a rest before my surgery in just over a week away. I have managed to find a couple of photographs I took of the front garden on Sunday morning using my Samsung phone. I hope you like them.

The agapanthus will be in full bloom while we’re not there. The miniature blue agapanthus are usually a little slower in blooming. Probably because they are situated further to the left behind the shrubs.

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A few months ago, I think in July, I tried something new. I never thought it would actually grow.

In early October I planted it like this into a garden plot.

This is what it looks like now. I cut a few outer stalks that were bent and added it to a stir-fry for lunch.

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It was brought to my attention a few days ago that we have several entries to our back garden. ‘Which entry do we use?’ they asked. I decided to photograph each entry. Maybe I will need to draw a map. 😉

Above and below is the east entry. The side of the house I call the boring side because leading to the grass-curved path is nothing but terracotta pots filled with struggling succulents along a very long gravel path.

Once you veer right you can follow the grass path to the back entry of the house and the outdoor kitchen and dining area. (below)

Or, you can veer left and take the southeast entry through the ‘farm’. Next photo.

Then there’s the entry through the carport into the outdoor kitchen and dining area. Oh. There’s also one directly from next door’s gravel path.

There’s the entry via the back steps. The entry I most often use.

But my favourite entry has to be through the arch to our ‘farm’.

Which entry will you take?

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It’s been a while since I featured my herbs in ‘Down on the Farm’ and what better time to show them off than this beautiful season of Spring. Mind you, it rained for nearly 48 hours straight before I was able to take a suitable photo over the weekend. The rain is gone and the sun is shining again.

On Saturday I was given some beautiful lemon grass. I don’t have a big enough area to plant it straight into the ground so another potted herb it is. I love how they are growing, how fresh they taste, and how Norm is now using them in his outdoor cooking. There are some larger ones planted among the vegetables too which we’ll use more until the little ones grow. I use some of the bigger plants for making fresh teas too.

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The last crop of broad beans and our first salad-size capsicum.

Our first Elderberry Flower harvest. Norm made me a cup of tea with a few flowers and it was delicious.

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My plan was to paint the white picket fence yesterday but it rained before dawn leaving the fence too damp to paint.

So..today I started straight after breakfast but with the temperature rising, I only managed two-thirds of the entire length. Tomorrow’s weather station says it will be clear skies again. I hope to have it completed well before the promised 25C. I’m so glad it’s not a very high fence. 🙂

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I’ve been watching this iris since it sprouted back in mid-August. I thought she would clear the top of the Poinsianna the way she was growing.

As the sunflower begins to droop, this iris is reaching for the sky.

I expect to see her in full bloom for a few more days while a second iris (to the right) thinks about bursting out into full bloom.

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Spring has Sprung with a burst of sunshine. Do you remember my post: https://riversidepeace.com/2023/08/28/late-august-wind-brought-out-a-nice-surprise/ ? This Sunflower is now greeting the Spring sunny mornings with a big smile.

Seedlings are up and the bulbs are finally opening. The irises are a little slow but they’ll be out any day now.

And – the white climbing rose bush has come alive and blooming.

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We had this candle holder sitting on our occasional table since we moved into our home in December 2019. I have decorated it at Christmas or placed an unlit candle in it but usually it just sits. After seeing terrariums and their ridiculous prices at nurseries, Bunning, etc., I decided to put my creativity side to good use. What do you think? Be honest.

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Except for the apple and pear trees, buds and/or new growth is evident.

Strawberries and Blueberries. Can’t wait for the first harvest.

Seedlings sprouting.

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Early Spring flowers in the front and rear garden have added bright colours here and there. My herb seeds and seedlings are doing great. I’m excited about including medicinal herbs this year.

A couple of the fruit trees and shrubs look promising. Bottom photos: Tabpoles and frog ponds are ready for occupancy.

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