Garden Renovation

Wednesday our gardener started the new garden. Laurie quickly snapped some photos before he began..

The first picture is of an existing garden bed that is staying but will have all the existing plants removed. I am then going to plant peony and winter roses.

The side back fence is going to have the turf removed and gravel and pavers laid. There will then be 4 colourbond planter boxers to play with. We both have bad backs that can give us trouble so this seemed like the ideal solution.

Along the back fence will be three teddy bear magnolias underplanted with hydrangea. Something different is going in the corner but I still haven't made my mind up about that.

The area in front of the garage is going to have three trellises. This is where I will plant my much wished for passionfruit. There will also be a climbing rose and a clematis.

Moving to the front of the house everything is going except the rose bush that excited me so much when we moved in and it bloomed. It has been overshadowed by the trees and I hope it will prosper. The garden beds on either side will be made slightly bigger and have a gentle curve.

Finally the front fence is bare at the moment. This is where my Camilla hedge will go.

Watch this space for progress.

How hard can scrambled eggs be?

Laurie threw down a challenge last night that I should make him scrambled eggs for breakfast. Now, for most I know that you would think easy but alas dear readers not I. My breakfast menu when I cook is toast. That's it. I can also do crumpets in the toaster. There was I thinking I was not multi skilled.

So using google as my friend as well as a few friends suggestions from facebook I was ready for the morning. Can I just say here that cooks can be very passionate over something as simple as cooking an egg, To whisk or not, butter or unsalted butter, cream or milk and the list goes on.

I certainly wasn't going shopping so a basic recipe of eggs, milk, salt and a little butter was chosen. Then Laurie made it even harder. he wanted it served on toast with bacon on the side. That's when the fear set in. To make this so called simple breakfast I was going to need two pans and an electrical device.

Arose bright and early and waited for him to wake. This is when I made another discovery about myself. I can't cook unless I have had a shower and cleaned my teeth. Is this normal or was it just a vain attempt to postpone the inevitable.

So freshly showered ingredients were assembled.

You may notice no butter. I forgot that and had a mild panic when it was needed. I do like everything close to hand.

I decided to go with the whisking method. There was a lovely page that showed me the correct action and I thought if they had gone to so much trouble I should give it a go. Of course what they didn't tell you was that you would think your arm was going to fall off after 2 minutes of whisking. Still pain aside I had a nice bubbled mixture like they said and put my bacon on to cook.

Bizarrely the next step was to heat your butter whilst the bubbles settled. Seemed strange to me but what do I know. After the panic of finding the butter I had it nicely foaming and into the pans went my eggs.

This is when I discovered my big mistake. Size does matter. They cooked in a nano second and even I could tell they would be rubbery. I need to find a nice small pan for next time.

Another panic over the toast - I forgot it - and time to plate up.

Not quite MasterChef standard but the best I could do. Laurie hates to say anything bad about my cooking but finally admitted they could be a bit creamier. Guess what he's having for breakfast next Sunday?

Going, going, gone.

Before the new garden can start we needed to get rid of this umbrella tree.

Pat and his assistant making preparations.

Almost gone.

The next day he came back with the stump grinder and now it's all gone.

So is the other stump that was in the yard.

Just for fun some things I didn't plant that just popped up.

Garden update

The hedges are going strong. I still need to trim the leaves that were attacked by a bug but there is new growth so I don't think we will loose them. They do develop these lovely puffs

but was somewhat surprised to find these hot pink berries on them.

Apparently they are edible but quite tart. I will leave them for the birds.I amused myself today by being able to identify them in a friends garden and recognise the pest attacking them. I also knew the solution. How did that happen?

These strawberry plants were here when we moved and are looking very healthy at the moment. I shan't remove them just yet.

The pansies I planted in the hedge area have done well. I am waiting the new season release of a spreading pansy and will plant them in this area.

My planter box is doing OK. Somewhat worried about the sweet peas that weren't supposed to need staking. Time will tell.

The pansies in this box are doing really well so I can see more of this kind of planting in the future.

The girls box is looking a little sad but no casualty's as yet.

Laurie has his own box of pansies also doing well.

Not sure about the stock in the middle of the herbs though.

My beautiful Paul Becouse rose bloomed during the week

and the good news is there is a new bud.

Finally a very bemused Ally wondering why I was taking all these photos in the garden. She hates change and has still not settled in but is getting there.

Planting update

The sweet peas and pansy's I planted on St Patrick Days are growing. A few casualty's but I think I should get flowers.

As you can see I already have some pansy flowers.

Laurie's granddaughters stayed during the week and they wanted a garden as well. Here is their effort.

Looks somewhat the worse for wear but we shall see how it goes..

Planting on a Sunday morning

I can hardly believe that I have spent a Sunday morning weeding and planting. My how my life has changed. I have a bad back so this will need to be done in chunks but should only take a couple of days. At the back of the photo is the ground cover I'm not sure about. At the front are my pansies. The picture only shows a small section as I am without a camera till Friday.

Hedges are done.

Our friend Paul came on Thursday with his power tools and in about an hour all the hedges were trimmed back to shape.

Tomorrow I will plant the ground cover recommended by Irene our garden designer. While I am waiting for it to grow I am also going to try some pansies in this area.

New gardens

Well all plans of documenting the move went flying out the window. We have now been here almost six months and our thoughts have turned to the garden. This process I can document.

The first thing that needs to be said is that neither of us are gardeners. That said I want to learn how. I am a firm believer in using the expertise of others so for my birthday Laurie gave me a garden design. Irene is very straightforward and understands her brief. I want some colour but a fairly low maintenance garden.

The only plant we have had real success with since the move is this Iceberg Rose. It stays in the new garden.

Everything else except the Lilly Pilley hedges goes. We did have a small mango tree but the evidence of it is confined to this

and the one mango it produced.

BTW it is rock hard.

I loved the hedges when we first saw this place but by the time we had moved in they had some kind of disease. I managed to kill the bug but did nothing in terms of maintaining there shape. This is why they now look like this.

Sorry for the sideways picture but you get the idea.

Irene was adamant that we should keep them so who was I to argue. Laurie bought me my first ever power tool - a hedge trimmer - and on my first attempt I managed to tame one.

The rest will be professionally trimmed on Thursday and then the idea is that I will maintain them.

So there is the start of our journey. I hope you will follow me and my inevitable mishaps as I strive for my perfect garden.