we've got storms!

Not even summer and we woke up this morning to storm warnings.  All Clayfield seems to have been getting is thunder and clouds with some fairly decent rain.  The light that comes with the storms makes the colours of the garden look great!

 I think the thing in the sub-tropics is to have some yellow and light green foliage.

 this is my saturday morning nook - easier to read the paper on the table than in bed!

chanelling ff

I bought a new jacket and had my hair cut and coloured yesterday which means that I am now in considerable debt.  Thought I sould see if lowering the hectopastels on my camera would make a difference to downloading.
What do you think?

The room is a bit sunny so my glasses went dark! 
Am waiting for some men to come and pick up the couch from upstairs and take it to Liz C.

weekends

I have been having weekend visitors. It was great to have four days with Jen who had the need for a 'girls' weekend - living with two sons and a husband means she needs a break every now and then.
We did some shopping and coffee drinking

and we met up with an old friend for dinner

and then, just to finish off, she helped me in the garden and spread a LARGE amount of mulch around! Old friends ARE good friends!

and the garden is VERY HAPPY!!!!
I've just found out that my new camera was set at 12 megapixels and the photos were taking an age to download. I have now changed it to 2 megapixels.....

spring has sprung

The magic that is spring has happened. I had some spring visitors last weekend

It was lovely to see them, but they must have been a bit tired as there was quite a bit of couch bashing!!


My garden has decided to burst into leaf - from dead looking sticks to luxurient foliage in a couple of weeks. The mulberry even has fruit and the paw paw has three babes and a few more coming.

I can't wait to have some fruit salad from the front garden!

spring is nearly here

I've planted some baskets of flowers to decorate my front verandah and block my view of mr veryrichbuilder's undies on the line. The plants are growing so quickly and flowering as though it really is Spring. I thought we had to wait until the Ekka was over??

these are some lovely iris my daughter bought me last week when they were tightly shut....they've lasted all week and look gorgeous?

front veranda

I've even got herbs hanging out in a window box.

More later - I will photograph my new Aldi purchases and what's happening in the back garden.....

I've been away

I have just come back from a wonderful holiday - one of the best I've had for years. Two weeks in Italy at a friends apartment near Lucca, a week in London and Cheltenham seeing family, a week in a Normandie farmhouse, a wedding in France and then home!

This is the view from my bedroom - not bad waking up there every morning for two weeks?
The fruit and vegetables in Italy in summer are beautiful - favourites were raw garlick, asparagus and corgettes.

Things to do in Italy included:

lunching in Lucca

giving advice to Deb's workmen!

Shopping in Florence

more to come on UK and France.

visitors and changes

I had some visitors for curry last Thursday - lovely to see them!

Bill was here too on wednesday and he and Marina hung the blinds on the verandah tht I had sweated over last weekend and been unable to do (he said that I couldn't have done them on my own - it is a two person job). I can still get a glimpse of the4 veryrich undies and mops but it is much better and when I come home, I will buy a potted plant to fill in the gaps.

I am changing the study to suit me - this is part of the plan......

this is what I hope they will look like, but now the room looks like this:

My veggie garden is doing well - what a shame a lot of the veggies will go to seed while I'm away. Tonight I will be eating my own butter beans: