This morning it is Autumn

Ah that wonderfully fresh air with a touch of coolness - I feel it on my feet as I sit here at the computer with the back door open. While the temperature today is predicted to be 26C, this morning's coolness is so refreshing.  Autumn is my favourite season of the year!  The only downside to it is the termination of summer daylight savings time.  But that won't happen for another few weeks yet - but the nights are drawing in quickly now. Once the clocks are put back the early mornings will be so much darker - harder to get out of bed.

My poor Mum is back in hospital again.  She's been there now more than 5 weeks - at first investigative tests and scans being done to get to the bottom of her severe pain - it seems she has the same problems I have had over the past few years - spinal nerves being caught and sending pain down her legs.  A decision by medical staff was made to do a decompressive laminectomy on her lower spine and release the nerves causing the problem.  That was done last Friday.  Her recovery is being hampered at present by a very low blood iron level so she is being given units of blood through transfusion.  We are hoping that may help her mental confusion once the iron level is normalised. Its fortunate that son CM has been in NZ on business for 10 days and weekends was able to make visits to the hospital.  Now phone calls to the hospital ward  to check on her progress and talk with her are the order of the day. Her birthday is in May and she'll be 92 - her recovery and rehabilitation may be a long tough road we're thinking, especially since this is the second major surgery she's undergone in 6 months.  Can only leave her in our Maker's hands, trusting that He knows what is best for her.

Even though the grandies are now back at school, I am being kept fairly busy. This week however is much less so for which I'm grateful.  Had the lounge room windows measured last week for new blinds - they will take about 4 weeks to make. Looking forward to them being fitted. Meantime I've been washing curtains and windows, and cleaning out in the garage - getting rid of stuff that's been accumulated for a number of years.  I'm not finished in there yet but a long way to being able to find things again! LOL

Have planted out some tomato seedlings which were a freebie on a gardening mag in January. These are specifically grown in cool weather as opposed to summer cropping so will be interesting to see how they do.  There were four varieties, two the little truss cherry type, one 'normal' and one Giant Tree Tomato which apparently yields fruit up to 500 grams each.  That should be interesting!  Also tried a couple of rows of carrots and they have now been transplanted into 4 or 5 rows - not sure how they will be now the weather is cooling. I think they do better in a warmer spring/summer season. Planted out a few mini cabbages and some spinach along with a final crop of purple runner beans.  Have had to spread bird netting over them all as a new neighbour's cat has decided our yard to be it's bathroom area - spraying citronella oil around helps but this guys' pretty determined! 

All for now - blessings!



Black Cherry tomato 



Giant tree tomato (with tiny basil seedlings alongside

Shall I try the black one next?

A couple of times before I have decided to try growing a tomato plant in a tub in my back yard. I’ve usually given up as the fruit becomes more worm than tomato, despite the application of products which are supposed to keep them free of these pests. It’s a couple of years now since I ‘had a go’ so I thought I’d have one more try but this time putting the plant in the ground instead of in a tub. I had a little patch in mind which gets the sun pretty much all day in the summer so I’ve lovingly prepared it with manure, blood and bone and water crystals. I purchased my very sturdy little tomato plant (Grosse Lisse by name) from a very up-market newish nursery and it’s now planted in the ground and watered in with a solution made from seaweed, guaranteed to ‘settle it in.’

I have heard that some types of plants are good to put with others – keeping pests away etc so information gleaned from the internet suggested french marigold was the one I needed for my tomato. This morning while shopping for my vegetables I found some plants which I was sure were marigolds, for sale. I bought two and promptly put them in on either side of my little tomato.

Something didn’t look quite right so I checked again on the internet to see what marigolds looked like. I really think I’ve planted the wrong thing! Have I got Candelula - or have I got a Zinnia? Oh well, they can stay until I find the right plants. I’m not sure what I’ll do with the ones already in the ground – they might at least bring a few bees around but as I’m not fond of the colour orange but I’ll have to try to find a little spot to plant them ‘out of the way.’

If this little 'Grosse Lisse' stays healthy, I'm thinking I might try a Russian Black!