Sprung!

Hi there.

So we were minding our own business, being chilly, wiping winter lurgy drips from our noses, complaining about the weather and how dark it was in the morning/evening/anytime, envying overseas friends who are in the throes of summer; also known as wishing our lives away.


Then one day, it wasn't. Chilly, that is. I actually had to take off the scarf that I think was starting to somehow become part of my neck, and lo! We looked out the window, to find that Spring had Sprung!

The evidence is everywhere: The blossom is out next to the woodpile.

The broad beans in our vegie patch have suddenly started to grow before our eyes, and turn to follow the sun each day.

The bare-rooted strawberries have only been in the ground 4 days, and yet! Leaves!


They even beat the raspberries that we put in a week ago:


We're hoping the kale is too small to attract the notice of possums, though some snails and slugs have already succumbed to a beery trap:

All this greenness and new shoot-ness has inspired MrWildflower to use his holidays to create another vegie patch. Just because. (and also, I am not busy enough while he's at work. I need another thing that needs looking after. I do, I tell you. Be quiet, of course I'm grateful.)

Aerial view of said vegie patch construction. Particulars: no-dig, terraced as we're on a hill, whacking great stump in the middle for...trellis attachment? seating? sacrifices to the vegie gods? who knows! Note also that all paths planned for ease of working in the vegie patch have been forgotten in the excitement of construction. Much scratching of heads ensued.

The dog is now worn out from all the attention and outdoor plays the good weather has afforded him.

...and then there were two

...pets, that is.

First in our home was Gilbert Lightfoot, a scrawny stray who fell over my back fence when I lived in the inner city, and didn't have the strength to leap back out again.

I think he might possibly have some other reason for not being able to jump over a fence now. That is 7 kilos of premium cat you are looking at there.

Second is our recently acquired pup, Sharik. Chaos on four legs, but so cute! And so willing to please for any form of cheese, it's almost unbearable.




Gratuitous cute cat shot to close:

Uh...hi!

Hello. It seems that I've been on a rather extended blog break.

Not wanting to bore anyone with details, May and June were a morass of birthdays and winter setting in, a visit from my mother-in-law, debate about where best to site the vegie patch in Spring, fending off winter lurgies, and acquiring a puppy.

yes, a puppy. Stay tuned for photos. Technology is not my friend tonight.

And just to keep you amused while you wait for pictures of the unbearable cuteness, some books that have been read around here lately:

*The Ubiquitious: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. All in the household have now read it, all are now officially in mourning for the series' end. Very satisfying, and far pacier and tighter than the last few in the series, imo. Daughter #1, 4yrs old, is totally confused about what a Snape is. She had a nightmare about it last night.
*The PoMo yet readable (oh ack, can't believe I said that!) : The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. I know, I know. I'm so behind the times. This is the Eastern Regional library we're talking about. We take our time out here. Interesting, got me in, lots to recommend it, but still a book about a book club. Lovely characterisations.
*The Unmentionable addiction: like hot chocolate with marshmallows, sticky sweet and ultimately drinkable, The Wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey. Love me an author called Mercedes. It's gotta be a pen name. Me? Trying to replace books about a boy wizard? Is denial a river in Egypt? Forgettable fluff, great when you've got a cold and a baby who has a cold and a 4 year old with a cold. Did I mention we had colds?

And that's it for August so far.