Violets In My Winter Garden

The sun does not shine for a few trees, and flowers, but for the wide world's joy. The lonely pine on the mountain-top waves its sombre boughs and cries, 'Thou art my sun.' And the little meadow violet lifts its cup of blue, and whispers with its perfumed breath, 'Thou art my sun.' And the grain in a housand fields rustles in the wind, and makes answer, 'Thou art my sun.' So God sits effulgent in heaven, not for a favoured few, but for the universe of life; and there is no creature so poor or so low that he may not look up with childish confidence and say, 'My Father, Thou art mine.' ~Henry Ward Beecher

It is almost my sweet niece's first birthday.  I'm made aware by the appearance of sweet violets in my winter garden, even though it is not the same garden as I enjoyed when she was born.  Last year my awareness of the violets in our garden came on the day she was born.  It was such as precious time. 

This year I am enjoying a new winter garden - my own.  I do love the garden in winter.  

It is a time of rest as we shelter indoors while the plants take a rest from their rigorous growth.  

It is a time of last farewells as we say goodbye to summer blooms such as this rose blossom which was mostly hidden by the weeping cherry during summer.  

It is time of anticipation as we wait for the budding blossoms to burst forth and reveal their delightful colours and fragrance.

Waiting for your first birthday little Eleanor...

One Frosty Morning in June

One thing I love about living in Canberra are the frosts.   In Adelaide we perhaps got one or two frosts around my birthday at the end of July.  I always thoughts I'd get ready to photograph the frost the next day.  Yet the next day of frost rarely came.  

Here we get frosts regularly for 6 or 7 months of the year.  I love the way they transform my garden with beautiful white icy crystals.  It gives me a sense of nostalgia reminding me of my childhood when my parents would announce on many a winter morning that Jack Frost had been to visit overnight.  It alights in me my sense of wonder at the beauty of nature.  The way ice forms its crystals on many varying plants, outlining them with white evenly-shaped forms.   I love the way my children delight in the ice forms.  They generally want to eat the ice which results in fingers becoming frozen and needing to be warmed on our heated tiles inside.  They too delight in this magical winter wonderland that appears every morning that is cold enough.  Voila! - that magical carpet of white!

New Year Seeds are Sprouting and Shooting

On New Year's Day my girls and I planted seeds in our new garden.

You can see their homes on the right in the picture above, a little sheltered spot by the Meyer Lemon we believe, planted here by the previous owners.

I just love the way Ess made labels from shells we have collected over the years.

These flower seeds came from a packet named "Rockery Mix".

Lots of alyssum will shoot I suspect.

On 7 January we saw, with great excitement in my little girls, that the seeds were sprouting

Some were clearly enjoying their new home and sprouting forth all their pretty two-leaved goodness.

Then ten days later on 17 January we find that the plants are really shooting up.  Soon the girls should have real flowers to plant around their little cubby house to enjoy before the frosts come again.

Or maybe they'll be big enough to survive some icyness.  I am still learning about gardening in Canberra where there are frosts from Easter to Melbourne Cup Day (first Tues in November).  The weather is amazing here.  This time last week it was 1.6 degC before dawn (a new record).  There was even some snow in the mountains.  It is summer for heavens sake.  Today it is hot again and we enjoyed an afternoon swim in the local pool.

At this stage also, it appears I have some competition - the lettuce has all been eaten.  Pesky snails I'm assuming.

A fitting way to commence the year in our new home don't you think.  Planting seeds, being thrilled and excited as we nurture and care for them and see them sprout and grow.  And all of this happening in our newly purchased own home.  I do love a bit of symbolism.

The Days of Christmas

Agapanthus just bursting into bud in my back garden

How have you been enjoying your 12 days of Christmas?

We have enjoyed:

~ Preparing and tossing out reindeer food for them to forage while we slept.

~ Setting out crocs with carrots also for the reindeer.

It was lovely to watch Ess count the appropriate number of carrots in each pair of shoes

- sorted according to age.

Four in each for my big Ess, two in each for my middle Eee,

and one and a little bit for my baby Jae.

~ Eating delicious meals

~ Watching (and waiting for) glorious sunsets

~ Lazing a little in the garden

Most of our time has been spent at home, together as a family, 

enjoying our visitor (my Dad) and

working on our new house some more.

We have spent much time in the garden

lopping, pruning, removing weed trees (privet and cotoneaster), 

improving soil with gypsum and cow manure,

mulching and planning planting to come very soon.

The most exciting part!

We've also been enjoying rediscovering hidden plants such as this hydrangea which was hidden behind the barbeque, growing towards our neighbour.

The agapanthus are just about to come into bloom to welcome in the new year.

While they are certainly not my favourite bloom and I probably wouldn't have planted them myself, 

I will definitely enjoy the beauty they bestow.

I am baffled to hear about many who have already taken down their Christmas trees.

Certainly Christmas is a time for us to relax a little, be less organised after the rush of preparation, 

to enjoy all there is to enjoy in the wonder and magic of the festive season.

All our Christmas decorations are still adorning our family home, 

we are still enjoying reading Christmas stories occasionally, 

hearing and singing some Christmas music,

and relaxing with family.

Blossoms and Birds

Break open a cherry tree and there are no flowers, but the spring breeze brings forth myriad blossoms.  ~Ikkyu Sojun

There are a number of things we are truly enjoying in our new, albeit temporary, home.

We enjoy a visit from a pair of Crimson Rosellas every afternoon.

They are enjoying foraging in the apricot tree blossoming in our back yard at the moment.

I was fortunate to be able to capture them this afternoon, 

so engrossed were they in the myriad blossoms.

They leave a carpet of blossoms under the tree, 

aided by the sulphur crested cockatoos, magpies and other friendly birds.

These delicate blossoms are full of romance.

The little dancing ladies here remind me of the dancers of a mystical Swan Lake, 

tiptoeing delicately upon a lake of snow and ice.

Then they are transformed into a most beautiful ballerina dressed delicately in a beautiful pink bodice with billowing white skirt, layering upon tassels of gold and silver.

The Apricot Blossom - 

the current delight of my heart

and joy of my days.

Sounds like my precious little girls really.

 ;)

Shapes in the Peas in our Garden

How often do you take time to sit back and watch, simply admiring the beauty of a growing plant and observing and taking particular note of tiny details in one variety?

I needed some space today and fortunately the sun was shining so I ducked outside to observe what was happening in the garden as we grow nearer to Spring. The peas needed staking so I spent time with my girls achieving that goal while we also discovered the numerous shapes to be found in the peas.

:: star-shaped caps hooding each pod ::

:: round shapes connecting the cap to the pod ::

:: swirls and spirals, these being almost symmetrical ::

:: crescent shapes in the new growth ::

:: long straighter lines in the tendrils...

...and along the length of the pod ::

:: imagined spherical peas growing inside each pod ::

:: almost oval leaf shapes ::

:: swirls and spirals galore ::

It was tremendous fun playing with the shadows as they were cast on our fingertips and on the wall behind the peas. Such intricate little shapes and lines.

I am sure there are probably many more we did not notice. Oh the delight in Ess' eyes as she discovered all the shapes one by one, as she took time to look closer and take notice. Children do that so well don't they, when they stop...finally! Things just seem to pop out at them and speak their own language. One which often passes us by as adults.

Tiny Blossoms in my Late Summer Garden

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com

Take a little wander with me around our garden.

You will find lots of blossoms as summer leafly growth wanes after the extreme heat we have had. The cool days brings blossom and a reminder that cooler times with more flowers will come again soon. I am so mindful how different it is here from parts of the world where snow covers all flowers during winter. Here the cool times mean flowers are not fried :) I am often amazed at just how many flowers we collected last June in winter.

A tiny basil blossom.

Tiny droplets on a stem of parsley which has gone to seed.

I just love this tiny perspective, looking in between lettuce leaves at the tiny droplet on the rim of the leaf.

Tiny chive blossoms afore a tiny cherub playing.

A beetle on an eggplant blossom. Ess is absolutely positive it is a rhinocerous beetle - I am not so certain. It is unfamiliar to me. It has a distinctive orange cross on its back. Any ideas anyone?

So many tiny blossoms...
on our mint.
There are quite a number of tiny things happening here in our home.