you know its almost christmas when....

there are cinnamon scrolls being made

these are resting and rising waiting to go in the oven,

and this batch just came out of the oven. my mom often made these at christmas time, and this year i decided to as well.

you also know it is almost christmas when your presents overtake the tree

see small fig tree in pot on far left of table? that is our christmas tree. need to find tiny decorations next year.

happy christmas everyone!

garden revisited - finally

i finally got into the garden. i feel like i  neglected my garden this summer - actually i did. i have been too busy and things that required regular care and water did not survive. but i made some time on the weekend to get into the garden and prepare it for the autumn and winter growing season. i cleaned out all the dead tomatoes and weeds and this weekend will go get some seedlings to plant. i can;t raise seedlings from seed anymore as they don't survive otto's garden walking but he steps around seedlings so they seem to be doing ok.

this it the back garden weed free, well mostly and ready for planting this weekend.

 

i have had this vine for 2 years now and this is the first time i have had any fruit on it.and there are lots of flowers so hopefully more to come! 

turns out passion fruit doesn't mind being neglected. imagine if i actually fed it!

 

a friend of mine gave me this plant 3 years ago, it is a desert rose and it has never flowered before.

 

i actually have not been neglecting this plant, i moved it outside for summer and watered it semi regularly.

 

lucky for me it is a desert plant and hardy and can handle some heat. 

 

in fact i think it really liked the extra sun being outside and that is why it finally flowered.
now i just need to get it to stay alive over winter.

in the front yard i pulled out some plant that was more like a weed, and planted 2 euphorbias. one bushy one on the left and one tree one on the right. there are also 2 more in the background to the right. they are an amazing plant with great structure. one of my favorites.

and finally i purchased a new blood orange tree for the front raised garden bed. with a bit of luck we will be enjoying some lovely blood oranges next year.

i did all this in a couple hours on the weekend, and i felt like a new person. gardening does wonder for my soul and happiness and is a great way to release from work and the computer screen where i have been finding myself a lot lately. can't wait for more this weekend.

in recent times

i recently got a part time job, and this is a good thing. but for the next 4 weeks i am covering annual leave for another person which means i am working full time. this is a shock to my lifestyle and definitely i am feeling it.

needless to say i am behind on my blogging and a few other things, like working in my studio. at least i can update the blog right now. more on the studio when i get in there.

no we did not get another dog, but we did bring otto to meet another mini schnauzer that lives near by.  his name is oscar, they had a great time playing together.

apparently schnauzers are a breed of dog that can recognise other schnauzers, but i am not sure if this is true. they were cute together.

 

and speaking of otto, can you believe how many dog toys one dog needs? he loves them all.

 

 a small succulent i have had for a year now is flowering. it makes me smile.

i did find a few minutes in the rain to plant out some seedlings, lots of basil, some golden berries, tomatillos, leeks and cucumber.

 

  

some things in the garden have been surviving having little paws step on them sometimes, so maybe there is hope for my tomatoes this year. time will tell.

i hope to get on top of my schedule soon, but it might be a bit slow around here as i get through the next 3 weeks.

this is one of my lithops. i have three of them, but this is the only one that has flowered. i have managed not to kill it - yet. apparently getting them through the winter is the trickiest, when i am not allowed to water it at all. currently i only give the plants a teaspoon of water once a fortnight.



they are lovely little things, and if you do forget to water them and have them in a sunny spot then will grow!