The call of the garden

A tropical paradise

I have been back home 5 weeks and it has taken me that long to sort through all the photos we took of New Zealand and catalogue them into the blog post by post. It was a labour of love to revisit all the places and people we met. Reliving the journey for a second time.

Way back in the dinasore days, before digital photography, it took even longer as the film first had to be developed, then how many times would you be disappointed at the results, not as you remembered, and you could not go back for a retake. The camera shops would offer a 2 sets for the price of one, so of course you would take the 2 sets thinking you could always send a copy to all the friends and “rellies”. How many of you have shoe boxes full of these photos, yellowing with age, and absolutely no idea of where the photo is of, or who the people are in it. But some how, you just can’t bring yourself to throw them away? Back then I did “scrap-booking”, it was all the rage, and still is, but now it is digital scrap-booking, but for me it is now blogging that I am addicted to.

Well that was a short walk down memory lane…

Back to the present: One of the reasons that it took 5 weeks to complete sorting the New Zealand trip photos was because other things vied for my attention. We came back to perfect Queensland weather. Day after day of sun, and the garden called to me. Gardening is another of my passions and over the 13 years we have been in this house Jack and I have created our small slice of paradise. The first thing I do when ever I arrive back, after time away, is to wander around and admire all the plants. These past 2 years have been an amazing time for growth. After nearly 10 years of drought conditions, from 2000 to 2010, and a struggle to just keep things alive, it is a pleasure to see the garden so happy. I am also lucky to have two great friends who look after the garden while we are away. They love the garden as I do and enjoy looking after it.

Yesterday it was a major autumn pruning day as the growth has been so phenomenal it was rapidly becoming a jungle. There has been no rain for a month and thoughts of drought were starting to surface. From May to October is, normally, the dry season in this area, but for 2 years that has not happened, and we have had the wettest 2 years on record. Weather patterns all round the world seem to be changing. Today the rain has come and we can heave a sigh of relief.

So I would like to take you for a walk around our garden…

Front garden

Front garden,old man banksia in front

Narrow side garden, climbing Bauhinia in flower

Compost corner

Back garden, fish ponds made using old baths