Winter Time

I wish I could say I had chosen the right time of year to stay inside and recover.
To an extent I have, it is winter after all, a little frightful outside at times.
But on the other hand we are having a really nice winter with brilliant blue skys

and then the occassional morning of fog

However the warm temperatures are making it really nice to be outside during the day which in turn is reeking havoc with the plants!
Ok so June 1 was officially the start of Winter and Sept 1 is officially start of Spring, so that makes us slap bang in the middle of winter......so why do I have daffodils already in flower??

the white plant is ornamental kale

Which means the vegetable garden is going crazy

and I finally have my first 2 limes on my tree

but on the other hand we have all the mystery of winter happening in the garden with the spiders leaving cute little webs all over the grass each morning

I don't do cold very well but I am loving being at home this winter.

War is Called

There is war in this house, well there was until the weather took a slight turn for the colder moment.
It was definitely a war that was going to be won and I was going to win it. The opponent did not stand a chance although they fought long and hard!
Outside I have a lovely flower bed at the edge of the front deck. I try to keep some colour in there in the winter prior to planting our annual sunflower competition.

This is a closer look at the Kale that I planted this year. Never planted it before and had seen it around. It looked so cool.

No this is not who I have declared war against. This is our cat Prenzel who loves to be with you if you are outside at all.

This on the other hand is exactly who I have declared war against.

Little green caterpillars who have decided that the Kale is their new pantry. I don't think so!
So I have been regularly checking the plants and removing said bugs, and squashing them, they ooze green when you stand on them too.
I seem to have beaten them and they seem to have made a hasty retreat back to whence they came from, wherever that may be?
Although the really cold weather we are having at present may also account for the lack of them as it is just way too cold for them to want to snack on my lovely plants!

Gardening

I am still working my way through all the pictures of our garden to be able to show you what we have been up to out there.
However one thing that has not changed is the Ivy Hedge we have!

This is boardering one of the neighbours and they tell us they love having the green wall!
We on the other hand do not like it so much! Although what we would put there in its place I do not know, so at present it will be staying!!

It can at times look really nice, glowing in the sunlight, although at other times it is a pain, always needing trimming etc
The biggest pain of it all is the fact that when it first needed trimming after we moved into the house, it soon became apparent that Steve would not be touching the hedge ever again due to coming out in welts and itching! Yes turns out my husband is allergic to the ivy!
Shame we had to discover this 6 weeks prior to our wedding, when his hands were swollen and red raw! Lots of soothing cream later and his hands looked great on our wedding day!

So he is banned from touching the ivy, so muggins here now has a permanent job in the garden, I am the ivy trimmer.
I am the only one who can trim it, tidy it and even clear up afterwards because he is not allowed to touch anything to do with it!
It is a little high for my liking, and everynow and then I do try to trim it, and I mean really trim it! Not just a measly 2 inches, I try for 6-8.
The next time I trim it I will try to give the top a really good cut that way it will be a little more manageable.

So the ivy hedge remains and will continue to be the bain of my exsistence in our garden.

Do you have something in your garden that annoys you but just can't go at present?

Plant Digging

When deciding to move anything in the garden, you must always have the right tools to hand. Alex decided that he was just what we needed when moving the Camilia. He got in the hole to help us!