Sunday of the Bank Holiday Weekend.

Yesterday I had a 'no computer' day...it is rather surprising what you can achieve when you aren't tempted...  It was actually a reasonably nice day as well, so once I had tackled the kitchen - not an easy task as it had got somewhat untidy - I ventured out into the garden and potted up the two rhododendrons bought last week, and three roses bought yesterday.  (They were on special - got to be good!)

Kitchen gadgets that remain out as used daily are my juicer and smoothie maker/blender.  The white object to the left of the photo is a stand on bench water filter I bought while in New Zealand - a fraction of the price here, doesn't need plumbing and best of all, I can now drink our water which earlier this year started tasting absolutely foul even when boiled...it had actually become undrinkable.  Result!

Perhaps a somewhat unusual item to bring home when one goes on holiday but one I am VERY happy with as is the rest of the family.

A cake was made using the brown bananas nobody wanted to eat.

Another couple of kitchen gadgets - the toaster and my food processor which also gets used to regularly to put it away in a cupboard. 

 I was given these three jugs yesterday that used to belong to my Mum, that my Nan brought home with her after a trip to New Zealand over twenty years ago.  So lovely to have something that belonged to both my Mum and my Nan.  The design name is 'Vintage' and they are by Crown Lynn.  Now thinking how lovely it would be to have more of this set in other items of crockery...no, don't got there!

The garden is really starting to come on beautifully, although not sure what the rain has done to it today.  Yes typical Bank Holiday Monday - very wet and very cold!

Beautiful dahlias 

Sumptuous roses.

Clematis

Getting so much enjoyment from this.

Chive flower

One of my new roses - loving it!

The hanging baskets are starting to fill out and bloom.

As is the wall basket.

Beautiful roses climbing up the arch.

Pots looking good.

Oh and the gooseberries are looking good as well....jam coming soon!

Oh and I have finished A High Wind in Jamaica.

Oh and a little bit of photoshop fun.

Apathy

In spite of the initial burst of energy I had in the garden when I first got back from New Zealand, full of plans to 'sort things out' and 'get things in order' a strange kind of apathy has set in...  I had plans to book the carpenter/builder, pull up the dreadful carpets in our lounge, badly stained and ruined by elderly incontinent dog and generally start improving the place.  I DID phone the window people, but it seems that despite them saying that we ARE on the waiting list to have our Crittall windows serviced, in reality they just don't want to know...they haven't replied to my messages, so I am guessing we need to now forget about them.  If only they had said that they weren't interested in the first instance.  It beats me why these people come out, give you quotes and book you in and then don't bother actually doing the job, getting in touch etc...why don't they just say they don't want the work in the first place?

Why the apathy I wonder?  I guess because a part of me just wonders whether it will be worth it. Whether the end result will be an eventual move to New Zealand in 2016 as I am hoping or whether it really is just a dream. Will my husband REALLY want to leave his Mum behind?  I would quite understand if he didn't  - after all it is not easy having your close family 12,000 miles away - I should know!  So that is certainly part of the reason I think.  Grey dull and wet days don't help me either.  I know I am VERY affected by light levels in a very BIG way.  I think a part of me also doesn't know what I want...I don't want to have regrets and 'if only's' several years down the track, so feel we need to start making some decisions about JUST what we want to do and start working towards these goals.  Not just me doing it.

Still I guess I need to shake myself out of this apathetic way of thinking and just start doing...if nothing else we will actually end up with a nicer home if I make the effort to book the plumber to do the bathroom, the carpenter to do the work in the bedroom, and the flooring people for the lounge and bedroom.  All these jobs needed doing when we moved in here over 15 years ago, so they really DO need doing now!

Ho hum...

Art Class Week 11 & Roses in the Garden.

I continued working on 'Sophie' at art group today and think I am making reasonable progress.

This painting is to be a gift for my Mum and Dad, so I hope it will be good enough that they will like it.

Meanwhile my little wooden doll 'Hitty Madge' has been working on her own art ;-)

These are some of the paintings she has produced so far.

'Out of Dawn'

'The Jetty'

'Over the Serpentine'

Not bad for a wooden doll eh?

Sometimes a little bit of madness is needed to cope with continual daily pain, especially as it has been spectacularly bad today.

We had a spectacular short lasting storm this afternoon, the wind blew, the rain poured down and the thunder and lightening clashed. A little while later the sun is out again!

This rose 'Happy Birthday' hasn't flowered for years.  My MIL told me it was because a 'sucker' was growing up and to cut it off....fortunately I ignored her well meaning advice and it has an abundance of buds on it this year and is starting to look glorious.

Designer Sunset is about to bloom.

Brother Cadfael is another lovely rose with a gorgeous fragrance

This gorgeous fragrant rose 'Korresia'  is one of my favourites.  

Purple Tiger is looking good.

My first ever iris is flowering as well!  

'Iris Nibelungen'

My garden in the weekend.

The early bird

My roses have started flowering and are looking fabulous.

Rhapsody in Blue has not disappointed me.

This has to be one of my favourite roses

Not only because of its colour, but also its name.

This rose climbs up our arch over the front path

Vibrant!

Another Rhododendron about to burst into flower.

My favourite rhodi in the garden has to be this yellow one.

Loving this Aquilegia 

Now if I was a garden who really planned out her garden, the front barked garden would have had all different varieties of plants of one colour... I would have had this, the rose Rhapsody in Blue, the purple flowering hebe, the lavender...of course my garden has evolved over the years and things just got planted so it is not like that....in fact when a friend arrived to pick me up the other day she said it was like a 'small holding' perhaps in part due to guinea pig hutches and runs.  

The hanging baskets are starting to take shape and look good.

So yes our garden may not be 'neat and orderly', tending to more of a natural rambling kind of look, but it is one that works for me and my capabilities - days I have too much pain it can just 'be' I don't have to worry about constant maintenance to keep it looking 'just so'.  Most importantly the flowers and shrubs bring me a lot of pleasure and the insects and birds seem to like it too!