Adieu...yesterday...

Sunset;

The time has come to put this blog to rest. 258 posts since I started "aeons" ago.

Thank you to all who have visited over the years and left me delightful comments.

The garden continues at my new blog Lavender and Vanilla please click to visit.

Photo from my garden TS

SkyWatch Friday; The "outback" sky;

When we left for Leigh Creek the sky was blue, a few clouds in the back. This is one of the flying Doctor's planes at the Bourke airport.

Slowly the view dissapeared....

And the soup got thicker and thicker and the sky was hiding. Wind and rain buffeted the plane. It was lifted up and plunged fiercely. One feels very vulnerable to be up there separated only by the thin wall of the plane and all around a wild, opaque sky. After more then an hour we received the message that we could not land in Leigh Creek the wind was to strong. We turned back and arrived safely ....

back at the airport. The sky had taken on this strangely coloured opaque hue and the wind was also very strong.

The next morning everything was covered in a fine red dust. The sky was blue again with a few clouds hovering around. We still could not fly out as the winds were very strong and the weather unpredictable. We played it safe and stayed one more day in Bourke!

Please click here to fly around the world!

The Awakening;

A rose with many names; Peace; Gioa; Gloria Dei; I prefer to call this rose in Italian Gioia which means Joy.

In 1942, despite the war, this rose was introduced in France by the name Mme A. Meilland (in memory of Meilland's mother, Claudia), in Germany as Gloria Dei, and in Italy as Gioia. It was an immediate success.

As the famous hybridizer, Sam McGredy, once said, "For the record, Peace is the greatest rose of my time. It's as nearly perfect as a rose can be." So, if you are one of the few people who don't already (or still) grow Peace, you should run right out and get a plant now.

Hybrid Tea / Large-Flowered.

Yellow blend, pink edges. Fragrance. Very large, full (26-40 petals), cupped, high-centered bloom form. Repeats.

Requires spring freeze protection in colder climates.

Can be grown in the ground or in a container.

Enjoy every day!

Photos from my garden TS.

When the sky is blue...the sun is shining....

The air is mild, then it is time to dry herbs.

Saturday was such a day. Yet it took two days to dry all the herbs. It is still winter and the days are short.
The herb garden.

A mixture of herbs and flowers. After drying the vivid coloured flowers remain tiny specks of colour.

Herbs and flowers dried 6.August 2010

Nasturtium flowers

Heartsease, Viola tricolor flowers

Peppermint

Basil

Italian Parsley

Marjoram

Sage

Coriander and Dill

Rocket

Thyme and Rosemary I pick and use always fresh.

Peppermint I use also fresh to add to salads and make Peppermint tea. Basil I use fresh for Pesto and other dishes.

Dill is also used fresh.

Generally I use all the herbs also fresh.

The dried herbs I use to make herb salt.

Naturally all the herbs I grow are organically grown without pesticides.

The drying facility is home made and easy to stash away when it is not in use.

the finished product

Believe it or not:

"Why should a man die while sage grows in the garden?"

Old Chinese Proverb

Photos from my garden TS.

SkyWatch Friday; Sunrise; Sun washed sky;

With a sky like this a lovely day follows;

Follow SkyWatch Friday, click here and enjoy! Please click the pictures

Photos TS

Mimosa;

In spring I have planted a tiny Acacia seedling. At the end of July it has started to open its golden flowers. The flowering season for this sort of Wattle is short and sweet. It wonderfully perfumes the lower wild garden. Australia has for every month of the year a flowering wattle.

Please click the pictures.

The golden wattle, Acacia pycnantha, is Australia's national flower.

It occurs naturally in the southern Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, western Victoria and southern inland areas of New South Wales. It has escaped in other parts of southern Australia.

Photos from my garden TS.