house and garden with lots of help

After we came home from Mt Cootha (see previous blog) planting started in earnest on the vegie garden. Jeff couldn't wait to get his hands in the soil, and worked all afternoon with Charles to do a great planting. This was followed up a few days later when grandpa and Remi completed it all with some new seeds. It is astonishing to us how quickly plants germinate. Here are some pictures of some of that work. I'm only sorry I didn't take any of the garden before the clearing began. The difference is astonishing. The beans are ove a foot high, and we have the following growing as well: tomatoes (a variety of); lettuve; bok choy; corn; carrots; capsi; eggplant; beetroot; and a variety of herbs: basil; parsely; sage; oregano; thyme; and thai basil. No shortage of water here, well, not this year, well, not so far, and from the forecast (cyclones mand rain...something new to look forward to) it won't be lack of water that will be the problem.


As well as helping grandpa in the garden, Remi put his experience to work, putting together our purchases from Ikea. Yes, I have had my first Ikea experience...on a rainy Saturday morning...my god, it's full of people on family outings, to say nothing of the enormity of the place. Thank god I was with Bec, who knew her way around. The stool, though, (this is what Remi and Charles are piecing together in the photo)was worth the effort. It's been very useful. And I'm pleased to report that next doors' new hens are all laying, so we are now receiving little warm brown eggs with the brightest yolks. All this, despite the serious loving they get from Remi.

what a weekend

It has been a wonderful weekend, celebrating Bec's 40th birthday with friends and family. Wednesday was the 29th and her 'real' birthday, for which we had breakfast and dinner together, with lots of delicious food, then on Saturday a long Asian Banquet lunch. Rain saw us indoors, with the house filled with talk and laughter that fillled the air. The food, which Bec had meticulously planned, was magnificent. Helen and I did our bit, with Bec as the director and main chef. The food was light and tasty, tangy and sweet, aromatic and utterly divine, which meant that we didn't fill up to immovable. Dishes included prawn and beef satay, fish cakes, papaya salad, coconut chicken curry, and many amazing dips and sauces to complement everything, followed by cocnut and lime panne cotta.
Di Diddle and Billy came up from Melbourne, Mat and Jeff from Sydney, as well as Bec's friends from Brisbane. Mum was here as well, so it was pretty special.
Yesterday (Sunday) we went to Mt Cootha Botanic Gardens and walked off the day before in occasional light rain and clear mountain air.

family and marriage.

It has been a big few weeks, with Mitch's brother, his partner and daughter over from France where they live in a little village in the south ... just as you'd imagine, after which Charles and I flew to Melbourne for a brief 2 day visit to celebrate Edna's 93rd birthday with a big family gathering, including five of her 6 great grandchildren, all boys except one.
Back here in time for Gillian's arrival, the first of my family to fly in for the wedding of Claudia's middle child, son Jesse, to Meegan. They live in Perth, so there were plane arrivals all week, including one from Ireland and another from New Zealand.
There were lots of big decisions about what to wear, some of which were left to the last minute, Sunday morning, the day of the wedding. Gillian, Claudia and I had the table flowers job, so set off early Saturday morning, the results of our efforts as you see here. How can you go wrong with such beautiful flowers.
We had a big family dinner on Friday night which was a great opportunity to catch up with people before the big day. From the top, we have my sister Deborah;Claudia's elder son, Sam; Charles with my brother Simon; Claudia and me doing the flowers; Claudia's daughter Zoe in her bridesmaid dress and her partner Gray; Charles and me waiting for the bride to arrive; Bec and Helen ditto; Jesse and Claudia; Meegan, Meegan and Jesse.
It was a lovely occasion. Marriages, the official formal ones, are a bit of a rarity in my family, so we all made the most of it.

Brisbane does not really have the sort of beaches we are used to, so a morning out at Nudgee beach is quite a different experience. Tide's out in these pics, but who can complain - after all, it's only early September and here we are in shorts!





A couple more pics of the house...Charles at work at the breakfast table, and the newly exposed garden beds which are now completely weeded and have had compost dug in ready for the first planting.

our house

Lounge; back deck; hallway from the front door;front of house; back steps which give you an idea of the slope of the block; under the house which Charles is outting to good use already; view to Bec & Helen's from the back steps and in to their office where Remi is getting a cuddle.
We have started putting pictures up and I am doing a lot of pfaffing, but things are shifted around daily. All good fun.