Changing Seasons

April has been a very laidback month, or was it just because I was feeling a little flat.  Not for any apparent reason, could it have been the changing weather? It was also the month of three holidays falling on a Monday.  First we had school holidays, then Easter Sunday and lastly ANZAC Day.  This doesn’t really cause any disruption as Australians have so many holidays and if they don’t fall on Monday we just make it a public holiday the following Monday anyway.  My Bible study group meets on Mondays so we had three Mondays in a row off.

I’ve been blessed this month with several outings with friends including being invited to Easter Sunday lunch by a family from church who adopted Suzie, Mum’s dog.  It was lovely to catch up and to see Suzie.  She is so funny. I’m sure she still remembers the sound of Mum’s car. As I pulled into the driveway she came out barking, wagging her tail with excitement, jumping into the car when I opened the door. She then followed me into the house, prancing around me with excitement. She is looking old and still hasn’t lost the weight she put on when Mum was constantly feeding her.

I caught up with my friend Sarah during the holidays too.  She is a teacher, so this is the best time for us to catch up for a chat. My lovely new neighbours also invited me over to enjoy a homemade pizza prepared right before our eyes and baked in their own pizza oven.  Guillermo is a chef from Spain and Sofia is from Italy.  I took over some Zarta spices and introduced them to the Lebanese style pizza topping as well as a jug of freshly made iced mint tea and a bowl of figs straight from my tree which I knew they both loved.  It was a stinking hot day so Sofia and I took it in turns to hold up a huge garden umbrella to shade Guillermo as he prepared the pizzas.  The umbrella was a broken one thrown out by another neighbour, Kath.  Once finished with, it went straight into the rubbish bin as it was unsalvageable. 

Another Sunday after church, Rene who Rob and I had met at Trigg Beach and who now attends church, took me to my favourite satay place on Grantham St, Floreat for lunch.  This is the only place in Perth that the satay taste like we had them on Christmas Island.  They even serve them with the squares of rice.

TAFE resumed on the 19^th April.  Unlike the schools, we only have one week off between terms so that we can have 10 weeks of study.  Fortunately, as first term was drawing to a close, those of us who had finished and submitted both our written and practical assignments were permitted to take the last week off. So in fact I did have two weeks holiday.  I enjoyed having this break but by the end of it I needed some motivation and was looking forward to my return to class.  What with many things closing down over midterm break as well as Easter, I had missed all my scheduled activities and the socialising that goes with it.  I was quite surprised as I do love time to myself. That’s the introvert in me but I also enjoy the stimulation and challenges of being part of discussion groups.

My time at home wasn’t all wasted as there was plenty to do in the garden at this time of the year.  The Kangaroo Paws I’d dug up and replanted both in the garden and in pots had started to send up shoots.  It will be interesting to see which colours they are as I really can’t remember which I planted where.

A few months back, one of my roses was developing very strange new leaves.  I had taken them to TAFE and asked one of the teachers if he knew what might be affecting them and was told it might be a magnesium deficiency.  I wasn’t so sure and had sprayed them with while oil.  Anyway, returning to TAFE again I asked another teacher and was told it looked like thrips!  OH! NO!  Sure enough when we shook the sample I brought in over some white paper I could just see tiny little scurrying insects.  Monica, who is a wealth of information, took some close up pics for a closer look – THRIPS!  I was so annoyed and disappointed with the previous diagnosis, as I could have done something at that stage before it spread to the other roses I didn’t want to use toxic sprays to cover the roses as this would kill off my beneficial insects so I came up with another idea.  I would cut off all the affected parts then cover the bush with a large plastic bag and spray into it with insect repellent, sealing up the bag to fumigate the bugs. The damaged parts were put into another plastic bag, sprayed, sealed and left in the sun to cook the pests.  I’m praying this will work as I’m told they are very difficult to eradicate as they hide in the rose buds and lower leaves.

I have had an abundance of rose petals lately so I decided to try to make Rose Water, leaving out the over sweet sugar syrup.  The concentrate had a lovely pink tinge and amazing aroma, yet was bitter to the taste. I now know why so much sugar is added when used as a flavouring.  Throughout the year I have also been drying out rose petals which I’m hoping to sell to someone who might use them as confetti for a wedding.  They are such a lovely alternative to paper confetti.

The weather has finally started to change, bringing with it much cooler mornings and nights as we head towards the winter months.  Autumn in Perth is delightful with rain, light breezes, sunny warm days and not too cold.  I’ve been able to jog most mornings before a quick dip at the beach in Hamersley Pool.  Some mornings the water has been warmer than the atmospheric temperature, which has been lovely.  It’s such a lovely way to start the day with a cold dip in the ocean.  Recently with our late rains there has been some turbulent surf.  It’s a bit like jumping into a front loader washing machine and being tumbled around not knowing which side is up!  Still very refreshing.  As the days are getting shorter, I’m going to run out of time to be able to jog and swim before classes, but then again, I’ll be stopping the swims soon as I’m not one for swimming through the winter months.

North Beach is a very popular place for surfers. On one occasion I counted 40 black-suited surfers in the water.  They remind me of seals as they frolic in the surf.  There is also a pod of dolphins that frequent these waters, cruising up and down the coast.  They are a delight to watch. I’m so blessed to live so close to the sea and to be able to enjoy the wonders that God has blessed us with.

The last week of April brought five days of lovely rain.  Just before the first downpour I scattered a variety of seeds over my neighbours’ and my garden, hoping this spring there will be more poppies than weeds.  I also had another go at sowing Everlastings along the edge of my pathway and verge; in the past they haven’t come up so I’ve sown them earlier this year. I scattered coriander, marigolds and lettuce seed into my garden too, hoping for a winter crop. 

My raised vegetable garden beds have not been as successful as I hoped.  When I first put them in they had too much summer sun and no winter sun and now with so much vegetation growing around and over the pergola, there’s not enough sun.  I just don’t seem to be able to win, so I have decided to try something different. I’m making another pond, using an old tub I had previously used I’ve put it into a corner of the raised garden which is the least productive area.  Around it I have put pots of water reeds and into it, once the water is stabilised and safe, I will put some of the baby fish from my other ponds plus some lovely water plants given to me by one of my friends, Monica, from TAFE. I do hope it will be successful and not too shaded.

Once a year Stirling Council give away native plants.  This year I missed out on the ground covers but was able to request some low shade-loving plants.  I thought they would be more shade-loving than sun-loving, but I was wrong.  Most of them need more sun than shade but they are hardy natives so once established should survive our hot summers.  Being free and delivered to my door, I can’t complain.  I was able to find a spot for most of them, including planting some under the council olive trees on the verge.  I do hope my cranky neighbour doesn’t pull them out.

Photos:  1. My rambling rose before the thrips.  2. Pizza afternoon    3. TAFE Biodiversity – making traps    4. Thrips eradication     5. TAFE     6. New pond construction    7. Council plants

Prayer & Praise Points:

Please continue to pray with me for peace both in Europe and for the Far East.

Praise be to God Covid restrictions have been further lifted here in the west.  Pray with me that the severity of Covid will become a thing of the past and will never again be repeated.

Praise the Lord for our beautiful autumn weather, rain, sunshine and cooler nights.

Praise the Lord for all our freedoms here in Australia, for peace, health and for the Lord’s sovereignty. It’s so reassuring to know His Will will ultimately be done and that although it looks like mankind is ruling an making a mess of things, God will one day step in and stop this nonsense!

Please continue to pray for my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat to come to know Christ’s love for them.