Do you ever lay awake at night with a head full of wonderful ideas and inspiration? I do and sometimes I’m amazed at what comes of these ideas. This blog describes a few of these ideas coming to fruition, a few problems solved and new ideas forming.
I thought last month was full of activity, this month has started the same way; packed full of events. Which explains my need to stop this update before the end of November, otherwise it would have been even longer than it already is.
One of my pursuits before the end of October was to go to Yum Cha. Some of my Chinese friends from church organised a luncheon in Belmont about half an hour south of us. I had promised to take my neighbour Kathy next time I went, as she has never had the experience before. We were given strict instructions not to be late. Kath and I arrived 20 mins early. I asked a young Caucasian guy if he knew the place, but he didn’t. Then I saw a Chinese man who I was convinced would know. Of course he knew, he also highly recommended it. As we were very early, we went for a wander around the Belmont Forum to fill in time before joining the crew. It was a lovely lunch with all our favourites, including chicken feet and durian dumplings, which surprisingly Kath loved.
On the 30th of October was the court case involving the aggressive neighbour. I had arranged for a friend from church to drive us into the CBD to avoid parking in town. The four of us who were witnesses arrived in plenty of time at the court. As we entered the building, our bags were scanned. I was asked if I had a switch blade in my bag. What! There was a long metal object at the bottom of my shoulder bad. I had to empty the lot before I found the item. It was a collapsible fan! The woman who had scanned the bag called it a menopause fan, she said she had one too, but was not permitted to bring it to court. We all had a laugh.
We found where we were to wait on level 3, with the police who had interviewed us and taken our statement. Our neighbour was also there but moved when we arrived. I think he was feeling a bit uncomfortable. The woman who was assaulted also arrived. She is studying psychology and serves court summons as a side job, but had to give that up as this situation had affected her badly. We were soon moved to level 5, where once again we waited out the day till our names were called, for us to provide our witness. Although it was a long wait, we were entertained with life stories from those waiting with us. Something came up which led me to respond that I was a Christian, which caused the woman officer to spring into action. She faced Ralph, her colleague, waving her finger at him, warning him not to say a thing, that he was in uniform and on duty and he was not to speak a word. I laughed and said, ‘You’d better listen to the boss’. He replied, “What makes you think she is the boss”. I wanted to say “the way she had given him an order” but instead I pointed to the extra stripe she had on her shoulder, saying she has a yellow stripe. I was quickly corrected, ‘It’s GOLD’. ‘Oops, sorry, gold stripe.’ I said as we all laughed.
One of our party went in to give their testimony before the court broke for lunch, then the rest of us took the stand after lunch, when court resumed. I was the last one to testify, because they decided my neighbour Ann should go before me so she could go home early, as she was much older than the rest of us. They didn’t realise we were all going home together. I was a bit nervous about giving evidence and having questions fired at me, especially as the event happened over 5 months ago.
Before we left, we were all compensated for parking and lunch (which if we had driven in wouldn’t have covered half the parking fee, let alone lunch as well). To get home, I wanted to try out my Ola app which was offering 50% off. We walked further down the road, as the whole street was under construction with road works. Twice I thought I had put in my request but although we waited, nothing came. I tried again and it came up that I hadn’t put my bank card on the app. Then when I’d done that it didn’t register as I was using my debit card and didn’t have enough money on the card. Finally it came up with the driver who was 10 minutes away! We must have been waiting for me to figure things out for over an hour and now of course it was peak hour traffic. By the time we arrived home it was 5pm, plus the 50% discount was capped at $10! We were all exhausted!
The following day, Saturday 31st October, was also a busy day. I had asked Kevin, a team member from our Tuesday coffee group, if he could help me attach some things to the walls of my house. I had planned to use some of the things I had inherited from Mum’s shed. Kev brought his tools and more screws just in case. I wanted the hanging walled garden my neighbour Kath had given me put onto the stone retaining wall, and supporting beams for a lattice I was designing, attached to the front of the house. There are some things you just can’t do on your own.
I had been planning the lattice for some time, even laying down the pieces on my paved area to see how they looked. I had experimented with how to keep the west-facing brick wall cool by hanging shade cloth over it. This seemed to work, so I bought some pine fence palings on which to attach the shade cloth. This would then be screwed onto the wall. Over this, four leftover skirting boards would be nailed; then on top of these I would nail pine rods (given to me by my friend Jan W who was cleaning out her shed). I stained these the same colour as the pergolas so it kind of matched. They were different lengths so I made it look like I’d purposefully designed them that way. These rods formed the rungs for the jasmine creeper to attach itself, so eventually, you probably won’t even see them.
I had everything mapped out in my head, over many sleepless nights. Kev arrived early and made a few suggestions. I was his chippie for the day, holding things in place and handing screws and the like. I was also instructing him where to and where not to put his feet in my garden. I have such a reputation with my neighbours about how precious I am about my garden. Well, I say, “some people have children, others have pets, I have my garden!”
Both jobs were beautifully executed and completed before midday. Kev I can see, has been trained well by his wife. I admired his patience and willingness to take instructions from a woman; mind you I learnt a few things too. We worked well as a team. Thanks Kev!!
This left me to finish off the stained pine slats, which unfortunately didn’t get done that day, as I needed more nails. So once more back to Bunnings, where I also wanted to buy a sprinkler fitting. Unfortunately Bunnings was out of the sprinkler part I wanted. Stocks throughout Bunnings stores are very low; so many empty shelves. I was told that many items these days are stuck in Melbourne because of the lockdown. Praise God, Total Eden had the sprinkler attachment I needed.
Hammering the nails through the pine into the hard wood was difficult till I drilled holes through both. The drill bit was tiny. One snapped while drilling but fortunately the size larger was just ok. The long and short slats looked quite oriental when finished. I used one of the large pots I salvaged from Lorna’s, filling it with prime potting mix then threading the pink jasmine through the lower slats. The first few days I covered it with shade cloth to help it adapt. Then came the rains to water it in. It’s since taken off, loving its new home.
The first of November brought the rains. Oh what a night and day of beautiful gentle rain. I especially enjoyed the sound as it fell on the top of the tin water tank. There is nothing like rain on a tin roof while lying in bed.
One morning coming home from my jog, I noticed two amazing big pots on the verge. As it was only 5:30am I decided to drive back with the car to pick them up. How blessed am I! One, a vivid blue pot, was perfect for the Magnolia Teddy Bear. The other I matched up with a pot I hadn’t used and decided I’d buy two Buxus, Japanese Box. This had come from another one of those ideas I had when I woke during the night. I thought I’d have a go at topiary. I put the two large pots at the entrance to the path around my house. I’m hoping not only will it make a fancy topiary archway, but also help slow down the winds that whistle through the carport. Once the tea tree and box hedges grow together, they should form quite a wind break.
I bought a stack of other plants including a variegated mint, oregano and thyme to add to my herbs, as well as two Australian native ground covers – a trailing lotus and a viola, which also has an edible flower. And then I saw the Brown Boronia. I just couldn’t resist it. I’ve been wanting one for years. It is highly fragrant and reminds me of my childhood when we had trips to the south west. Unfortunately, it’s a very fussy, difficult plant to grow and only lasts a few years. We’ll see how it goes. I decided to plant it in a pot so I can move it around, in case it doesn’t like where I put it. It must be away from the hot winds, midday sun and in dappled shade. Talk about fussy! Not many places like that at my place! There are a few more plants I’d like to get. I’ve made a list for the next time I visit a nursery.
Two plants have just appeared in my garden. One I suspect is a lantana, distributed by one of the neighbourly native birds, and the second is a Bacopa Gulliver Violet. Thanks to the WA Gardening Group on Facebook, someone was able to assist me in identifying both plants.
It’s certainly been a time for gardening as I have re-potted some of my small orchids, and built up the succulent area, even visiting friend’s places to see what ones I could add to my collection.
Another idea I had while awake during the night was to make something to run my garden hose through to stop it from trailing through my garden, damaging plants. I had two long steel reo rods which I thought might work, if I could find someone to make a fancy loop in the top of them. It took a while to track someone down, but when I did, he was able to make 5 loops for a reasonable price. Unfortunately the loops weren’t quite large enough and the hose gets caught but they do the job and look a little fancy in my garden.
At the moment I’m working on another project. I have been trying to put together a shade sail for my tender blueberries and a few other sun-sensitive plants. I had a wooden beam with hooks on it put up by the fellow who did the pergola. I then made a shade sail with some leftover shade cloth, which I sewed together on my sewing machine using ordinary cotton thread used in dress making. I know this won’t last in the elements outside, but I couldn’t find any 100% nylon thread. Eventually, I decided on using fishing line as well, which I then sewed by hand. Another challenge was attaching the eyelets; I hoped to find someone from whom I could borrow the gadget to attach the eyelets. Ron came to my rescue with a gadget and eyelets, as the one’s I had bought didn’t fit his gadget. I needed 4 eyelets to go on the hooks and two eyelets on the other end where I plan to attach rope, which will then attach to turnbuckle with two hooks. I hope then to hook one end into the eyelet on the shade sail and another to hook onto an eye plate which I hope to somehow attach to my colour bond fence. I’m not sure how this will work and maybe I’ll have to put up some posts or star pickets instead.
Some brilliant idea will help me finish the job. It’s amazing how many ideas come to me while I lay awake trying to sleep in the middle of the night. Often if I have a gardening challenge I ask God the Father, as He is the creator of this amazing earth we live in. If it’s a maintenance or carpentry job I ask Jesus, as He was a carpenter while here on earth, and if it’s wisdom, ideas or help with my memory, I ask the Holy Spirit “He will teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance….”. John 14:26. Yes, I have taken this verse out of context but the Lord has never let me down when I’ve asked for help.
One of our pastors has been giving away a stack of lemons so I decided to make some lemon and ginger marmalade. It’s handy to have as a thank you gift for those who have been helping me with things and what a great way to use up the copious supply of lemons.
Do you remember me talking about wanting to have a garden bench made? It’s to be attached to the stone wall with a little garden bed beneath. I’m still waiting for someone to do it. Contractors are so busy. I’ve contacted three commercial tradesmen, one eventually said no he couldn’t, two said yes twice, but haven’t gotten back to me with their quote. A friend said yes, then got busy with his own home maintenance. I’m still hopeful I will find someone before Christmas I’ve learnt it’s all in the Lord’s timing. The right person will eventually turn up.
I’m stopping now, otherwise this will be another long chapter, as we are just over halfway through November!
Photos: 1. Magnolia Teddy Bear’s first flower 2. Yum cha crew 3. Mucking around to fill in time at court 4. Kev graciously helping with lattice 5. Lattice finished 6. Blue pot for Magnolia 7. Mystery purple flower: Bacopa Gulliver Violet 8. Two large pots for planned topiary arch 9. Lemon and ginger marmalade
Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for His continual blessings. For an amazing October and for the November rains. For friends and church family who are willing to lend a helping hand.
Please continue to pray for Emma and her treatment for leukaemia. She is on a second bout of chemo and therapy; pray she will see speedy results and for the Lord’s healing.
Pray that those who don’t yet know the Lord Jesus will have their eyes opened to His love, peace and saving grace.
I praise God for all our supportive friends and prayer partners as we help each other through these difficult times. We all need each another in different ways and it’s reassuring and encouraging to know friends are not too far away, thanks to technology and prayer
It’s looking good, lattice rejoice 🙏😂🙏😂
Marmalade highly recommended 🍊🍋😋