Winter activities

We have been working in the garden for the last couple of weekends now. The gentler weather inspires it, and the winter weeds demand it! I have been chopping back the trees and roses in the front garden to let more light in, and to generally make sure we can reach any fruit we get.

The roses have had a haircut, rather than a proper pruning. The Iceberg had got so large it was in danger of being blown over, and was making it hard to get to the letterbox.

We removed a lot of weeds from the back garden, and are thinking about putting in a brick or concrete path to the washing line. We have been using mulch as a path but of course it breaks down and then the weeds come up. We would like something more permanent but will think of options.

I have been puzzled by the lack of growth in our big garden bed near the dining room. A few weeks ago, I tested the soil and added lime as it was a bit acidic, and today I have tried to cut back the bottlebrush on the western side, to let more light to it. I have added trace elements to the soil. Not happy to have this garden unproductive, so I will keep working on it until it is back in production again.

Last week, The WA Symphony Orchestra was selling cheap tickets for three shows- so we snapped them up. Last night we were treated to the gifted pianist Behzod Abduraimov who was amazing. Our cheap seat turned out to be right in the front row, but our view was obstructed by the violinists so we could not see all the stage. We could see Behzod, however !  The music was wonderful!

I have been working on a special quilt for someone, so no pictures as yet. Enough to say it has now got to the flimsy stage and I must put a backing together this week.

Finally DH and I have had some ideas about next financial year's budget. We have solved our 'miscellaneous" problem  -the one caused by us paying cash for things but not remembering what we bought -by using our cards for just about everything. The next habit we are going to develop is to restrict spending to just three days per week: Groceries only on Mondays and Fridays, and trips to Bunnings only on Saturdays! We hope to be more deliberate when we are in the store and to plan ahead more.