Pharoahest of them all

I have a friend who thinks Jill (our dog, for  those who get confused) is a Saluki.  After some intensive googling I have decided, and Jill has decreed, she is a Black Pharoah Hound.   Who knew such a thing exists.  We celebrated on Saturday when Madam Cyn and Rockface Towelling came to lunch.  Madam Cyn is a sucker for dogs so Jill had an indulgent time.  Then Dave and the Green Bean dropped in on Sunday having holidayed at Bicheno, and more frolics for the Pharoah.  Of course I have no photos of these events but will regale you with yesterday.

It started well with a dog in a truck parked outside our place.  Naturally I was thrilled that I had the camera with me.  I was off to the Blood Bank where previously I'd been impressed with the rooftop views from their first floor carpark.

Needless to say they didn't look anywhere near as interesting when I had the camera.
Sadly my veins wouldn't cooperate with the nurse and we struggled for some time but fell short of providing the required amount of blood by 100mls.  I was quite worn out by all of this and had an iced coffee and 2 mini quiches before I left the building.  I decided I'd regain my equanimity  with a bit of a read in the Botanical Gardens.

You may just be able to see the chosen bench in the photo above.  I've decided I'm going to keep an eye on this bit of the garden over the seasons.  It is exactly the sort of garden I love.

view from a distance

list of roses at entrance to garden

nostalgia for my Wentworth Crepuscule rose

excitement that the Bot Gards are putting on Alice - though surprised I haven't had a call yet

Feeling much revived I drove to Subway in Glenorchy for yet more nourishing blood making food.  I'm a fan of their wraps with roast beef, avocado, all the fresh salad and jalopenos.

view of Mt Wellington / kunanyi from Subway

Then I drove home the Brighton / Tea Tree way.

It is a beautiful road with typical scenery like this.  However many of you will not have seen this:

the new Chinese Cultural Centre, though most people refer to it as the Buddhist Centre.  I haven't been inside yet and this is as close as you can get from the road.  Very intriguing.

And since I had the camera with me, I could finally take this picture:

The Cherry Farm near Runnymede.  Hopefully the cherries will be ripe soon.  The white daisies line the East Coast Drive at this time of the year.  From the top of Bust Me Gall hill they look like salt pans.  You can see that sheep graze in the orchard during winter.

I find the fleece caught on the fence endearing.  It always makes me think of Georgia and Wales.

Portrait of the Artist at 68

Indian takeaway from Sorell

apres dinner inspiration for a new installation

Garden honesty

I am well pleased with the way the garden is progressing but I do feel a bit of a fraud.  It is easy to frame photos so that it looks verdant and bountiful.  I thought that I'd try to give you a truer perspective.  There is a lot of grass that will brown off soon.  I don't like the nakedness of the sheds and back fence.  Above is the view from the laundry window.

The junction of the lawn and rock edging drives me nuts.  Jake has whippersnipped along a lot of the edges.  I have also toyed with letting the grass grow to the height of the rocks and then levelling it to look like a hedge - a bit.  The sweetpeas are selfsown, blown in from Wilma's garden.  The smell, with the dianthus, is intoxicating.  Week before last when Jake was going crazy with the whippersnipper, he cut into the garlic bed overgrown with coriander and dill.  The smell there made us ravenous.

Close up of above corner.  Note red poppy poking through and more artichokes.

The idea is that the blackbird will look like its perched in the Gold Bunny but there's a way to go yet.

A possum or possibly a real bunny had a bit of a gnaw on the Gold Bunny over winter but now it's looking healthier (though smaller) that its ever done.

Doing a line of selfsown love-in-a-mist along the back fence.  I have scattered pink poppyseeds from PoQ (who I presume is the Poppy Queen) amongst the love-in-a-mist.  Fingers crossed for next year.

Back to the honest long shots now.  I took this photo Friday evening after Cameron from over the road had mown with his Dad's ride-on.  A rare shot of the infant orchard without Steve's glass sculptures.

My pride and joy - I love the look of the poppies in the grass.

The foxgloves are coming out a treat.  They're from Liz's garden and planted a little too thickly.

Not a startling photo but here are foxgloves, Soloman's seal, love-in-a-mist and hellebores all together.

Back to Liz's irises in their glory.  Sadly wind and rain have since taken their toll.

As they have on the sage which looks like a helicopter has landed on it.  Since we're on the kitchen garden path come inside.

Current look of the kitchen reading nook.

Current look of my bedroom.

And yet more artichokes to cook.
I've just finished reading a book called The Night Garden.  As a love story it's a little tedious but the garden descriptions are beautiful.  It's a hot day today, temperatures in the 20s!  There was a lovely vibe at the market.  We bought woodfired pizzas and ate them in the garden under a parasol.  Perfect.
ps I forgot to say that so far I've been unable to grow Honesty in this garden.

Peace and freedom 2

Strangely, after blogging yesterday, I sat down to read an American mystery from the library, Salt River by James Sallis, and on page 26: "What was it someone said, Peace is only the time it takes to reload?"  And then, of course, I remembered that Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.  So I'm consoling myself with this beautiful picture which actually comes from the side of a tissue box.  The goddess truly moves in mysterious ways.

And for those of you old enough to remember when the world seemed truly beautiful for some.  These clips make me laugh and cry.  I've never before thought of dying from an heroine overdose.  Guess that's the goddess again.

And don't forget to look for the super big full moon tonight.

Peace and freedom

It's been a big week.  Friday before last Jake came up and helped in the garden again, mowing lawns and whipper snipping edges. Having these basic things under control make working in the garden so much more enjoyable and rewarding.  We were both too tired to continue our hedging venture but were able to take previous prunings to Mel's place to be put through her chipper.  Very satisfying.
Saturday I was off to the Requiem for the Living performed at St David's Cathedral in Hobart.  I went via TMAG, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.  I'd heard that the vestibule had been decked out magnificently as Prospero's library for The Tempest exhibition, and it was.

To be honest, it's so long since I've been to TMAG that I've no idea what the entry looks like ordinarily and I've very little memory of The Tempest  but I was very taken with this space, staircase and flying books.

 sculptures in the courtyard with a marine / flotsam theme

 entry to TMAG courtyard

Then it was up Macquarie Street,

past the Town Hall, decked out for a flower show and its 150th anniversary with rainbow flags, with a small detour to check out one of my favourite inner city living spaces,

to St Davids Cathedral.

I have never before been inside this cathedral.  The sign outside offers sanctuary inside.
The concert was wonderful.  I had yoga / zumba friends in the choir and there were other Triabunnies in the audience.  Refreshments were served afterwards, including bubbly.  I had parked on the Eastern Shore and caught the bus into the city so thought it better to abstain from the booze and contented myself with a fraction of a brownie.  But what a fabulous event!  On the way home I just managed to catch the hardware store in Sorell to buy eggplant, capsicum and zucchini seedlings and a gaura plant.  A beautiful day.

Tuesday saw a film, Florence Foster Jenkins, at the Community Hall.  I have mixed feelings about the film but the hall was packed out and the atmosphere heady - $5 entry, $3 cab merlot, $2 Mars Bar, $5 raffle tickets.  What more could a girl want?  And remember I told you the profits go back into the community as grants.  I sat next to an elderly couple who, I discovered the next day at yoga, are not a couple at all.  The lady (who didn't like the film) was put in a house on her own by her family and left to her own devices.  She constantly forgot things, including how to get home.  She made use of the weekly community bus trips and met the man who she called constantly when she had lost her purse, keys or way home.  He decided that she is unable to live alone and invited her to stay at the spare room in his unit.  I had seen them together before and assumed they were a long term husband and wife, both frail but he ever gentlemanly holding the car door open for her and guiding her by the elbow.  At the movie I told him how much I loved seeing New York on screen.  He said NY is fine but he much prefers the West Coast.  Never make assumptions in a  small country town.

Which of course leads to Wednesday, our time, and the US Presidential Election result.  Originally this post was going to be called Culture Galore, then Bread and Circuses.  On Friday I went to the local Remembrance Day ceremony, proudly wearing a red poppy from the garden.  David, a music teacher from the school, turned up with some of the students.  He played the bugle parts and the kids led the National Anthem.  The service focused particularly on the 50th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan and I held my breath waiting for a mention of refugees.  There was none, although we thanked the armed services for protecting our borders.  After the service I went to put my poppy on the cenotaph and the school kids came to look at the floral tributes.  David took some photos and then it was time to go home / back to school.  One girl suggested dancing a conga back to school.  David was uncomfortable, "its a serious occasion" he said.  The term 'Peace and Freedom' had recurred through the service and I realised I live in peace and freedom.

when I'm old I shall grow purple

When I turned 60 I created a new blog that was to document my thoughts on ageing.  I have never posted to it but did take this photo on our deck in Wentworth in anticipation.  I have moved on from purple clothes and red hats.

Yesterday I noticed the preponderance of purple flowers in my garden.

and just in case you're worried, here's the other half of Jill in a non-purple part of the garden

But look at my wild red poppy which has to be mowed around.  Yesterday I found a self-sown sea holly in the lawn which I'd never have the heart to mow down.  And here's another splash of red:

Radishes given in exchange for some dog-sitting.  I haven't had radishes for yonks.  They make me think of salads when we were kids in England.

oh you pretty things

When we first moved back to Tasmania, Liz, Steve's sister, gave me some plants which she said I had to have because they are so pretty.  They struggled on looking pretty ordinary to me for a couple of years.  Then they developed a pink shoot which I thought was a great improvement.

Two days ago they developed these bits

so, as usual, Liz was right.  They are indeed very pretty things.
She also gave me some irises from her garden.  She wanted me to develop an iris garden in memory of her.  I had to plant the irises quickly and had to put some in a too shady position because I didn't have suitable ground prepared.  A couple, however, made it into this shallow pebble garden and they've just come into bloom.

I feel the garden is still in the nursery stage but I'm starting to understand what I can and can't do.