My Bright Field

The citrus fruits and now sweet and juicy.  The only problem is that the mandarin tree, which is loaded, has very small fruit this year.  That means I have to peel and peel to get a decent glass of juice to drink. But it is worth the effort in the end. I think I need to prune the tree to see if I can do better next year. Also in the photo is my very first rose for the season and some freesias and bluebells which are currently flowering.  I am getting very excited, the roses have lots and lots of buds so we should have a marvellous display in a few weeks.

  I have been so enjoying the lovely sunshine and warmth over the past few weeks. Spring is often very fickle being hot one minute and cold the next.  I am not sure it is going to follow that pattern this year as it has been warm almost all the way thus far. The photo is me lying around enjoying the morning in our Penrith apartment (No gardening to do there).  The sun is still quite low in the sky so the sunlight streams through.  As for those pot plants, I can't quite believe that a year later that are still alive! Pot plants and I are usually not good friends.

I was moaning at the iris, "You should be in flower now like you were at this time last year.  And there's not a bud in sight. Have I done something wrong, like not digging up your clump and dividing it?" A week later I get back to my garden and what do I find ... the whole clump is flowering.   And here's another plant. I forgot what it was after I planted it.  This time I was patient. It looked to be growing strong so I left it and watched it. Spring arrived and its flowers came out.  Now I remember it is a wallflower. I hope you are enjoying spring/autumn in your garden.

  We were in the city this week so went on an excursion to the Powerhouse Museum to see their new exhibition 1001 Remarkable Objects . There we so many beautiful things on display I could have spent ages but my husband found the dark rooms disorienting because of his eyesight so I had to be satisfied with a quite quick walk through. From our apartment in Penrith we took a walk to the canal in bright spring sunshine because I was hoping the pear trees lining the canal would be in blossom.  I was not disappointed. I am now looking forward to the new flowers my country garden will have in store for me when we get home this week.

 My garden at Rose Orchard Haus is beginning to transition to spring. We have been having glorious weather in the past week, perfect for doing the first mow of the season, tidying up the garden beds and sitting back to enjoy the flowers as they emerge.

  After our warm holiday in Brisbane I was a little afraid of returning to Kandos on the weekend. On the way in Lithgow on Friday night it was cold enough for my breath to 'blow smoke'.  But we were surprised and delighted to find the Picnic Train at the station blowing much more smoke than us. Nonetheless there are compensations for living in a cold climate.  When we arrived home we were welcomed by daffodils in flower all over the garden.  Spring is nearly here.