Autumn 2016 - preparing to return to work.

Finally, I am really enjoying some garden time, the weather has cooled, I got an hour of time back - only had to wait 6 months - anyone who has daylight savings will know what I am on about!

I collected 20 bags of Oak leaves from a nearby park, the soil here is dry and repellant and I need to add to it so I watered those down and put all over the front garden then added sugar cane mulch, this should keep the weeds down over Winter/Spring season.

I weeded and mulched the 12 fruit trees also. Lots of work, but I'm still taking some time off paid work so I'm loving this time outdoors.

This is the area outside my clinic, it had a massive half dead Diosma so I decided to remove it and put some Bamboo and a feature flower, then I planed a ton of bulbs along the front, it should look good come Spring.

These missed Petunia season and we're all dead, so I repotted with more Pansies for the Winter Spring.

Thîs area had two hedges, one was completely dead, so I removed both.

We found some old bricks and planted this, now it has some more plants and couple of solar lights too.

We have two new family members, we did not buy the middle one.

Introducing Bubbles and Squeek. I love them, they are simply adorable babies.

I try to keep Monty away from them!

I have decided to return to work on less hours next month so with some free time and in a moment of energy I joined up with many online course some include;

Nutrition and Medicine

Exercise and the prescription and treatment of prevention of disease

What is a MIND?

Food as Medicine

Psychology and mental health

I have just completed a 4 week one for PTSD that has given me some insight and new strategies so feeling very positive after this one.

Most of the others run over the next few months online through various Universities over the world, I completed a Mindfulness one last year through Monash Uni and loved it, they are super short between 4-8 weeks and you can pay for a certificate on completion, really I'm doing it as I like to keep my mind active and these subjects interest me.

Melbourne Garden Show 2016 - Returning to Melbourne

I don't believe I have been on a train to Melbourne since July/August last year, I'm not the person I used to be and Melbourne is no longer a place I feel so safe or enjoy very much anymore, but I was so keen to start working in my garden again now I am feeling good again and the weather is cooler.  I thought I would be ok. This year maybe would be the last my eldest would be keen to accompany me and my husband was off shift so was able to care for the younger two kids so it was decided.  Of to Southern Cross Station we went!

This garden, didn't quite get finished in time to be judged, but it was completed by a Man under 25 and for his first effort I thought it was pretty brilliant.

The tree in the back left corner has leaves made of green ribbons.

Love this log path effect.

And this.

So many clever artistic designers about.

Love mosaic, wish I knew how to do this!

Beautiful colour arrangement here.

The wall art here intriguing and special.

Enjoy rust in the garden.

This garden was awesome except for two ghastly sculptures I did not photograph. Otherwise it looked great!

Protea bliss

I wonder where they got this from!

Brilliant!

So we could not go into the flower hall, I did not do so well once we got off the train, I was ok once we left the station but crowds and noisy places I cannot manage. We tried the flower hall, it was very crowded, I lasted 2 minutes.  The garden show we went through quite quickly but still had a good time, it was not a crowed as last year and I did manage to get some bulbs. Finally after months and months I had some of my own garden interest back and am starting the long journey to getting my garden looking nice again for Spring.  :)