Cold Grey
This has been one of those long winter weeks.
Phil is away working in California and both girls (and now me too) have been sick with temperatures and ear aches, and there have been sleepless nights and lots of hiding inside away from the chill and the rain. I am still not complaining about the rain (oh why didn’t we get a rainwater tank installed before the winter?)- but I took a fully recovered Amelia to a (disco) birthday party this afternoon and the car almost got bogged on the way home! Yes, it was Greensborough but honestly – that’s not exactly rural.
But at twilight tonight I realised I could hear blackbirds in the garden and I wandered outside and while the sky was still a cold-grey, I could smell blossom, so the end of our winter hibernation is nigh.
And look at the garden! Some serious work is needed in the vegie patch.
And I need to get to some marmalade making – the only cheerful thing in the garden are the kumquats.
Bring on Spring!
OOohhh yes it’s bit such a chilly week hasn’t it? Grey skies everyday almost… makes me feel like I’m living in London not Melbourne. But you’re right, the magnolias are popping all over town, and I spotted cherry blossoms too this week, so the light’s at the end of the tunnel. (And my garden’s looking waaaaay more neglected than yours!) x
the kumquats are such a contrast to the grey day
The kumquats look great. It’s very summer here and hot and nasty most of the time and all I can think is I can’t wait for fall. It makes me giggle thinking you’re looking forward to spring. Although during those long winter months I look forward to reading the blogs in Australia because it warms me up. Keep on sharing.
Those are the cutest, roundest kumquats I’ve ever seen! So interesting to be reminded of Spring making an appearance on the other side of the globe while I’m looking forward to the cooler temps of fall.
I know what you mean, on my walk last week I started to see some nests – I think the hibernation is going to break any day now. Everyone seems to have the dreaded cold at the moment.
Selfishly, I’m glad that mine isn’t the only veggie patch that looks like that.
& the birds are already chirping BEFORE the running alarm goes off. I’m looking forward to the end of winter too.I hope that you’re feeling better today.
Usually I prefer cold weather, but I feel like it has been so cold lately, I’m looking forward to some warmness coming back! And also light – I’m sick of leaving for work in the morning and returning home in darkness!
If it makes you feel any better it’s raining and grey here in the UK and this is our summer. blaaaargh. I have a summer party planned for today..think I better get ringing round telling people to bring their wellies. I love the pic of your kumquats it’s so vibrant and perky!
If the disco party in Greensborough was at a kids party venue, then I know exactly where is was, and that particlar carpark is quite treacherous!Last night I was driving in heavy rain, with the wipers on full. I can’t remember when I last did that.
It has been wonderful rain, but we are also making the same noises of regret about a tank. Luckily, the school and the kinder have had tanks installed this year which are now full. There was a lot of work on govenment grant applications, but it has been well worth it!
It’s not too late to put your tank in – ours didn’t go in til the middle of October last year and it filled up with that Big Rain we had in Melbourne just before Christmas. (and didn’t empty til March).
Oh, and I can I just give winter vegie gardens a plug? Ours is huge and lush and totally ignored – which is what I like about winter vegies, unlike summer ones which cause too much stress because of the drought. We have spinach, silverbeet, rapini, calendulas, celery,onions, parsnips,carrots,both parsleys,lettuce and broad beans. Put it all in in the Autumn and you can forget about it.
Hear, hear!!The sight of a jasmine vine seething with still-tightly-closed flower buds had me very excited today.
I don’t want to rain on your Kumquat parade but the little guy looks like he might have a bit of a citrus cold, also known as “Yellow vein chlorosis”. This can be caused by a variety of things from root rot to ants but the most likely culprit would appear to be a lack of nitrogen in the soil (do the leaves seem completely yellow)?, a good handful of a citrus fertiliser high in nitrogen should go a long way toward turning those leaves the brilliant green they should be 🙂
Well hello there! It’s been about 4 or 5 months since I found Loobylu on some “Top 20 Blogs” list. It’s been sitting in my favs ever since, and not a day goes past that I don’t have a peek. The one thing that attracted me was the quality of the photographs, and of course, the subjects you take yummy pics of. It was only yesterday I told a friend that you could take a pic of breadcrumbs, upload it to this site, and it would attract attention. It’s such a yummy site. It stimulates the brain, the senses, the palette and the desire to create. Stay here Mrs R … don’t ever stop doing what you do. It nourishes my appetite for life, which has had a real beating until now (no pun intended). All the very best to U! PS I dislike Vegemite, but I loved your pic! Made me want to try it! 🙂 Ah! Can you believe it? No squiggly line under Vegemite which can only mean one thing … Mr Gates knows what it is!
I stripped our kumquat tree a while back and now the garden is very dreary…but spring is in the air so the seed raising begins. Good luck with the marmalade, we are crazy for kumquat m/lade in our house & I almost produce commercial quantities of the stuff!
we were relieved to see flowering magnolias at uni on the weekend – winter is almost over, yay!sorry to hear your household is sick. when we were sick with colds, dad used to pluck kumquats from the tree in the front yard to make kumquat tea. just pour hot water over a smashed kumquat or two and add plenty of honey…
Mmmm! Marmalade on toast and a cup of earl grey tea. And visualise the non-existent fireplace.
Pop your nose out the door today – spring is definitely in the air!
Yes Tassie has been a bit like this too – but not as much rain from the sounds of yours. I am sure spring is coming. More birds singing in the morning, slightly warmer evenings (fire still needed!) and day times are starting to feel warmer as well.
i guess i am on the opposite end of food preservation, being in another hemisphere. i have just been putting up beets, blueberries, beans and tomatoes here in detroit. i am sure i will be looking for pictures of lush vegetative growth in january, while it is cold and gray here!
I don’t know where all this water is coming from, or where it’s going, but it’s been a very rainy summer here in Canada too.Granted, I’ve actually liked it because it’s kept things nice and cool (it can get pretty hot and humid here) and I haven’t had to water the garden once!
Your kumquats look lovely – I wish we had a little bit of tropical fruit to cheer us up at the end of our (very, very long) winters.