The difference a year makes!

Time for that post I promised to show the progress of my garden on the laundry side. You can see from the following 2 photos, what a jungle it was, and not really an area that you wanted  to see much. And the only time I really went out there, was to get wood for the heater. I did not have a clothesline, and used to hang my clothes on the airer, inside, or use the dryer. You can see that the honeysuckle had grown right over the path......

 and the tree right outside the laundry door, was right onto the house roof. This also caused some tree roots to occasionally block up the pipes which were all down this side of the house. These 2 photos were taken at end of 2015.

In February, 2016 a good friend, who loves to get loose with a chainsaw, came and chopped down that tree.

In the foreground you can see an almost dead rosemary bush, which really added to the "ambience"!

The mess still being cleaned up. This end corner took a long time to get to.

So when the tree came out, it really opened up the side, and of course you could see right into the neighbours carport. The fence extensions that I purchased just added to the height of the fence and the privacy of my yard. My plan was to plant creepers all along the fence. But the tree had left a lot of roots that went for "miles". A bit, lot of digging was needed to get them out, before I could plant anything. And I am pleased to report that I have not needed to call the plumber in to clear the pipes at all since the tree went.

I had a nice little pile of second hand bricks in the back yard, so decided they would make a nice edging, to keep everything contained. This is the start of my "bricklaying", and also the planting of various plants. Since this photo I have also added more fence extensions down along the fence. You can see that the honeysuckle has been pruned right back.

 The view down towards the tank.

The bricks are moving further along, and the plants are all very new. I have planted 2 creepers along the fence.

I got this far with the bricks, and it took a long time to get this last corner done.

And then in the spring my sweet peas looked like this, until a big wind came along and blew them over. They did eventually bloom in lots of colours.

You can see how far the bricks have got, and this is end of spring.

 The bricks were finally finished the week before Christmas 2016!

The next few photos were taken the day after Christmas, and still a bit of colour.

You can see that I now have a clothesline, that means no clothes hanging around inside! And a table and chairs in the corner, which makes a nice spot to sit and "smell the roses", and listen to the many birds that are in the trees nearby. While I might not be able to smell the roses, which are on the other side of the house, there was certainly plenty of perfume earlier from the sweet peas, the honeysuckle and the carnations. It is now an area that I like to spend time in, but it is not a space that is visible to anyone else coming to my house, unless we are doing a garden tour!

This bath got over filled with water, and I was thinking I should have planted rice, as these plants don't look quite so good today. I might need more drainage holes in the bath, which was taken out of the bathroom when it was renovated last January.

Tucked in behind the tank, is also another recycled item from the bathroom renovation! This creeper is flowering very prettily in it.

 This is today, and you can see my piles of rubbish waiting to go into the green bin, from my pruning and trimming efforts this week. You can just see some red cannas about to flower on the right, although most of the spring colour has gone.

And this is my next project. I have a good collection of hardy plants, (I hope), mainly succulents that are going to be planted under this tree, very soon!!? The weather is cool for a couple of days, so might be a good project. (And you know I need more projects, don't you?)

 I have finished the binding on that quilt today, so hope to be working on custom for a few days now. And soon it will be time to get myself organised for the first retreat of the year, when the girls arrive for an Aussie Retreat on January 25th. There is lots planned for 2017, and I have made some changes and additions on the scheduled retreat page of the blog. There is one place left in the house for the Aussie retreat, so would love to hear from you if you might like to join us.

Catch ya next time.

Blessings, From Jude