Browning off

There hasn't been any rain for a while - and lots of wind - so the countryside had markedly dried off in the ten days I was away. I drove up to Sydney and parked at the airport, so had a three hour drive at both ends - which was lovely but I definitely got a good look at the scenery. And it was noticeably browner on the drive home than on the way up.

Our garden is also getting very crunchy on the grass and sad on the plants. Today I fed and watered half the roses and I'll do the other half tomorrow ... it gets too hot after about an hour, even just meandering about with a hose and some secateurs. 

The day lilies are flowering which is very welcome. Most of the roses have passed their first flush so I'm hoping we get a second. But I have no idea!!! Every day is learning.

There are two enormous pear trees that we didn't know about. They both have cherry slug, so I don't think there'll be any fruit, but we might look into maintaining them a bit better next year. Now we know they exist. 

This apple is also covered in fruit but I think the codling moth will get all that. Or possibly the birds. 

It was good to go back to quilters yesterday morning, and art class in the afternoon. We spent Monday in at the old house cleaning because WE HAVE SOLD IT TODAY. What a relief. The money has yet to arrive, but in the next couple of days we will be no longer in crippling debt. Phew. 

New Zealand trip

 I've spent the last ten days in NZ - a short trip home to see the family. Dad hasn't been well enough to travel over this year but now I'm retired I can just go any time I want! The gap between thinking "I'd like to go and see everyone" and getting on a plane is much shorter, with much less to organise. It was also quite the little treat to think about when the quilt show was getting me down. 

I went from Auckland to Hamilton to Tauranga and back; stayed with all my siblings and my dad; caught up with all the nieces and nephews who were in the country at the time; got acquainted with the sole member of the next generation who is now FOUR and very grownup and had lots of chats with family and friends.  

Dad's garden is looking lovely - this is an amazing rose - including the vegetables. I ate some very delicious sugar snap peas, beans, rhubarb and strawberries ... inspiration for us putting our proper vegie beds in some time next year. I tried to be helpful by cleaning out the pantry but failed to get rid of the pantry moths - we can't figure out where they are coming in from, they're not in any of the food. 

The weather was mostly gorgeous and I went for some lovely walks. My hometown is both much much bigger than when I lived there but also seems much smaller than when I was a kid ... a universal feeling I think. We went over to the main ocean beach for a drive but I wasn't tempted to swim - it was windy and cold! Just a few brave tourists (I'm guessing Europeans). I wouldn't move back but it is very very beautiful.