The Chill has gone, haircut, weeding and mulch

My hair was getting a bit scrappy, so I booked in for a 3pm haircut/colour with Michelle on Thursday, and also contacted Maile to see if she and David were having their fortnightly dinner at the pub tonight

And yes they were, and they invited me - or rather I asked if I could come along too.

They came and picked me up around 6.30 (so I wouldn't be waiting there by myself) They had some other friends there also - most of whom I'd met before

I had the fisherman's basket which was pretty good.  They've changed the set up a bit.  Now you get your own salad and hot vegies at the salad station/bainmarie near the TV. Seems to work well.

Given Justin's influence, I bought a bottle of Shiraz to share. I wanted a local one, so bought a Blanche Barkly, 2008.  Was like nectar!

Had a relatively early night, walked back home and watched a Bosch or 2 on my laptop

On Friday, had breakfast on the back deck, and a glimpse of red in the grass near the vegie patch caught my eye.  On closer inspection it was a small Flanders poppy

Ended up moving it to a "safer" position in a front garden bed.  Hopefully it will survive, as it has some more buds yet to flower

Weeded /gardened pretty much all day, I also tried something new, which was listening to a podcast while gardening - Teachers Pet - about a young wife/mother who disappeared - presumed murdered 36 years ago.  Quite gripping 

More of the same on Saturday morning,

 I thought I'd concentrate on the front, as there were quite a few weeds there

And then drove into Bendigo to pick up Justin who was catching the train. 

Alex and Sarah were originally going to come, and one of them would have given Justin a lift, but then Alex got a stomach bug, and Sarah had a rotten night's sleep, so neither came

Given that Justin was arriving after 12.10pm I thought we might have lunch at the Wine Bank on View Street

It was a lovely day, however the shaded outside seats were taken, so we sat inside.  Very impressive space, bit like Syracuse (both had been Victorian banks)

We had a Chef's platter to share, and I had some lovely french rose to drink

Was a terrific, leisurely lunch

And then back to  Inglewood, and recommenced my weeding

Also went and bought 3 x 10kg bags of chicken manure from David, as well as 3 dozen eggs for my CWA Christmas baking

Found a dead and pecked mouse on the grass whilst tracking to and from Gordon's trailer (weeds)

  
Last week we had tried to see a new bloke about putting in a watering system for the "orchard", and moving the tanks etc.  And he came and met up with us Saturday afternoon.  Seems good, and will hopefully start up in a couple of weeks.  I will be very glad when I don't have to hand water anymore, as it takes well over an hour....

We also went to the 1st Saturday of the month on the Village Green in Kingower.  Was a lovely evening, still, clear, and not cold.  In fact, the chill has gone - until next Winter I suppose

Drove back home (no kangaroos) around 7.30 or so.  Assembled an antipasto type platter for dinner and watched I Tonya on Google movies

Sunday morning - and more weeding....And then, miraculously, I had finished, or I had had done what I had wanted to achieve

So, I asked Justin to water the front beds (as I believe that you shouldn't mulch on dry surfaces), and I started spreading out the mulch that I had bought earlier in the year. 

It was quite warm, I still had my "Winter" coveralls on but had the top half down tied around my waist.  Next time I will have to transition to my "Summer" overalls.  

We were pretty pleased with our work, the garden is looking good, and getting ready for Summer 

 I also took some photos of my teeny tiny asparagus - re-grown from last year's wild asparagus

   My happy lettuces and spinach

And flowering rhubarb - which I've never seen before

Justin liked these pig face flowers

All in all the vegie patch and rest of the garden was looking pretty good (dry though)

Used up the last least year's home made salami for lunch

On the way back to Melbourne I asked Justin to take some photos of the stunning carpets of gazanias on the roadside between Inglewood and Bridgewater.  It was hard to get a photo to capture the vast expanse