Thank you for taking time to visit, and I hope I am even a tiny bit helpful as I have been helped and blessed by so many others. I have been doing Calligraphy since teens, and card making for many years as well. In 1990 I delighted in the joys of stamping with ink and embossing after a trip to Cairns, Qld. In 2009 I discovered the brayer, 2010 the Cuttlebug, also have now taking to reading up on crafting blogs and lo! Here I am, on one of my own.

I live on the coast of eastern Australia. I am a Christian. I trusted in the LORD down here at the beach, amazingly it is not far from where I now live. It was over 50 years ago, after a Beach Mission Service at the age of 12 years

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Well, Spring is here!

Hullo there everyone. First of all a big welcome and thank you to my new Encouragers - that is just what you do, encourage me, so thank YOU!
Things are very quiet on the craft front– craft items all packed away as needs must, but all very busy …jobs inside and out, spring is here!

No workdesk for me today inside - it is out side! My crafty side will get the enjoyment of checking your crafty creations out instead!
For those of you wanting to check the workdesks of the world take a visit over to our Julia's blog and meet the rest of the crew at Julia's Stamping Ground!
  
Have two messy rooms needing sorting, plus the garden to be done. Last week I promised Lisa would post my bottlebrush (or callistemon); as she amazingly told me last week she had tried to grow it in England! So here they are, white one is Citronella, red one is Little John and they are both dwarf varieties. These are in the front garden.
 
I am at present working out the back. There are over 30 roses out there, in the process of feeding, mulching with wet newspaper to help keep weeds down, and then topped with sugar-cane mulch. It is a really great mulch!

The lemon tee is the Aussie variety, Eureka lemon and one of the biggest off this small tree weighed 499gram yesterday (ie nearly half a kilo) - very, very juicy.


Here is the first of the roses to flower (Guitar - pretty orange/apricot, edged pink tones) and as you can see it is not mulched in this bed this year as yet.  The large clear bottle at the right of the rose plant is a unique, deep watering system. 

One is planted at the base of each rose and filled it up with hose so each rose gets 2 litres on watering (old juice containers), delivered deeply to its root. It also means water is not sprayed over plant as we constantly battle fungus diseases in the humid summer.
 
Here is a passion-fruit flower also the first - it has yummy passion-fruit for Christmas and is called Nellie Kelly.

So if I am missing form the blogland for a while you know I am making the most of the great weather we have here at the moment!

Thanks for looking and may God bless your day wherever you may be.
Shaz in oz.x

PS the variation in God's creation is so amazing, isn't it?

31 comments:

Neet said...

Didn't get around to you last week so you are my first port of call and what a lovely surprise. much as I love and admire your work it was a pleasure to see the lovely sunny photographs on your blog today. I have the added bonus of knowing what it is probably like for my Australian family today.
Thank you so much for the bottlebrush plant photos and that beautiful rose but your lemon tree lets me see what a lovely sunny day it is. Thanks you and God bless. Neet #7

Crafting Time said...

Well how I would love it to be spring here! The weather has really turned now very autumnal!
Helen x

Sarah C. said...

Wow, Shaz!
What a lovely garden and how marvellous is God's creation! Yes, Spring is here...it's exciting :)
I love the bottlebrushes...hope to grow them here sometime.

God bless,
Sarah

Belinda Basson said...

Glad to hear you are having a better spring than us! We have not had a very wet or cold winter, but our spring is making up for it! Wow, 30 roses! that is a lot! Enjoy!

Helen said...

What a fab garden - no wonder you will be out working there rather than inside.

Lunch Lady Jan said...

There are few things in this world that I'm truly envious of...and one of those is being able to have your own citrus trees. Being able to pick lemons in your garden must be one of the greatest simple pleasures you can have! I'm going to plant some apple trees soon, bought with some birthday money from my parents - applelicious :D xx

Karen said...

Love those bottlebrush plants - so quirky!!! Your garden looks amazing, makes ours in England look quite bland by comparison! Enjoy WOYWW!

sandra de said...

Your callistemen (bottlebrush easier to spell) looks beautiful and so does the rest of your garden. It is so hard to find the time to do all the wonderful things we love?

Neil said...

Thanks for sharing your space this week, I enjoyed visiting and hope you have a fabulous rest of the week. My garden is beginning to tail down for winter and it's raining today too so i have to craft instead of mowing the lawn!

MaggieC (Silvercrafter) said...

I now feel depressed. I am sure it was only last week that we were enjoying Spring and looking forward to summer. Now we are galloping into winter, and don't really remember having a summer. Do take plenty of time to enjoy your Spring and summer. I love your bottlebrushes. I did have a couple in pots some time ago and they lasted well, even through some harsh winters outside, but they finally succumbed to a very dry summer while we were away.

Clare with paint in her hair said...

It rally is amazing that as we go into winter you go into summer and vice versa! Lovely pictures!

Clare H

Mrs A. said...

Beautiful shots of your flowers. The lemon was a good size. Picking the last of the wild blackberries here and stewing aples from next doors tree and plumbs from a friend. Nature in abundance. Hugs Mrs A.

Twiglet said...

Fab callistemom - we had a red one but the frosts killed it. Turning chilly here now we are moving into Autumn. x Jo

lisa said...

You never fail me, Shaz, your bottlebrushes are lovely. I especially like the white one, I've never seen that colour before.
I'm with Maggie though, feeling quite depressed knowing you are in my favourite time of Spring and we are rushing headlong towards Winter. It's been wet, windy and cool since 1st Septemeber!!! Oh how I long for Spring!!
Your garden is beautiful. I'm very envious of your lemons and to have all those roses. I love the really fragranced ones and grow them in pots so that I can move them around so that the ones in flower are near where we sit.
Thanks so much for sharing the joys of your garden. Enjoy it.
Hugs Lisax

Anonymous said...

Beautiful garden pics Shaz, love the bright colours and the vibrancy. Also love the idea of using sugar cane as a mulch! Wonderful to be able to pick your own citrus fruits too. Thank you for your kind words today, for me the waiting and not knowing is hard, sad times, but your lovely photos cheer me up.

Hugs
Brenda

donnalouiserodgers said...

you have a very beautiful garden, no wonder you are out there enjoying it.

Dx

Joyce across the Pond said...

Love to hear and see your garden....and over here we are fascinated with bottle brush plants...so different. We had 10 degrees and horizontal rain today...a total cloudburst followed by persistent rain - I walked the length of our town to the Faith Mission bookshop to deliver a bible I had
inscribed so got pretty wet but that's why our country is so green.
It is good to down the nibs etc and get out and do something else...that's why I feel I must take a break or else it all goes sour for me.
Enjoy the Spring - new life and all that...God Bless you and yours.

Jocelyn aka JoBear2 said...

Ahhh, isn't it so nice to put winter behind us and enjoy all the wonderful new growth and the blossoms? Gorgeous photos Shaz!! Spring is my favourite time of year. I, too, have been in the garden quite a bit and my stamps have been a little lonely. All the rainbow lorikeets have returned from the north and are lined up along our decking rail waiting for some sunflower seeds; I just counted 25 of them!

God bless you Shaz!

{{hugs}}
Jocelyn

Angie said...

It is so strange to see pictures of Spring , just as we are into Autumn and Winter is threatening to come early...they are beautiful photos.

Hettie said...

Oh Shaz! I am so envious of you with your lovely garden coming into bloom. Mine does look nice with the reds and oranges but not like yours. Lovely bottle brush trees. I had a pink one until two winters ago then it died. Bright pink it was - beautiful. Now I know what the official name is I will try and get another.
Feel sorry for us as we have the "Big Freeze" forcast for November after a stormy October. I haven't had my holiday yet!! Guess I shall be packing jeans and jumpers instead of shorts and tankinis!!

JoZart Designs said...

Wonderful pics so different from our gardens here in England. Enjoy your Spring and think of us as we head into what is expected to be a harsh early Winter.
Love JoZarty x

The Crafty Elf said...

Oh what a great garden. I'm so sad as we gear up for fall and then winter! I enjoy my gardens so much and find the cooler months drag on and on. I probably should be living somewhere where I can garden every day - I love it so much! Your flowers are just gorgeous so enjoy gods wonderful creations and the beautiful weather and stay outside!!!

shazsilverwolf said...

Beautiful pictures of your garden Shaz- I agree with Angie- it seems weird when everything here is going dormant, to see so much colour!

:)) ...Вика said...

Очень красивые фотографии. Прекрасное творение Божие, которое Он сотворил для нас.
Бог любит тебя и я тоже моя сестричка в Господе.
Спасибо за визит ко мне.
God bless you Shaz!

С любовью, Вика.

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Vika Dolya said... (translation from Russian)

Very beautiful photos. Beautiful creation of God, which He created for us.
God loves you and I, too, my sister in the Lord.
Thank you for visiting me.
God bless you Shaz!
Love, Vic.

Spyder said...

Fab Pictures Shaz and thank you for following! I thought I was following you, but I seem to have gone missing...so am here now!! Getting pic's via email,skype and Facebook, from my eldest daughter who has gone over to Seattle to visit her Sister, just wish I was there too!! have a great weekend, I'm off camping ((AGH!!)

(Lyn))

Tertia said...

Spring has sprung over here too! Isn't it amazing how much energy it suddenly gives us? My bottle brushes always look amazing. I have a red and pink one in my garden, I have never seen a white one before. It is beautiful!
How are you enjoying the rugby World Cup? Looks like we will be meeting each other in the quarter finals.
Happy WOYWW on Friday

Twiglet said...

Just to say thanks for positive vibes for Annie & co. They certainly need all they can get at the mo. x Jo

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

What a gorgeous garden. I always love nature. I wish I could grow a bottlebrush. Sorry I'm so late showing up this week. Seems I've had to say that a lot lately.

Belinda Basson said...

Missing you in WOYWW land today!

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing and yes there is a variety in God's creations and I appreciate all of them

Carol C

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