Working in the Garden

We have spent most of this weekend in the garden, tidying it up in preparation for the boys' third birthday party next Saturday. We have invited several of their little friends and have hired a jumping castle for the occasion. It is sure to be a great hit! The garden looks lovely now after all of the weeding and trimming. Inger mowed the lawn and I trimmed the edges with kitchen scissors! It looks very neat now but my hands and back are a bit the worse for wear! There must be an easier way................. I used the electric hedge trimmer for the box hedges and lavender and was becoming fairly gung ho by the end. I think Inger was a bit concerned that we might end up with twigs rather than topiaries.

Our cherry tree has borne a bumper crop this year but as is usually the case just as the cherries are turning red they are decimated by our friendly possums and wattle birds. Overnight the tree was stripped bear. Now our first peach tree is heavy with fruit. The fruit is smaller but more plentiful this year. I don't know whether to put that down to the load of fertiliser I used or the lack of water the tree has had this year. Anyway I am going to need to find some recipes for the peaches before they all fall to the ground and rot.

The Hoya on our lattice has just flowered for the first time. The flowers have cream and crimson stars in their centres.