Our car is back from its 45thousand mini service and I can begin to make plans for the Queensland leg of our tour, I spent today wandering around Ballina, filling in time while the work was being done.

We crossed the Richmond River in the ferry at $4. A one-way crossing, this saved a long round trip and it was an interesting crossing.  The river is tidal, the boat ramps were mostly pontoons and these were bobbing up and down in the waves making a noise.

I found a small shopping complex in West Ballina, there was a very cheap butcher shop chickens for $5. Each a better price that the $25. each I paid further south and the avocados here are 10 for $7, I had been paying up the $4. each for these.  Great to finally, be able to shop at good prices again.

There was a big community notice board out the front where everyone placed their advertisements,  I saw foosball tables advertised, never heard of a foosball table.

Reg and I wandered into what we thought was a nursery and discovered it was more like the tip shop, garden recycle store only there were no sales people and no prices on anything???  Just plants in all conditions, from huge clumps to small pots, and oddments of garden ornaments and signs that they had recently been watered by someone.  Certainly different, I have not seen a garden recycling place like this before.  The sign said to come in, wander around, look and sit and relax, though there was no where to sit. :-), maybe the seats had found new homes :-).
 

I toured, last week enjoying rose and perennial gardens in the Goulburn valley, Yarra valley and in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria. I came home to my own late spring display of Delbard, French roses in my own small cottage garden that was inspired by the plants and romantic settings in the gardens of Giverny.

Today my flowerbeds have a colourful display of roses, the last of the bearded iris and the first of the summer lilies. I see the soft green foliage of grape vines and wisteria over arbours, back dropped by an avenue of poplar trees. I want to grab my French easel and paint, en plein air impressionist, garden pictures or head off into the field to paint the surrounding rural landscape. My mind turns to think about the great impressionist artists and the country that founded the impressionist movement ~ France.

The French impressionist Claude Monet, in particular, has inspired my life, both through his garden design and his art.

I would love to visit the great gardens of France, stay in quaint farmhouses, which have been set up as bed and breakfast accommodation and wander around the countryside of France, soaking in the atmosphere.

To visit Monet’s garden at Giverny, would, be to fulfil an artistic pilgrimage of appreciation to this great artist. I already know I would love the country and climate; it is similar to picturesque parts of my own homeland. I could imagine staying in quaint cottages and farmhouse bed and breakfast accommodation so I could soak in the atmosphere and beauty of the countryside of France.

The parks and gardens of Paris have been are described by others as places of elegance and artistic delight. Paris is famous for bringing the beauty of nature, right into the city. I would stay at Paris hotels, so I could tour the gardens of Paris. I adore the impressionist paintings of Parisians picnicking in parks and gardens. 

Sigh, (I am getting all dreamy. J ) Thinking about bed and breakfast and accommodations in Paris France, makes me want to paint even more, and plan a painting tour of Paris and France.

Links
Paris hotels  hotel paris metro mouton duvernet hotel metro saint augustin

Right now, though, I’m going to pack my French easel and go paint on location (en plein air), while I am feeling so inspired by the city and country, known internationally, for its fostering of the arts. J ,

My man, improving in health for the third day in a row, the pleasure of a run and walk plus refreshments in the park, the thrill of picking the winner of the Melbourne Cup, was my  cup day’s holiday mix of fun, exercise, and leisure.

Some more of my Spring garden photos and an update on Reg, as I promised.
I took Reg to the doctors this morning and he was given a cortisone injection to help relieve the inflamation he has from all the coughing he had done in the last month.  They also have decided to put him in to antibiotics and he is continuing with some codeine for pain as needed.  He managed the outing OK, came home had a light lunch, looking at our garden again and has gone to sleep after lunch.

So I'm feeling happier, he has been checked over again, is a little better on his feet today than yesterday, even cracked a few jokes about how he hoped the injection will have him back feeling like he is 69 again not 89 and I cracked jokes about having 'married a man 26 years my senior for his money' and how 'I was waiting to inherit the Shell oil company fortune when he kicked the bucket from old age'.   The later is a joke he began, when we married, 40 years ago. He sure has been moving more like the frail elderly than a gray nomad, this last few days and I also told him, laughing at the time, :-) 'I expect him to take me out dancing tonight once this cortisone injection, 'kicks in'", :-).

Now Reg is usually very restrained in spending money, but he pulled his debit card out of his pocket and paid for that injection with an eagerness Iv'e never seen before, he also was so relieved, something was being done to try to help him feel better.  
Having regained his abiliy to make conversation and his humour,  he complain to me that the injection cost $35. and we were both able to laugh again together when I said, 'just as well, your not a dog' as you never get out of a vets with an injection costing less than $100.'.  Yesterday even talking about our travels could not raise a smile, just a look that said, 'I don't want to think about anything, I'm in too much pain'  , he wasn't up to talking othr than to refuse going to the doctors.  I did my bullying act today to get him there, and I know he is pleased now.   We BOTH, feel more positive and less worried about his progress than we felt yesterday. 
Whooping cough  (pertussis), is usually a very mild illness for most teenagers and adults but can knock the stuffing out of the very young and the old.

You can get immunized against whooping cough and it has been doing the rounds in increased incidence, in Australia now since 2008 so it might be worth checking if those who can be vaccinated in the family, have been, as it's a nasty thing for a baby to get and it's sure been hard on Reg at 69, so if mostly to protect the very young and the very old, consider keeping up the preventable illness, immunizations.

Late September, Northern Victoria, in Springtime, just beautiful.  A chilly start but it will be 20 degrees later today.  Our front windows are angled to take in the morning sunshine while our large spreading Maple tree out front is still just thinking about unfurling it's summer shade leaves.
The crop of oats opposite have healthy oat seed heads on them, a sea of bright apple green contrasting to the dark  olive green of the eucalypts on the horison that  grow along the cannal that brings our water from the Goulburn River.
The front row is the row of poplar trees and the grassy road verge with ibis grazing.
 It's a peaceful scene to wake up to.

Under my pergola, A great place to soak up some gentle morning sun, and get my Vit D. We planted wisteria to grow over this to provide late spring blossoms and Summer shade.

Our new five month old, garden showing the avenue of poplars opposite and the field beyond, which is now a lush green growing field of oats. This photo taken, April 2009.

And today, early September ''09, waiting for my table and chairs to be replaced under our front garden pergola so we can enjoy meals served in the garden.

One of my Delbard roses, welcoming me home, First week of spring time, September 2009

This photograph shows the field of oats opposite our home, the source of our field mice visitors.  It is lovely living in a rural area with unbroken country side views so I accept I need to protect the home more carefully from uninvited visitors when we are away. 

After travelling around Australia and occasionally abroad with Reg for over forty years you would think I would be an expert at making the transition from the trip to back home, easily, but here I am still learning.

I would love to hear any tips other travellers have, for protecting the home, patio and garden while they are away or even just great way’s to batten down and winterise the home and garden and save time and effort on the return to spring time.  Your comments are welcome.

 

To see the beauty of the cool to temperate climate spring flowers at their best, visit the Dandenong Ranges in spring time, The Dandenongs are beautiful any time of year,  during spring time they are brilliant with the beauty of blossoms, summer is cool greens of every shade contrasted with the brilliant blue, green and yellow of rosellas and autumn is glorious hues of gold and claret contrasting with every shade of green.  Winter is alive with the sound and hue of birds and filled with colour of wildflowers and the gold of wattle.   I don’t think I could have a favourite time to visit the Dandenongs, I will just make time to visit it  a dozen or more times during our time in Victoria and share a different part of this beautiful area with my blog readers following each trip.

My photos were taken in the Tesselaar gardens.  After a walk through the gardens I went into the shop and bought some liliums to plant today to brighten my summer garden.

Visit  Tesselaar Tulip Festival September 16 – October 13,  2009 every Friday during the festival, will be 'Seniors day'.

 

This morning I began the upgrade of my Art Cards, Website, starting with the cards depicing some of my flower paintings, in oils, pastel, watercolours and acrylic.
I unbundled the selection of eight cards from a grouping of eight and put them as individual items that can be purchased one at a time. 

This will make purchase easier and over the month of September '09, I will upgrade all my art print, art craft and original art web sites to make all purchases on line, from my web sites easier.  
Postage within Australia is included cost and international shipping is arranged at cost. 
Check out my first upgraded page :-
http://artcards.weebly.com/folded-card-flowers.html

This is the courtyard at our renovators dream we purchased last summer, it was a bare solid clay earth covered with stones and rubbish when we purchased the place where we spend our summers in northern Victoria.   
It gave me a place to put down roots, especially a few tree roots and I planted a Japanese maple and a Mt Fuji flowering cherry as the two shade trees for the courtyard then added half a dozen arches to extent the garden vertically, and I am growing climbing roses on these. 
The remainder of the garden is made up of perennial plantings and vegetables and for this its first year, I included some annuals to get a fast garden effect.

I brought in some beautiful large flat rocks as the courtyard flooring then searched timber yards and found a new fibre glass bath with a small flaw for only $65. I called in at the hardware store and bought hot water quality hose fittings, went home and connected one end of the hose to the laundry hot water tap and passed the hose out the window and ‘hey presto’, I had a beautiful court yard garden open air bathroom. 

There is no plumbing drainage from the bath either and certainly no council permit for a bath room obtained, I simply take a 10 litre bucket and remove 10 buckets full of water from the bath and use this to water my garden after I have finished enjoying my daily summer retreat home, bath, each day.  The garden benefits, it saves water and I drain the last tiny drop of water out onto the ground.

I know I should refine the water connection situation, plumb the hot and cold water if not directly to the bath then at least outside connections in the courtyard and even look to see what modifications can be made to our inside combination, laundry and bathroom to see if there is a possibility of plumbing in a bath tub there, in the event that the local ultra light plane society gets news of my open air courtyard garden bathroom and begins to take sightseeing flights over it.

As usual I am doing my bathroom design ideas and supplies searching over the internet, and have been looking at Price Pfister, for ideas for fittings that  will help me complete this bathroom project, when I get home from our Australian tour.

The first photo is of the empty courtyard that we started with and the remaining photos are of the courtyard garden bathroom I created and love.