Friday 20th November 2009

Whew! This was one busy week with some very hot weather to work through especially when most of my time was either in the garden or on the Golf Course.

Saturday 14th November I set my sights on cleaning up the BBQ area at home which has been used as a dedicated storage area for the Golf Club plants that I am giving some TLC prior to planting them out or they are just waiting for me to find the right place for them on the course. We moved the worm farm from it's old position under the now defunct bouganvillea & it lives in a quiet corner of the BBQ area. My next challenge before I start on planning a replacement for the bouganvillea is to tidy up around the garden ponds and the greenhouse which has become somewhat of a jungle over the last 12 months. In general the back yard is showing signs of good improvement which I find very encouraging.

Sunday 15th November Rod, Anne & Joel arrived on our doorstep at 7.00am for breakfast. Fortunately I had been up at 5.30am and out in the garden to get some watering & tidying up done before it got too hot. We were not playing golf until 12.30 pm so we had a good chance to have a play with Joel before leaving for golf.

Our playing partners at golf were Bruce & Leanne Binns & we had a very enjoyable afternoon with them. The boys were leading by one by the last hole so Leanne and I bet them a "double or nothing" on the last hole. I just missed out on my 3 pointer for the hole so we ended up squaring the hole. I claimed a "disadvanteged" point credit because the sole had fallen off my golf shoe early in the match so we agreed to share the Keno ticket. We got our money back at the end of the night so everyone was happy.

Monday 16th November was F-Troop day. It was a hot day but we achieved quiet a bit of work around the course including replanting the new "limelights" and the "Daintree Pine" which should be much happier with better soil & a good watering. I spent a lot of of time watering other gardens as the weather and predicted weather was hot, hot, hot.

Tuesday 17th November I played golf with Elizabeth McNamara and Elly Van Den Berg. Elizabeth played well & came in 3rd place & we had some good highlights with Elly getting two 4 pointers. It was a very hot day & we were happy to get back into the clubhouse to enjoy the air conditioning.

Wednesday 18th November I went shopping with Anne & Joel specifically to get his new car seat. He is still very small for his age - 6 months( just over 6 kilos) so the car seat had to be suitable. Anne's mother came home from hospital today after her knee operation so we have lent Mum's invalid aids to her to help her through the first difficult months of recovery. Anne sent me a photo of Joel having his first taste of carrot. He has taken well to solids & will try anything he is offered.(photo attached.) In the afternoon I finished planting out the rest of the petunias & replaced the pansies & placed compost in one of the back gardens.

Thursday 19th November I was up very early & over to the Golf course to do some clean up work & watering before it got too hot. I was home at lunch time & out of the worst of the heat for the afternoon. That night we attended a Public Meeting at the Leagues Club to do with the future development of Gosford which has some major developments about to happen especially at the waterfront. We live within the CBD of Gosford & our concern was the potential moving of the public primary school to our area which would impact on the Golf Course as well as our residence. It was an information night only with major decisions yet to be made which could be years away.

Friday 20th November (today) I was up very early to water & dead head roses in the garden as the day threatened to be a stinker.

It was a stinker reaching at one stage 38.5 degrees which burnt off many of my beautiful roses.

We got the mandatory shopping done early & did a bit of shopping for our "Townies" Christmas party which is coming up on Saturday week. Bunnings was also a mandatory stop off to get some more punnets of Snappies & petunias that I will plant into the garden next week when it cools down again.

A quick stop off at the Golf Club to check that the indoor plants had not expired in the heat & to check that there were not going to be any garden weddings this weekend.

I spent the afternoon watching a movie in air conditioned comfort which was very relaxing after the heat of the day this morning.

We have had some severe thunderstorms & rain this afternoon & I am hoping for more rain tonight before tomorrow's predicted 35 degrees. Thank heavens for the rain which has been sufficient to give relief to both the golf course gardens & my garden at home so I will not have to be up at dawn to water.