Saturday, August 16, 2008

The seeds are in

A quiet couple of days, a few photos to share. This one which made me scream like a little child - it looks less scary here than it seemed to me at the time!!


There were two - but I suppose while they stay outside, I'll let them be. ;) Mum called them wolf spiders. I'll take her word for it. :p


Hi! Marty here! I'm finally adding to the blog :D

Curiosity led me to this helpful site with some scary pics of Australian spiders. Check out the first one, that spider looks like it could beat you at chess! As your mum suggests it appears to be a wolf spider (Lycosidae). Info about them and more creepy pics can be found here. They have pics of wolf spiders in Halls Gap (28km/17mi NE of Stawell) which look very similar.


Mum and I made a big mess outside removing weeds and bulbs from the front garden beds.. but I must be "house proud" because I sweep-up every time. :) This is the view through the front door.



The front of the house as it now looks:



Today, though, I didn't do any gardening as such - I stayed inside and made some newspaper-pots using a toilet roll as a model.



After making a few of those, I went for a walk down to the hardware store. What was I thinking?? Carrying back a 10kg (22lb) bag of seed-raising mix and a 5kg (11lb) bag of "blood and bone" at one time wasn't exactly clever. :) Next time, remind me to take the car!

So, for some reason (perhaps the best reason being that there is a heater in the lounge room), I decided to put the seed-raising mix in the paper pots while sitting on the rug in the lounge-room/bedroom. Of course, there was a spill or two - thankfully the vacuum is still working! Then I got the seeds and very carefully planted them. The seeds are parsley, sage, rosemary, basil, and oregano. I need to find a supplier of chives which would complete our wish-list for herbs at this stage. This is how they look!



They've been watered and placed at a north facing window. I'm crossing my fingers - I've only attempted to raise seeds once - and although it worked well last time - that was many many years ago. Of course, if anything happens at all with them, there will be pictures!! :)

The job for tomorrow is putting some of the "blood and bone" on one of the front garden beds and get the bed ready for Spartacus. :) I just hope the wind doesn't blow from the north, or I'll be experiencing the joys of blood and bone throughout the house. Eeewww.. lovely! :)

3 comments:

  1. Manda, Yep that is some scary looking spider. I would have screamed AND ran away. yuk!

    I absolutely LOVE the front garden even without plants. The stonework is beautiful. The front of the house is charming. I think you have got quite the house.

    Good luck with the herbs. It looks like you have done a great job with the seeds. And yes next time take the car. That is too much weight for you.

    And finally, what the heck is blood and bone? love ya, mom

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  2. What a lovely place.I love old cottages. You have some great ideas for it too. Enjoy the journey and I look forward to seeing it progress over time!
    AR

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  3. Blood and Bone - kinda exactly what it says, but ground into powder form, dried and smells like strong manure. ;) It's a wonderful fertiliser - used before the plants are in - so now would be a good time to get it on the garden bed! *kicks self into action* :)

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