My first Watermelon!

I woke up the the lovely sound of rain! Rain, beautiful rain! Finally!

Of course, mippies don't feel the same way about it - but it wasn't coming down too hard, so they went outside anyway!

I first made myself coffee, sat at the PC, had breakfast and then went outside to enjoy! It was so lovely and cool, perfect weather for a hot meal! So, I took out the Rouladen.

Leon had already re-filled my drum with rain water collected in his numerous containers, all I had left to do was empty the drum under my drain pipe.

First, I started with my new flower bed, next to the lawn. Just loosening the soil and pulling out the grass again. As I stood there bent over, Mewthos decided to not just sit on my back for a short while, but to settle down! He made himself comfortable and showed no intention of leaving! He even started kneading! Which was somewhat uncomfortable, as he has those razor sharp claws and no matter how careful he is, it's not comfortable - although he doesn't pierce the skin. It must have been quite a sight, with me bent over, hopping sideways to avoid dislodging the cat sleeping on my back! He was just has happy as a pig in muck!

Next, I decided to start clearing the row just outside my garden, where a few weeds had already grown quite high - it wouldn't take long, but would make a big difference! Then I carried the two round pots outside to use as 'gate stops'. I'm getting tired of the little rocks I've been using, which keep shifting and I keep having to move them back, the pots at least won't shift. Plus, with them standing on sand instead of grass, means I won't have to keep moving them to avoid bald spots in the lawn!

I also carried the large white herb pot to the new beds. Eish! That pot is heavy, even when it's empty and it's also an awkward shape to carry, especially as it has no handles! I had to put it down half-way. I placed it between the two rows of beds I've just made, where I don't want anything to grow.

Then I leveled the path between my spekboom and my peanut bed. It had a bit of a bump in it, which I found uncomfortable every time I walk over it. As I worked there, I notices little specks of green poking through in my peanut bed! The Peanuts are growing! Cor, I'm quite surprised! I didn't expect they would grow! First time I ever tried growing peanuts!

I asked Leon's advice about the Avocado trees I'm growing in my kitchen and he suggested I first bag them. First see whether they will grow before planting them, and give them a bit more chance to grow stronger before putting them into the ground.

Then I started clearing myself a path along the cosmos bed - to get rid of that constant tickling every time I walk around my garden. As I was working, the clouds dissipated and the sun came out! Sigh!

It hadn't rained much, either, just 3 mm! Which is about as deep as I was able to dig into the ground ... well, better than nothing.

But with the sun out, I could not continue working along the cosmos without risking a major sunburn! I looked around and found the watermelon bed was safe and moved there.

And that is when I saw: My first Watermelon! Okay, so it's about the size of a cherry tomato, but still! It's my first Watermelon!

With all the interesting veggies, herbs and flowers growing in my garden, why am I so excited about the watermelon? Bit of a long story: When we first arrived in South Africa, the first house we rented had a garden. And I started a bed outside my bedroom. Watermelons are small and expensive in Germany, so I decided to plant Watermelon! I turned the bed, cleared it carefully and then sowed Watermelon seeds! Two months later, we moved ... that was 37 years ago! I never made effort again, as we kept moving again and again - and then I was living in flats most of my life, with no garden.

Until now! So, this is the first watermelon in my garden - something I've kind of started 37 years ago finally coming to fruition! Okay, so it's still got a long, long way to grow and there's no guarantee it will, but still! I'm excited!

Quite a lot of weeds had grown in and around that bed, so I cleaned it up - carefully - and mixed more compost with the soil!

I also cleared more of the path. Slowly but surely, I'm getting my walk clear!

And then I started the Rouladen. I took out the electric frying pan for that, because it's the only pan with a lid. I looked up a recipe online, then ignored it completely and did my own thing. Especially with the sauce, as I had none of the ingredients - but I did still have a sauce mix for Rouladen from the German butchery! With that, of course, I made Klösse! Love those!