Saturday

Puh! It's cold in the mornings! But the big difference in temperatures is an issue. It goes as high as 30 Celsius in the afternoon, then drops to 3 or 4 Celsius during the night. I've just looked at my records, and last year was different. High temperatures were around 25, 27 at most, usually between 20 and 23 Celsius, and at night only down to about 8 or 9.

Plants are dying of the cold by the droves! Poor Nasturtiums, made a big mistake thinking this would be a good time to push their luck! Weeds are also turning dark with frost. If weeds are dying, that's never a good sign!

I've just taken out my feather duvet and added that to the layers of duvets on my bed! Funny thing, though - when I go to bed, I still take off everything I can, as I'm hot. Even on cold evenings, once I'm in bed, under just one duvet, I get hot. But in the mornings? I'm freezing, and even the two duvets don't seem enough!

One major reason for the feather duvet, though, is to give mippies a duvet to curl up on. At the moment, they spread across the bed on the warmest duvet ... and when I want to lie down ... I either have to push mippies off the bed, or pick them up and cuddle them until they run away! Five of us trying to share the same duvet just doesn't work, ha ha!

And now I have Janey on my lap. Again! Sitting still, for a change, doing her best to pretend she's a lap-cat, ha ha!

Yeah, that didn't last very long. She's now trying to stroll up and down on my lap ... given her size, and my lap isn't exactly oversized. Big, yes, but for a grown cat? Enough room to curl up, but not to stroll up and down on ...

I finished cleaning the kitchen and meant to take a break and update this blog ... when Mewthos absolutely insisted I must come outside! I ended up sitting on the front lawn with Mewthos' tummy on one side and Mini's on the other! Both received plenty of tickles!

Now, I also vacuum packed the blade steak I bought this week - with Worchestershire Sauce, to marinate it - and packed it in the freezer. I don't have any stewing meat this weekend, so I've had a bit of a think and came up with a carrot, potato and sauerkraut stew. I also have some marrow bones to add. I'll do that tomorrow, As well as the bread rolls and the muffins ... sigh ...

I think it would be a good thing to spend the rest of the day outside ... I'll need to take the laundry down, though.

Oh, and I also deep cleaned both mippies' fountains! All sparkling and fresh now!

I thought I might consider some light weeding ... next thing I know, I'm carting compost around! I've covered the bean bed completely, and now I've covered the bed around the grapevine with cardboard. I've already dumped two wheelbarrow loads there, it'll take at least three more, though ...

Done. I've also cleared up in front of the compost heap - well, on one end, at least. And I've taken some of the best looking soil and placed it on my Marigold bed.

I've been thinking that it might be smart to place a heap of what comes off that compost heap at the bottom of tree bags.

One Avocado tree in a bag. Dried grass at the bottom, a layer of soil, followed by a layer of compost and bonemeal, then filled it up with more soil. Where did I take the soil from? Easy: that hole at the back of the carport which is growing weeds like nobody's business!

I wanted to take a break and looked for a chair to plop into ... all my chairs are taken! Mewthos is curled up on my chair on the veranda, Janey in my armchair. Only my chair at the PC was free - only because Mini prefers to curl up on the bed!

Anyway, I now have three types of trees in bags: 1x Plum, which is so big, it's already standing in the garden, where I'm thinking of planting is, 2x Apple and now 1x Avocado. It's only half five ... maybe I'll still manage to bag a lemon tree?

Yup! One of the lemon trees is now in a bag. Of course, I've also got one in the garden already ... it's still tiny, though.

Since they're still relatively small, and used to living in a bottle, I've put a bottle over the trees again - to keep them relatively warm. Once they outgrow the bottle, and their leaves don't turn funny, I remove the bottle.

Feels good to get those poor trees into roomier accommodation. Poor things are stunted, missing room to grow! I'm not too keen on growing more, when what I have managed to grow is being neglected.

And here I am with Janey again on my lap! All in all, today was a good day! I got my chores done and still made time to play. Spending time in the garden is always a good thing - don't ask me why, but I always feel good after spending time in the garden.

I've bathed, now I'll just have my dinner - which, as always, I'll be sharing. Janey is now on the chair behind me. It isn't really big enough for both of us, though, ha ha!

Now it's time to settle down ... Ziva is looking for her cuddle cave ...