February Garden. A Brief Update On The Pantry War

February is the time of year my poor old Farmhouse garden suffers.  It is hot and dry and often quite windy.  Flowers quickly turn brown and without attention there is always a few casualties.  It is a tough gig out there.

This year (so far) nothing has died.  Everything has remained kind of green but the flower situation is dire.  I have given up expecting much in the shape of non-scorched roses until March...

A few plants are still doing well though.

Petunias, Valiantly Fighting On

These guys seem to love summer.

Pretty Frilly Nanna Succulent

Cool, Sculptural Nanna Succulent

When I first moved to The Farm I turned my nose up at succulents...  I don't anymore.  They have a funky Nanna style that I adore.  And they are survivors.  Got to love a garden survivor by mid February.

Anyway - soon it will cool down a bit and my garden will be able to do more than just survive.  I can't wait.

In other Farm news - I have caught 8 mice so far in my War on Rodents.  I am hoping that the rest will wave the white flag and make a strategic retreat back to the great outdoors, but I have left the traps set. I have seen enough war movies to know there is always a few foolhardy rebels who remain after a defeat.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday.  My aim is to get through the day without any conversations with Telstra.  Some of my experiences on the phone yesterday could have doubled for Monty Python sketches....

Farmboy for PM, The Arrival of Country Style.

Breaking news on The Farm is the fact that Farmboy wants to be Prime Minister.  He has been very interested in the concept of politics recently.  The Farmer and I have tried to explain the way voting works. We think he has got the picture.  He was explaining to me recently that he would do "good things" but only if people voted for him.  He was also not going to let his friends know too much about his plans in case they wanted to be Prime Minister too.  He is quite sensible in considering this (look what happened to Kevin).  Most importantly he knew he had two votes already, his Mum and his Dad.

Incidentally Farmboy has also expressed a wish to marry Julia Gillard.  His Dad said no (and a few other things).

My copy of Country Style magazine has arrived.  I love reading it - it is always full of pretty pictures and makes me see the best side of living in the country.  I particularly like looking at the gardening articles/photos.

This months copy shows a gorgeous evening setting on the cover.  I am concerned about what to do about the mosquitos that would surely be around though.  I guess you would just pop some Rid on and relax with a book and a drink.

Evenings are my favorite time on The Farm.  They are beautiful but not quite this glamorous.  Obviously I just need a few more props.

The first gardenia has appeared in my garden.

It smells beautiful.