The pile of hedge prunings ready for the tree men to chip them up on Monday
a good pile of mulch with the first barrow load ready
to go onto the garden beds
the garden beds are ready for winter & the hedges are recovering well from the hard prune
x fingers I’ll be Dunmovin soon!
my future next door neighbour Vicki sent this photo of a rainbow over Dunmovin
after a wild lightning storm yesterday evening!
her partner Lee kindly took out the big Photinia that was shading the gazebo, making space for another set of steps
watching the trajectory of the sun to see what sort of plants will suit the spot
all the Photinia hedges needed to be cut back hard & are starting to recover
x fingers they will be leafed up again by settlement which could happen at the earliest in May but will possibly take much longer as there is a backlog of probate cases to get through the courts… I am learning to be patient!
Dunmovin aka the Clayton’s house, the house you have when you don’t have a house!
Last night I dreamed of painting the walls, tracing the shadows made during the day with tones of indigo & sand
On Monday I fiddled around finding the right font and getting the spacing where I wanted it for Torben, a local woodworker to relief carve a sign for the front door. He uses a router with a computer program so although his signs look hand carved they are very affordable, met him late last year at the Blackheath craft market.
In the mean time the guard dragon is happy here at Hat Hill Road
whilst I continue stitching my dreams into the long cloth of grief and wonder
started the week with a bushwalk along the Popes Glen track to Govetts Leap
the track to Cripps Lookout has just opened!
Popes Glen Creek
Horseshoe Falls from Cripps Lookout
ancient rock formation at Cripps Lookout
Pulpit Rock from Govetts Leap
the next day I started baring the bones of the garden at Dunmovin which has been neglected since 2019 when the previous owner went into a nursing home
cut the Photinia hedge on the driveway back buy a third, a big job that took 4 hours!
the next day Cathy & I went for a bushwalk to Mount Banks
Cathy enjoying the view from the track
Old Man Banksia aka Banksia serrata
Banksia serrata flower
my grin says it all!
the next day I got back to work in the garden, the Buxus & Hebes on the verandah needed sorting
Buxus cut back by a third with a view of the orange flowered Crocosmia a class 4 weed in the Blue Mountains
Roderick’s spirit eyes have been helping, he was so good at pruning hedges!
feels like I am honouring Liesa’s spirit by bringing some order back to her garden
removed all the ivy from under the deck, will plant a Cecil Brunner rose on the white trellis and cut the bamboo back, the good news is it is contained in an old septic tank so it can’t spread
blackberry is also a class 4 weed here so I removed it from the old boat
will add fresh potting mix and plant it out with spring annuals and bulbs
more blackberry behind the garden
the neighbour on the other aside of the back fence had just cut down the blackberry on his side so the timing is good
my ladder & pruning tools in the back shed
so I bought a padlock and in a funny way it makes me feel like this garden and shed and house will be mine one day in the not too faraway!
Two weeks ago I rode my bike up to look at this place and knew I had come home!
this old row boat in the back garden stole my heart
the sailing ship window in the kitchen with the back deck and garden reflected in the glass
the stars aligned and Dunmovin is mine !
will be taking some time out now to catsit my ex next door neighbour’s little black cat Muffin down in the city for a month
With Best Wishes for 2023!
This little house is mine!
Paid the deposit earlier today, will do the paperwork with the solicitor tomorrow.
I’ve named the place
“Dunmovin”
brings tears of joy to my eyes every time I write it!
The stars have aligned with Old Man Crow’s spirit riding the wild winds that are blowing…
Magic Days!
It's Crow Time 