The weather has turned really warm today - 27deg - which is very nice! I wandered around the garden this morning having a "Smellathon" among the roses, what a delightful way to spend an hour! They were all looking perfect and ready to pose for photos, but the light was too harsh and I decided to wait till late afternoon. Of course by then the blooms had blown and I missed some. Never mind, hopefully there will be more. I know what I SHOULD do, and that's get up early and do my photography - but I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON!

I am having to be very patient at the moment, I mustn't upload my photos till next Weds, the 4th, as I'm going over my monthly MB limit again! My last provider only charged for the downloads, not the uploads, I'm having trouble adjusting to it!

Yesterday I harvested potatoes from 2 of my bins and was pleasantly surprised to get 4.6 kg. They are so delicious !!

The irises are still putting on a show, I am so thrilled with them. If you stand by the iris bed the sweet perfume is divine!

It's been a struggle to get back on here. I changed my email address and it wouldn't work with my old password. Then I changed the password and name of the blog and of course I am now a new blogger! No previous posts attached here any more. BLAH!!!

I last posted on Oct 21 09.

In pite of thinking it is a waste of time I have sprayed the roses AGAIN with Triforine on the 23rd. Since then I have picked off a fair amount of black spot leaves but maybe less than before. They are starting to bloom seriously now, and it's a treat to see new ones every day. Brass Band is in bloom for the first time here, and it is BRIGHT! Thinking I'll cut a couple and bring them inside to save on electricity LOL! I have 2 new WS2000, one was an order from Treloars and one is a replacement for the first because the roots arrived damaged. Both have been sulking but a few tiny leaves are slowly appearing. I'm not expecting much joy from either. Abraham Darby hasn't even tried to leaf yet but is still alive. Othello is wonderful at last, huge blooms and a knockout perfume! I thought he'd never come good. Maurice Utrillo is a new one this year, and very nice too! He's a Delbard and you can see he is related to Alfred Sisley and Paul Cezanne, very nice indeed!

The irises are exciting, being my new passion this year although it started last year really. Every day it's a quick dash to the bedroom window in the morning to see if a new one has opened! They are so beautiful and the colours are amazing. Faint Praise was the first of the new ones to open, followed by Gaelic Jig, G'Day Mate, Boudoir, Babylon Queen and Pond Lily. I don't know which is my favourite so far, maybe Pond Lily or babylon Queen. There are a lot of buds still on the early ones - WooHoo!!

The vegie gardens are doing well, the new tomato bed seems to be working well, all the tommies and lettuces and mustard greens are growing :)

The blueberries and Raspberries are in flower - must net them soon! The cherry has a good load of fruit and Mrs Blackbird has built her nest in a spot to keep an eye on it - on top of the meter box beside the front door! We had to take the nest off there several times at the weekend as we had a power failure, but she returned to it as soon as we put it back.