pommepal

Changing seasons : March 2019

I spent 40 formative years in New Zealand and left behind a son and daughter when I moved to Australia. So obviously have an excuse to go back often for a visit

I have just returned from 4 idyllic weeks spending time with my family in this country I love. The weather was perfect, sun every day, mid 20’s temperature, no humidity and dropping to 12 to 14deg for a comfortable nights sleep snuggled under the blankets.

But the farmers are not happy, with no rain for weeks the grass has stopped growing and the land is cloaked in brown instead of the usual green.

I know only too well that feeling of sadness as plants wither in the garden and watering is a daily chore and I wonder how our garden is coping back in Australia.

But it is like a role reversal. When I arrived home, 3 days ago, it was to a wet, chilly and very green country. It had rained almost every day during the 4 weeks we were away and the growth was phenomenal. Everything in the garden had not only survived but thrived and it was like a jungle.

Yesterday it was another stormy day making it 22 days out of 30 that it rained, with a total of 209mm for the month.(Our house sitter kindly kept a record for us and did a great job of looking after everything.)

As the day ended and the rain stopped I looked out to see this amazing rainbow.Quickly grabbing the camera we rushed down to the end of the street to watch in awe as the sun created a magical display of glowing, vibrant colours and set Pelican Lake on fire.

Today the sun came out and everything is sparkling. So it was on with the gardening gloves and out with the pruning shears and secateurs. I will soon have a heap of material for the compost heap.

So ends March, another very changeable month

56 comments

  1. I bet you are glad to be back and in your own bed again. At least with the rain the plants have grown and you can cut them back, worse is the dry when they die and there is nothing you can do, I hadn’t realised you have a lawn? Or is that at the front of the house with all the palm trees still. The sunset photo over the lake is magic!

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    • Yes good to be back jude. Been back 5 days now and already the visit is slipping into the background of memories. We do have just a small piece of lawn at the front and we are lucky to have good neighbours who mow it for us when he does his lawn.. we were awestruck with that sunset, it had been a very stormy and sultry day so we dashed down to the end of the street to get those shots, definitely magical

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  8. Lovely to see your garden not only survived your absence, but enjoyed lots of lovely rain. Speaking of which … it has finally arrived here. The first truly wet Auckland day in months. 🙂

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  10. It’s wonderful to visit the kids, but really nice to be home I bet. The rainbow and sunset were stunning! They must have been glorious being there.

    The garden does look lush! I don’t envy you the pruning. I’ve got a lot of weeding to do myself as we too have had a lot of rain this month.

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  11. So strange to see NZ looking deprived of water. I’m glad you enjoyed your trip there. I’m feeling as though it’s time we took another holiday over there.
    What a difference between our climates, yours being subtropical and your garden so lush. We’ve had good rain too- very lucky as others weren’t so fortunate.

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    • Great gardening weather Jane, the soil is perfectly wet and ready for all the autumn planting I’m planning when we get back from our next short trip away. And it is still raining.

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    • It was definitely role reversal with NZ feeling so much like my part of Australia. Then when I arrived home it was so green and damp felt just like I had travelled back to NZ. Very strange. But our garden loved it. After 2 days of sun the rain is back….

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  13. I have had friends joke about me leaving a particular place when it is time to go. I am a native of California, and with the exception of less than less than three months in Oklahoma and a few weeks in Oregon, have always lived here, but have never experienced even a moderate earthquake. The Loma Prieta Earthquake that trashed Los Gatos in 1989 happened just after I had left for San Luis Obispo. Because the radio station went dead, I did not know about it until I got back to San Luis Obispo, where everyone was gathered around televisions watching what was going on where I had just been! The Northridge Earthquake that caused so much damage in Beverly Hills in 1994 likewise happened just a few hours after I left. It was in the news by the time I got home! In 2014, the Napa Earthquake happened the day after I left the region. Goodness! It got worse. Oklahoma does not get earthquakes, but the precise spot I was in started getting MANY small earthquakes (caused by fracking) just shortly after I left! Then, the home I lived in was destroyed by a tornado associated with the cluster of small tornadoes that preceded the massive Moore Tornado of 2013! I should just stay home! If I go, I never know what I will come home to.

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    • Oh my you seem to have lived a charmed life just missing all that devastation by a cats whisker. Must be scary to be caught up in any of those catastrophes. We don’t get earthquakes here and cyclones/tornadoes tend to blow out to sea before hitting us. But fingers crossed because with changing climates and weather patterns anything could happen

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  14. I’ve had my hands full lately, Pauline, but it’s nice to find time to come visiting again. Mick’s gone off to get a slow puncture fixed 🙂 🙂 Our youngsters weren’t too fortunate with the weather but it was wonderful to see them. Sad now it’s over.

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  16. Came to see if I’d missed you posting as I have been busy in the garden and neglecting the blogging world somewhat. Glad to find I haven’t and that you have been busy sketching. Hope we will see more of your wonderful art work on here and of course more of your delightful garden. Love to you and Jack xx

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    • Lovely to hear from you jude. I’ve been out and about the past few weeks and blogging not been a priority but I’ve been occasionally checking in on the reader, but not been leaving many comments. Major garden Reno happening at the moment. Will be back soon though. Hope you are having a peaceful Easter

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  17. Welcome home – really started to miss you now, even if I knew where you were heading! Glad you had a great time and a jungle to return to. I feel a bit sad for NZ and the drought. We have the same here, and temperatures way too high for April. I am dreading a new summer like the last one. Hot, dry and hopeless for the farmers. Glad to see your beautiful your garden again! Send my love to Jack as well.

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  19. Wow a month of rain ! Looks so gorgeous though Pauline . I love wild unhampered gardens but know if it’s left too long taming it back can be a daunting task. And back breaking !
    Sounds like you’ve really embraced your artistic side Pauline . Such an intensive workshop must have been challenging yes, but fun as you say .
    How lovely both you and Jack took part 🙂
    About to peer through your jungle now in tbe next post Lol …

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    • The garden was certainly wild and unhampered, a good description, but is getting well under control now. It is autumn here and pruning time. We have a mulching machine and We now have a big heap of slowly decaying compost

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