A few weeks ago I was terrified that there would be no growth in my garden come the Centenary weekend when the Convent will be open to the public. A little rain, some wonderful sunny weather and maybe a bit of the TLC kicking in has made a huge difference.
Manchurian Pear – just over a year old. Nice to see the green growth.
Remembering that I only bought the place second quarter of last year and have only been here permanently since November, most of the garden is new and many plants have not flowered or even had leaves on before, so it’s hugely exciting to see plants come up, flower and leaf for the first time. Some of those that have already been in for a season are not disappointing and it’s astounding to see all the new growth.
One of two arching Mr Lincoln’s. Great new growth.
I already have some emerging stars. The Daphne Genkwa is stunning – just full lilac blooms and no green in sight. It will be finished before the garden is open, but I’m learning to enjoy the plants at their peak rather than wishing they would hold on for a few more weeks. I’m sure there will still be delights in the garden for the October long weekend celebrations.
In the meantime, much will be up to Mother Nature – I can only assist with watering, feeding, weeding and general cleaning up duties at this point.
Florence Mann – the sole rhododendronAlphone Anderson – part of a selection of older style large azaleasThe central bed constantly changes – ranunculus and anemones with lots of interesting things self-seeding including cornflowers and white cosmos
Last night I did the country music thing with some Sydney friends. Every few months some of the intrepid locals organise a country music night at one of the village halls with live music and a country hospitality style feed. To make it even better, local buses pick up and drop people off at their doorsteps.
Ilford Hall
Ilford is a tiny village around 20ks from Kandos – no shops just a local community with a hall down a country road surrounded by paddocks. Locals told us that in true community spirit, the hall was built during the day and a dance held that same night.
The country music night kicked off with supper – for $3 you had a choice of sausage sizzle laden with caramelised onion or a delicious lamb stew topped with mashed potato. We were warned to hold off overdoing it as supper was still to come.
The group playing was Peter Coad and the Coad sisters – and how talented were they!?! Obviously a group that had much more than made their name at Tamworth having performed widely in the States with many of the top line C&W Nashville greats. I’ve always said, “never underestimate the drummer” and it could not have been more true in this case with the drummer, Jim Hermel, turning out to be a guitar virtuoso, although the jury is still out on whether he was better than his talented wife, Virginia.
After a generous session, we broke for supper which turned out to be a lip-smacking country hospitality style spread of hot finger food, cakes and slices, including much to my Sydney visitor’s delight, scones with jam and cream. Back for some more rollicking music. After so much more than our money’s worth of three hours of toe tapping, foot stomping singalong music, the night came to a reluctant end. The band were still going strong with as much of an adrenaline rush as they had started the night. Fantastic value.
As we boarded the bus back home on a cold dark and damp night, I couldn’t help but reflect as my name was called out during the roll call (God forbid if anyone missed the bus back home!) how much my life has changed over the past two years and that I wouldn’t have missed a minute of it.
Just a regular prunus, however this was in such poor condition when I moved in that a number of neighbours encouraged me to have it removed with the other shrubs. So glad I gave it a few more years to turn around.
… and what a beautiful day it was.
It’s now so rewarding to be working in the garden as the results pay off visibly and quickly.
Two Manchurian Pears flank the front entry path. So pretty blossoming, but please now just grow!
Here’s a few glimpses of the garden responding to the new season of growth. Remember that all these plants are very new. Most plants are only a year or less old.
One of the azaleas – they seem to be doing so well but have only been planted throughout the year.
The Quince is gunning it – one of the ‘oldest’ plants, seeing its second spring.
A daffodil show. Nice to see you all coming up!
Madame Alfred Carriere – first with new buds and dong the right thing by reaching over the wall
Having a dose of the flu has meant inside down time. Could be worse – it’s been pretty cold, anyway. The upside for a knitter means more knitting.
I’ve been thinking through stock for my market stall now that warmer weather is approaching. I’ve committed to a few bigger one-off markets and am making a few adjustments. Up until now, I’ve kept away from baby stuff – mainly as so many others do this and it’s just not what I usually knit. However I had a decent collection of Sirdar Baby Bamboo in striking strong colours (and it takes up so much space with those ridiculous large cardboard inserts) so I thought I’d add a set of brightly coloured beanies. I’m happy with this lot so will knit up the rest of the stash.
I’ve also had so many queries about the lace shawls that I thought I’d see how a few fare. This also helps me indulge my first love of lace knitting and encourage others to have a try. I have one shawl blocking at present and another about to go under the wires.
The markets will be a good test ground and I’m expecting lots of out-of-towners for the Rylstone StreetFeast and the Heritage Train in Kandos. I’m also now working on an extended version of my knitting enterprise, which is very exciting.
We are now in the countdown to Spring, which means a focus on the garden – quite a contrast to my first sleepy mid Winter in residence here in Kandos.
The last few weeks has since me increasing my time outside – weeding, clearing, pruning, feeding and mulching and, of course, planting. The Convent will be on show for the Centenary Celebrations over the long weekend in October and again for Cementa_15 in April. To ensure the garden makes an impact, I’ve been planting out existing beds and creating a few new or extended areas.
For anyone who saw the place last year, the startling difference will be the privet demolition – not sure if it will have started to strike shoots by October. The roses were also so new before. Hopefully they will now get a kick-along and be a little showy for the garden opening.
I kept seeds from last years’ flowers and am sewing these in the hope of some success. The garden work is substantially different from this time last year when it was hard graft digging and laying new garden beds and so much planting. This time around, there’s still some planting but to a greatly reduced degree and really mainly focussing on now filling in the “in-between” areas. However I wouldn’t underestimate the work in pruning, clearing up, mulching and feeding. I always wondered what people would buy the ginormous 10k buckets of rose food and now admit I’ve turned into one of those people. I think I’ve already used 6 bales of straw mulch – and I only use that on some of my garden beds. I’m also up to around 5 large bags of Eucy mulch and reminder for next year – at least 6 large bags of pine bark mulch for the back bed. There’s also probably half a dozen bags of Dynamic Lifter in the garden, much to the dogs’ delight!
Popcorn loves a good raised garden bed with friable soil!He’s also partial to pot toppling. This one had Fuchsia cuttings.
The dogs love being out in the garden with me and all have their different interests. Tango oversees hole digging, to the point that I can only put the shovel into a hole once and then have to move onto a new area. She’s making sure she doesn’t miss out on any of those tasty grubs! Roxy just plonks herself down where I’m working – not near, actually on. If there’s freshly turned turf, newly planted areas or newly mulched areas, she’s lying there. Popcorn is an expert at the kissing attack. If he sees me kneeling in the garden, you can bet he thinks I’m fair game for a set of sneaky slobbers. He’s also King of the Diggers and, as a big dog, can dig some mighty holes. Of course they all love Dynamic Lifter and act as Hoovers when it’s spread in the garden.
It’s so rewarding to see the plants start to come back to life. Some of the plants I’m yet to see any growth on as they were almost dormant when I planted them, so to watch them through a leafing and flowering period will be exciting – a little like your children’s milestones.
The Delft Blue Hyacinths are lovely but not quite as vibrant as last year.Erlicher Daffodils – the first of the daffodils and always reliable, with a lovely scent.
In the meantime, some of the bulbs are doing their thing – mainly the snowdrops, delft blue hyacinths and Erlicheer daffodils, with a few yellow daffodils beginning to sneak their way in.
Little Snowflakes – dependable and pretty, and the first bulb of the year.
This Blog is now becoming useful to me as a diary to see what the garden was up to last year and when I might expect to see plants in action. I’m hopeful there will be surprises and delights in store that hold on through to April next year.
I’m constantly surprised at the stream of activities here. I’m sure it’s because it’s not the city with a zillion things happening that most of the community supports local events wholeheartedly.
The locals getting into it!
This weekend the brave team at Kandos Events who are responsible for the annual Bob Marley Festival put on the second Kandos Hoedown.
The lovely Kerry Shaw
The concert was held in the Community Hall which is an attractive and imposing building complete with a good stage. Four acts in all provided around five hours of foot-tapping entertainment, including the local Bush Rock, Brooke Cornwall, Kerry Shaw and Dale Hooper, a Johnny Cash tribute singer, as the main act.
Great to see the community support, singsongs and even some dancing. Thanks to Sue, Dave and Mary for their continued efforts on Kandos’ behalf.
The Man in Black – Dale Hooper’s Johnny Cash Tribute, endorsed by the Cash family.
I love glazing a ham. It’s fun and makes a wonderful show piece. The maple syrup also makes such a difference to the taste.
The frosts and open fires seemed like an ideal excuse to get old friends together at the Convent for a Winter Christmas in Kandos.
I enjoy the whole traditional spread at Christmas with the glazed ham, turkey, roast pork, pudding with custard and brandy butter – but somehow it always seems a little out of place in an Australian Summer. Not so in Kandos in Winter where the temperatures get low, the frosts are heavy on the ground and the air smells of warm fireplaces. I’ve also missed seeing some of my friends and our old get-togethers so it seemed like the ideal opportunity. Fortunately most agreed and we had a great weekend of food, drink and friendship.
Is this Convent Cordial I spy?
The garden isn’t at its perkiest to show off and produce is limited, but I managed to salvage some root veg for roasting.
The food was most appropriate – the whole Christmas shebang. Roast pork (with crackling), maple glazed ham, turkey breast filled with cranberries, spinach and pistachios (I don’t think I’d now try a whole turkey again – the breast is fantastic- slices well, looks amazing, cooks faster and more reliably and is easier to control to make sure it remains moist. You can still fill it with any type of seasoning or stuffing), all the trimmings of homemade apple sauce and cranberry jelly, mountains of roast veg, including a potato bake. Rich gravy made ahead courtesy of Jamie Oliver. Dessert was a steamed pudding, accompanied by brandy custard and brandy butter, as well as a very Christmassy raspberry semifredo. A Sri Lankan Christmas cake using preserved chow chow (chokes) topped off the celebrations, all washed down with lots of lovely bottles of alcohol. I think we now have Convent Cordial as a staple – Mrs Wigley’s Rose!
Yummy stuffed turkey breast.
Many thanks to my friend G for all her help and contributions and, of course, to my friends for their own contributions, company and good cheer. I hope to see them much more often – either individually or as a group. It’s so important to keep old friends after moving out of Sydney and hopefully I can offer a happy change of pace here at the Convent.
Now it’s Winter, I’ve been tidying up around the garden and planning next steps. Somehow these seem so much harder than my previous plans. I guess I’ve done the obvious. The garden was a blank canvas, so I’ve made beds around the property and filled in some obvious spaces, but now I need much more discipline and planning to go to the next level, with form and structure, rather than just ad hoc plantings.
This has set me back a little as the stakes are now getting higher. I’d like at some point for the gardens to participate in the Open Garden scheme and know that I’ll be metaphorically standing alongside magnificent and inspiring gardens. I don’t want major structural overhauls of the garden but want to plan out a garden that has structure, form and interest whilst looking like it belongs to the Convent.
I’m happy with the beds I’ve put in place, and I think the smaller backyard is in good shape. But it’s a big block with a sparse front yard and a large, imposing and somewhat stark building at present.
Phase one – the privet experiment was a section that was cut back hard. Success, with good clippable growth springing back.Phase two of the privet demolition.
I know how I work and am unlikely to have a grand concept for the entire property (remembering I still have an untouched paddock next door), so am working in sections. I’d like a few areas that are clearly structured and identifiable. The privet is due to come down this week and that will make a world of difference to the property – tidying it up, opening up areas for planning, but also making it even more bare and stark. The privet experiment has proven that it will adapt back to being a neat trimmed hedge along the old galvanised fence, providing a level of formality that was once evident but has been sadly lacking for decades. It will also provide the framework for planting big old ramblers and climbers over the character timber and galvanised fence. And I’ll soften the front of the hedge with low plantings.
An ugly little corner.
The other area to be adapted is the front left corner, which I intend to turn into a small grove, giving me a shaded corner in an otherwise expansive and exposed front garden. My current thought is to put in a small grove of maybe five silver birches, mulched underneath and planted out with white hellebores. I’m gradually expanding the right side fence bed, so with all those plans, I think this will keep me occupied for a while – and give visitors something new to see when the garden is again open to the public.
It will still leave me with the challenge that the garden is still calling for more internal garden beds, rather than fringing the property, but I’ll get the other sections established first …
At present I’m devouring gardening books and looking at as many gardens as possible – determining what I like and why and what I don’t think will work so well, being particularly mindful of my climate. It’s rewarding and fun but also a not insignificant challenge.
Ground zero – just over a year ago.Filling out but still so much more in the works.
Now I’m permanently settled, it’s time to get more involved locally – to keep myself busy with activities, as well as meet more people and contribute to the local community. I’m very fortunate that a good friend has also taken the bold step of moving from city life to Kandos so I have a partner in crime, although everyone here is very welcoming.
After the Bread and Pizza making classes in Mudgee, I’ve joined Mudgee Fine Foods, which host the monthly Farmers Market and organises Farm Walks. The last visit to the Farmers Market yielded a bounty of local produce, including amazing paddock to plate cured meats from Pipeclay Pumphouse. I came away with truffle salami, coppa and pork terrine. You need to get in early for the proscuitto.
My friend and I also popped in for a warm welcome at Mudgee Knitters’ Guild which I think will become a regular outing and we’ve also joined the local CWA. All of which are noble country pursuits. Combined with Museum duties and potentially gardening activities, not to mention my Rylstone Artisan Markets monthly stall, should see me well occupied for some time.
Beanies galore! The top ones are new. Hoping the spiral Noro beanies are a hit.
After my recent successes at the Rylstone Artisan Markets, I have stocked up heavily (which has also meant lots of knitting). My big sellers to date have been the lacy mohair and silk scarves as well as the fingerless mitts, with beanie sales increasing now the weather is chilly.
And of course lots of mitts for frozen hands. Good for a cold Winter Market day.
This is the first “Winter” market and I’m hoping to continue my fortunate streak. This time I’ve added a stack of Noro beanies – spiral and plain, as well as a bumper load of mitts in gorgeous yarns. The markets let me indulge, with my main yarns so far being Rowan Silk Haze, Noro – Kureyon and Silk Garden, and for the linen stitch scarves a bit of a mix with alpaca, merino and mohair blends. Peartree is wonderful to work with and provides a great finished item. This month I’ve experimented with Madelinetosh Sock yarn and I’m also using some of the wonderful vintage Lush hand dyed yarns I bought a few years ago. It’s rewarding to be playing with a stash that I’ve been building up.
Linen stitch scarves – such a different woven texture to normal knitting. These let me play with wonderful colour and texture combinations.
Nippy weather usually means cold fingers and ears – making the mitts in particular popular items, with mitts and beanies usually donned on the spot.
I now have a much better sense of how to set up for the markets and what people like and I’m also very pleased with how my stall looks. I’ll let you know how I go this round.
Fishnet lace scarves in a silk/kid mohair blend that could float away in a breeze. These have been popular as gifts, particularly to post or take overseas.
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