More than I can chew

Deciding to tackle the bougainvillea and actually doing it are two quite remote things. In full protective gear I began the assault on Saturday morning, and by lunchtime had to admit that perhaps the tortoise approach might be a better option. No hiring a skip and knocking over the job in a weekend, this is one enormous tangle of skin lacerating jungle the size of a large 4x4, interwoven through the pergola and threatening to take half the house down with it. Nope, a careful snip and saw here and there over the next few weekends may be the only way to save the plant, its shade effect and the fixtures. Meanwhile I get RSI chopping it up small enough to send off in the wheelie bin. I'm sitting here looking out the window at the behemoth and I can assure you I am not thinking good karma right now! The aphids are sucking away, but they seem to be surrounded by small insects with wings which I am hoping are the wasps that like to lay their eggs in aphids so the babies can feed off them. This of course means curtains for the aphids, RIP. I just love nature when it's in harmony, especially since I got to harvest my first broccoli this week. I can't even describe how fantastic it is to make an omelette using just veges and herbs from the garden, and of course the eggs are home grown too. My antioxidant levels must be sky high!!

We have had even more rain, with yesterday being very unusual for Geraldton where it literally rained all day and half the night. For a town that is almost famous for only raining at night, this is seriously inconvenient as I have to find a raincoat, and even a brolley!! I already have 2 full rainwater tanks but I could easily have filled a third one this year, and apparently there's more rain coming! Then I discover that there are two dead whales washed up on our local beaches, plus the one in Perth, so perhaps there's something weird going on.

I have started watching windsurfing videos, in preparation for the start of the season. I am particularly enamoured with the one about forward loops! This is going to become an obsession this summer and I am threatening to take Kate along as well. More girls looping the better I say! Many of my friends are heading off to Exmouth and Gnarloo to catch the early season winds up north, but I'm just going to have to wait it out here - to be perfectly honest I couldn't be bothered with a trip north at the moment.

Besides, I've broccoli to harvest!