Watermelon Summer

We've never tried to grow watermelons........Tasmania's climate is just too cool to try growing things like that - we thought. A couple of months ago Bob came home from a trip to the nursery with a couple of melon seedlings....."to throw in the greenhouse and see what happens". No expectations. Well, it did happen! One day I was watering in there and a saw several large, green, globular objects.....MELONS! They had seemingly appeared overnight.

I had no idea about how to tell when they were ripe, so they just sat there looking green and smug, swelling slightly by the day. then someone told me to knock them, and when they sound hollow, they are ripe. So I did that, and with great trepidation harvested the first one last night.....and I must say it was astounding - so delicious!

Grandson Laurence about to take the first-ever bite!

And here are a couple of little projects I have completed in the last little while.

With some friends!

Did I ever mention that I love my job?

Summer Produce

We are really reaping the benefit of all the effort put into improving our vegetable garden - produce coming out of our ears! It is a great feeling to be able to almost by-pass the fresh produce section of the supermarket and to be able to go out into the garden and pick fresh what will be needed for the evening meal.
Beautiful, pungent, glossy-fresh blackcurrants, destined to become blackcurrant jelly:

And aromatic, tangy, zesty tomatoes, so unlike the tasteless object known as a "tomato" that is available in stores. Store tomatoes only LOOK like tomatoes - in no way is the flavour the same as these home-grown beauties! These will be made into tomato relish. I have so many this summer that I should be able to bottle some and make sauce as well.

Picking Up The Brush

For quite a while I have had a strong desire to do some paintings again........it's been a while!

Here are some small still life paintings that I have done in recent days to brush up on my skills.

These simple studies of fruit and eggs and the interplay of light and shade were great fun to do......I can really lose myself when I paint.