for the garden to get out of control again. You wouldn’t know that I’d tidied it all up for Christmas. G has been home but has not been tending the garden. Besides some well-past-best snowpeas and the weeds, I’m pretty happy with how it has grown, considering their neglect. We arrived home Saturday, and it has been hot since then, but I spent a short time outside today netting the tomatoes. There were some small green tomatoes growing when I left home on Boxing Day, and since G has not picked any and there are only green tomatoes on the vines, I have to assume that the possums or some other animal have been eating them just before they ripen. I had the same problem last year, but it took me longer to figure out. Other than that we have lots of chillis, eggplants, some beans, snow peas and mini-capsicum. The seeds of Love-in-a-Mist that I scattered around in November have sprouted; some are flowering, and our mandarin tree is covered in fruit.

E and his fiancee, K, arrived home from South Africa on Sunday morning. It looks like they are planning for a wedding in February or March next year. Once K’s parents return home from South Africa, I guess the planning will start in earnest. The four of us took Riley to the beach early this morning before it got too hot. It was very still and sticky and the flies were back again. At the start of summer, there were a lot of flies, so many that they pretty much ruined our long-awaited fish and chips at the beach. Then, we had some weeks of respite. I’m wondering whether these flies are the babies of that earlier infestation. Whatever—they are ANNOYING! Other than that it was a good chance to catch up.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. I’m off to tidy up my life, which is not unlike our garden at the moment.