the photos I promised the other day.... of my 'serendipitous sunflower'

and my very favorite little person with Noir (the most patient cat on earth, maybe second only to Jayne's cat)

and our garden improvements, still under way now that I'm not-kicked-out of the country!

Okay, so here is a wide shot showing the back of the house, the driveway and the rather sad remains of the last folks attempt to keep the garden bed in check. The little wood edge was the first to go. All the plants that were in the way were dug up and are awaiting transplant. The rusty looking ate on the far right, is actually period and with a good sandblast and some paint will be good as new! The bobcat is plowing a new path through the garden bed, to enlarge the bed area for the maple in the right corner which currently only has a small strip and can't get enough water. All the bricks are being ripped up and recyled as edging. There will be a gate-house insterted and a pretty post and heritage wire fence. To get an idea of the kind of gate house I mean... check at the bottom of this page: http://www.auburnwoodturning.com.au/Gates.htm I love the pretty finials, gable ends and barge boards! Fence will be like this:http://www.emuwire.com.au/FAQ.htm

Here is the start to the new path. A bolt on the bobcat wheel broke so they only got the first meter or so of it done. The oak leaf ivy (green mound on the edge of the dug bit) is being retained as a heritage plant.

This shows better the area that will be changed where the bricks are. The curves show the new edges of the bed while between them will be a path of lilydale toppings (not those though, one that's similar but more sustainable) and the circle-in-a-square represents where I'll be putting a big urn that will have plants in it as well to act to block people from entering through the mudroom entry which is just beyond the bins but instead keep them coming along the path to the front door. There will also be screening put up to hide the gas tanks and bin area.

Last one, basically quite similar, just showing mostly how the view will look from the new path. The post in the middle of the pic is ripped up and is going to be the center-point for the new path and center of the view from the gate-house.