It's quite a while since I had a holiday, and I'm not likely to be able to have one for some time, so I chose to have a Clayton's holiday in January. (An explanation for those who are not an Aussie: it means 'the holiday you have when you are not having a holiday', based on Clayton's non-alcoholic drink, widely advertised in Australia in the 1970/80's as "the drink you have when you are not having a drink'!)
Apart from staying in bed a little longer whenever I could, I enjoyed just sitting in our lovely patio area, surrounded by the lush greenery,
and checking that the mealy bugs hadn't come near my African Violet.
I bought myself a new fern:
and was surprised how much the air plant had grown:
Our older daughter in Japan finds innovative ways to give presents when she lives so far away. Two years ago, she organised for this aspidistra to arrive by post as a tiny little plant in a cardboard box. It brought great delight this week when it produced its first flower:
Each day I would check on my passionfruit vine, firstly trying to contain it to my side of the fence, and then checking if it was dropping any ripe fruit,
and eagerly watching the new fruit appear.
I needed to do a little bit of work and freeze some passionfruit pulp for later when the vine finishes bearing.
Then it was a quick look at the capsicums,
nip the flowers out of all the basil plants (far too many self-sown plants growing in the pebbles!),
and over to the lemon tree to admire the very good crop this year.
Then out to check how many flowers were on the hibiscus,
and see if any of the cacti were flowering. (They weren't but this is what one of them looks like when it does!):
I did not dust the house for the whole month - unheard of for a perfectionist - but I did play lots of Scrabble games and enjoyed it when I beat the computer. I sure learned a lot of new words but can't remember what any of them mean. If asked, I can always come up with the standard "It's a three-toed sloth" answer!
Our younger daughter was also on holidays so we were able to spend lots of time talking on Skype. I also completed a wall hanging, using one of a designer friend's lovely patterns. But more about that another time!
Keep an eye out for the next instalment in the Gentle Gems 2021 Hexies of the Month programme. Two new patterns will be available next Sunday.
Hope you enjoyed an insight into my Clayton's holiday - I had fun being totally lazy!
Warm regards
Val
