flowers for helen

my trial home alone period went quickly and I surprised myself by enjoying it. I listened to a lot of radio national, prepped the work veggie patch for planting, tidied, cooked, baked, read and went out with friends. as planned, I watched this ballet documentary and loved it.

yesterday I treated myself to some flowers from my favourite florist in town.

today marks my aunt helen's birthday, it's our first without her. during the week I sent a small gift to her family to mark the day. usually my parents mark significant days like this by placing flowers in the river, as a way of remembering people who are no longer with us. instead, I've decided to keep these flowers in the room I use most. it's my favourite room in the house.

around this time last year, my extended family in sydney gathered to celebrate father's day together. helen hosted the event and requested everyone select a song to be played that afternoon, it could be anything, so long as you could bring a copy to play and share what you liked about it.

she chose 'what a wonderful world' by louis armstrong, and my sister would send me a video of her singing it with her family. her song, and all of the others chosen for the day by three generations of family members were played at her memorial service some seven months later.

although I didn't make the lunch, my sister took along my choice and later compiled a CD of all of the songs for us to share, and ultimately treasure.

one of the highlights of my weekend was trip to the local demonstration gardens. I heard they were selling veggies so I wandered down, curious to check out what was beyond the garden's wire fence.

it was a windy morning and only jim, the garden's dedicated caretaker, was around when I arrived. he took me on a tour and showed the chooks that keep his veggies slug free. he picked one up and I patted it, giggling at its softness and compliance.

later, he would walk between the garden beds picking out fresh veggies for me to take home. he pulled them straight from the ground, dusted them off and popped them in my pug bag. I went home with two different types of spinach, some french kale, butter lettuce, mini leeks, a fennel, some coriander, parsley, tarragon and sorrel all for $10!

I would later spend the afternoon washing my veggies and dealing with slugs :s

maybe my biggest achievement this weekend (aside from completing my run despite seeing a dog getting swooped by a magpie ahead of me) was starting and finishing the latest quarterly essay. in the past I've been guilty of buying issues and leaving them untouched on my bookshelf.

tony comes home this morning. and then next weekend we're off to canberra, which will mark the start of his 1 month stint away.