Easter celebrations!

I'm so excited to share this post with you! So many positive things happening, and I for one am thrilled :)

But don't just take my word for it, check these out...

It's Easter egg hunting time! 

Love this Easter bunting across the entrance.

Cute bunny feet lead the way.

This way!

Balloons mark the treasures.

Kids everywhere! Love it!

To see others using the garden for social, fun things really, really blesses me. Though sick at home, when my eldest daughter sent me some pics, I was instantly cheered up. The garden is being used to create fun memories!!!

Now, onto other things. Thanks so, so much to Paul, who gave up his Good Friday to weed this area. And what an incredible job too! Saved me so much stress. All I need to do is mulch and water now.

Except for the daisies, which clearly do not enjoy being submerged in murky water, the other plants are bouncing back to life. Yay!

Even the agapanthus are bursting with bright green new growth after being completely submerged in the floodwater.

My man is amazing. Just because I'd been feeling down recently, and always wanted a veggie garden, he decided Friday was the day to build it.

Paul also put in a phenomenal day and not only cleaned up, but also helped build with hubby.

Of course, heavy lifting was not an option for me, so me and my cute little helper got onto other tasks, like weeding, pruning, planting and watering.

Framework getting assembled.

Taking shape!

Hubby drilling things into place.

The beds are actually quite huge.

Back to the front garden, and here, a marigold reseeded itself and is blooming quite happily.

Love plants that thrive on neglect :)

Some more happy, neglected flowers.

After tidying up the hedges and weeding, my sweet girl helped me plant 'nuts', otherwise known as Jonquil bulbs :) Hopefully, by the end of winter, this blank patch of dirt will be filled with heavenly scented blooms.

Some more sawing, and the frame is nearly done.

With the frame in place, Paul begins laying the paver pathway. 

While the path was going in, I went for a little walk to explore. The garden is growing well after the floods. The mother-in-law's-tongue in the left foreground has started sending up new shoots, meaning the slope will be stable soon.

And, here it is, the almost ready to plant out veggie garden! A few bits and pieces of cut pavers need to go in, the grass needs turning and removing, and then, some quality dirt will be added so it's ready for planting.

Hubby and my sweet girl checking out the new pathway that leads around the garden. So exciting to see this much progress in one day!

 The lattice will be attached to the wall so vines can grow up it. Soon, this space will be bursting with herbs, edible flowers and veggies!!!

Watch this space!

And there you have it, a lotta positive progress, cute kids and Easter hunts. Can't wait to bring you much more soon!

Thanks for reading :)

Kingscliff Community Gardens: Floods! the garden is under water

I'm quite sure there aren't many of you who haven't heard about Cyclone Debbie or the extensive flooding that has hit northern NSW.

Honestly, it has been catastrophic for so many people. My initial response to the cyclone was casual. I've lived here for years, and almost everyone knows that a cyclone up north usually means heavy winds and rain a few days later down our way. A road may flood, it's a bit annoying, but it's no big deal.

Until now.

As I do this community garden post, the problems we face are absolutely trivial in light of what has happened. 

I'm still processing the damage that has occurred, and like most people, am helping in whatever way I can. Between us, hubby and I have donated time and money. Whatever you can give goes a long way- and help is still needed. Some people here have lost everything they owned, save the clothes on their back.

Some have even lost loved ones.

What does shine through though is how absolutely awesome our community is. Everyone wants to help out. It's a time to band together, and we are doing that well.

This is the back of my home. Never before have I seen the water level this high. I am so grateful there is a few metre drop behind our home, so this water didn't make it in.

The water came to the top of the long grass, centimeters away from spilling over into our yards.

This is the pathway and slope of the gardens. The slope is ebbed by floodwater. The path is under there somewhere.

The bridge handrails are just keeping themselves above water.

 

The slope from another angle. I can't see my bottlebrush shrubs at all :(

The bench is half underwater. The garden beds are almost completely submerged.

 

The pathway to the garden, leading to a murky brown lake.

 

Post floods, and the sludgy, smelly aftermath is revealed. The once white bridge needs a clean.

Drying out, but no where near dry yet. The ground is extremely boggy.

There are a few tyres stranded here and there.

Lots of debris, and a few large branches down, but nothing that can't be fixed.

This garden bed fared quite well. A blown away tarp is an easy fix!

The bridge is a little off balance, and this picnic table needs taking to with some hot, soapy water and a broom to brighten it up. 

Another stray tyre. The only issue with this garden is the explosion of weeds. That's a relatively easy fix also.

The chess board is still intact. Credit to hubby's skills! Like everything else, it just needs a good clean.

There is a large tree down near the bike track. I understand I'm shouting into the wind here, but parents, please keep your kids away until it's safe. We've already noticed tyres have been moved. It's an unstable area we aren't venturing near ourselves until the ground is less boggy. 

I'm yet to see what damage has occurred to the hardest hit garden beds. It's not my first natural disaster. I've seen plants regrow after raging bush fires. Nature is inspirational. Not sure what to expect after this however. Some plants look half dead, but I'm giving them a couple of weeks to see if they bounce back. I'm glad I planted drought proof plants. Didn't think to check about the flood proof rating though. 

Until the ground dries out, I am concentrating my efforts on planting the spring bulbs up the top, and weeding the slope and side garden. If any one is reading this and would like to offer some help to weed, you are more than welcome!

There you have it, a big job ahead. Considering what we started with last year, I know we can do this! The garden will flourish and be a blessing for many. Setbacks are just that, they aren't a full stop.

Kingscliff Community Gardens : update: New slab & rain, glorious rain.

Rain, glorious rain. Except for the abundance of weeds that are also thriving in this weather, the gardens have never looked better. After a very long, extremely hot summer, autumn is finally delivering. Granted, things haven't cooled much, but the heat does help things really grow, especially after repeated soakings.

Confessions, I've barely lifted a finger to help out at the gardens this week. Or much of last week either. Mega fatigue, a medication change on top of a toddler not sleeping= can't go there. 

I do have some bulbs awaiting planting. I have researched the best time/ way to plant them in both a warm climate and sandy soil. So, they aren't going in until mid April, or the heat may kill them.

It looks like hubby and I will have to revisit the carpet store in order to cope with the volume of weeds erupting after all these rains. It can almost seem overwhelming. In reality, it's a few hours of dedicated work, or half a day at best. I'm also not apposed to weed spraying. When no rain is due of course. That may take a while. Think I prayed too hard!

Now, to the new slab, which wasn't without its challenges. The heavens delivered too much of a good thing...directly after the slab had been smoothed to glass like perfection. Despite the weather saying otherwise, it absolutely bucketed down without mercy. Wish I was exaggerating.

At one point, I had to leave to buy the guys some well earned lunch. It was disheartening to say the least, driving down the street and watching concrete flowing like a river a few hundred metres along the road. 

Take a look at these pics...

The concrete truck arrived to deliver load after load. Yes, the skies are grey. They were this grey the day before, but barely a drop fell from the sky.

Josh and Pete getting into it, boots and all :)

Here are all the guys hard at work: Josh doing the leveling. Hubby, Luke and Pete doing the shoveling.

....and, after all that amazing work had been done, this happened.

Hubby and Josh made a quick dash to Bunnings to get some tarp. Once it was on, the rain got so much heavier.

Yes, that is a river in the car park, and yes, so much concrete did wash down the road :(

Josh came back when the rain cleared, and used this to help flatten and reset the surface.

HUGE shout out to this incredible man, who is from another church and used his professional skills for free. Just to help out.

One of my favourite scriptures talks of doing good to others, especially those in the family of believers.

This guy obviously lives out of that, 

which is totally awesome to see in action.

What a servant heart.

And now, we are onto this weeks happenings.

Once again, darling Poppa Ian is back to help install his picket fence.

Honestly, love this man's wisdom, heart for God and His house, and continued dedication to both spiritual and practical concerns.

He's an inspiration to both myself and hubby.

Despite a little bit of vandalism-a few pickets kicked out- the fence is continuing along. 

This place WILL be transformed, 

and will be a blessing for generations to come!

Awesome Paul, doing it tough in the sun, leveling out the dirt that was removed to create the slab. This guy's work ethic is an inspiration also, and no task is too big for him to tackle.

Much respect.

Shane also did a brilliant job trimming the grass this morning too.

I'm happy the slab looks as good as it does. Despite many obstacles, it's firmly in place now, and looks great.

The creek has water. It's awesome to have a bridge to take this photo from now, instead of being knee deep in icky creek water.

We have been given a lot more tyres. Kind of unsure if we should bother making a bike track, or continue to let the local kids rearrange them for us. 

I figure, if they are doing this, at least they're getting exercise and using creativity!

At last, one of my bougainvilleas is flowering. This is a dwarf variety.

These aren't dwarf at all! Their growth is crazy, which is great! The one in the distance has been pruned twice in the last month alone. 

The bonus of this is, the weeds soon won't have a chance :)

And there you have it, a pretty impressive amount of progress yet again. Stayed tuned, plenty more to come!