We discovered we have a magnolia tree!

Fruit trees are blossoming. This is some member of the plum family.

I’m using the greenhouse for some of my seed starting. Here are some baby pumpkins pushing through.

Inside, we have alot of baby tomatoes and chilis.

The chickens have had a rough couple of weeks. We had to euthanise one due to illness. Then the remaining ones had the bejeepers frightened out of them by a dog – a worker from the section next door had brought his dog to work and let it run loose around the neighbourhood. One chook ended up on top of the greenhouse, one under the veranda, and one cowering behind some rose bushes. All were unharmed and it was made very clear that loose dogs were not welcome. Finally we decided to move the coop a bit, not very far (we thought) but far enough that the chooks went to bed in an apple tree and had to be caught one by one and reintroduced to their home.

Amidst all this the little troopers have kept laying!

We have had some really great weather this week. May 1st is a public holiday here and was quite crazily hot. Anneli and I were out in the vege patch with our sunhats on, though I managed to get pink on the arms.