Ruby Tuesday – On Thursday

Hello!
It was time I updated you on a few things in Ruby’s garden. I haven’t been doing much there – rain, shoulder, more rain, cooking a million plums…
Anyway, I made myself popular with Ruby & Margie by taking down one of the choc-raspberry-ice-cream-bites for them to sample.
It was well received indeed!

Ruby has been doing a LOT in the garden. She was really keen to give me the tour and show me. So off she charges – then had to come back for her ‘walking stick’ (you know, whatever is at the back door handy – this time an umbrella!)
And then charges back up the garden path

At less than half her age, am I supposed to be running to catch up shouting ‘wait for me!!’ ???

She has been busy sitting on her milk crate pulling up literally a few barrow loads of weeds – mostly the ones lining the pathways

I got her to stop long enough to pose with one of her barrow-loads full of her handy work!

‘Walking sticks’ are handy to point out all the places one has weeded! (In this case – see all the bits that aren’t green?? That’s the parts she has also cleared!

Pausing to admire the runaway pumpkins. All these have grown from Ruby’s haphazard approach to composting.

Ruby also has a bit of a seed collection hanging in one of the sheds. Broccoli and lettuce.

I shooed her back inside so she could have lunch with Margie while I tackled the remaining potatoes in the potato patch.

With all the family upsets towards the end of the year, the watering got a bit neglected and the potatoes hadn’t done as well as they could have… but there is certainly enough to keep Ruby going for quite a while.

I was also trying to pull the seedy grass and get up what oxalis (mumble mutter grrrrr) that I could

One little quirk of Ruby’s that makes me chuckle is her obsession with making sure her rubbish bin is full to the brim for collection day. Since she pays for this service via her rates she feels she needs to get her moneys worth every week and a partly empty bin is an opportunity wasted!
Since she doesn’t really make enough household waste herself – she is dead set determined to fill the bin up with garden waste!!!

Lovely potatoes. I brought Ruby out to show her and she was extremely pleased! What I don’t have is the photo of her helping me take them into the shed!
“Here – you take the black bucket and I’ll take a side of the green one”
!!!!!!
So, hands full and (nervously) watching Ruby carry half a bucket of potatoes I was unable to get what would have been a sweet action shot!!!

Of course, when all is done and I have washed off a ton of dirt, I get to come in and have a cuppa and a natter

I picked the right day! Ruby, not only weeded everything in sight, but also baked bikkies!! (Biscuits) (Quick translation for my North American Readers. We call crackers and cookies, biscuits. What you call a biscuit is a scone to us.) 🙂 (I love translating English into English)(I could go on with jumpers, peppers, the boot of the car, lollies, daks, cozzies & fairy floss etc but I would be here all night)

Anyway…

Ruby was telling me about a couple who came to visit Tasmania quite some time ago. They had a little girl with spina bifida. Ruby said she would take care of the little girl and her brother while the parents took a rare break and had a little trip around Tassie.
Apparently the travel agent didn’t do a very good job of booking them into sensible places for an efficient and comprehensive look around in the time they had.
Boy, did Ruby sort them out! I was laughing so much hearing how she got them to cancel the bookings and reorganised the whole thing! I interrupted her to say “My gosh Ruby, you were such a bossy-boots!” She had a really good chuckle at that. I looked at her and said “Actually you still are a bossy boots you know!”
She cheerfully admitted it but also fessed up to not being as good at it anymore!!
I love our afternoon stories and laughs! (not to mention the fresh baked biscuits!)

I hope everybodys week is going along fantastically!

Cheers