In with the new

H and I had a nice old time today, driving around Canberra and getting completely lost, but then finding ourselves again. We stopped in at the Mugga Lane tip where they have a place called Aussie Junk (it used to be called Revolve which I think is a much better name but never mind) where they sell things that have been dumped off to go in the tip but have been deemed worthy of rebirth. H got a stack of seedling pots for free when we were going to pay for them at the shops. And I bought this cute ceramic lamp base which I'm guessing is from about the 70s, maybe 60s. The wiring's been redone so it's hard to tell. I was thinking I would try making a shade for it myself out of some Amy Butler fabric I've been coveting.

We put the seedling pots to use by planting carrots and radishes. I'll keep you posted on how they're doing. Here they are on Day One:

I put some carrots in the ground the other day but wasn't sure if they'd make it in this dry climate and harsh sun, but it seems a few are toughing it out and poking their little heads up. There are some things doing very well though. I noticed a tiny withering pumpkin plant when we arrived and started watering it about a week and a half ago. In that time it has from barely noticeable to megalomaniac triffid, with the ability to walk:

And yeah, it really does walk. It used its creepers to move itself about two feet to the right yesterday evening - clearly it had some place to be. I like a plant that displays strategic thinking. And it's growing about half a foot longer each day. There's about another month and a half I think before we can give up on it producing pumpkins this year, but given that it's now started making the very start of flowers I think we could be in for a small, late harvest.

It seems the flowers are doing nicely on very little rainfall too. Here are a few pics to leave you with.