July 27th. Very cold last night, down to 5.3 this morning. Couldn't get warm in bed and had to keep getting up to pee, which dissipated all the warmth I had built up around myself. Cold weather saps my motivation; I lie in bed thinking about all the chores I have to do, but come daylight, I just can't be bothered, life shrinks down to "Am I warm enough?"

Thinking about summer which seems so far off, I ordered some dahlias on line yesterday. Hard to believe that the garden, now so dreary, will be transformed in another six months into a place of colour (if I do my work right as Head Gardener). Looking at Monty Don's Jewel Garden on youTube as a model. Deep, intense colour is a wonderful mood changer.

A little Vermeer-like reflection of the living room in the mirror. A still-life with cat and wineglass.

 The weather has changed overnight, as expected. Today is raining, but as we used to say "We badly need the rain". We haven't had substantial rain here for about two months; other parts of New Zealand have had torrential rain, but here in Christchurch we are in a rainshadow, protected from the west by the Southern Alps, from the South by Banks Peninsula. All the outdoorsy things I had planned are now put on hold, but at least I have managed to get some of the winter tidyup done. The rain is a good excuse for being lazy!

Since I was here last, some things have changed on Blogger. I am now expected to log on to Google if I want to share pictures, but there is a work-around. My heart would sink when I was working, and asked customers what their email was when they couldn't get into their sites. Google requires such a tedious proof of identity, a bit like the IRD tax system. I can understand it for tax, but for socials - nah. I love the question "Are you a robot?". Of course any self-respecting robot would say no!

                                                    
                                                       "Antique Shades" pansies

 I've had a very pleasant day today. The weather was great, sat in the sun with the cats. Did my laundry, tidied leaves in the garden, brought some flowers into the house. The best part was a flock of seagulls came down to my garage roof, where I had put out some bread and pork fat. They came in on the wind change, such amazing flyers, their white wings lit up by the setting sun. Ate some windfall apples from the Red Delicious tree, watered the bulb pots, started reading a collection of Manet's letters. I've even done tonight's dishes so I can have a dopamine rush first thing tomorrow when I see all the kitchen surfaces clean. Good night, all.

 Slowly getting the garden back into order. I'm revamping the vegetable garden, rearranging the beds and fertilizing and digging them. It used to look really nice a few years ago, but encroaching apricot and fig trees have taken the sun away, so these will have to be cut back if things are to be productive again. The whole garden is now much shadier, which leads to fewer blooms and fruit. I'm planting some tulips in pots so that they can be moved to where the sun is.

Now I'm 24 years older than when I moved in, I find gardening more difficult and tiring now. My back starts to ache, my legs feel weak and I just want to go inside and lie down!

 Out in the garden today, because there's rain on the way tomorrow. Spring bulbs coming up, and a Paper White already in flower. I put a little henge of stones around the bulbs so I know not to dig there. The garden has been let go a lot, so I've been working out there every day. Reminder to self not to let it get so bad.

The good news is that my cat came back! The bad news is that he was injured and had to have a damaged eye removed. Here he is back from the vet, zonked out on painkiller and watching "pictures" on the wall. He has to have a Cone of Shame which we both hate, and my other cat, Millie, was scared of him. She staged a big fluff up and hid under the couch. I hope she will get used to having this "monster" in her house eventually.

It's autumn here now, starting to get colder. Not looking forward to winter at all, we haven't had a summer this year because the weather has been so wet and cool. Will have to buy myself some new slippers and get the heat pump fixed. How exciting.
 

Nerines, also known as spider lilies. These are outside the conservatory. In Japan whole fields of these flower in the autumn, they are like a weed.

No news of my cat. It is very unsettling. I don't know, may never know, what happened to him. Meanwhile war rages in the Middle East, people have died, should I mourn my cat? It feels inconsequential on a world scale, but I knew Thomas so the loss feels personal. People say "He was only a cat" but he was my cat and I love him. I feel like I'm going just a bit crazy at the moment. I'll be glad to be dead, I've had enough of this world and its grief. Asked my Dad to come and get me, but I doubt he hears me. The usual comforts don't seem to be working now - the garden. chocolate cake - all in vain. Sigh.