Heavenly Beverley : Springtime in Beverley - Beautiful One Day, Close All Watertight Hatches The Next!

After the particularly changeable weather during the Beverley Heroic, the first few days of this week were just delightful. The rain cleared, the sun shone with all her brilliance and yesterday, we received our first taste of summer. True, the wind was blustery but warm. I expect that I will tire of days with degrees in the forties come December or January but at the moment, the hot sun and endless blue skies tease me with their impending arrival.

I was galvanised with a blast of energetic endeavour in the back patio yesterday afternoon. Whilst Michael, Jan and Greg all snoozed after our delicious Long Lunch with Poppy (a marvellously free spirit who is housesitting for our friend Lynn), I pulled on my gardening hat, grabbed a water bottle and dashed outside for a spot of gardening.

The patio overlooks the pharmacy backyard, a tumble of hardy natives and taller eucalypts providing a pretty and shaded picture. I potted up nine new arrivals for our garden. I ran out of potting mix and was assisted by the ever-reliable Marcus who brought over three additional bags from the local hardware shop. That's one particular joy of living in "town centre" - being able to purchase heavy bags of soil and have them delivered by trolley to the garden five minutes later. Bliss.

I have missed having a garden dreadfully since we left the House that Rocks. That half acre (two thousand square metres) of outdoor paradise was too much for us with the advent of the East End Gallery. We needed to work in the garden every day, given the challenging conditions in the Wheatbelt and that commitment became untenable.

For over a year, I nurtured my potted floral "garden" outside the back of Michael's workshop. Then, at last, our main courtyard was completed and I could move most of my beloved pots into its inner sanctum. I have watched with intense satisfaction the progress of my plants over the winter. The frangipani, sheltered from the worst of the rain and chill behind the two-metre brick wall has started sprouting its spring leaves. Michael's adored Golden Cane Palm will never ascend to the heights of those growing in tropical climes but has come through winter unscathed. This first of our courtyards has turned on a riot of colour, which boosts my spirits on this cold and overcast day. I may even undertake a bit of pruning after I leave the Gallery, after donning my trusty Ugg boots and a warm cardigan.

We have just about completed the metamorphosis of what had been a wasteland of sticky clay and unforgiving rock. The front courtyard just needs the picket fence between the brick piers. Michael's new Emporer Mandarin tree is resplendent in its enormous pot. Annual lobelias, two climbing jasmine and a purple daisy make up the floral border behind the fence. And now, the back patio has been turned into another little outdoor sanctuary for ourselves, family and friends.

Our three Chinese Tallow trees have also come through the past months and are covered in new foliage. I have trimmed off the dead wood, added some delicious dollops of fresh potting mix to their pots and given them a drench of Seasol. My aim is to get them in the ground before next winter. Then we will be able to say the job is truly done.

In spite of the rain and the cold, I have thoroughly enjoyed today. The garden has been given a cooling shower, which means I don't have to water. I have welcomed a handful of guests into the Gallery, including a fascinating couple who live in Dubai. Michael and I enjoyed lunch together before he returned to Station House to mount up the vacuum cleaner.

I have placed Jan George's second issue of "Glimpses From the Road" books in the Giftshop next to her larger prints. I have watched the world go by and written this post. I have arranged some of Beverley V's latest hats, a delightful and colourful trio designed to be worn in the garden.

That every cloud has a silver lining is my mantra for this rainy day. I may well have to buy one of Bev's Garden Hats for me.