Jump for Joy.....

I recently needed to go to the local hardware store and outside amongst the stuff they put there to try and trip you over was this unusual plant that caught my eye. Luckily it wasn't a rose bush or it could have done damage. There were two things that I noticed about it, the first was the price of $13 and the second was that it was the 'Autumn Joy' plant sedum.
Now this is a plant I have read about that can be turned into reasonable looking trees. I have seen the excellent tutorial done by Dan Pickard on how to turn these plants into respectable looking gum trees.
Many times I had considered in getting a packet of these seeds and starting from scratch so to speak. But it hasn't happened yet.
I returned from the store and carried it into the house. I put it down in front of my wife and said to her "look at this beautiful plant I just got for $13" It was then at this stage that I had to explain that it would one day be covered in red flowers and then explained there would be another life for the expired flowers. She had caught on by this stage and realised there must have been a "model railway agenda" in it somewhere. I told her to enjoy the beauty of the flowers and I would look after the afterlife of the plant.

When we go for a walk I'm often accused of always looking down on the ground instead of ahead and the excuse I use of "In case I tread in dog poo" doesn't cut the mustard any longer. I have found many items for the layout at ground level.

Anyhow the plant is on its way and if its true to its name and flowers in "Autumn" I shall post some pictures on some later blogs, hoping eventually to get a few trees out of the plant.
I have just done what many other Aussies may have done and had a four day bludge courtesy of Australia Day falling on a Thursday and taking a roster day on the Friday. If nothing else it eased me back into work mode after having four weeks off. I don't know how I am going to handle this five day week!!.
Managed to do a little more scenery work around what I term the gully area. This involved in making a large tree and on Thursday I ran out of foilage for it. A trip to a local hobby shop on Friday morning fixed this problem. I thought before I left I should ring in case they decided to go for a four day break as well. When the phone answered I decreed he must be open.

I must admit scenery is slow work, it seems to take hours to get anywhere but the end result is worth it all. The corner I was concentrating on was greened up on my first work in this area. The shrubbery looked a bit ratty by now, some trees had fallen over and it needed updating.

 The photo above shows the large tree that I made using the Woodland Scenics foilage. Directly above the 421 is the area I had been working on. There is still a small section requiring attention just to the right.

A wide shot of the 421 on the top bridge over the gully. The picture on the left was from an old calendar and works in very well at this spot. It is still held in place with a thumb tack but I try and omit it from shots. I'm not sure how I will blend it in yet as the photo has clouds on it but it doesn't blend directly with the wall. Will think of something to do with it one day.