Thursday 20th November 2008

There has been a terrible break, and a somewhat terrible reason for it - I have been very ill over the past four months and have struggled with numerous debilitating symptoms, the worst of which has been deep exhaustion. So then I found out the exhaustion was caused by anemia, and then discovered the anemia is being caused by a nasty case of spreading cancer. So I haven't actually been doing much gardening, and the resulting mess in the garden has been a source of deep guilt and horror for me - a garden this size you just can't let go, and I have been forced to do just that. *sigh*

So now I face about 6 months of chemotherapy with some major surgery in the middle of it. The garden is, unfortunately, going to have to take a back seat. I got some food in before I became so ill, so currently I have a big crop of onions maturing, as well garlic and shallots, some silverbeet (swiss chard) and today I struggled out to plant out some Australian Butter pumpkins which were just about dead in their seedling trays. And, apart from trying to keep up with watering, that will be it in the garden for me for quite some time. I can't even bear to sit out on the veranda now because of the destruction.

This will be quite a journey for me and a fair old struggle for the garden as well! I will try and keep the diary updated, but this is the first day in many months I've been able mentally to struggle close to making an entry, partly because I remain so exhausted and partly because what is happening in the garden is so dispiriting.

I might get some apples this year, though!