Sunday 7 December 2008

Imagine if you will, the words "BEST. DAY. EVER." mumbled through a mouth full of free fairy floss.

And then imagine the words "BEST. DAY. EVER." mumbled through a mouth full of free fairy floss while standing in the new Coburg Bunnings. And imagine the words "BEST. DAY. EVER." mumbled through a mouth full of free fairy floss while standing in the new Coburg Bunnings while a jolly little band of professional merry makers and troubadours walk through the store spreading cheer and giving the place a carnival atmosphere.

And then you begin to get a sense of how awesome the BEST DAY EVER is.

It started with a sleep-in and a mild, but in no way debilitating, hangover. The sort of hangover that just gives you reason to sleep in, take it a bit easy and eat a bit of junk food for medicinal purposes. The morning saw us do a bit of extended newspaper reading and tea drinking in bed, a bit of an amble through the garden in pyjamas, a bit of baking cakes with lots of fresh cherries plopped into the batter.

SO FAR, SO GOOD.

Next, a trip to Bunnings was in the offing with zucchini seedlings, bird netting and Seasol to buy. Not wanting to go further than absolutely necessary we opted for the Gaffneys Road Bunnings, which is technically a Bunnings but not a Bunnings Warehouse. This makes it a second rate, or a "crap" Bunnings, especially in terms of their range of garden supplies. On arriving we noticed things were not quite right. The enormous gates were locked and there didn't seem to be anyone inside. The sign clearly indicated that they should be open for business. While we stood outside scratching our heads, other would-be customers came and went, all befuddled. Figuring finally that all the head scratching was coming to not much we set off down Gaffney's Road for Northland Bunnings.

BUT LO, WHAT MIRACLE DOTH APPEARETH BEFORE OUR VERY EYES!

A brand new Bunnings had popped out of the freshly poured car park a mere 800 metres down the road. And this was the full warehouse, aisles which went on forever and ever like the arsenal room in The Matrix or that warehouse where the Ark Of The Covenant is stored.

AND SO IT CAME TO PASS THAT WE ENTERED THE HOUSE OF BUNNINGS AND WE ATE OF THE FAIRY FLOSS.

And bought the seedlings, seeds, peat pots, etc. So arriving home in a post retail high (or was that the fairy floss LOL) we set about doing some of this:



We got seeds for purple carrots, regular carrots and two varieties of sunflowers.



A very impromptu sort-of greenhouse was formed by sandwiching the Jiffy Pots between two plastic storage bin lids.



We're going to try a new fine leafed basil called "Spicy Globe". Also got some more marigolds: we planted some about 6 weeks ago and some bloody snails thought the leaves were really delicious.



This is the bird netting in action. Well, not in action in any real sense - for that I'd have to get a shot of a bird swooping down to eat something in the garden but being foiled by the netting he'd have to swoop off again, pretending that he was actually just larking about to save face. We really only wanted it to cover a small patch of strawberries but when we took it out of the pack and realised it was 4m x 4m we decided on a "big top" type arrangement with a tomato frame propping up the centre.



The eggplants are coming along well this year with a few fruits forming already.



Things are looking a bit sparse - I have to keep reminding myself that it's only just the beginning of summer and there's plenty of growing time left in the season. Hopefully we'll get some joy from the carrots and sunflowers because I've never grown them before.

Will keep you posted.

4 comments:

Jess said...

AMAZING!

x

thr said...

Did you arrive in time to see Darren James doing an OB for 3AW from said Bunnings?
I have a segment with Tom Elliot in the afterrnoon on Saturdays, and we have a few OBs, including one at an IGA in Hoppers Crossing, a lazy hour from my house.
But were we part of the Bunnings grand opening? No we were not. Bugger! I still need a few items for my veggie garden and water tank fed watering system.
Instead I'm in a studio I'm south melbourne.
Thomasr.

Fluffy said...

I don't think we were there for the OB but the place is so big we didn't even cover a tenth of the aisles for fear of buying more stuff, and we were on the motorbikes so backpack space was at a premium! Also got pulled up by the cops yesterday for not wearing an L plate on my bike but only because I've done my full license test so recently that I show up as a learner on their computer HA SUCK IT COPPERS LOL BEST DAY EVER!

Mel said...

So glad to hear about the new, less Northlandsy Bunnings. I can't even quantify how much I would have enjoyed its opening day, considering that on my last visit to the other one, I exclaimed in the middle of the garden centre, "I'm so fucking excited to be at Bunnings!"

Today I plan to start growing some cucumber and capsicum seeds (to replace the seedlings my own snails considered tasty) in tiny windowsill greenhouses made of strawberry punnets.