It's nearly Spring time

Hello everyone, how are you?   I was able to hang the clothes out on the line in the sunshine and breeze for the first time in four months today.  It did my heart good to see those clothes drying naturally, to see sunshine shining on the yellow flowers of the Tree Cineraria which can be see behind the Tree Fern in the middle of the photo below.

 

 

 

I discovered a birds nest in a James Stirling Pittosporum tree which is planted just inside our neighbours fence line.  I don't know to which breed of bird it belongs as I've not seen any activity.  It's a very good nest, strong and sturdy and up very high so these were the best photos I could get.  We recently trimmed some branches from our side of the fence to let more sunlight into our back yard.  If we hadn't done that, I don't think I would have the nest at all.

I'm hoping to have some photos or news of little birds in the nest very soon.  It's such a treat to have a nest so close to our home.

 

Very late this afternoon I got a sudden urge to scrub the back deck which has been quite grotty with our chook making a mess everywhere.   Although I finished the scrubbing in semi darkness, I feel very happy to tick the job of the list.  The chook has now been confined to her run which will enable me to clean up a bit and hopefully get the garden in order.  She's made a dreadful mess with all her scratching.  I don't often get the urge to scrub at 6.00 in the evening.  "Strike while the iron is hot", as they say.

Do you ever get the urge to do things at the strangest of times?  If you do, do you "strike while the iron is hot"?

Enjoy your day/evening,

Anne  xx

Things making me smile

How has your day been ?  I've had a fab day with lots to smile and be happy about including getting all hubby's work shirts ironed for the week ahead and a few things for myself as well.  Does anyone else have a husband whose work shirts seem to breed?  No?!  Just mine?  Thought so.  :)

These chocolate chip biccies are making me smile.  Not only do they taste and smell good, the family is happy to have something in the biccie tin again.

A little posy of teeny tiny violets from the garden.

 

Signs that Spring is just around the corner, the Grape Hyacinths flowering.

Our one remaining chook, Eagle is laying again daily.  She had a big moult this winter (poor girl it's chilly up here in winter), now has all her feathers and her comb is bright red.

 Our camera is fixed and I can take lovely photos again.  Can you see the spider webs?

The Chinese Lantern is flowering.  Red, yellow and green look so good together in nature don''t you think?

These yellow daisies are a lovely bright spot in the garden and there are more on the way as can be seen by all those buds.

 Marvelling at these tiny little pale pink flowers.

 Loving the pink edge on these Pittosporum leaves.

 

 Discovering there are a couple of blooms left on the Daphne shrub. 

Enjoying the beautiful deep red Camelia flowering in the front garden.

Discovering that having the Jacaranda tree cut down was a good idea after all as it was rotten in the middle.

Marvelling at the structure and colours in nature.

And realising that as I was wandering around the front garden, this Kookaburra was watching me and only noticed him when he started laughing.  Well the joke certainly was on me.

What's making you smile today?

Have a wonderful week,

Anne  xx

My two weeks in Western Australia - Part 3

When I was a kid, the creek on the farm where I grew up was the most exciting place to visit.  On those scorching hot days we had in summer of 38d C plus, I would imagine the creek ran with water all year and I could take a cooling dip.  Unfortunately they were only dreams.  My my sister and I had much fun when we went down there to play.  Sometimes when the creek had water running for a short period of time in winter, it would create an island of sand in the middle and come spring/summer, we would play imagining we were living on an island.

Those days are long gone of course but a visit to the creek when I am home on the farm is mandatory.  This visit I wanted to walk to the creek for a number of reasons.  To revisit childhood memories, see how the little trees and shrubs planted within the last few years were growing, to see what kind of bird life was living there and visit my "Standing Up When Falling" tree, a photo of which is on the banner of my other blog of the same name.

As a I mentioned in an earlier post, Western Australia is suffering rather bad salinity problems and measures are being undertaken to try and improve the problem.  Landcare is an organisation which donates indigenous tree and shrub seedlings to plant.  Some years ago, perhaps 5 to 7, I can't quite remember, the east part of the creek was planted with many little trees and shrubs to help with salinity and erosion of the creek.  What a difference it has made, it is like a little Western Australian bush oasis in the making.  Here are some photos I took as I was walking around.

This poor old Mallee tree (Eucalyptus) on the edge of the creek is long dead but the sculpture it makes is quite beautiful.  The grey of the weathered wood and gnarly, curly pattern are wonderful.

This one looks like it has had a second attempt at growing.

New tree plantings on the south side of the creek.  Some cropping land was used to make way for these plantings and fenced off to stop the sheep eating them.

I love the contrast between the two different coloured leaves on these young Eucalyptus trees.

You can just see a bird, a Scrub Warbler,  near the fork of the little tree.  My brother was very happy to learn that these new tree and shrub plantings are supporting a colony of these birds.

Another clearer photo of a Scrub Warbler on the little twig in the centre of the photo.

I also saw a little colony of Willy Wagtails which gave me much pleasure.  They use to live around the house and farm sheds but the Butcher Birds have killed them off .    They seem to be safe here.

  

This bird is a  Micky Miner, they are extremely noisy.

 I saw quite a few of these ant hills on my walk.

The colours of the bark on this tree are incredible.  I feel a painting coming on.

  In this photo are pink and grey Galahs, a Port Lincoln parrot commonly know as a 28, and a Crested Pigeon which is sitting above the two Galahs in the bottom centre of the photo.  This photo is not particularly good as I was looking into the light.  The Crested Pigeons and 28s are shy and would fly away when they saw or heard me move.

Here is my "Standing Up When Falling Down" tree and it's looking better than ever.

I was delighted to discover a birds nest in the branches.  It was empty so I assume it was either a nest from last year's nesting season or someone has an early start on this years nest building.

I love the trees in the foreground of this photo.  I'm fairly sure they are Swampy she-oaks.

After my lovely walk to the creek, I came back to have a look at this bird nest near one of the farm sheds and the dam.   Dad told me was a Butcher Bird's nest.

So this is how I spent the morning of my last day in Western Australia, relaxing in the great outdoors, enjoying the smells of the bush and bird watching.

Back in Melbourne, everyday life has resumed.  This afternoon I was treated to a visit in the back yard by a male and female King parrot.  I went outside to give them some seeds and was able to stroke the breast feathers of the female.  That was a very special moment.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend,

Anne  xx

My two weeks in Western Australia - Part Two

Good morning or evening!  If you have been a reader of this blog for a while, you will know that I live in a very treed part of Melbourne in the outer Eastern suburbs.  It is very beautiful here but I can't see the sunrise/sunset or the horizon.  So when I go back to visit my parents on the farm in Western Australia, I soak up all the wide open space with a 360 degree view.

My brother doing some farm work on the tractor.

I love the tall trees that grow in this part of the world, the one in the centre of the photo is Salmon Gum, Eucalyptus salmonophloia.

This is the track my siblings and I use to walk or ride bikes down to get to the school bus.

 When I first started school at age 5, this track seemed to be so long (it's about 1/2 a mile from the house to the road), so I would break up the walk/ride into sections.  The first section about 1/3 of the way down was the very little gully you can see in the photo above.

There is a creek about two thirds the way along the track which is mostly dry, this was the second section to break up my journey.  As you can see there are an abundance of pink and grey galahs flying around.  They are very noisy but I love them.  I don't see them very often where I live now but when I do it gives me a great deal of pleasure.  Crossing the sandy creek bed was always difficult for me.  Even a good run up down and into the creek wouldn't enable me to get across.  It was big brother's job to get me started on my bike again after stopping as I hadn't learnt to get going again without a push off.  Oh how he suffered waiting for me and my spindly little legs to get to the creek.  I hated those southerly head winds that made me feel like I was going no where.

When the creek runs the water is salty (unfortunately).   Many areas of farming land in Western Australia now have salinity problems which is quite difficult to manage.  But with some planning and help from Landcare, the problems of salinity are being addressed.  Work has been done on the creek banks with plantings of  trees and shrubs indigenous to the area.

In the photo above in the distance, you can see some small trees and shrubs growing which are a part of plantings that have been done.  More about that in my next post and the bird life that is flourishing there.

Not only did I enjoy natures garden when I was home, I enjoyed my Mum's garden too.  I spent many hours pruning roses, grubbing out errant lawn roots and vine that had taken over some of the roses.  Jade is a plant that thrives especially well in the hot dry climate where my parents live.  It stays green when everything else  not watered well in summer will die.  So I pruned some of the Jade as well.  Now there is a big garden rubbish pile behind the chook house to burn when is dries off and is safe to burn.

My eyes have turned to my own garden now and it is still too cold and damp to do anything very productive outside.  So I've spent some time crocheting and cooking, baked egg custard and peach crumble was our dessert last night.  I rarely make dessert, so there were happy people in our house last night.

Have a lovely day everyone.  Part three coming soon.

Anne  xx

My two weeks in Western Australia - Part 1

Hello everyone.  I'm back from a very enjoyable busy two weeks visiting my parents in Western Australia.  The weather in the west where they live is warmer than Melbourne and it was sunny too which was lovely.  How nice to get clothes dry on the line, to have dew on the grass in the morning but dried by midday instead of remaining the whole winter as it does where I live.

Going back to where I grew up is always enjoyable.  I sleep in the same bedroom which is a guest room now.  I enjoy my mum's cooking which takes me back to when I was a child.  This visit home I got to taste home grown beef which was delicious as well as fresh milk from my brother's cows.  Yes, he milks his own cows and the cream sits at the top of the bottle just like in the 'olden days'.  Then there is the joy of feeding the chooks who are laying prolifically at the moment, up to 10 eggs a day.  Chooks are such funny creatures with their different personalities, somewhat depending on the breed.  Some come crowding around your feet when you enter the pen, others are flighty and run away making the most ridiculous clucking noises to ever be emitted from a chook.

So I spent time helping mum in the house vacuuming as she can no longer do that, although she is fabulous with a broom and a duster.  Old farm houses get dusty very quickly and the Daddy Long Leg spiders seem to breed before your eyes.  Mum has had two hip replacements, uses a walker for balance and is unable to bend down.  She has arthritis in her hands and keeps her fingers as nimble as she can buy playing the piano and crocheting which she has just started re-teaching herself.   Despite these impediments, she has found ways to do everyday things, she just does them differently now.  Mum does not complain, is full of fun and in good spirits.  Such a wonderful example to me and our family.

Dad has a respiratory illness which makes him very tired due to a lack of oxygen and he sleeps quite a bit during the day.  He really enjoys jigsaw puzzles and is currently working on one I took over for him.  Just between you and me, it keeps him out of trouble!  :)  (Well we try to keep him out of trouble.)  He loves reading the farm papers and although not actively farming he is still very interested in everything that is going on.  He started farming when he was about 16 so it's well and truly in the blood.  He has lived on the farm for 84 years and that in my opinion is amazing.  I'm sure he cannot believe where the years have gone.

Dad has always loved to cut wood for the fire although this is something that is becoming increasingly hard for him.  While I was home he decided to cut down a dead tree by tying a rope to it, cutting halfway through the tree base and pulling it down with the 1 ton ute.  It was a big job as there were all the branches to cut into pieces with the chain saw (which was temperamental) and then stack them on the 1 tonne and off load at the wood heap.  I helped him load the wood on and off the 1 ton ute and enjoyed the physical work very much.  It was good to be outside in the fresh air, wide open spaces and working with my Dad.  And here he is, having a break before tackling the next branch.

Doesn't he look fantastic for 84!

I took it upon myself to bring in some of the barrow loads of wood for the fire each day.  This job has now been made much easier with the installation of a ramp up to the back door which was organised by the government, part of the help being offered to keep the elderly in their own homes as long as possible.  The ramp was actually installed to help mum get in and out of the house with her walker which means that the wheelbarrowing is much easier too.

The pavers need rearranging which is something hubby will attend to when he visits later in the year.  See the white pot plant holder, I pinched it from another part of the garden, touched it up with paint and voila, now we have a welcoming entry to the backdoor.  I also rescued this pot plant stand below, from a vine, painted it and potted up some petunias for mum so in a few weeks she will see lovely colour when she comes out the door.

I'll be back soon to continue my stories of my time in the west.  For now though, have a wonderful day,

Anne  xx

Little things and anticipation

Hello, how are you?  Isn't it funny how sometimes the littlest of things can give you pleasure.  My pleasurable little things might be to somebody else very ho hum but I suppose that's what makes us individuals.

This morning while I was attending to some dishes (using my newly crocheted dish cloth), I really looked at both the kettle and toaster.  I mean REALLY looked!   They were filthy and needed cleaning, so I up ended the toaster to shake out all the crumbs, pulled out the crumb tray to shake, put it back and turned the toaster upright giving it a good polish with a micro fibre cloth.  WOW!  What a difference 5 minutes makes.

Google images

 The kettle received a good polish too and I can almost see my face in it now.

Google images

Two little jobs that took ten minutes have given me so much pleasure.

So in between a spot of cleaning and ironing, I'm packing my bag as I'm heading off to Western Australia early tomorrow morning, spending two weeks with my parents on the farm.  It's cold over there in an old farm house so into the bag goes a beanie, gloves, a scarf or two and some warm bed socks.  I might get a few walks in along the farm tracks and it gets windy over there so my beanie, scarf and gloves might come in handy.

Every time I visit I take dried figs for Dad, he loves them and are a little luxury for him.  When you are on a pension, it's not often you can afford those little extras.  I also take over ginger chocolate which is always a big hit.  There is nothing quite like having a cup of tea at night sitting in front of the fire with a piece of ginger chocolate.  Mum and I might just be adding crochet to our list of favourite things as she is learning to crochet again.

Dried figs, Google images.

Ginger chocolate, yum, Google images,

I like to cook some meals for Mum when I go home to give her a rest.  She's been cooking for such a long time now and as I have helpers in the kitchen, Charlotte, Genevieve and hubby, I do get a break from cooking every meal.  It's always interesting cooking in someone else's kitchen, even if you grew up there.  There are always different ingredients to use like fresh home grown beef and less access to fresh vegetables.  But a combination frozen and fresh vegetables is good and challenges me to be inventive. 

  I remember a few years back while I was helping Dad and Mum while Mum was recovering from a hip operation, Dad had a glut of zucchinis (courgettes) in the garden.  Everyday he would come into the kitchen with a big smile on his face, very proud of the zucchinis he had picked and they were usually BIG.  I put zucchini into everything.  I added it to bolognese sauce, stir fries, Chow Mien, soup, stews, fritters with beef mince and fritters with potato and zucchini.  I think I even made chocolate zucchini cake.  

Google images

In Mum's kitchen I'm not surrounded by a Labrador and two cats begging for tid bits.  They have two gorgeous cats who live outside and are only allowed inside on very special occasions. I usually get them at least once when I'm home.  Shhhhh!   There is a log just outside the back door called the pussy cat log and they like to sit there in the hope someone will give them attention as they walk by and usually get it too.  :)  I must see if I can get a photo.

Speaking of photos, I'm being challenged by using the smaller camera again while our other better one is being fixed.  I hope I can get some nice photos of farm things and the countryside.  If I'm really lucky, there might be a few wild flowers just starting to come out.  Fingers crossed.

So I'd better finish up here and complete my packing.  There is a novel and some magazines in my hand luggage to read on the plane and I'll have my crochet with me on the train.  From our home in Melbourne to the farm it's about a ten hour journey which includes travelling to the airport, waiting for the flight to leave,  the flight over, a taxi to the train station, waiting for the train and then the train journey itself.  I leave our home at about 6.00am and arrived at the local train station in Western Australia at about 5pm which includes a 2 hour time difference to Victoria.  Then it's a wonderful 10 to 15 minute drive through the countryside to my parents farm and house.  I'll take in the 360 degree views, see Port Lincoln parrots (commonly know as 28 parrots as their bird call sounds like they are saying 28), flying along side us in the paddocks.

Google images

It will be near dusk so we will have to watch out for kangaroos as we drive through the bushy areas along side the road.  And then I'll see the farm house in the distance, the place I spent the first 22 years of my life.
  I might have to open farm gates if there are sheep grazing in the paddocks.  I might see some lambs too and my brothers cows grazing up on the hill.

Someone will be missing though and that is Eddie the emu who died of very old age when I last visited in February this year. 



I have some of his feathers though on my dressing table, a little token to remind me each day of this wonderful old friend who ate apple cores and when he was very young, gum leaves.  He loved shiny things and any jewellery glinting in the sun was a great attraction.  He often was a very naughty bird and when sheep moving was happening in his vicinity, would run around and stir up the sheep something crazy.  I guess he just needed a little excitement in his life, excitement that Dad and my brother could have lived with out.

I'll be back later in the week with tales from the west.  Until then, take care and have a wonderful week,

Anne xx