Sunday 10 August 2014

This week

This week has been very a very pleasant one with me just pottering along with everyday things.  Something that had me very excited was the discovery of this little cauliflower growing in my vege patch.  The day before I had been weeding and not noticed it so I can only assume it grew fast.  It's only about the size of a 50 cent coin but it's a start.


We've had some lovely weather (not raining and not so cold), which has meant my daily walk has been most enjoyable.  My beautiful Labrador Sophie is really starting to slow down with age and not able to walk as far.  It's breaking my heart to see her getting older but she is happy and eating well and just as loving as ever.  As I don't get a brisk walk (for fitness) with her now, I take myself off again and yesterday on the spur of the moment took my camera.  The photos below are Cherry Candle banksia, just a stones throw from where we live.  They are quite beautiful and provide nectar for birds, possums bats and other nectar loving animals.



I love the colours and shape.

I noticed some ornamental cherry trees are just starting to flower.  A tad early as we aren't into spring yet.



The wattle is starting to flower too and saw these two different ones on my walk.



Yesterday afternoon both hubby and I were busy out in the backyard.  Hubby is working on steps and a landing for my studio and I was pruning the apple tree.  I love climbing trees so although I look a bit precarious in the photos below, I'm loving every minute of it.







We had some handsome visitors recently.  In amongst the nice weather it has been very cold and the King parrots usually come to visit when they are really hungry.  Even though we are encouraged not to feed the birds so they don't become dependent on humans for their food, I just can't help myself putting out some seeds for these gorgeous animals.  The King parrots are so tame and it's a joy to see them so closely.  Where there is food, other birds will come too and some Crimson rosellas also came to visit hoping for some food.  The King parrots are a much bigger bird and higher up in the pecking order so there was some squabbling going on at times.



Juvenile male King parrot with mum's head on the right.

Male Crimson rosella in the foreground.


Juvenile Crimson rosella in the foreground.


The week before last hubby and I went to see the Melbourne production of Les Miserale with friends.  The performance was outstanding in every way with brilliant props, costumes, acting and singing.  The music was/is amazing and considering the small size of the orchestra, the sound produced was incredible.  We were sitting quite close to the front and were able to see the expressions on the actors faces, the effort they put into their performances which only consolidates my opinion that live performances/performers are remarkable.  You cannot hide anything on stage, there is no opportunity for retakes as there is in film or television.  It's raw and what you see is what you get.  The audience has a very powerful connection to the actors, which I find/found exhilarating.


On Friday a friend came to visit me for a couple of hours with the hope that I could teach her to crochet.  It went very well and she is off to a good start.  Of course cups of coffee were consumed and there was much laughter and joking around.

Tomorrow morning I'm taking Genevieve and her boyfriend out to the Healesville Sanctuary where they have a uni excursion.  Public transport to the Sanctuary at that hour of the day is horrendous involving multiple buses and trains, so I'm playing taxi as neither of them have their drivers license.  It is a lovely drive out that way so I might take the opportunity to have a look around and grab a coffee in a cafe somewhere.  Last week Genevieve's uni group had another excursion to a waterway where they were doing all kinds of interesting experiments for their fresh water ecology unit.  It involved some of them wearing waders and boots which had great appeal to some.  I wish I had the photos to share (they were hilarious) but I don't have access to them to share on here.  :(

Thanks for taking the time to read my post and wishing you all a fab week ahead.

Anne xx

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful pics Anne.....and I wish you were here to teach me to crochet,at the moment I'm struggling with YouTube and not getting anywhere! Thank you also for your kind thoughts and advice on my blog xxxx

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  2. Your little cauliflower is cute and you saw some lovely flowers on your walk. I like the tree climbing photos - glad you had fun - and what lovely colourful visitors to the garden. Hope you have a good day after your taxi-ing!

    Thank you for your comment. Don't worry about my birthday, I hadn't been expecting anything from you! Also, don't rush to send the gift you mentioned as I'm going away for a week on Wednesday so I won't be here to receive it for a little while. Hope you are well and August is shaping up to be a better month for you than July.

    xx

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  3. Oh wow I love the parrots! What fabulous visitors, nothing nearly so colourful here.

    Just wanted to say thank you for your supportive comments and I really appreciate it. Thanks for visiting.
    Regards Steoh xx

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  4. We are so lucky with our bird life aren't we? I bet all the overseas bloggers will love them. Your studio looks great, you'll be moving in there soon! Have you got a fire to keep you warm?

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  5. I really enjoyed this post, Anne. Your flowers are so exotic to me, especially the cherry candle ones, wow! I love those. I like to climb trees too, it looks like you're very good at it! The parrots are gorgeous, what a sight in your own yard. That little cauliflower is adorable. Thanks for sharing these lovely moments.

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  6. Look at you up in that tree getting all that work done! You go girl!!! And those birds are gorgeous. I would have put food out for them also. So pretty! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!!! : )

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  7. Anne - what a wonderful feeling it is to be actually producing some food from your own garden. Well done - the cauli looks lovely, we have a few happening as well.

    I love pruning too - but from the ground. Loving your parrot photos, we get king parrots here occasionally but not so often. The lorikeets are regulars though. Enjoy your walking. I started walking now without either of our dogs, which I never thought I would, but it is strangely liberating! cheers Wendy

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  8. Great photos, looks like you have been super busy.

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  9. Hello Anne...yes walking is such a great thing to do to help keep our balance & keep you going, isn't it. How thrilling finding your cauli like that. I wonder what size it'll get to before you cut it's head off?! What magnificent parrots...we are very bland here by comparison. Good for you tree climbing & pruning. Do you paint the cuts with anything? I just read yesterday about a good home-made mixture for the job...beeswax, olive oil & tea tree oil. Thought I might make up a little pot full. Have a great week. Sounds like you're having fun playing taxi : ) Much love Catherine x0x

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