the trials of Guillelmina

In Basic Training it all seemed so simple, but for the life of her
Guillelmina just couldn't remember where the
nectar came from - the branches or the flowers??

"Guillelmina, you watch me, easy as 1, 2, 3 and 4
Select a flower, Hover, Jump on, Nuzzle that nectar... ok?"
shouted the kindly Kara.

"Kara !!  I'm doing it .... thank you, grazie grazie"
shouted the excitable Guillelmina.
No stopping her now,
make way Ladies she's coming through!

a re-think on "weeds"

Wed 6th Oct 10:  An update on this post.  Kathy's blog is no longer.  I wish to say thank you to her, should she come by this way again. Kathy was the first to join my blogspot and I enjoyed  the pleasant comments we exchanged. All the best to you :D

~ have just had a good old wander around Kathy's blog 'day by day'.  I really enjoy reading about the progress of the cute little chicks she's raising. We got our six chooks at about 3 months of age, so they'd gotten past that chickiness stage - still cute though. The first pair were Plymouth Rocks - so gentle and timid. They still are.
Kathy very generously shared a lovely story, The Scarlet Butterfly, that she'd written years ago. I've taken inspiration from it to put pen to paper - or, fingertips to keyboard and have a go at completing a few things I'd started.
Finally, the delight she's written about at finding that her potted oxalis had just started to flower. Boy, that post really caused me to have a re-think about the way I treat the oxalis that come up in a couple of spots in my garden. I casually mentioned a few posts back that the bees even take nectar from weeds... well, perhaps they'd like a bit of the oxalis nectar as well. I won't be quite so brutal to them in the future (as long as they don't stray too far).  
Hmm, definitely re-think what I pull out of the garden.  Just goes to show there's always another way to look at things :-)

hot rods

~ we love the annual hot rod show so here's a few pics from a few months back.

Ha ha, a hot rodder with a good sense of humour!

We fell in love with this set up !!

Thought my coat
looked nice against
this purple hot rod

Tlooml's drooling

So Cool !

... and finally, a beaut ute

hail kale

~ our Tuscan Kale plants are quickly winding down now, however, I still keep picking the lower leaves even though the tops of the plants are turning to seed.

Recent pickings 

We bought our first lot of Kale as seedlings, however, the time of year was too warm and, well, put it this way, the white butterflies were our friends forever!  A bit disheartened we just left the plant stalks be.  Winter arrived and our Kale came back to life and we've been back and back again, picking the leaves. The chooks go crazy for it too.  That's the trouble with buying seedlings - they're not raised for local conditions oftentimes. However, in time, Mother Nature always sorts things out :D
Anyway, the Kale was a first experience for us after listening to Peter Cundall of Gardening Australia rave on about it in his inimitable way.
It certainly makes a casserole very hearty - a lovely rich taste but not overpowering.  This week I used a huge (probably a man-size) handful of chopped Kale in my all-in-together-boys Vegie Soup. Turned out great, and again, the flavour didn't take over the whole show.
One thing I like to do though is remove the spines of the larger leaves, they can be tough. Rather than cutting them out I just double the leaf over, spine side out, hold the leaf firmly with one hand and with the other just rip the spine out largest end first - easy peasy! (No waste though, the spines go to the compost and worms).  Steamed, it's delicious - it takes as long as potatoes to steam.
Peter attributes his good health to a daily cup of  Kale tea, so thought I'd give it a go.

Kale Tea

 I thinly sliced a couple of teaspoons of leaves and let them steep for 10 minutes which resulted in a very pale minty-coloured tea. The taste was bearable ... a lighter version of the earthy/grassy Kale smell.
Overall, not too bad and, wow! I feel a lot healthier already ;-) thanks Petey!! 

what a hoot

~ if you're into owls, spiders, lizards and all other kinds of incredibles, take time to visit Laura at ForestWalkArt. 


There's a lot of folk who are in awe of her views on life and, for what it's worth, I'm one of them!  

froggie's fed up

Ho Hum. Can't a froggie get any peace
around this place !!
The bees are driving me crazy and the
woman in the straw hat keeps
running around taking photos!

snow in Spring??

it's the in between that counts too! a grey nomad yarn

~ early bird this morning, so cranked up the little netbook and thought I'd go for another tour through Joan Elizabeth's blog. She certainly stirs up all sorts of memories of our grey nomad times.  One post in particular, in Sweet Wayfaring where she talks about wildflowers found on a short walk, reminded me of a couple we met up with while travelling across the Nullabor.
At the time, we were travelling in our 4WD and had pulled in off the highway to set up our tent.  Shortly after, a car and caravan arrived and parked just a few feet from us.
Anyway, the fellow  wanders over for a yarn.  Upshot was that he was bored, totally, and couldn't wait to put this part of his own country behind him.  "Nothing to see, just a great long boring highway that doesn't end!".
Tloml and I just looked at each other and mentally agreed it wasn't worth wasting our breath, his decision had been made.  We reckoned he'd get back to his home state, happy in the knowledge he'd seen all the well known tourist spots - as quickly as possible!! That's it... job done... been around Australia.

...and then there's folk like Joan and her husband!

you go girl! Bianca of the Blossoms

Bianca,  working the blossoms while
 she can, but the darn things
keep dropping to the ground

meanwhile, in another part of the garden are another group of busy Italian worker bees .....

Elenora, Fabiana, Gaby, Luisa and Rosa are
determined to get this month's performance bonus

clickclack clickclak - how cool is that!

~ found this while rabbiting through Stewart's My Veggie Garden blog. Thanks Stewart.  He'd found it on Jacqui's Life in the Dome, and I thought it was just so cool I'm sharing it out too. 


An extraordinary group of elderly Tasmanians have stitched, knitted and crocheted an entire house and garden to produce a life-sized recreation of a 1950s home.
Here is a direct link to the story on the ABC (thanks Aunty !)


The point is clearly shown that  you're never too old - I say "yay" to that ....  
check it out, definitely worth a look!

the impatience of waiting for the figs, a name change, and a P.S.

~ after reading what they're harvesting right now at Nallerang Creek, I just had to dig out last year's photo of our fig trees.  They're in strong bud at the moment so I must be patient. This will be their third year so, hopefully, there will be some that actually might make it all the way back to the kitchen (as against being devoured tree-side by a straw-hatted woman of greed). 
I would love to do things to them that are of the Donna Hay delicious kind... you know what I mean,  beautiful figs halved and reclining beckoningly in all their succulence on a baking tray, covered in honey and spices which are gently bubbling and turning into syrupy oozinesses and oooh the smell.
We'll see, I have a horrible sneaking suspicion though that greediness will prevail and none will make it past the orchard gate :D

In the heat of Summer the chooks love to sit under the shade
of the Fig trees and have sips of water from the drip irrigation
nozzles.
They think that Tloml (see below) installed the irrigation 
system in his orchard just for their benefit!

~ whenever I'd make the reference "my Husband" in this blog,  it always seemed a bit formal to me, so, the other day I asked if he had any suggestions.  He turned around with a cheeky look on his face and said  "The Light Of My Life" .... (oh, and I've never mentioned it, but humility is another one of his endearing traits!!)  
Ha Ha, so Tloml has come into being, and so it shall be......... and so it is actually, that cheeky man ;-)

~ P.S. I took a wander down to the orchard this arvo and 'lo and behold the fig buds have burst into these lovely fresh leaves.

found him in the freesia patch

Oh, Freesias, Freesias, Freesias,
my Frogginess is revelling in you

there's a bear in there

~ introducing DG Bear. He carries out a most important job in our home - we always know where the mobile phone is!

DG was born out of my Husband's very old, partly "threadbear", dressing gown when it was replaced with a newer, warmer model. 

He looks a little startled in this pic, I think the camera flash gave him a bit of a shock.  

~ this is Theodore.  I made him for my Sister and he's been with her for many years.  She sent this recent pic to show how he's doing. As you can see, he's a bit worn and his stitches are showing but he's a tough old bear.  Theodore still enjoys reading the paper every morning, however, he thinks his eyes aren't the best sometimes. My Sister just re-positions the glasses on his face and then he can see again.

~ I taught myself to make bears from various library books and had fun putting my "take" on the results.  It was during a fairly isolated time for us, far away from our family. My Husband was working and I needed something to do in between temping assignments. My bears made great presents for family and friends. They all seem to still hold pride of place in their various adoptive homes!  

how sweet it is

~ a bit of a spread featuring our bees.

We keep Italian Bees and they enjoy the nectar from

just about everything that flowers

(including weeds) in our garden

Here's busy little Bellissa working real hard on a Gallardia flower

Poor Carmelita is worried that Donella and Emilia are getting
a head start on the nectar from the Grevillea Superb!
........plenty to go around ladies.

~ harvesting the honey

My Husband fires up the smoker.
The smoke calms the bees.

First frame is out

Gently brushing away the bees

The wax capping over the honey needs to be removed

The honey is now ready for the
extraction process

The Extractor

Into the hand-cranked extractor
which takes 3 frames at a time.
What a labour-saving device this is!

The honey starts flowing.
The lumpy bits are small pieces
of wax which are removed once the honey drips through the
double wire mesh filter.

Bottling up.  I quickly learnt the right way to do it !!

Our yield of 15 kgs - Yay, honey for everyone  !!

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think.  Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. (A.A. Milne)

something else I found in the garden

It's all go around here !

ouch

~ my Husband's chookies give their all for him! He said that size is called a Hen Grenade :)

marvellous marion

~ not a bad day outside, so have grabbed my trusty electric hand pruner and will cut some shrubs down to size!  Reading Kathy's (day by day ) Pentas post has inspired thoughts of gardening again, so will get out and into it.
Most of the frosts have gone, so a bit of a trim will thicken all my natives up. My favourites are the Correas.  They come in so many varieties.  Their flowers are tucked inside their tangle of branches and leaves, giving privacy and relative safety to all the tiny birds who are starting to come to our garden, such as the Eastern Spinebill as shown in my blog title pic.

Here's a pic of the first Correa I planted, it's name is "Marion's Marvel" .... I think Marion did a good job!

~ here's a prostrate Correa, it thrives on a good haircut too!

~ a lime green flower on this lovely (photo doesn't do the colour justice)..

~ enough already Susan!! Just one more, I promise ....

The End 

for today ;-)

all-in-together

~ I seem to be obsessing with food lately. Oh well, that's how it goes.

"They" say we should eat at least 2 pieces of fruit every day.  Ok, that's not so hard, but the days seem to slip by so quickly, I find its very easy to forget.
Now, however, I've solved that problem with my all-in-together fruit smoothie, and easily exceed the recommended 2 fruits.  I also add other goodies such as linseeds, milk, sometimes a raw egg and the occasional prunes!  Makes for an easy brekky (doesn't look the best though).

This one consists of 1 banana, 2 strawberries, 1 kiwi fruit,
1 small pear, cracked linseed and soy milk.
I do get a bit carried away at times though, 
hence the thick consistency !

we're happy little vegemites .....

~ an early television jingle dear to the hearts of all of us Aussie kids who were around when TV was first broadcast in Australia. (Oh, the seductive power of advertising!). Even today, I occasionally reach past the cholesterol-lowering margarine for the butter, slather it on some toast and add a smear of Vegemite - yum!
So that's peculiar to us Aussies. It'd be fun, and interesting, to know what childhood comfort food memories others in the world have.....

pillow talk

~ just read in the latest catalogue that there are now Side Sleeper Pillows, Back Sleeper Pillows and Tummy Sleeper Pillows.  The question I ask is - when are you supposed to get time to actually sleep because now, apparently every time you turn over, you have to choose a pillow appropriate to your sleeping position? 

Yawn ;-)

getting the nod

~ been thinking I'm quite clever lately.  Has been too cold and frosty over the past months for my Nodding Violets to grow outside. In fact, they've been looking downright bedraggled. So, I had this brilliant idea of growing some in water on my kitchen windowsill.  Little did I expect them to actually send out flower buds... but they did. To give them some nourishment I set up some amateur hydroponics and put a few drops of seaweed extract in fresh water every couple of days.  Worked brilliantly, now I can have them all year round - greedy eh!!

my man

~ have just spent the last 3 days giving my elderly parents a little holiday with us.  Age, health and other circumstances (on both sides) make this a rare occurrence so it was nice to have the opportunity.  Could only have done it with the loving (and patient) support of my husband ... plus, he kept up the supply of that delicious coffee each morning!

welcome back Willy Wagtails

~ delightful little creatures the Willy Wagtails. The first stirrings of Spring have brought them back to the garden.  I heard their sweet little songs today and quickly grabbed the camera to try (try being the operative word) and capture their beautiful little ballet in the air whilst darting for insects.  Got one .....

.... he was pretty persistent and was obviously getting a good feed against the shed wall.

nurture

~ when one or other of your children are ill - no matter what age, isn't the need to wrap them in a comforting warm blanket and make something nice for them to sip or eat, still just so strong?  I'm feeling that today.

flooding plains

~ this is a picture of river flats near our home during the 2007 floods.  The rivers in the area were rising again yesterday, although not to that extent ..... yet!

a sad find

~ this poor little microbat had ended it's days in my garden a few months back. I took the opportunity to look at it closely and was amazed at the delicate structure of it's wings.

just taking it easy

~ never know what I'll find in my garden.

life can be hard at times !