Mid Autumn

We're already in the middle of autumn! After six days of constant rain, we finally have some nice weather, still cloudy but nice temperature. Around 28 degrees during the day and 18/19 at night. It will get cooler in winter… and it will be time to start "Old Benny" again. I'm looking forward to it, I missed cooking on it.

The end of the rain

Still a bit cloudy

The birds are back.

Feasting on our cumquats

Feeding on seeds

Unfortunately we've bee plagued by teeny weenie little flies/bugs at night. They even go through the fly screens which are fitted on all doors and windows… We have to turn off all the lights to reduce the invasion (but not stop it completely.) They are so annoying… flying around your head, ears, eyes, nostrils… And falling in your drink!  (extra protein…?) I suppose that it is the season for them and living in the country we have to put up with them until it's over.

In the morning all the benches, furniture, window sills and the floors are covered with millions of dead ones.

No point to do a complete clean at this stage, as it happens again the next night…

Bugs, everywhere

Moths of course are around all through the year and end up as snacks for the green frogs or Freja!

Beautiful moths

Svenne has finished building the roof and decking for the caravan. It looks and feels really comfortable now. We often sit on the veranda at the end of the day for a different panorama scenery with a drink in the hand of course.

Awaiting visitors

 Even Freja likes it.

She thinks she's human...sitting on a chair

And this little Willy Wag Tail.

The weather has definitely changed now and we don't have to mow the grass as often! But it will have to be done this weekend.

Blooming at the moment… nasturtiums and gerberas.

Nasturtiums

Gerbera

And the mornings are so cool that everybody looks for a sunny spot to enjoy the warmth. But Freja  has found the best one. She's a roof dog. Some people have knee-dog, sofa-dog, why not a roof-dog? She regularly goes up and inspects every aspects of the roof and runs after the birds. Imagine the surprise for the people driving at the front of the property to see her up there...

Roof plumber inspecting

On the outlook

Sound asleep

Going Nutty!

We've been harvesting the macadamia nuts from our tree, as we noticed we had robbers  coming at night and eating the nuts. These robbers are four legged, very quiet and creepy little creatures… Rats…

They climb the tree and get to the biggest ones at the top. I don't know how they can go through the nut shell (which is extremely hard) and  clean the entire kernel inside.  I've been told they love it as it helps keep their sharp teeth short ...

Nuts opened by rats

No wonder we only had a few baskets of nuts last year. But this year we've beat them to it .This little sucker had his last feed of macadamia (he died happy, as the bait was a fresh juicy nut...)

Ratatouille no more... RIP

This year we've harvested 22 kgs… and approximately 1500 nuts,  with some amazing unusual large ones…

Our largest nuts (won't fit in the machine!)

 We've also had 3 sets of twins, huge… fitting snugly in the husks. We won't eat these. They will be our lucky nuts!...

Our lucky nuts!

 However, it was a full day job to dehusk all these nuts. At first we tried to open them with a knife, which was a long and tedious process.

4 more baskets to dehusk

  But Svenne suddenly had a very clever "chippy" idea. Give them a couple of whacks with a hammer and the husk splits open. We just had to peel it off then, which was much easier and quicker.

I'm now left with 2 huge rubbish bags of husks, which I will use as mulch later on.

Ready to be cracked open

 Thanks to Steve and Colin for their Christmas gift  which has already come very handy… much easier than using a vice! Such a clever little machine.

Best device to have if you've got a macadamia nut tree

 I've toasted and salted a batch over Easter and it didn't take long for them to disappear. And my persimmon and macadamia nuts slice was also a success.

Persimmon and macadamia nut slice

 More experiences coming soon: sweet nuts, chocolate  coated nuts, savoury nuts, chilli nuts….

Stages to go before you can taste them 

And to sum it up!

April visitors…

Our garden has certainly been very appreciated by all in the last few weeks.

Caterpillars, bugs, butterflies, moths,  birds, they are all having a ball.

I found this beautiful chrysalis hanging on my desert rose one morning. With the sun shining on it. It looked like a Christmas bauble.

I love this praying mantis doing some tight rope walking on the clothes line!

And this delicate dragon fly enjoying the warm morning sun.

This poor little fellow got trapped in the house, probably lost his bearing. But I did return it to his environment after taking the photo.

This moth though didn't have a long life. Right after I snapped the shot it ended up as a snack for Freja.

This spider lives in the outside corner of our ensuite. I have noticed him shedding his skin once already and he is getting slowly bigger.

We have a lot of different spiders around the house…

However on a trip to the vet, he had a pet spider hanging around and I couldn't help myself admiring his perfection. He's span was as big as Svenne's hand!

This Lady beetle was well into her morning breakfast on one of the chilli plant.

So were these caterpillars. How could they  fit into a chilli?

These beautiful bugs abound. They always are in pairs. I guess the most stunning one is the male!

This is the first time we've seen a snake around the house. Green tree snake, harmless, of course. None the less I don't like snakes…

And I hope these three beautiful little birds weren't supper for him… As we saw them the night after in the same location, hugging together at the tip of a branch. Nature can be cruel...

Cane toads though, I've got no compassionate feelings for them. They are the worst pests ever introduced to Australia and are a real menace for the Australian native fauna. And we are very concerned about Freja finding one. She's still a puppy and eating everything she finds. She would surely die of their potent poison. So we try to do our bit by collecting them and disposing of them, (humanely of course).

The cows are back in the paddock next to our house.

 And I hope that we won't find this well endowed bull  in our garden one morning... as someone said to us recently.

It would be interesting as to how to get him out though...