End of Autumn

We had the pleasure of the visit from my cousin Monique and her grand-daughter Dominique. We all had a lovely time on a beautiful autumn Sunday, and it was really nice to catch up with her.

Her Chloé and Sophie are much more well  behaved than our Freja  and I think she was a bit too excited for them. Trying to ignore a 9 months old puppy is not easy!

Chloé

Sophie

The lorikeets are still having a feast in the mandarins…

And the butterflies and frogs still abound in our garden.

Svenne started connecting the sewer for the caravan's ensuite .

And I transplanted some wild lilies in my first stage project.

We were very lucky to witness the amazing biggest and closest moon in 2012 and it looked quite spectacular!

The sun-rises, even though cloudy, also look  wonderful.

And this sun-set  amazingly embellished our lake with beautiful hues of pink.

A late Autumn garden

The last month of Autumn in  our part of the world… May evenings and early mornings  are getting slightly cooler. The mercury  is dropping down to between 12 and 17 degrees lately… Not cold yet but it's getting chilly for us!

We only had a few showers since the beginning of May  and our dry season  is on the way, which means that growth is slowing down from now on.  The grass only requires to be mowed every 2/3 weeks. But the wind has picked up and is forever blowing at our place!

 Only a few bloomers at this time of the year, but there is still a bit of colour surrounding us. 

Gerberas, Periwinkles,  Gazanias, Marigolds,  are still flaunting themselves .

And the old regular calliandra is again adorned with his bright red pom poms which attracts all kinds of birds, big and small.

The change in the temperature doesn’t seem to affect  lichens  growing on the trees though… They look so dainty.

Late Autumn is also the time to start picking juicy mandarins. Competion is now on with bats and  birds…

  But as you can see, there are still plenty on the tree.

The oranges need a little more ripening time.

However, the lemon  tree is always covered with fruits. It has always been supplying us ever since we've been here. And the nets are still keeping the cockatoos at bay. However, they're retaliating on the cumquats...

This is a first! A twin lemon, I  picked the other day.

The black sapote  will take a while to mature.

And no this is not a capsicum but a chilli… quite hot too!

Who's visiting in late Autumn?

 A couple of  kookaburras… high in the trees

 A jabiru  is coming back at the lake's  side. We haven't seen him since last year.

A lonely but Oh! so colourful bug

And Freja is watching them all in a very funny position!

Of course the garden is also visited by  the elusive bandicoots which are digging holes in the grass in order to get to worms. We've never seen them though.
What we can see and hear is a multitude of different birds, each one with a distinctive call, which makes this place so attractive. Who needs music blaring in the background?

And while Svenne is busy working in Atherton on a big renovation job, I'm happily trying to be the perfect housewife, baking bread for when he comes home  for lunch. Nothing like a fresh loaf out of the bread-maker and a hot cup of tea on a windy and cold late autumn day. (Even if it looks a bit lop-sided…)

Won't you join us?

Busy, busy, busy

Yes I've been quite busy these last few weeks but it hasn't stopped me from enjoying the finest things in life and funny enough they are usually the simplest things, like…

Admiring the biggest and closest full moon for 2012 on the 5th May and the show was quite spectacular. I couldn't resist taking pictures.

 The zygocactus have made quite a stunning display on Mother's Day  flowering all at the same time.

Also called crab plant because of its leaves.

We also went on a ride in the boat on that day and it was very enjoyable. Freja is still daddy's girl!

As business went:

The veggie garden has been replanted with the winter crop, after being weeded , turned over , fertilized  and mulched.

Though all this didn't happen in one day , the soil here is so hard that I had to do it over 3 days… But I did it!

This year we'll have: lettuces, radishes, pad choys, tomatoes, eggplants, beans (snake, french and broad) peas, silverbeets, carrots and spring onions on the menu if all goes well...

I also started another project. The section at the front of the house (which is sloping and only growing weeds). A year ago I decided that I would convert it into a rockery. Never got around to do it until now. So I started…. Painstakingly removing all the grass and weeds, cutting through the soil to make it more level. So far I've done only a small part. But it will happen!

Before

After 3 hours...

I've also been occupied with crocheting blankets for Soren and Jesper. Soren's was finished on time, but I then realised that Jesper's birthday was coming up and decided to get cracking to make him a small one as well.

Soren's blanket

Jesper's blanket

 It was quite a marathon but eventually they were both sent last Monday.

Ready to post, finally!

Winter is fast approaching. The mornings are quite chilly now but I love watching the sun rise over the hills, and the steam from the lake.

"Old Benny" is up and running  every night now, only for a couple of hours, while I'm cooking and the water is heating.  I'm so happy to  use it. Nothing like a slow combustion stove.   Food  taste better and the warmth felt throughout the house is so comfortable. Thank you "Old Benny"!

And Thank you for YOUR comments. C'mon be part of this blog...