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?