Category: garden flowers

Australia · autumn · floods · garden flowers · native Australian birds · poetry · rain

Flooding Rains

Joanne5 Comments

Tonight I heard on the news that it rained in every town throughout the state of New South Wales today. The whole of the eastern coast of the state, and towns further north into southern Queensland, are on alert for excessive rainfall and flooding.

While media alarmists cry out “climate change,” the realists among the press – and yes, fortunately, there are some realists remaining in Australian media circles – reminded viewers tonight of a famous poem, once taught to most school aged children. The poem, “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar, written between 1904 and 1908, is a timely reminder of the predictable harshness of the climate in this country I call home.

“My Country” is a beautiful poem. It romantisises Australia, while at the same time emphasising the ruggedness and challenges of living in this land. The second verse of the six verse poem is the most famous and is the verse I am sharing today. The other five verses can be found on the Official Dorothea Mackellar website.

My Country

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

~~ Dorothea Mackellar.

Australia · autumn · enchanting · garden flowers · in my garden · mist · Mount Warning · sunrise · Tweed Valley

A Touch of Magic

Joanne4 Comments

The mist returned this morning, adding a touch of magic to the early hours of the day.

We moved into our newly built home here in March 1994, so twenty-seven years ago this month, and awakening to a misty valley scene never grows old, even after all these years.

This afternoon, I found more magic in my garden, a tiny toadstool, and suddenly a children’s story began forming in my mind. Imagine the possibilities of a whole village of tiny fairies living in the garden, with the golden toadstool being the focal point of their village!

This bright orange gerbera – complete with a tiny ladybird (can you see it there close to the top of the flower?) – would have to be the sun that lit up the fairies’ world every day!

Even my flowering gazania looked magical and other-worldly today. On the eighteen petals are eighteen burgundy comets, zooming towards the orange life-force at the centre of the flower.

We’ve had some pretty dismal weather recently which has prevented me from visiting my garden as often as I usually would, even during the hotter months of the year. It’s encouraging to find a touch of inspirational magic emerging as the seasons change. 🙂

Australia · autumn · clouds · garden flowers · Mount Warning · Tweed Valley

And just for a change … it’s raining …

Joanne1 Comment

… again!

There’s no sign of the mountain today, it’s in hiding.

Yesterday – when it wasn’t raining – I took a photo of these very pretty purple coneflowers, a new addition to my garden this year. They seem to have done very well, especially considering the days of blustering wind and excessive rain we have had throughout summer and into autumn. 🙂

Australia · autumn · blessings · family · garden flowers · pets

Tess’s Azalea

Joanne3 Comments

Instead of posting another photo of a grey valley, grey sky, and a patch of white where Mount Warning should be in full view, I thought today I would share recent photos of “Tess’s Azalea”.

Our family was blessed to share eleven years of Tess’s life, a faithful friend who brought indescribable joy to our lives.

Eleven is a good age for a Rottweiler. That’s my logical brain – my common sense – talking. Emotionally, I felt wrecked after she left us.

Tess’s place of rest is in our garden, in an area known as the pet’s graveyard, and to mark her place among our other lost furred and feathered friends, I planted an azalea, which flowers in two tones. Tess’s Azalea.

She was a beautiful girl, but don’t just take my word for it … here’s a photo of Tess.