Category: garden flowers

Australia · blessings · cakes · Changes · clouds · farewell · garden flowers · granddaughter · gratitude · In My World · memories · Mount Warning · new beginnings · new year · pets · photography · rain · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

Goodbye, 2020.

Joanne17 Comments

Words seem to escape me tonight. What does one say as the year 2020 draws to a close?

I could state the obvious, that this year has been an extremely difficult year for many people, but we all know that. It’s hardly a profound statement.

It has definitely been a year of change – we all know that as well.

So I will tell you all some new news, about my day filled with magical moments. 🙂

It rained overnight, washing away the dusty air in the valley. I awoke to a crystal clear – picture perfect, I would say – scene of Mount Warning.

As always, when Forrest and Brontë enjoyed some time in the sun, it was my Labrador, Brontë, who kept watch.

Raindrops from our overnight shower clung to my potted Petunias. I love these colours so much! Pink and purple flowers in my garden make my heart sing!

Inside the house, Bowie boy posed beautifully for the camera. ❤

And when my little granddaughter came to visit, she was very excited to finally try a piece of the Christmas cake she has been eyeing off every time she has visited since Christmas Day.

While I had my camera out, Aurora told her Mummy and Daddy to say “cheese,” then she took her own photo. Don’t you just love the imagination of children? And Aurora’s curls? ❤

Miss Tibbs prefers to hide when visitors arrive. I found her after my visitors had left, in her usual place on my sewing table.

Around sunset, a sudden noise alerted me to a change in the weather. It had remained sunny most of the day – the sun was still shining – but a sudden gush of rain fell from a huge unexpected cloud that had rolled in from the coast.

We had the most spectacular sunshower. I took a few photos from my veranda, as the rain really was quite heavy, and had whipped up a windy squall from the south.

So the day that began crystal-clear-perfect ended with a brilliant sunshower. Two incredibly stunning, yet totally different views of Mount Warning. What a way to end the year!

I feel a tad sorry for the year 2020. It has taken a bad rap, particularly since March. But was it the fault of the year that so many things went awry? I don’t believe it was. Every year, we experience the good and the bad situations that life offers, and we can’t claim 2020 to be all “bad” can we?

For me, 2020 was the year my grandson, Eli, was born. It is also the year I learned that I have two more grandsons on the way. The units I completed at university were two of my most enjoyable units so far, and I was graded with a high distinction for both units. I have had the opportunity to spend more time at home, therefore more time in my garden. Since July, I have blogged every day and made more friends in the blogging community.

No, 2020 wasn’t all bad, not for me at least.

As we welcome in the New Year of 2021, we are presented with a brand new opportunity to begin again, with a clean slate. No mistakes, no problems, just a choice of how we will react to the good moments, and the bad, that 2021 presents us with. ❤

Australia · clouds · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · native Australian plants · new beginnings · photography · summer · sunset · Tweed Valley

Contemplating the New Year

Joanne23 Comments

The afternoon sun hid behind a cloud today, so the sky colours are far more subtle than they have been recently at sunset.

For the last couple of days, the light hasn’t been wonderful for taking photos. I think we have a bit of glare from the brightness of the sky, so none of the photos I have taken look all that wonderful.

But not to worry, I have a few photos, taken a couple of weeks ago, which didn’t make it to a blog post for whatever reason, so I will share those today.

Did I mention we have two baby Butcher Birds this year? I don’t believe I did. They are still a tad shy, but visit the garden occasionally. One day, both visited at the same time.

They seem to like perching on the trampoline I have in the yard for my grandchildren.

Since I added a few seedlings to some empty plant pots I had in the garden, the birds seem to enjoy rummaging around in the dirt, for reasons only known to them. Even the little Noisy Miners have taken a liking to the new pots.

Clearly it was raining the day I took this photo of a few of my regular visitors. I complained no end about the rain causing clouds and mist which hid Mount Warning, but after having so much rain that the area flooded, it hasn’t rained since! We could do with a touch of rain for the garden, just not so much that it causes a flood again!

And finally, here are a couple of flowering plants in my back garden. The first flower is probably the most recognisable – a hibiscus. A tiny Ladybird insect had taken a fancy to the stunning orange flower too. 🙂

The last flower is an Australian Native, whose name escapes me!

There’s a few more photos on my desktop waiting to be added to a blog post, so if the dud light continues, I have a few more photos to go on with tomorrow. It’s convenient timing too, I’m using up all of my December photos before we begin the New Year.

How is everyone feeling about a new year beginning – are you ready to launch into 2021 with gusto, shouting good riddance to the old year? Or do you feel wary of the new year, planning on tippy-toeing forward after the trials of 2020?

Australia · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · native Australian plants · rain · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

Cute and Curious

Joanne5 Comments

How’s that for a crystal clear day? I shouldn’t have gotten too excited, the rain returned a couple of hours ago, but that’s to be expected at this time of year. Our area is known for hot, humid days during summer, ending in a subtropical storm – or heavy rain shower, at least – later in the afternoon. The day began beautifully though, which was a very nice change from seeing mist and haze in the valley every morning.

This morning I noticed the little Pee Wee bird dancing around the top of the fence, clearly trying to get a look at something down below. I watched for a minute, as I was curious to find out what had caught his attention. After a while, a little head popped out from behind my potted Lilly Pilly plant.

Baby Magpie has taken to foraging in the dirt of my newly-potted plants, so I suppose the Pee Wee was hoping for a share of whatever Baby Mags came up with! 🙂

Australia · Christmas · colours · daughter · garden flowers · grandchildren · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · palm trees · rain · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

December Storms

Joanne16 Comments

Before 7:00am this morning I had a kookaburra waiting outside my kitchen window for breakfast. Husband left for work early, so my day began about an hour earlier. I had already given the pot plants a watering and finished a few chores around the house when kookie arrived, and when I went out with his meat, the magpie family arrived too.

Moments after I went outside, there was a huge thunderclap in the valley, and a few spits of rain suggested an approaching storm. A quick downfall, accompanied by several more loud crack of nearby thunder though, and it was all over.

Petunias waiting to be planted.

By 9:00am, I was heading out to spend a few hours Christmas shopping with my daughter. We had a lovely morning, and met up with my other daughter and her two-year-old, Aurora, for morning tea. Aurora’s other Nana joined us for coffee as well, and met my baby grandson, Eli, for the first time.

Last years Gazanias, still looking happy, regardless of our excessive early summer heat.

I may have finished my Christmas shopping now. Hopefully I have, as the only reason I want to go to the shops now is to buy food.

Later this afternoon, the threatened morning storm arrived in earnest, with thunder, and heavy rain. After the storm passed, husband checked the rain guage, and found that we’d had 20ml. of rain in about half an hour.

I hadn’t expected any amazing sunset colour-show in the valley after seeing the amount of white mist that had rolled in with the storm. Half way through cooking dinner though, this is what I saw –

The sky lit up in orange-red hues, the mist had disappeared, and the valley made her magical early evening offering yet again. ❤