Category: in my garden

Australia · blessings · in my garden · In My World · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · rain · summer · sunset · Tweed Valley

Something to Sing About.

Joanne4 Comments

When the day began – again – with rain and mist, I expected another day of nothing interesting to take a photo of. It’s a wonder the poor kookaburra could even find its way to my garden this morning through the thick mist that hung about in the valley until around 9am.

Mr. Pee Wee, seen this morning singing a happy song while tightrope walking along the slippery glass balustrade.

By midday though, the valley had cleared and the sun was shining. I rushed outside to take a photo while I had the opportunity to get a beautiful clear photo of the mountain.

By mid-afternoon, the change in weather seemed to have infected the birds with happiness! Mr. and Mrs. Pee Wee splashed around the birdbath in my front garden, although I couldn’t get close enough to quietly take a photo of them. Meanwhile, a baby Butcher Bird chortled away in the Tibouchina tree just outside my front door.

Even when I snuck outside the door to say hello, the sweet little thing didn’t miss a note. This little beauty is welcome to sing outside my front door any time he likes. 🙂

Just when I thought the day couldn’t look any more beautiful, the sky put on a pretty burnt yellow sunset show, nothing eye-popping, just a subtle show of laid-back beauty. 🙂

 

Australia · clouds · family · grandchildren · in my garden · kitchen renovation · Mount Warning · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

More from Saturday …

Joanne4 Comments

… but first, here is the valley today – more rain, more clouds, another photo of a partially hidden mountain.

One huge bonus is the cooler weather we are enjoying lately. 🙂

On Saturday, my son and daughter-in-law invited a few friends around for a bar-be-que. Their back yard is quite small, so we are happy to share ours with our family and their friends.

All my grandchildren were here too, and I took a couple of photos of Braxton and Aurora that I rather like.

Aurora’s balloon escaped and ended up in the pool, so Poppy took her into the pool area to help her rescue it.

Aurora met puppy Summer for the first time too, and they discovered they were just the right size for one another. ❤ Aurora wasn’t about to let go of that balloon either.

Braxton didn’t realise how patient I could be when I planned on taking his photo. Hiding behind his hand wouldn’t deter me. 😉

Gotcha! 😛

Today I had the final detailed measure of my new kitchen, which will begin installation in the second week of February. Exciting times! 🙂

Australia · birds · clouds · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · summer · Tweed Valley

Will he stay – or will he go?

Joanne10 Comments

Again today, the rain in the valley hid Mount Warning and kept the humidity in the air. At least this weather isn’t overly hot, so it is actually making summer more bearable than usual. 🙂

Ever since the little Pee Wee – or Magpie Lark – arrived in my garden. I have suspected he was a male, calling for a mate. Today, my suspicions were confinrmed. I saw three more Pee Wees arrive. There may have been more, but I only saw three, and immediately I noticed that one of them had different markings on its face, it had more white than my little friend. A trusty Google search has confirmed that my little friend is a male and one of his visitors – the one in the photo on the right – is a female. My little friend is on the left.

The others, including the female, didn’t stay long, so now I will have to wait and see if they return. Alternately, my little friend may leave, and if he does, I will miss hearing his happy little song each day. I’m hoping he will stay, but the choice is his. ❤

Australia · challenges · clouds · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · new beginnings · new year · rain · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

The first challenge for 2021 …

Joanne13 Comments

Happy New Year!

That much I know I have right – it’s New Year’s Day, 2021. But what day of the week is it again?

Never mind, it’s holiday time, so I won’t concern myself too much with remembering what day it is right now. When the usual rhythm of everyday life begins again, I’m sure the days of the week will all fall back into place as well. 😉

We have had more rain today, along with long spells of, well, not sunshine, but it hasn’t rained all day either. The valley cleared to some extent, although Mount Warning decided to hide for the day. I’m sure there are plenty of people, regardless of Covid rstrictions, who may have over-indulged last night and wanted to hide away for the day, just as Mount Warning did.

Little Hoppy, my Butcher Bird friend with the gammy leg, visited today with one of the babies. I’m never sure who the actual parents of these baby birds are, but this little one seemed to follow Hoppy everywhere.

Later, I had a baby Butcher Bird perched on the top of the trampolene, singing at the top of its voice. They sing such a pretty song, filled with an extensive range of vocal notes, once they get into their song.

Not to be outdone, later in the day I had Baby Magpie in the front garden, extending his vocal chords to full extent as well. 🙂

While I was in the front garden with my camera, I had a look at a few plants. Some of them have taken a battering this summer, what with all the rain and gusty wind. These lovely white Mandevilla flowers broke into bloom only a few days ago though, and so far haven’t succumbed to the blustering wind. It’s a fairly new plant, I only planted it last summer, but it seems happy in the place I chose for it.

The only place I can grow Fuchsias is in a large pot on my front veranda, where the plant is protected from the harsh sun and wind. This plant is three years old now, and this flowering season it has already been in bloom for several months. I have to water the plant every day as it is quite a thirsty plant, and stresses quickly in the heat if the soil is left to dry out.

How did everyone celebrate New Year? I imagine quietly, like I did. Husband and I stayed up to watch the televised fireworks display on Sydney Harbour, welcomed the New Year in with a glass of sparkling wine, then off to bed (which is where I’m heading now!) 🙂