Australia · autumn · garden flowers · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · Tweed Valley

Something to Sing About

Would you just look at that … after days of nothing other than mist and cloud, today the sun is shining once more. And there’s not a single cloud in the sky.

One of this year’s baby magpies has taken a liking to perching on my veranda clothes line during the wet days, and seems to want to continue doing so, regardless of the weather.

With less rain weighing down petals, I see flowers around the garden returning to their perky selves once more.

It’s so good to see the sun again, I feel like joining in when Mr. Magpie chortles his happy song! ❤

Australia · clouds · garden flowers · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · photography · summer · Tweed Valley

The Moodiness of Mount Warning

A slither of blueness returned to the morning sky today, just a slither, but enough to give me hope that today might just be the day the mountain would reappear, after sulking behind a wall of clouds for the past four days.

Little Hoppy (of gammy leg fame) was on standby, watching the mountain with me. I can always count on Hoppy to drop by every morning.

But wait – the Three Stooges are here as well, with clean and fluffy feathers after several days of being washed by the rain – repeatedly.

Not to be outdone, baby magpie waited patiently for me to turn around and take a photo of him as well.

Meanwhile, the mountain remained mostly hidden for most of the morning.

Early in the afternoon, most of the cloud cover had disappeared. Seeing the beautiful vivid blueness of the ranges is good for my soul, even if a few clouds lingered.

Less than an hour later, we had a complete mountain view!

I kept on checking the mountain today, and she was full of surprises. At dusk, even though she had caught a few clouds again, the setting sun’s dazzling rays shone across her lower ranges.

Quite a few daylilies appeared today, so while I had my camera in hand, I thought I’d better preserve some of their splendour. They are called daylilies for a reason, and will be gone by tomorrow.

During the few short minutes while I had wandered off to visit the daylilies, the mountain had changed again, this time darkening in preparedness for nightfall. Today, however, Mount Warning had one last treat remaining …

Goodnight mountain. ❤

 

Australia · clouds · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · subtropical weather · summer · sunrise · Tweed Valley

A Beautiful Summer’s Morning

The sky had the slightest tinge of pink early this morning, (although it doesn’t show up in the photo) and as the day progressed and the low cloud cleared, Mount Warning stood beautiful and clear in all her blue-green glory. I must be growing used to seeing clouds over the mountain though, as I chose this photo over clearer sky photos I took later in the day due to the character clouds add to the early morning sky.

Joining me to enjoy the early morning view from the tibouchina tree was my little Butcher Bird friend, Hoppy (of gammy leg fame) …

… and joining Hoppy was one of the two new additions to the Butcher Bird family this year.

While I was eating breakfast, I heard the sound of something we don’t hear a lot of now in these covid days – a ‘plane. And I knew from the whiring of the ‘plane’s engine that this was not a passenger ‘plane. It was here to fly over the valley and dust the crops. I had to zoom in fully to take the photo, and the photo is severely cropped, but at least the ‘plane is in focus. 🙂

When I turned around from taking the photo of the crop-dusting ‘plane, I spotted Bubba Magpie. I’m not sure if he dropped by to say hello, or seeing my camera he decided to pose. Either way, the sun shining on his still-downie baby feathers lit up the black and white pattern which will progressively turn shiny black as he matures.

I have decided these two are an item now, so I will introduce them as Mr and Mrs Pee Wee. Although she is the newest addition to my regular feathered visitors, Mrs, on the left, seems quite dominent, and doesn’t hesitate to come right up close to me when I am feeding the birds their breakfast.

The weather felt warmer in temperature today than it has been, but the lower humidity made the warmth of the day very pleasant indeed.

I could get used to summer if every day felt as beautiful as today. ❤

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

Around the Garden

Little Hoppy – of one gammy leg fame – stood nice and still on his healthy leg this morning while I took a photo of him. I had run out of fresh meat and had to thaw a batch from the freezer in the microwave, and he was very patient indeed.

Baby Magpie simply looked bewildered. If he could speak, I’m sure he would stamp his claw and demand his breakfast. 😉

The weather appeared to be threatening rain all day, but when no rain had fallen by this afternoon, I ventured outdoors to pull out a few weeds. All the rain we have been having has encouraged a new crop of weeds in several patches through my garden beds, so I’ve made a start on getting rid of a few. I also dead-headed my flowering plants. This rose bush still has several fresh roses on it, so nothing needed to be removed from this plant. 🙂

I had my iPhone in the garden, so took a photo of the valley from the top of the garden with my phone camera. There’s really nothing going on down in the valley today except heat haze or mist, but as always, I can’t complain when it is not an overly hot day.

We are having rather a mild summer this year! 🙂