YES, I AM BACK IN THE SADDLE.

We have been busy. Still clearing some areas of what I laughingly call “the jungle.”

This morning I braved the back steps up to the boundary line and discovered…flowers on one of the (many!) crotons!

Croton

This is not far from the Grevillea, revealed when The Man chopped some overgrown ,weedy stuff a couple of weeks ago.

Grevillea insignis

I did start counting crotons…that sounds like a remedy for insomnia. Perhaps it is! But I gave up – they seem to be everywhere! Not that I’m complaining as they are so colourful and such hardy plants, especially in a “wild” sort of area. The experts will tell you they need regular, deep watering, blah-blah. Well, not here! Most of these plants have been here for 20+ years and survive on rain which, in the monsoon season, can be much more than mere “watering.” Tough as old boots! But I will lay a soaker hose along the top boundary and hope we don’t need to have a hose ban!

Croton

Another Croton (with bonus moccasins!)

And a Croton, with “modified” leaves

There is a row, almost a hedge, of Raphiolepis indica in front of the deck. A few months ago I started pruning it, then we had a decent couple of rainy days and it flowered! So I left it for the bees. But I will try to reduce it somewhat before the wet season.

Raphiolepis

And two or three Draecenas are flowering! Useful fillers and, if you’re lucky enough to have flowers, deliciously scented. A bit ( to my nose, anyway) like clover. The thing is, they are not what I’d call reliably performing bloomers! All sorts of insects work them for nectar. And their strappy leaves are often chomped!

Dracaena flowers

And, since I’ve used the chomp word…I used a few other colourful words yesterday when I discovered that almost ALL the flower buds on a new Callistemon had been chomped, presumably by a caterpillar, though I couldn’t see one. Bastard! I only bought the plant last week and was very much looking forward to…this. Oh well, fingers crossed.

Callistemon “Dawson River”

The big pot of Eucharis lily is flowering. I will probably keep it in a pot (maybe split it when this flowering is over), but yesterday I noticed a hitherto unseen white flower just off the deck. A careful tug of some other things revealed another Eucharis!

Eucharis lily

The second one, not planted by me!

Two of the papaw trees are fruiting, but whether we’ll get any ripe fruit is a 50-50 gamble. Possums, birds and bats also love pawpaw!

Pawpaw

One more picture before you nod off, bored to death? Oh, alright! Here’s Grevillea “Moonlight.” Long overdue for a serious pruning, but, being about the only thing keeping the birds and bees going we hadn’t the heart!

Grevillea “Moonlight” probably around 20’/6m

here we go again…

You know that feeling of “been there, done that” that is somewhat more prosaic than deja vu?

Well, chez Dinahmow, we’ve hit the “repeat” button. In 2008, when still a very young cat, Sporran broke a leg. 

And on Tuesday, Mr Ginger Stanley, who is/was the neighbours’ cat, broke his leg. Same leg, same break, same repair. Because the neighbours were at work, I took him to the vet, suspecting possible fracture or ligament damage. Yep. X-ray confirmed that the tip of the femur was broken. And the only solution is surgery to remove the hip “ball” as there is no room to pin the break.

A simple enough matter, but the vets were crazy-busy with several emergencies so Stanley was given pain relief and settled in a cage til his op. on Friday morning.

We brought him home late Friday afternoon. “Home” now being here, at our place. He’s on meds til the stitches come out next week and so far, is taking it all in his slightly wobbly stride.

Recovering

Sporran was not at all pleased with the “stink” that came home with him! But he’s managed to groom most of the hospital smell away.

We are in for some more rain this week, though not the volume expected north of here. Serious flooding already and worse expected.

Meanwhile…Tasmania and Victoria are battling fires. And dead fish continue to float to the surface in the Murray-Darling debacle.

Let me see if I can find a “pretty” for you.

Allamanda in a corner of the front verandah. We eat breakfast and lunch here most days, though by evening its NW position is too hot to be out there. But the scent of the flowers is reminiscent of daffodils…

KAMBERA…

…or Canberra.  Kambera is a word meaning “meeting place” in one of the native languages and may have led to Australia’s capital being named Canberra. But there is no hard and fast evidence for this, which I find rather sad. I can understand names being muddled in the early days of colonisation [in any country], when even English spellings were barely standardised. But Canberra only became the official name in 1913! A tip of the hat would have been nice…

But I don’t really want to tread that path, fraught as it always is.

I want to tell you a little about my recent visit to the Capital.

Now, some of you know that I met and was royally hosted by someone whose blog I’ve followed for several years. Yes! Another blog-meet. And from the airport pick-up we both felt like old friends.

We share so many interests I wonder sometimes if we are not,somehow, kin.

So, my first time in ACT and my head was swinging from window to window as we drove out. Most of the wattle (Acacia sp) was past its bloom, but I still saw enough for “wattle fix.” I can imagine what it must be like late winter/early spring. Here’s a link to just one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_baileyana.

Jazz, the resident cat, must have known a stranger was coming – he hid in a closet! Eventually, he decided I was not a Major Threat and even allowed me to play with his ribbon …

There were birds! Oh yes! Regulars at the feeders kept us highly entertained. Currawongs, magpies, pigeons, king parrots and even bearded ravens. Most of my photos still need editing so you might have to wait a while.Here’s one of the male Kings (Alisterus) being hand-fed.

And then there were  gardens. My kind of gardens. I’m not going to overwhelm you with photos, promise! But just look at this wisteria! And that’s only SOME of it! 

 

Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is an old favourite of mine.It loves cold winters or I’d probably go a bit  mad with it here!

 

A pure white Aquilegia in Sue’s garden

 

Flowering quince  Chaenomoles japonica  Another one that likes a colder climate.

 

I will share more another day, but here’s another wattle/Acacia. Just because. No, I don’t know which one!

And something I loved…just around the corner someone has set up a street library, with a notice inviting people to help themselves to a book and to add books to the shelf if they wish to. Thoughtfully draped in plastic sheeting to keep books dry and topped with this splendid fellow…

Next time, I’ll take you to the zoo!