SUMER IS ICUMEN IN

Or, as is more likely to be heard in the northern parts of Australia: “Strewth! It’s bloody hot already!” Indeed it is. Some areas are getting the storms and some are getting left out.

I went with a couple of friends yesterday to see some linocuts which had been printed by a road roller. We drove south, watching the darkening clouds, quite expecting to get wet, but the clouds rolled away and dropped their load somewhere else. What I call Clayton’s storms.*

And the prints we’d expected to see were not on display!  We’d got the date wrong. Oops! So next week, perhaps we’ll try again.

There was a small exhibition by two local artists and the local handcraft store was open and we found a place to have some lunch so it was not a wasted day.

We were having lunch the other day when the garbage truck roared up the street and it was not our usual platypus-decorated one.So I grabbed the camera and raced out, bare feet hopping on the hot stones,just in time to catch this

A bit fuzzy, but this truck ‘s scene depicts the Mackay Marina. I wonder how many cities have such swish garbage trucks?

In my last post I didn’t think to mention how I carry my alcohol. Literally speaking! In England a few years ago, I often popped into a small supermarket near my bus stop and got a couple of bottles of wine and some cheese, olives, grapes. The small necessities of life. And this supermarket is one that sells mostly “Fair Trade” comestibles.They also sold strongly-made cotton canvas six- bottle bags and I brought two back with me.They’ve been in regular use for over three years and show no signs of wear.Wish I’d brought more as everyone seems to want one!

Anyway, yesterday, I spotted this

A two-bottle wine bag with a sense of humour. Mr LX, I’m sure your machine could do this! 🙂

I’m on watering duty for my neighbour and it’s time to swap out some hoses so I’ll leave you with a quick pic of a new Callistemon in my garden. It’s called Taree Pink, should any locals want to plant one. This is an accurate photo of its colour.

 

And the title of this post? Here’s a little musical accompaniment. I think you can follow the old English.Feel free to join the singers. Perhaps even skip about.

I’m going to christen my new pizza stone. Thanks for the tips, Mr.LX

 

 

 

*the storm you have when you’re not having a storm  see here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claytons

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SERVES ME RIGHT FOR BEING ABSENT SO LONG!

Sometimes, life throws curve balls.Sometimes laziness overtakes me. Ain’t sayin’ which…

But I was jogged by my friend, the Banished One so I opened the neglected blog and found the WordPressians had staged a coup.I suppose I’ll figure things out  in my usual stumbling way…

Here’s something to look at while I have a stumble…

It’s a Blue Tiger Tirumala hamata. Not so many of them in the cooler weather, but they are here in their thousands throughout summer.

I was sorting through a box of what cannot be labelled more kindly than “stuff” and came across something that made me think of a summer day, years ago.

I could hear children laughing and shouting as they played in the garden. Glancing through the window I could see one of the boys running around, one hand flapping at his trouser seat. The others were collapsed in giggling fits. Then the Resident Boy burst in, looking for a cold drink. I said they seemed to be having fun. “Yeah.Jason’s doing hippo farts.It’s brilliant!” And he raced out , taking the water bottles.

Hippo farts? I blame David Attenborough.

Geiger had a trip to Dr.Vet last week. A minor blip. A quick jab sorted it.Not that she thinks a needle in the nether end is minor! But the good thing is that the test that confirmed this infection also returned a negative glucose result. “Told you I wasn’t diabolic!”

And the new banner? That one, up there /\…it’s a native small tree, related to macadamia.Want to see more?

Buckinghamia celissima  Commonly called Ivory Curl. It’s growing down near the beach; no room in this garden for it! Mind you, I’ve been wielding the big loppers to great effect…hmm, I wonder.

Not much of a post, but perhaps my mojo will return now that I’ve made some effort.

 

 

FLOWERS IN THE HOUSE

Despite being , technically, ahead of Jane on this side of the IDL, I always seem to miss posting for this.

And I’m only just squeaking in this time (see previous post about the rain)!

But, here we go and I offer absolutely no apology for my cheating!

In fact, I begin with a cheat! Some of you will have seen this photo in my Cyclone Dylan post last week.Well, another small branch of Cananga odorata came down, but, having learned last week that it does not do well in a vase, I’m re-posting this.

Canangra odorata, the source of ylangylang perfume.

Heliconias and variegated leaf Hibiscus;both quite rain-battered! And Hibiscus are not good pickers-within hours, they wilt,shrivel and turn quite goo-y.But hey! they are my house!

 

In this old juice bottle we have 2 ground orchids,Spathiglottis; one bright purple, the other pale pink-mauve; one purple Angelonia and some Orthosiphon,”Cats’ Whiskers.” Again, not really grown for the cut flower trade, but handy when things are scarce.

 

Ah! Now I’m really venturing into “cheats territory.” I had to nip down to the shops this morning and dang me! if the rain didn’t return! So I left the sunflowers and gerberas in a laundry bucket while I ran around, dealing with open windows.And by then it was lunch time.And now I’m whacked!

But these are , technically, in the house! Enjoy!

NOT REALLY ANOTHER WHISTLE-STOP…

I started to write that as the post title and I wondered where it had originated. I assumed England, shortly after the introduction of railway travel.But I thought I’d asked that font of knowledge. Yes, that one, up there in the ether. And I find it owes much to American politics.

Actually, I’ve had a gutful of politics from all quarters, but can’t be bothered changing the title completely. Here’s what I gleaned from my dip into the font : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistle_stop_train_tour

So, it’s a whistle-stop in that I’m just stopping long enough to post something. Mainly because Jane, over at Small But Charming, is holding  another ” flowers in the house ” as a tribute and a gesture of empathy for Bostonians.

I just happened to have some flowers in a vase as part of an observation. I’ve posted elsewhere about the Hibiscus mutabilis, whose blooms change throughout the day from white to pink. I’ve never used them as cut flowers, but on Friday I picked a fresh bloom and brought it indoors to see what it would do. I took pictures over a 12 hour period, beginning at about 7am. No, of course it’s not a precise scientific record!

It does exactly as it does when on the tree!What I did learn, however, is that unfurled buds do not open in a vase. So, as it’s a multiflora type thing there will be no more indoors. Why sacrifice 5 or 6 buds? I have more flower pictures on Flickr as most blooms wilt too quickly indoors. And I really prefer to leave them in the garden for birds and insects. http://www.flickr.com/photos/18554857@N03/sets/72157631618055245/  and, for anyone confused by its common names, Rose of Sharon and Confederate Ros,here’s a link to the other Rose of Sharon!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_of_Sharon

MORE RAIN…

…though, mercifully, this stopped after only four hours! I did hobble* up to the back fence to look at the neighbour’s drain; it looks clear. I also picked a few flowering stems that had been snapped by the wind and rain.

So…a bit of lull in blogging.That’s because I still have books to finish and I am still somewhat at the mercy of unreliable deliveries. Supplies, from lavatory paper and dog food to wine and pasta all reach us here in the North, via fleets of trucks, along the great Bruce Highway (and at the very mention of the name I think of Monty Python. Don’t you?).

But that route was been closed due to flood damage far to the south.https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTi-0cCtodDvQb8c8ZibA6dkd8bDJMSHmvX9ARjWk1xQopgHU3X (image from Gympie Times web page) 

Some supplies are coming through. But not haberdashery supplies. Which means that I must either wait for the thread colour I need…or change my chosen thread. I know. Small potatoes.

But, while I waited for some glue to dry I thought I’d join the floral parade over at Jane’s blog. Not much in my garden is pickable, but today I have some Ixora, Duranta and a ground orchid and some rather battered Angelonia.

Duranta “Geisha Lady”, Angelonia and an almost-spent Spathiglottis.

 

 

 

 

Ixora

gratuitous cropped shot

 

* Hobbled because I have a sore foot. Not quite sure why and as the bills mount I think I’ll just mutter something about the passing years and try not to spend too much time on my feet.

IDLING. NOT WORKING.

Not good! But if “idling” means the motor is running, that’s better than nothing, right? And I can’t do much until my paper dries.

So…I’m messing about in here. Yes, that is the right verb. A lightbulb blew. Blew right out of the socket. Made a bit of a mess. And I made this…

This is Buggi.

We continue to work on the strip of garden with our like-minded neighbour. I have two Malaysian stool palms in pots and I moved them to the shady area by the fence. Personally, I feel very sorry for the Malaysian!

When I googled to confirm the name (a year ago it was reclassified from Livistona rotundifolia to the Saribus genus.) I found it is called the foot stool plant. Oh.

The nights are still comfortably cool, but the daytime mercury is climbing. The shell gingers are flowering and the torches will not be far behind them. I brought a stem indoors…

 

…and added some Petrea. Which promptly twisted sideways.

I also brought in a snapped hippeastrum stem . I think two black cats may know something about that! They are five years old today. Seems like yesterday….

I’d like to have flowers indoors more often, but they wilt so quickly in the heat and when the ceiling fans are on things in tall vases are prone to tipping over!

But, since I do have “flowers in the house” today, I thought I’d join Jane’s floral dance.

Now, back to work,woman!

 

 

 

A MEETING OF LIKE MINDS

Five years ago, about the time I started this blog, one of the commenters seemed to have the same  (completely bonkers?) sort of view of this world as myself. I thought, vaguely, maybe we’d meet, some day, if the planetary alignments were ever right. A bit like buying lottery tickets…

Anyway,that thing called Life threw all manner of curves our way and the meeting was pushed onto the back burner, along with all the  other metaphors.

Well, guess what? We made it! And, blimey! doesn’t one of us look fantastic!

Yes, she did have to lend me some wellies. Very fetching they were, too. Posh green ones, like what proper country folk wear. None of yer old K-Mart rubbish. Oh, no…

In fact, I’m so fond of those wellies I think I might just go back to Wiltshire and borrow them again.

Off to Fenland today to meet another “blast from  the past.”

I’ll leave you with some  pretty pictures. Though, personally, I think the one above takes some beating.