IS THAT THE TIME ALREADY!

December 21, 2019 / dinahmow / 15 Comments

Well, I shan’t bother with tedious explanations and empty apologies. After all, I am not the only one with a piled-high plate. And at least my “plate” is not burning…

Things tick along pretty much as usual.Which means I spend a fair slice of time watering (sparingly!) the parts of the gardens that are screaming for moisture. Sometimes, I’m rewarded with flowers and fruit. Most times, not!

Carissa fruit. I can’t make jam from one so I’ll leave it for the birds!

And we had a visitor from foreign lands* so we were out and about, taking in a beach or three and seeing the sights. I had a camera.

There are water towers and grain silos in various spots around the country which have been painted by local artists. Googling “painted silos”will take you to many more.

We had a brief thunder storm last week.Not much rain, but WOW! The vegetation went va-va-voom! Tomato seedlings apparently swallowed some steroids, shot up , flowered and have now set fruit. And some of the things I’d thought unlikely to survive the heat have also turned the corner, away from the die-and-be-composted list. Small steps…

We organised a chap to collect the heavier garden waste and take it to the Council’s mulching place. This was the heap at the top of our driveway. (There was even more stuff by the time the chap arrived to collect it!) Money well spent.

Overnight, one of the Royal Palms hurled a spent frond from about 30′ high and it missed some orchids by millimetres.(See, I can do bi-lingual measurements!) It’ll need both of us to get the brute out of the jungle.I guess we have to start another heap…sigh

I try to avoid political references. Not easy, when we are run by idiots!

But whatever muddle the world is in I look to natural beauty and humour for solace.

So I’ll get on with my list of “things-to-do” and leave you with something uplifting

*The “foreign lands” mentioned above included Israel and a visit to Palestine. Accompanied by unsmiling soldiers with Uzis at the ready.

TODAY,I HEARD THE OCEAN

October 27, 2019October 29, 2019 / dinahmow / 26 Comments

I’m near enough to be able to hear it, but today it was exceptionally quiet at 5am.The wind, which has been shrivelling gardens and fraying tempers for weeks had dropped. Even the cats were eating their breakfast quietly!
I stood on the front deck, listening to the quiet soughing of the tide.

And then I brewed some coffee and came in to do some work…

Ye gods and little fishes! A month since my last post! How can this be???

Well, I do have a better-than-usual excuse. We’ve been renovating! Oh! The excitement! The thrill of seeing glossy new floor paint, almost dry enough to move the furniture back. But not quite dry enough for a cat to walk on…

So, I’ll spare you the dreary details and show you some of the things that have survived the blustery wind.

*Terminalia,the closest we get to fiery “autumn colours.”*

*Dendrobium crumenatum Also called pigeon orchid. A sweet little thing, only flowers after rain and blooms don’t last long, but such a sweetie!*

*Phaius australis, a native Swamp Orchid. It flowered for weeks and this is the best picture I managed, as it neared the end of its show!*

I have several jasmines in the garden and have to say this one, Trachelospermum jasminoides is a cracker. Here, it’s growing from a shrub tub below the back deck and this year has extended several metres along the rail.I will have to give it a very severe “haircut” when it finishes flowering, but for now…we love it.

Maybe I’ll get back to this sad old blog a little more frequently. But don’t hold your breath, m’dears!

December 19, 2018December 20, 2018 / dinahmow / 26 Comments

So…a little more tinkering and tweaking and I think we can call it done.

But I should back-track a little…I have also tinkered with some photos .

My friends’ Eden garden.

*Dendrobium speciosum*
Here’s a link, should you live in a suitable climate https://www.australianorchids.com.au/pages/dendrobium-speciosum-the-sydney-rock-orchid

A pretty little grouping of soft pinks on the front terrace.Perfect for that early morning cuppa.

*Castanespermum australe.* This is down near our beach and is what my “bean trees” would grow to if I let them!

*Acacia holocericea* spent seed pods. Known as Velvet Wattle for its very soft leaves.

And we had a visitor! A niece was over from NZ for a conference in Sydney and she spent a few days with us. We took her out and about, walked along the beach, paddled in the sparkling water. And decided a swim would be just the ticket! So good, we did it again the next day!

That pesky cyclone that was hanging around finally went out to sea after making a bit of a mess up north. No serious damage here and most of us were very happy with the rain!

My sweet little Pigeon* orchid, Dendrobium crumenatum, was, perhaps, the happiest- it produced 7 sprays of flowers! True, they do not last long, but they are so delicate.