Update- Baby Rosellas.

The Baby Rosellas are doing well. Unfortunately I lost one a few days ago. I think perhaps it may have gotten cold overnight. The tiny one is still progressing, and still doesnt have any feathers, while the remaining five have started to show their beautiful colours.

Baby Eastern Rosellas

A large gum tree came down in our front paddock last week. Unfortunately it had been used as home to a pair of Eastern Rosellas. They nested in a hollow in the tree. When the tree fell the hollow limb broke up, seven babies fell from it. I have been feeding them for a week now and they are doing really well. When they are independant, and able to fly I will release them, in the front paddock so they can live in the wild as they are intended too. One of the baby birds is very small and still doesnt have any pin feathers, The bigger babies are starting to get coloured feathers coming through. When I found them I was unsure as to what kind of parrot they were, as they had only a few pin feathers.

Butterfly Tree

My Butterfly Tree is in full flower. It is about 10 years old and this is the first year it has been so fully covered in flowers.

October Garden

The October Garden is usually a great time to be outdoors. However, this year we have had really blustery winds and the weather has not been as good as it could have been.
Two mornings ago there was frost on the lawn - unusual for this time of year, although not unheard of. It is staying very dry, we could do with some much needed rain, as it is getting very dusty.
A few weeks ago the whole state was covered in red dust, according to the news bulltens it came from "Lake Erye". I have never seen so many dirty motor cars.
My Hippeastrums have started to flower and are looking great. I have been feeding them up on liquid manuare. It seems to be doing the trick as usually I have trouble getting them to come into flower.

Arum Lilly

The Arum Lilly is a lovely flower. Not everyone likes them, but I am just pleased to have one that is flowering.

Bearded Iris

I purchased some new Bearded Iris this year from the Iris Farm at Narromine. To date I have one which has flowered and two more with buds. This one is called Venerables. Not a great name for a beautiful flower. I have had some Livingstone Daisys flowering as well. They are wonderful little flowers and brighten up any winters day.

Flowers

My Pansys have been really lovely. I just love them.

Spring.

Its the 9th of September already. Spring is 9 days old. We have had some much needed rain over the last week or so, and everything is looking good. It is still rather cold though. The trees are starting to get their new leaves and signs of thngs happening are about.
The Wood Ducks that have been nesting out the front of our block, bought their babies through about 10 days ago. They have been bringing theor young through our block for quiet a few years now. I ran to get my camera, but by the time I got back they had dissapeared. Yesterday, I saw then down by the dam, again I ran for the camera. The young ducks had grown considerably since the first sighting. Again they disapearsed as I came near. There is about a dozen of them. Two hit the water with their mother and I was able to take a photo of them.

Parrot Flower

My Friend Lenore emailed me this picture of the Parrot Flower a protected species from Thailand.
It is really beautiful.

Fusha Cacti

My Fusha Cacti are in full flower and
look quiet good.

Money

This morning, while checking the electric fence for leaks, Charlie came across a $50.00 note.
Heavens only knows how long it had been laying on the ground. It had disintergrated to a great degree. It just goes to show, be very careful with your money.

Cameliah

This Cameliah, called "Lady Lock", is a pale pink ruffeled type. However, this year there are three different shades on the one bush.

Mushrooms

The Mushrooms have grown and were large enough to harvest. We really enjoyed eating them and look forward to the next harvest. It is really quiet interesting to set up the box and watch for the first sign of growth, then to see them develop to a point where they can be picked and eaten.

Worm Farm

I have become quiet interested in having a worm farm. Some parts of my garden are really very water repelant. I am hoping that the worm water, from a worm farm might help turn it around.
My daughter-in-law is also very keen on the worm farms to provided nutrient for her garden.
I didnt have much idea about how to go about the whole thing. After a browse around the internet I came up with a few ideas. I settled on getting a couple of poly styrine boxes and adapting them to the job. I hope they work. This photo is not very clear as I put the worm farm inside a small shed I have in my garden.

Frost

We had a massive frost this morning. It was much heavier than the one of yesterday morning.
It has done quiet a bit of damage to the more frost tender parts of the garden. and the poor lawn got a real culture shock, after the recent rain it had put on a spurt of growth. However the frost chopped that right back.

Hopes' Babies

Hope has twin babies a boy and a girl. Kates' friend Loren thinks the girl should be name "Electra",
as she is so full of life and energetic. - wanting to play all the time.

Winter

We had a massive frost here this morning. Quiet a few of my plants have been burnt off by it.
Frosts are not a favourite of mine, but, they are part and parcel of our winter. I think winter has finally hit. It is very cold, a shock to our systemas we have had just the best weather for Autumn.
The trees have lost their leaves and the citrus is ripening.

Pansy

I have not grown Pansies for a few years, so I decided to put in some seed this year. My first flower has come out this week. I really love Pansies, they are a very Happy looking type of flower.

Mushrooms

My last post was some time ago, I just seemed to run out of things to add. However, my son and his wife and family gave Charlie a home mushroom kit. We have it in the pantry and after two weeks little mushrooms began to appear. They are growing quiet well and will soon be ready to harvest.

Bird Waterer.

This is the water bubbler that used to be in the park. It was discarded and I obtained it. All the fittings had been removed, but with the addition of a plug it makes a wonderful Bird Waterer. The ornimental doves give it a bit of character.

Rosella Plants

This is the Rosella Plant, Flower and Fruit.
I had not seen this plant so I decided to grow it as to have a look at it. I have been told the fruit is very useful for Jam. I dont know if there are any other uses for it or if you can eat it raw. I dont think I will grow it againas I am not into Jam making. I believe that goats or sheep love the plant so that may be a good use for it.

My Grandmothers Plants

This is an ecaveria (Hen & Chicken) . My grandmother called this one Ballsom. It is known as vinca these daysand come in more than the Pink and White shades I have.



In my garden I have 2 plans that My Grandmother (my Mums Mother) always had in her gardens, where ever she may have been living. She took these plants with her whenever the family moved house or to another town. The plants I have are from the plants My Grandmother carried with her over many years. I have had mine for 45 years now and hope that they will continue in my Garden for as long as I have a garden.

Fruit Fly

Anyone who grows Tomato or fruit will understand the problem Fruit Fly can cause. They spoil what might have been wonderful food.
I have been looking for something that really tackles them without pestacides. I am hoping I have the answer.
Through word of mouth I have discovered a Fruit Fly trap bait that seems to attract the little blitters. I have made my own traps from recycled honey jars. (You can buy the bottles but at $6.50 each they soon run into money, when you need a few.) The bait is rather expensive at $51.50 for 5 litres; however, if it does the job and gets rid of the menace it is not really costly.
This is probably a free add for the manufacturer, but the more fly that is trapped the better for everyone. It is Fruit Fly Bait, Wild May Essestial Oils, Pty. Ltd.
I have had the traps up for 1 week. Here are the results.

Historic Day

Yesterday was a very Historic Day for everyone that lives along our street. After many years of travelling into town on a very rough and corrigated dirt road, we were surprised to find the Council Workmen and all their vehicles on our street yesterday afternoon. They were there to lay Bitumen.
It was enough to make everyone smile. It is great to be able to drive on a sealed road now. The job of laying the tar did not take very long, as the forming of the road was done several weeks ago. One workman on a tractor swept the road while the water truck followed on behind. The the tar truck did his bit with the blue metal truck finishing off the job. The result of their effort - a sealed road . The photo shows the bitumen only goes as far as our turn off.

Post Script to Thunder Storm.

The thunder storm we had on Wednesday didnt do any damage at our place. However, at the other end of town, the winds were gale force. One man lost 9 very big Polonia Trees in his garden.
Tree limbs blew down blocking of the street. One house had water come in and ruin the carpet. We are very thankful that we didnt get the full force of the storm, but feel for thoes that did.

Thunder Storms

To day we had thunder storm warnings on the weather forecast. At about 3.30 eastern standard time they started to build. I decided to take some pictures, but missed the main build up. However, here are the shots I got.We had 124 points of rain and some small hail with quiet a bit of wind. There was no damage though, and the rain will do a lot of good.

I have a cotton bush that came up self sown three years ago. The frost cuts it off every winter and it re-shoots again in the spring. It is never watered or treated for pests. It has never had any of the heliothis caterpillers attack it although they attack my tomatoes at times. I picked 16 bowls from it a day or so ago. It has still got some unriped bowls as well. Everyyear it has been growing it produces cotton.