Christmas Colours: December 21

Is it bending the rules of Six on Saturday to include six photos of the same thing, I wonder? Will I incur the wrath of our leader The Propagator? Time will tell, I suppose. Recently, I wrote about the King Parrot in my post ‘A Single Man?’ as I wondered whether he had a mate, and I’m…

Rain and Dust: SoS December 15

One:  The sky is the colour of the inside of an oyster shell, much paler than it appears in my photo, for reasons that I don’t understand.  It isn’t fog, or mist, it’s dust.  Dust which has been present for two days.  It couldn’t be called a dust storm, more a dust drift.  Australia’s topsoil is…

Hello Summer, December 1

It’s the first day of Summer here. In Australia, we don’t really wait for the solstice to say that Summer has arrived, and that’s hardly surprising considering the temperature is forecast to reach 31 degrees today. We are still having cool nights and mornings though, and during the last ten days we had rain, wind…

A Single Man?

He arrives in the early morning and occasionally in the evening – has been for the last week or so.  He’s tempted by the ‘Pig Face’ and I am captivated by his knowing expression.  “I’ve been here before, you know,” he says. He doesn’t appear to mind too much that I’m lurking in the garden, angling…

New Additions: SoS, November, 17th

Another cool Spring morning enticed me out early this Saturday, the sun just above the horizon and peeping into the garden, enveloping all in its warming glow and highlighting zesty colour combinations.  All the plants but one in this Saturday’s Six are new to the garden this year and it has been both satisfying and…

Garden Views: SoS November 3rd

We have had a week of warm temperatures, with most maximums being 30 degrees or over.  Disappointingly,  there have been strong hot westerly winds as well which have caused damage to some of the perennials, those that have softer stalks.  No matter, they will soon recover.  Yesterday, after an unpleasant day of wind and heat,…

A Tale of Six Roses: SoS October 27

This morning I stepped out over the dew dampened grass luxuriating in the early sun and relishing the peace of the neighbourhood before the lawn-mowing leaf-blowing brigade began their Saturday labours, before the dogs began to bark and the next door pool began its irritating whine.  A garden is enchanting at that early hour of…

Leptospermums dazzle in Spring

We are experiencing a sublime Spring in the NSW Central Tablelands this year.  There have been  some excitingly plentiful rainfalls: gardens are luxuriant with blossom, lawns are green, and trees are putting on rapid growth.  Roses, which grow exceedingly well in this area, are producing exuberantly: voluminous beauties floating over garden walls, arresting the walker…

Saturday Splendours, SoS Oct 13.

Spring is galloping ahead here in Mudgee.  We’ve had some rain and the garden is flowering in quite an unrestrained fashion. Many trees have finished their Spring blossoming and are now decked out in leaves of soft tender green.  I’ve been away for almost a week and have returned to find that new blooms are…

Bagworm

Whatever is a bag worm, do I hear you enquire?  Indeed, I didn’t know myself (despite having often seen them ) until quite recently when I discovered one of these interesting creatures dragging its home laboriously behind itself across our gravelly path.  Fascinated,  I watched its action as it ventured, half out of its cocoon, …