Lovers' tiff

They happen right here on my deck and I watch with some fascination and amusement. 

"What do you mean you ate all the sunflowers seeds you greedy thing? I am fed up of all this selfish behaviour. I am going to fly away on my own to a distant branch and don't you dare follow."

 "No, I am cross so don't you try and cosy up to me and pretend nothing is wrong."

"Oh come on, stop making such a song and a dance - its just a few sunflower seeds and frankly that woman is always around. All you have to do is squawk and she comes straight out with some more. "

"And anyway I love you and will happily cuddle you until you feel happier". 

Camphor Laurels

Look at these magnificent camphor laurels - trees that create a whole canopy, provide the best wood, give shelter to animals and birds and provide fertile branches for tree ferns. I parked in this street today and then looked at it in absolute awe. Someone got the planning and planting right here didnt they? 

You would have thought so but in fact as with many things in Australia the initial idea is good and then nature takes it course.The Asian native camphor laurel was introduced in the early 1820, with the first recording at the Sydney Botanic Gardens. There was some talk that the name may have been misunderstood for a Bay tree Laurus Nobilis instead of Laurus Camphora.It came to Brisbane in the 1860s and was widely planted because it grew quickly and was spread by the currawongs. Another tree which is now declared as an invasive weed. Hard to believe but so it is. 

Discoveries with Dougall 12

Today's adventures started with  a carpet of yellow as we walked down to the creek which I have struggled to identify and will need a revisit to pick up sample flowers and leaves.I have done that and can now tell you it is the Yellow Jacaranda, Tipuana Tipu, the Pride of Bolivia and another environmental weed in QLD - Pretty nevertheless.

A little further THE treasure for today - the most beautiful hot pink feather- galah perhaps.

A sample of the yellow Jacaranda and the hot pink leaf together with one from the King parrot baby who visited the other day. 

Then onto the pure white blossom of possibly a Yellow Box Eucalypt famed for attracting bees and making superior honey and here is one complete with buzzing bee. A good sign. 

That was followed by the pinks and oranges and soon thereafter ...

...a vista of receding purples as the reds slowly make their appearance on the horizon. In short a kaleidoscope, a rainbow, against all odds in this parched land and one which I am happy to walk in everyday with Dougall who takes it all in with equal interest.

A small rant

When we bought the house nearly six years ago it came with a tiny outdoor's fridge, for those cool beers on a hot day. It must have been owned by the previous owners for a number of years and we happily took it on. The beers come out icy cold, the white wines perfect in their crispness. We were expecting it not to last long and yet it seems they were once built to last. Not so anymore. 

All the other appliances we bought new and a few have been going wrong recently. I find the service companies and ask them to come out and on two occasions in the last couple of weeks, the young men arrive, take a five minute look at the appliance and declare it dead. The call out fees for the last two were $130 and $185 for today's visit. Today's visit was exactly 7 minutes long. I wonder if these companies would not consider that this is a real turn off for its customers and in cases where there is really nothing more to be done a reduced call out fee is applied. I can't help feeling that at the end of the day when they have ten appointments to fulfil calling it dead as a dodo is easier than getting into the complexities of fixing an appliance. Two more for the landfill or the appliance heaven they end up in which makes it doubly worse. 

Introducing Sid Little

Last night we sat on the deck and had a late dinner. Sometimes I leave some fruit out for the possums but when I approached the bird table to put my pear scraps onto it I found Sid Little - aka Sidlet. Clearly a new addition to Marina's Mad Critter list. We saw his beautiful markings before he decided to slither onto the lilly pilly. It proved a bit of a stretch so he turned around and headed for the wire. Now that is some balancing wouldn't you say?

I guess it is springtime here down under and babies are popping up everywhere ! 

The stuff of weekends

The boys came to see us - young men to most of the world, and to our American cousins who pointed this out. We welcomed them with open arms, halloumotes and kixia, and set out to catch up on months of travel for each of them, one to Japan the other to America, their work and their social life. A weekend is clearly not enough but we packed in as much as we could over home cooked ribs. We met friends from Geneva days and explored the bank vaults of Donna Chang and the Bar in George St. 

Dougall is a part of my life and theirs so we borrowed him and headed out on Sunday for a walk - these photos are just reminders of how little is needed for a sense of well being, happiness and inner warmth. We hurried home to slow cooked lamb courtesy of http://melizskitchen.blogspot.com and some fresh steamed green beans. Before we knew it the weekend was over and we were dropping them off at the airport. At least their tummies were full. No greater joy for a Cypriot mum. 

Discoveries with Dougall 11 - The BIG DRY

The winds are blowing from the west and they are hot and dry. Just what you don't want when the land is parched and dry and thirsting for some rain. All day yesterday the branches swayed wildly and today on our walk the results were there - everywhere in fact. Dried small branches that had fallen. Big ones, whole trees toppled over. The leaves curling up, the blossoms fading and dropping. Its not a happy picture and Greta would have a thing or two to say about it. 

Discoveries with Dougall 10 Seeing Red.

The colour of our walk today is decidedly red after all the blood and gore spilt in the neighbourhood celebrating ghoulish Halloween. It is the kind of red I love, a small precursor to the summer months here where nature takes over the holiday decor, inside and out. 

There was more to our walk today as the weather turned and the rain came down ( thank god)  and then all sorts of surprises appeared before our very eyes. A water dragon swimming away from Dougall. I had never seen them in the water before. A terrapin on the upper banks. Now it was Dougall who had never seen one of them before and was very curious, but also petrified. 

The path was littered with baby frogs - hundreds of them. Here is one close up. 

Dougall checking out a feathered friend - a brush turkey looking festive and ready for action. 

And finally - and this is where the intrigue and Halloween come in ... a bra hanging off a branch. This did not follow the colour scheme of the day and was midnight blue. Halloween revelry, bit of drunken fun or a body in the creek ?-  Will we ever know ? Tune in to Discoveries with Dougall for more adventures. 

 Happy November everyone.