Reflection of the sunset

Sorry for the untidy mess in the foreground, but the reflection from the setting sun on this eucalypt was so beautiful I just had to share it.
The untidy mess is the windbreak around some of our young trees, they are high on the hill which is in line of fire from the cold southerly winds. Popeye and I had spent most of the day netting some of the stone fruit trees, I was much too tired to walk up the hill for a closer shot.
That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!!

First potatoes, just in time for Christmas

Popeye presented me with
this box of lovely spuds, a few
spring onions and cucumbers,
just in time for Christmas dinner
tomorrow.

He has his own veggie patch
which is about 300 metres from the house.


I have my patch just outside the backdoor, where I grow herbs, leeks, onions, lettuce and tomatoes.

Eggs from the new chickens

After much searching through the undergrowth we still haven't found where the new
Isa Browns are laying their eggs.
So, they have been locked up for 2 days
until they get used to laying in the nest boxes.
When I say locked up, I mean they have
not been let out to roam in the paddock.
The chook yard here is a 25x25 metre
enclosure, big enough, I say.

I told Popeye not to let them out until
they were accustomed to placing the eggs
in a convenient spot for us to collect.
(what would I know?)

Anyway this one was collected from the
nesting box today, all 41 grams. A little beauty !
If only we knew where they have hidden the others

Rhubarb, apple, lemonade fruit peel and a cinnamon stick

My preserved Rhubarb for this year.
First I peeled and cored the apples,
put the peel and cores in a pot covered
with water with some sugar to make
the syrup. Strain and use the liquid to
cover the fruit in the jar. Each jar has
some strips of lemonade peel and a stick
of cinnamon, but mostly it consists of
rhubarb sticks and apple slices.

The chickens get the cooked peel
and cores.

Six legged swede

Look what I found lurking in the
garden, not a deformed person
from Sweden, but a swede veggie
that was very tasty in our dinner
last night.
I think this is caused by too much
fresh fertiliser in the soil at planting
time. I'll have to remember not
to dig in fresh compost next time.
The squash and beans were
delicious too.

Penstemon and crab apples

This is a pretty penstemon
from the garden. The one that
vanished from yesterdays blog


The crab apples are
developing nicely, there
should be thousands of
them this (next) year.
That, of course is, if the
birds don't find them.

Poppy, Gerbera and Penstemon

This beautiful pink poppy
has self seeded in the
garden from last years crop.
They are lovely.
I have some dark red
ones as well.














Pretty pink Gerbera.
only arrived in the garden
1 week ago, I'm unsure
how it will take the cold
winter we have here in
Lenswood.

Well ! some gremlins are at work on my computer, the Penstemon

Picture has disappeared. I'll try it again another day.

White Sapote, Rhubarb and Chilli

A few more pictures, expertly taken by the Veggie Gnome. thankyou V/G.
What ever has happened to the Rhubarb ?
One day it is growing, just a normal size,
then suddenly the size of the leaves have
doubled, talk about day of the Triffids !!

The white sapote is flowering,
I'm hoping to get some fruit this
year, but as you can see, some
thing has already begun to take a
nibble at the buds.
The red hot chillies are
'firing' up

First baby photos

First, just to show how clever the mother
and father birds are in nest building.
















And, here they are! Unsure of exactly
how many are in the nest, maybe four.

Thanks to Veggie Gnome for the excellent
photography.

Still here! The baby birds have hatched

Outside of my back door I have a pot with a rather large succulent growing in it. It has been difficult to do much work in my garden because in the said pot, a couple of beautiful Superb Fairy Wrens have built a nest and laid 4 eggs. How such a tiny bird can push out eggs of that size is beyond me, but she did! Because we didn't want to disturb her, we have been trying to avoid using this door, next to the veggie garden. Well now they have hatched, and in a couple of days I should be able to take a picture. Mother and Father are busy bringing insects for their dinner, all day long. It is a privilege to have them build a nest so close to the garden, as they eat all the little garden pests. (another reason NOT to use chemicals) So, it looks as if I will need to keep the old lettuce growing, which has little flying things living on it, until the babies have "flown the coop" The other night we heard a great twittering and when we looked out the window, there was a Kookaburra sitting on the sprinkler and they were trying to shoo him away! Kookaburra was probably not at all interested in the baby birds, more likely looking for a lizard for his dinner. The lizards have made my veggie garden their home, they LOVE the strawberries. Oh well, all living creatures have to eat something. (I just wish it wasn't my strawberries)

Broccoli and leeks straight from the garden

Two beautiful leeks for dinner tonight,
picked and into the pan with some
broccoli to steam. A cheese sauce to
pour over ..... delicious. From the
garden and eaten, all within 40 minutes

Strawberries anyone ?

Not quite the first strawberries, but
the first time there has been enough
for two people to share. I'm rather
pleased with the size of them.
Yumm!!
Second thoughts.........maybe I'll eat them
all by myself !!

Hanging out for a pea !

The first of the new seasons peas.
Just enough for a taste, but I
couldn't leave them on the bush
any longer.

Isa brown chicks 10 weeks old

The grass is always greener on the OTHER side ! ( Click the picture to see what the chick at the back is doing.)

Their diet has changed from chicken starter to grower pellets, along with a few other bits and pieces.











Now that they're 10 weeks old, I think that makes them teenagers (?)








They should begin to lay in about 8 weeks, I wonder
who will get the first egg, Marg, Veggie Gnome or Us.
I noticed that their wattle is beginning to show a little colour.

A day later

The same rose posted earlier, a day
after it was picked from my garden
It is an up-dated version of the old
rose named "Peace"

Oodles of noodles ! What to do with a glut of eggs

Today Popeye and I, with help from Veggie Gnome, rolled,
cut and hung all these noodles. It took about one and a half
hours to do, but it is well worth the effort as they are Soooo
much tastier than the shop bought ones.

pretty rose from my garden

Just a lovely picture.

New, in the garden

Slowly, very slowly the new garden is being filled up.
This is the latest addition, very pretty.

Echium, Wildpretti

Here is an amazing flower growing in my garden.
Its as tall as I am, 5'4" (I'm an old chook, still in the old time zone)






















And a close up shot, dont you think its lovely?

Sticky beak Alpaca, and more blooms

Accidently deleted from the last blog, a
branch of the Red Japanese maple with "blooms"

















Any one for Crab Apples! I think there will be more
than ever this season. Crab apple jelly, Crab apple paste,
Spiced Crab apples?





The Quince tree has hundreds of flowers as well, hopefully what ever ate them off the tree in the previous years will leave some for us this time. Quince paste, Quince jelly?












Forever a sticky beak, Brutus wanting to know what I am doing.

Beautiful day, beauty in the garden

Against a bright blue sky, some beautiful Snow Gum blossom.

















Japanese Maple in all its glory. Planted 4 years ago, very slow grower, but is making a real statement this year in my "park"
















Sky blue Russell Lupins pushing their heads through the undergrowth.