.Dusk, on Anzac Day

Long shadows over the valley as the sunset is reflected on the trees that line the roadside.

Ten minutes later...please click to enlarge the pictures...the colour has changed to a fiery red. Days are becoming noticeably shorter. Having worked for the last 3 days cutting out a very large feral blackberry, I was able to take this shot below.

With the sun set now to my right looking over the valley. the end of another days hard work.

And at the going down of the sun.....we will remember them.

Zygo-cactus

This stunning Zygo grows in our sun room. It seems to get better every year. Click on the picture for a better view. Like the weeping cherry tree, I cant help but to wonder at its beauty and post a picture each time they're in bloom.

The Great Wall of Lenswood.....

.......is nearing completion !!! Hooray !!! Today we have put the first coat of paint on the wall. Its a new type of paint with some sort of grit added to give a rendered/bagged finish. Its been a long time coming, about six years. I think, maybe a bit longer. Please disregard all the mess...the building materials and junk still to be cleaned away and the last of the paving to be laid. This is the bottom of the driveway where the wall begins.

Then next is the continuation up the drive, the black wall in the middle is going to be a fish pond/water feature. (The boy thinks he is going to put trout in there but he has another think coming, lol) the inside will need re-painting because of the cement that was dribbled down the walls when the capping bricks were put on.

Now down the side of the house where the garden has been in a bit longer and has grown almost to maturity.

Further back, down the side, outside the dining area is the weeping cherry tree that I've blogged about when it has been flowering. Its now beginning to lose its leaves for the Autumn. When I get my act together and put away all the fiy repellant, ant-rid, secateurs, rose cuttings etc. etc. it will look great !!!!! What I would've liked to have seen is a bit more contrast in the colour between the wall and the capping. But beggars cant be choosers.

Ouch !!! Our ACHING BACKS !!!

FIGS !!!

At last !! I've been asking Popeye to look and see if the fig tree had any figs ripe enough to pick and this is what I got. Unbeknown to me he has been picking them and feeding them to the sick cow....yes..that's right the sick cow!!!!!!! Here I've been, hanging out for some figs only to come second to the animals. What the cow didn't get, the crows have had a banquet on, so think myself lucky. (he says)

The problem is, I can no longer get to the trees myself (I'm past climbing hills) so I have to rely on someone else to pick them for me.

The up-side of the story is, the cow has put on masses of weight and is looking much healthier. As those who know me know, I do not need to put on any more weight !! LOL But, I DO LOVE FIGS

10 green bottles...............

..............hanging on the wall.... no, there's only eight and some of them are brown. But these bottles remind me of the old song the kids used to sing as we traveled along in the car. Drove me to distraction by the way ! Think about that for a while....the things our kids did that drove us to distraction....funny how they convert to happy memories 45-50 years down the track. LOL

These are some of the bottles of lemonade cordial that we made yesterday with the bumper crop of fruit we had on our tree. Now just add a couple of ice cubes and some soda water and you have a very refreshing drink.

The bottles I purchased at a garage sale quite a long time ago for 50cents. A real bargain. They work perfectly in the Vacola preserver, I haven't even had to buy new rubber seals for them yet. They are used only for this purpose each year.

Pears and Quinces

I wouldn't win any prizes in the local Country Show for my fruit packing skills (LOL) but they will taste great which ever way they drop into the jars. Click on the pictures for close up. The first two jars are pears with other fruit added. I'm really looking forward to trying the second one, lemonade slices added. Nine jars of each type of pears and seven jars of my favourite, Quinces. Last year when I preserved quinces, I cooked them first because, as you all know, that when Quinces are cooked for a long time they take on this glorious orange colour. It was a big mistake to do that because they all broke up in the jars, even though they still tasted yummy. So, putting on my thinking cap, I decided to place them into the jars raw, as you would do any fruit and leave them in the preserving pan for several hours. Not good for the power bill though. UGH!!

Then with the skins and cores from the quinces....five jars of quince jelly. The pulp waste goes to the chooks, they have to eat too. No waste around here.
Next project ...... lemonade cordial. That wont take long, I have a helper to squeeze the lemonades, only he doesn't know it yet.

I'm surprised at...

......the interest in these strange flowering bulbs, here is a picture of one that has just begun to poke through the soil.

And one that is beginning to show its colour. It appears that the millipedes have been nibbling, darned pests, nothing, it seems will get rid of them.

Here is one in bloom , on a stem about 6 inches long. As the flower fades the leaves will slowly emerge looking like two long Ox tongues, hence the common name Ox tongue lilly. Botanical name Haemanthus Coccineus. (thanks Cathy) They like to be in a crowded situation in the garden where they seem to thrive. Mine have yet to reach the crowded stage as I have given so many of them away over the years and this is all I have left. Any one wishing to have some of these, look out at country weekend markets, this is where I got mine. They are hard to find in a garden nursery.

The sun rise this morning....looking east from our house toward the Mad Gnomes place (see the solar panels on their roof) If you click on this picture to enlarge, it looks much better.

Red sky in the morning....Shepherds warning. It does indeed look like we will get a little of that wet stuff that falls from the sky today. Fingers crossed !!!