Boys Toys

The wood splitter, ready to go.

The incubators are already on the move, both loaded with eggs for the new season chickens. At this time of year I have to beg for eggs, Usually I get a couple of dozen at a time ...but now I have to ask for them....and the reply from Popeye is..."how many?" :-)

A close up of the eggs in the incubator, through the "window" There is also a thermometer and a wet wick. The wet wick tells the humidity inside.

Now here are the Mums and Dads to the chicks. The is Rocky and Rambo, the 2 largest roosters. The one on the right side is the apprentice rooster. We haven't named him as yet, he came to us as Rita, but he turned out to be a boy. They are very hard to tell the sex when they are young. The dark hen is Rosie a pure breed Rhode Island red (as are the roosters) The lighter coloured hens are the Isa Browns we purchased as day olds. Excellent layers.

My New Toy

I had to have it. Once I had seen it, I hungered for it, had dreams of making HEAPS of pasta with it, all different shapes and sizes.
Let me warn you, if anyone has the idea to do the same, it is not easy !! A two person (very slow) job. The machine is hard to operate and the pasta does not look the same as the spiral pasta that is commercially made .

This is the product of about one and a half hours work for two people. Bah !Hah! I'm going back to the old method of rolling it out and cutting it into strips.
It was a good idea to start with, the day outside is cold, windy and with intermitant rain, better I thought than watching the footie.

Pretty things all in a row

Stellata Magnolia waking from her winter sleep, so pristine, white........... lovely.

The first daffodils, spring MUST be here, although it is still technically winter.

And then there is the beautiful deep purple irises, intense colour....... beautiful.

Late Pepino and early Plum

There are three Pepinos growing on this bush near the garden tap. Somehow they have survived the harsh winter and a few frosts. I think they should have ripened in the autumn, but not having grown them before, I dont know when to pick them. I have been told they develop purple stripes when they are ready. Maybe if we get a few warm days now, that will bring them on. They are much bigger than I imagined the fruit to be, still in the pot they came in, but I'm sure that when I try to move it the roots will be well grown out of the drain holes and into the soft garden soil.

This picture shows the Santa Rosa Plum, absolutely over laden with blossom buds. Too many, I think. I hope we get some nice fruit from this tree, it is my favourite plum. Its about a month earlier than usual, the fruit doesn't ripen until late January, so it could be a disaster this year. Not only too many flowers but not enough bees.

Its a beautiful day outside today, so I'm heading out to do some weeding...........long overdue.

Spring is just around the corner

A lovely day today in the hills surrounding Adelaide, a little cold though. The plum trees are about to burst into bloom and it looks as if we will have heaps of plums by Christmas time.

The jonquils are blooming along the driveway, the Erlicheer variety are a little later than the common type.

Yellow jonquils and the Paperwhites (last blog) are the first to bloom so these are a tad 'past it'

The Almond trees, very neglected, are flowering, although we never get any nuts from these trees because the parrots always get them while they are still un-ripe.
I managed to hobble up the driveway to take these photos, so my mobility must be getting better. Hooray, at last, for that.

Blue sky, spring is just around the corner

After the rain, blue sky. Every thing is green and looking re-freshed. My Grandfather told me (when I was a wee child, some 70 years ago) that if there was enough blue in the sky to make a sailor boy a new pair of pants, the rain was over. I don't believe this, but its a good story.

Remember the Ox-tongue lillies with their strange looking red flowers ? This is how they got their name, the leaves look like a pair of tongues

And the Jonquils are in bloom, meaning that spring is around the corner. The pic. is a tad "fudgy" (not because of the photographer being a little wobbly) the breeze kept the blooms moving, so I couldn't get a clear shot. Many weeds in my garden still, I haven't been able to tend to it since I had my hip replacement, but, I did prune the 3 roses and cut back some of the penstemons, that is before my back caved in. Tomorrow is another day.

The men in my life, love 'em

Left of the picture is my son, r/h side is Popeye fixing my battery problems. two heads are better than one ! Sorry for the "fuzzy" picture, I find myself becoming a tad wobbly lately.

We are experiencing some very wild weather here in the Adelaide Hills, so.....when the wind dies down and it stops raining, armed with my camera (that has now been fixed) I will be able to start posting some blogs. Until then, I'll stay inside by the fire and keep warm.