Christnas is coming

Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat,
Please put a penny in the old man's hat,
if you have no penny,
then a ha'penny will do,
but if you have no ha'penny,
then, God Bless You.

This little rhyme we used to recite as children....long, long ago. It's been stuck in my head all day as I baked the fruit cake for Christmas. It is now out of the oven and it smells delicious, spicy and with loads of mixed fruit soused in brandy. When I removed it from the oven I poured a quarter of a cup of orange liquer brandy over it. Now to wait until it is completely cold so I can wrap it in several layers of foil, after which I shall place it in a cool spot to "ripen"

 

<

I've been threatened not to go near it with a knife.....he knows me too well

Its surprising what you find when you clear an overgrown garden

 

Look what popped its head out of the undergrowth. These pretty daffodils haven't been seen for quite a few years and lo and behold, 12 beautiful soft apricot shaded flowers said "thank you" Unfortunately the wind and rain has all but destroyed the blooms and this was the only flower head remaining without too much damage.

 

Prime of Madiera, Echium, it always puts on a great show and hasn't disappointed again this season. The honey eating birds enjoy a drink of its nectar.

 

Last, but not least the dainty little flowers on this shrub (cant think of its name, but I will remember it as soon as I hit the "publish post button") lol

Christmas Dinner.

What's on the menu at your place this coming Christmas? Meet Mary Christmas.....she is coming to our dinner table.

 

All we have to do in the mean while is to feed her well, give her a nice cosy bed to sleep on and she will join us on Christmas day.

Never smile..........

..........at a crocodile !! Just a little kitsch for the pond. I've been waiting for years to fill up the pond with water and today, after 1 and a half days (daylight hours) with 2 hoses running the job is complete. Plants are in pots and placed where I think they will look good when they eventually take off. The crocs head is tethered to the pot containing Lousianna Irises which look a little droopy because they have only today been dug from wher they have grown. We bought the crocodile in Darwin when we were there recently for Sarah and Stephen's wedding.

off

 

 

These other pics are some "pretties growing in my garden at the side of the pond. Just thought I'd add them for good measure.

 

 

Now all that is left to do is clean up the mess.

PS. We put 7 goldfish in the water and haven't seen them since. I expect them to grow to an enormous size in this large expanse of water.

Small things.......

..........amuse small minds, or so they say. A year or so ago I posted an article on some interesting buildings around the district, here is an up-date on one of them.

 

The old shed that was ALMOST fallind down, one more puff of wind DID eventually bring her down. The only thing holding her up now is the items being "stored" inside (lol)

 

Poor old shed, I've been watching and waiting for nearly 25 years to see if any one would come to her rescue. R.I.P.

First signs of Spring

The first signs of Spring is the early bulbs start to flower. The purple amenomes are very pretty.

 

The problem with taking pictures of flowers is, the breeze keeps the heads bobbing around so its hard to get a shot in focus. This is a group of jonquils growing on the driveway.

 

The little snowdrops are so dainty.

 

 

Last but not least, I've almost left it too late for the almond blossom. We doint get to harvest many almonds because the parrots get them before they ripen. Oh well....every one has to eat, I suppose.

 

Pictures for Hope.

This blog is for Hope, she is a very talented young lady who lives in USA. I promised I would send her some pictures of Charlie our little bull calf that doesn't have a mum to feed him. Firstly we have to go find him because tonight he couldn't hear us call him for dinner.

 

Then it is a race up to where he gets his warm bottle of milk.

 

He is a little nervous of me being there with the camera becauses it flashes and it scares him.

 

Another picture of him "guzzling his bottle.

 

And then after he drinks his milk he gets half a bucket full of lucerne chaff and crushed oats. He also likes to suck on fingers if we let him (especially if they have a little molasses on them)

 

He is growing very quickly, soon he will be able to go without milk and only get the dry food in the bucket.
I hope you liked looking at our Charlie, Hope