More Orchids

A while back one of the ladies in one of my stitching groups gave me this orchid. At the time L.... promised me some bulbs of this one, and yes that primise has been made, and I am the proud owner of another orchid.

At our embroidery meeting last Monday, L.... was waiting for me again, this time with more orchid flowers. This time there were two slipper orchids, lovingly teamed with fern, placed in water, & sat at my place at the table. How special am I? These two orchids are now gracing my dining room table. I must look to obtain one of these the next time the local orchid society has their show.

Playing Chasies With a Stick Insect

Last weekend I was pottering in the garden, digging up weeds & doing some light pruning, some pieces of which I took inside to put in a vase. As I was trimming the pieces to arrange in water, I spotted this stick insect crawling all over the leaves.I ran for the camera & followed the poor little fellow around all over the leaves, down the side of the vase & onto my kitchen bench.

He really didn't like me chasing him with the camera, and he blended into my benchtop too well.

At one stage he thought he would hide under a leaf where I could not see him.

After lots of chasing, trying to get that "perfect" shot, I felt sorry for him & took him back ouside to sit in my wygelia tree. He very soon disappeared.

Winter Delights

Well, winter has shown it's face over the last few days. We have had a severe cold front move through the state, bringing with it snow to the mountains, cold winds off the snow in Sydney, and a minimum of 7 deg C this morning. Brrrr..... Winter is still officially over a month away so I hate to think what the middle of July will be like.

This morning's pic is my first jonquil in flower for the season. I think from memory that this is "Early Cheer". It is a single white one and different to all the others that are also getting ready to flower.

ANZAC Day

In loving memory of my Dad & uncles who fought for this great country of ours.

Lest We Forget

Jonquils In Bud

My jonquils that I talked about here are comming into bud. I have noticed about five of them so far, so in a week or two the garden will have their heady perfume. There are lots of them scattered around the garden now so it will be good to see them all out in flower.

Shadows in The Mist

This morning was definately one to say the seasons had changed. Fog, and lots of it. The news reports were talking about fog over the city yesterday, but in our section of town there was no sign at all. Then last night on an after dinner walk, we noticed the mist comming in. We could see it start to converge around the street lights. Then this morning we woke up to the biggest pea souper we have seen in a while. This was the view to the park two houses down at 7 am. I might add here that it was well after 9am before the fog lifted & we finally saw the sun.

A Very Hungary Caterpillar

Look who was having a wonderful feast on my tipachina bud. His colours blended in so well I nearly missed him.

Eggs To What?

OK, cleaning off my back balcony the other day I found these eggs carefylly laid on the under side of the lace pannel of the rail. Mmmm............ I wonder what they are eggs to? Spiders?

It is interesting how they are attached to a thread which is hanging below the rail. Obviously this is to give protection of some kind, but on this rail there would not be much protection. It faces south and gets all the southerly winds and all the rain. Maybe the mother of these eggs doesn't know that. Anyone out there know what they are eggs to?

Parsley Germination

As autum continues, the morning temps are getting cooler. Just 9 degC in the garden this morning. The recent rain has also been welcome, making the ground soft, the weeds easy to remove, and germinating the parsley seeds that I let drop. I just hope the slug doesn't have these babies for dinner before they are big enough for me to use.

A Cool Morning

What was I saying about autmn yesterday? Cool crisp mornings? Mmmmm........................... this morning was certainly crisp, just 10 deg C in the garden this morning. That so far is the coolest morning of the year. Winter is certainly on the way.

Ah..................... autumn in Sydney. The best time of the year I think. The mornings are cool & crisp, the days warm & sunny, and it is a great time to get out in the garden without getting sunburnt. The other thing I like about autumn in Sydney is the tipachina trees are all out and their display of purple blooms are stunning. My trees are still only little and are very leggy compared to some in the neighbourhood. So when they finish flowering I think I will give them a haircut.

Singing In The Rain

It is raining in Sydney today, buckets of it, and just what all the new transplanted babies in my garden need. 28mm of the wet stuff yesterday, and it is still comming down.

I have transplanted double jonquils, african daisies, two dahlias, and split apart this daisy into quite a few different plants. I also want to split up my shasta daisies as well. A job for another day. The pic above are of jonquils comming up in another bed. I have them scattered all over the garden, and have just recently given away a bucket full of bulbs. So watch this space to see them bloom in the comming weeks.