A Rare Treat

The birds were making a huge racket this morning. Currawongs, noisy minors & the crows were all going to town. Then I heard the cause, a kookaburra. We rarely get to see the kookaburras in this part of Sydney, so it was a treat to hear him. So racing with the camera to see if I could get a pic, I followed the lead of all the birds that were fluttering around in the gum tree and found him. I only managed one pic before the other birds chased him away. You will need to look in the center of the pic to find him & hopefully if you click on the pic it will enlarge so you can see better.

Winter Colour

Well, the roses are pruned and now the garden can showcase my jonquils that were hiding underneath.

Transformation

The caterpillar story continues.

Contrary to me thinking that he may have drowned in the rain guage, last week he proved me wrong. I had checked the guage in the morning, still a cocoon, but by late afternoon the above moth had emerged.


He sat in the gauge for two days until finally I tipped the guage up & he flew off to do whatever it is moths do.

The Very Last of The Roses

We finally got a break in the weather. A dry day last Sunday ( well morning, anyway), gave us a chance to prune the roses. With all the rain we have had they were still blooming profusely, and with the recent rain there were new shoots appearing everywhere. Most of the blooms were spotted with the rain, but I manage to salvage a few to put inside. Not that these will last long either. Cool nights & mornings mean that the air con is on heat & roses will not last long with too much heat. So these will be the last rose pics until sometime in spring.

The Last of the Roses - Pt 3

The last of the White Icebergs. Pruning will happen soon.

The Last of The Roses - Pt 2

One of my pink roses from the front garden. There are only a few blooms left.

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The weather yesterday was nothing short of dismal. It started with one of those very deep pink sunrises that was spread right across the sky. A little like the colour in the center of this rose, (Sorry, no pics) and I wondered what was in store for us. "Red in the morning, shepherd's warning" & all that. The cloud stayed for most of the day, with intermitant splashes of weak sunshine, and the temperature only made it to 10.9 deg C. Brr.................... Today is looking much better with bright sunshine already.

The Last Of The Roses - Pt 1

My roses need pruning, desperately, but with the rain that we have had recently they are blooming beautifully. They will just have to wait a little longer so I can enjoy the last of the season's offerings.

2 deg C in the garden again this morning, but the wind seems to have dropped which makes it seem a little warmer.

Winter Surprises

Well, it's winter, has been for a few days now, and for anyone who doen't believe this then just poke your nose into my garden. The snow has fallen about an hours drive away and the wind is whistling straight off the snow. As a consequence it reached only 13 deg C yesterday, but with the wind chill factor it felt like 5 deg C, so far the coldest day we have had for the year. This morning it got down to 2 deg C, the coldest overnight temp for the year. Mmm...... we are still in June. I wonder what the next few months have in store for us.

On the bright side, my saved dahlia is flowering. Considering this is a summer flowering plant, I am not quite sure what is happening. Adding a cheery smile to the garden in this weather can only be a good thing. I'll take anything.

A Caterpillar Tale

Remember the caterpillar from here? At the time I rescued him from my dinner & took him outside & placed him on my balcony wall. I figured it was up to him to crawl away or stay put to be lunch for one of the birds. The next day I found this catterpillar in my rain guage which is attatched to the top of the wall and I am not sure if it is the same one or another one. I have been watching & waiting to see what happens, emptying the guage at regular intervals so he does not drown.

He has changed colour,

and shape, but he has been there a while now & still looks the same. I think he might have drowned. There was one night when we had heavy rain & the water in the guage was way over his head. I'll leave him another week to see what happens. Mother Nature sure works in funny ways.

Mother Nature's Rewards

We have had a fair bit of rain over the last few weeks, around 120mm ( nearly 5"). There have been times when the sun is out & then the clouds come scurrying across only to dump more rain. The result is that on occasions Mother Nature has rewarded us with some beautiful rainbows. The top one is viewed from my back balcony, over the gumtrees in the park.

This next one was taken out the windscreen of the car. I had been out to a textile exhibition opening in Western Sydney & was travelling home when this one appeared. At first it was only very short, and as I travelled further it grew until it spannned the sky. The colours were so vibrant, and at one stage it looked like it was landing on the bonnet of the car. I just had to stop the car and take this pic, though it does not do justice to the colours.

Rainbows have been rare over the last few years because of the drought. It is nice to see them again.

How Could I Resist?

In the nursery, right beside the roses, were these beautiful kangaroo paws. Of course, they just had to jump into the trolley with the roses didn't they. A little differnt in colour than other kangaroo paws that I have seen, and hopefully different that the other two here.

A New Rose

Over the last few months, part of the garden has been in the middle of a make-over. Where once a footpath stood, ( that led to no-where following house extentions) there is now all garden. We pondered for a while what we would plant & concluded that it would be roses, daisies, jonquills, & a frangipanni tree, all of which are elsewhere in the garden, so now it all flows. We had kept the labels of the roses at the front so we went hunting to get the same ones. Plenty of the white iceburgs, but no Lorraine Lee (the pink ones), so we had to make a new decision. This one is Leonardo De Vinci, still pink, but a very differnt pink, and a lot more petals than the other pink rose. I think it will still blend in, after all, this section is down the side where the other roses are at the front. The white iceburgs, frangipanni & jonquills will tie everything together.

Who's Dinner Is This?

Nearly got some extra unwanted protein in my dinner last night. Look who was thinking he would have my mint for his dinner instead of me. Camouflage is wonderful, lucky my eyesight is better.