Close to home

On our way home recently, 

the Cook (who was in charge of the conveyance) 

decided she needed to know what was down a certain road.

So we turned off and drove and drove.

No, we weren't lost,

just misplaced for a while.

We did find some lovely things along the way.

Sundew

Australian buttercup

No idea...but it was everywhere.

Almost 3 years on the trees are still showing signs of the Black Saturday bushfires.

Common Billy Button

Caladenia - orchid

Poo

Some of the puddles were a bit scary
(not this one, though)

A ti tree...leptospermum

The road track became narrower and narrower...

and rougher and rougher...

and boggier and boggier.

Finally even The Cook had enough
 and executed a three point turn
and returned the way we came.

But aren't we lucky to live just down the road!

Everlasting love

Xerochrysum viscosum
Australian paper or everlasting daisy.

Reducing my Blogging footprint

Blogging has proven to be a wonderful activity.

What started off just as an effort to record

my gardening and greening efforts,

has provided a thread that has woven its way

through my days.  

As I go about my day, 

blogging opportunities present themselves

and out comes the camera.

I enjoy the feeling of community

that blogging brings.

Male King Parrot in full breeding plumage

However, I find that it is taking up a lot of time and head-space

 that I could spend on other things.  

So...I am no longer going to try to blog every day 

and I am going to try to limit my posts to the original purposes 

of documenting the garden 

and my efforts to reduce my carbon footprint on our little blue planet.  

Cooking from scratch and 

cooking using produce from the garden will continue to appear.

Goats and chooks will pop in from time to time to say g'day.

The truth is, you may not notice too much of a change....

especially this time of the year when so much is going on in the garden.

But I think I will feel the change once the

pressure to produce something each day has gone.

Maybe less is best anyway!

Mother love?

Redback spider

Latrodectus hasselti

Yes, I know she is poisonous

In fact her bite can even kill

children and the elderly.

But if she did bite you, 

do not bandage the wound,

apply ice, take painkillers

and seek medical attention.

There is an effective antivenene.

But she is really very shy

and will not hunt you down.

After her photo shoot,

where she posed quietly

with her egg sacs,

I put this one back where

I found her under my sister's shed.

I think she is beautiful

and she gets to have her man

and to eat him too.

On my Mind...seeing red!

This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join. To take part, post a photo on your own blog, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to Rhonda's Blog by saying you're part of "On my mind".  Leave a comment on Rhonda's blog with your link.

After my Wattley Winter Wednesday post

when I told you that wattle can come in

purple and red....

look what I found in 

my local nursery...

Yep!  A red wattle!

I was tempted...but your can't eat it, so I didn't buy it.

But I did buy....

A mulbery...Hicks fancy..

A Lisbon Lemon

An English Gooseberry...berry prickly

AND...

Two grapevines to go over the outdoor kitchen

...a sultana grape and a black one.  

Fun guys in the valley

I have been compiling this post for a while,

hoping for the flush of mushrooms we had last year.  

But alas, there have been no mushrooms...

although there may be yet.

Anyway, here are the photos

 of some of the fun guys 

in the Valley of One Thousand Hills.

Mick - Proprietor of the General Store - maker of my Friday lattes at the op--shop.

Ross - The School Principal and general good guy

Rhys - The chippie

Pete - The environmentalist and bush poet 

and the only person in the world who

I would allow to call me, 'Lass'.

Aye!  It's a great place to live!

Another favourite gum

We took a trip today to visit family who have recently purchased a holiday house 

on Lake Mulwala on the Murray River. 

The Murray forms a natural boundary between 

the States of Victoria and New South Wales.  

If you are interested in finding more about 

the significance of the river to this country's history (click here)

My favourite inhabitants of the area are the grand old 
River Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis).  

I think I told you once that Eucalyptus citriodora was my favourite gum but you can't really beat the majesty and history in an Old Red.

These gorgeous giants can live to over 

500 years of age.  

What a pity they can't
tell us what they have witnessed.  

The river red gum forests are the most widely distributed in the state.  

As their name suggests, they live by waterways 

and on floodplains where they flourish and can grow as tall as 45 metres.  

Their wood is a rich red colour.  

They are also known as 'widow makers' 

as they can randomly drop one of their branches...

even in still weather and too bad if you are camped underneath.

Their sheer size, the twisted growth of their branches and their lovely patterned bark make them eye catching individuals.

Like so many wonderful parts of the natural world

the river red gum forests have felt the impact of man.

Although they are so common, in some areas 

75% the trees are stressed or dying due to logging and grazing. 

 The Wilderness Society is calling for these giants to be protected. 

One of my favourite gums.

I just wanted to share this eucalyptus citriodora  on the vacant block next door.  These trees are natives of Queensland but do well in the southern states too.
As their name suggests they have a lemony smell and can grow up to 50 metres tall.

 This one has recently shed its bark and is a warm coppery, orange colour.  The colour of the trunk and branches change over the year from this colour through to mottled white.

I have a friend who has one of these in her front yard and she painted her house trim to match the trunk...but it only matches it at this time of the year.  Mind you, it looks great when it is matching.

They are quite stunning trees.  This one has just finished flowering and was a mass of cream flowers on its canopy.  The birds loved it.