My Two cows

Scary and Baby haven't been up to the house paddock for a quite a while. For the first few minutes, they zoom around jumping and running around excitedly before they finally settle down to eat their grass. They are both looking pretty fat.

Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM; 1/100 F7.1, ISO 100

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Scary the Tree Hugger

The cows just can't help themselves. Whenever Scary and Baby see a tree, they will go scratch themselves on it very vigorously. Poor tree trunk !

I love you tree....


Up, down the head goes....bliss !

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Hot Air Balloon

When the weather is perfect, a day like today when the air is almost perfectly still, we get to see people enjoying a ride on their hot air balloon in the distance. Sometimes I wish they would glide over our place but they never do, always staying away in the distance.

Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM; 1/320 F7.1, ISO 100

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Today's Pick.....Peas and Plums

A good morning's pick. Some of the plums are not fully ripe yet but I have to pick them to beat the birds.

The peas are doing very well this year. Nothing beats freshly picked peas. They are so very sweet eaten just as they are.

Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM; 1/125 F5.6, ISO 100



Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM; 1/250 F7.1, ISO 100



Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM; 1/160 F8, ISO 100

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Garlic Harvest

At first I thought the garlic plants were dying from a lack of watering. It did occur to me that it might be time to harvest but just thought it was a bit too soon. Then I saw someone in the net mention harvesting their garlic already.

So today, tentatively I loosen the soil and pulled out a few. Some were huge and some were the size of those in the shops. So far I have only pulled out half of the garlic plants and the total came to 27 bulbs. I counted the rest still in the ground and there are still about 25.

So pleased with myself. The garlics were first planted in May and other than just having a look at them now and then, absolutely no work was involved. No watering except for pulling out some weeds once. The reward for so little effort makes garlic worthy of a space in the veg garden.

3 huge ones


A harvest of 27 bulbs so far.


I have left the other half standing as their tops hadn't turned yellow yet.

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Parrot Lily ~ Alstroemeria Psittacina

The parrot lily has such gorgeous flowers. It is also commonly known as the new zealand christmas bell and looking at the colours you can understand why.

Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM; 1/40 F4.5, ISO 100



Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/25 F4.5, ISO 100

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Planting dahlias in the compost bin

This spring I had been able to get some offcut wood and have been revamping the 'backends' of the garden beds all around the fence. The wood was to stop the soil and mulch from spilling out. In the process I dugged out, divided and redistributed all the dahlia tubers.

I didn't quite like to waste the leftovers and there was quite a lot of them. I had 3 discarded compost bin which was too small for its purpose. With the high side, it was ideal to be turned into dahlia beds. The high sides will form support for the tall shoots.

I love dahlias. Their flowers are spectacular and they will pop up year after year requiring very little attention or maintenance. After flowering their stalks do need to be trimmed off else they look very ugly in winter.

My old compost bins


Dahlia tubers to be split and divided



Dahlia shoots sprouting from the first bin

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Brown the dove and his new girlfriend

Brown brought his new girlfriend round to introduce her to to his 'food source'! She is not timid and so I managed to 'tag' her with some green paint. Henceforth she will be called Green.

It was quite funny and interesting to watch them together . Just like any new courtship (human or otherwise) it was full on......kissy kissy, preening each other, doing the hanky panky, a lot of cooing, giggling and laughing.

Then this morning trouble appeared in the form of Brown's old girlfriend. Boy....was she persistent in getting a feed from the food bowl as well. Round and round everybody went. You chase me, I chase you....it was pandemonium.

So now we have 2 'girls' fighting over Brown. I shall be watching with great interest to see who wins !

Green....the new love interest



Snuggling up (Green on the left)



kiss kiss....oh I love you so

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Graham Thomas.....yellow rose

When I first planted this rose I didn't realise how big it would grow to. It was fighting for space with the other roses. So I dugged it out and gave it its own individual bed with plenty of room to show itself off.

Unfortunately with the recent strong winds around the place, some of the branches have snapped. Most of the time the bush is covered with big yellow flowers.

Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/160 F5.6, ISO 100.



Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/160 F7.1, ISO 100



Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/160 F5.6, ISO 100

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Why I stopped growing leafy vegies

Once many years ago, I used to grow a bit of pak choy or choy sum for our own consumption. Back then if we want to eat chinese vegetables, we have no choice but to grow our own. Now with so many Asian shops nearby, I don't bother.

And here are the reasons why.....

Back in September I scattered various types of seeds onto the vegie bed. It was seeds I had from years ago. Most of the seeds germinated. At this stage, the plants are still very small but they have bolted (starting to seed) already. The pak choy are also attacked by slugs, snails and leaf miners.

Slug chewed leaves. Note the stalk where bolting have occured.


Rockets have bolted too.

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Planting Tomatoes again

I lost all but 2 of the tomatoes I planted on 9/9/09 to frost. The weather is so pathetic. One minute we are tricked into thinking Spring came early and then we get hit with frost and wintry weather.

With the planting a month later than normal, my tomatoes are going to have a hard time ripening as it would Autumn before they will be ready to be eaten.

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Dublin Bay Roses

I love my Dublin Bay rose bush. Most people grow it as a climber but I have nothing suitable for it to climb on so I have it as a stand alone plant and try and restrain it (read...control it with very vigorous prunning) from its climbing habit. It flowers almost nonstop from Spring to Autumn.

Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/200 F5.6, ISO 100.


Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/25 F4.5, ISO 100.


Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/80 F4.5, ISO 100.



Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/125 F5, ISO 100.



Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/125 F4.5, ISO 100.



Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/60 F4.5, ISO 100.

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Fuchsia coloured Ice Plant

The flowers of the ice plant will only open if the sun is out. On a dull cloudy day, the flower stays shut. Colours are very intense and you can spot them a mile away.

Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, 1/320 F9, ISO 100.




Canon EOS 450D. Aperture F9 Shutter 1/320. ISO 100. Lens EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

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SnapDragon

The snapdragons in my garden cross pollinate among themselves and the colours that develops are quite fascinating. The flowers looks so cute. The buds looks like little mouth in a sulky mood. lol

'Sulking' buds.
Canon EOS 450D. Aperture F4.5 Shutter 1/40. ISO 100. Lens EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM


Canon EOS 450D. Aperture F5 Shutter 1/125. ISO 100. Lens EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

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Forget-Me-Not

Cute and dainty flowers appearing in August, the end of winter. The plant spreads very easily from seeds and can be very invasive taking over the garden.

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