Goodbye Trees, Hello Winter

It saddened me to have to get two of our big gums chopped down but one was dangerously decaying, as in likely to drop even more big branches and cause damage, and the other had put its more recent energy into lifting the pavers at the back of the house.  The result is not as horrendous as I anticipated and has, in fact, inspired me to establish another small garden bed when the weather warms up.

Winter is finally here after a magnificent autumn. I took this photo of our coral vine one sunny autumn day. It's a plant that comes up every year and never gets any attention.

Another plant that is continuing to please me is my tomatoberry.  Even at this time of year I am able to pick 12-20 small tomatoes every day although the bush is starting to look a bit sick.  It's a variety that I've never grown before but I will be looking for it next next summer.

And, the winter solstice has passed! It's a date I always seem to note.  The temperature may continue to drop but the days will start to get longer.  There never seem to be enough daylight hours for me and I've become 'not good' at getting up in the dark.

It's not often that I am there when our two daughters go out together. Rachel was a bridesmaid recently and Emily was at the wedding.  The other bridesmaid was the bride's sister and she was Emily's friend at primary school so I was delighted to get a photo of the four girls together.

Q: How do you eat an elephant?

Answer: Chew one mouthful at a time! ( Words of wisdom from a school teacher.)
This advice has served me well in recent months as there seem to have been many overwhelming times.

We travelled down south on a fishing trip, caught up with family, celebrated a few family birthdays and Christmas, worried about family health issues, immobilised myself for a week by falling over, enjoyed visitors from interstate and have just returned from New Zealand. Over this period I spent days working and arguing with my husband as we prepared information for solicitors for a pending court. Plus, on behalf of residents in our street, I have pursued an infrastructure issue with our regional council. While all this was happening we bought a new computer (we were waiting for Windows 7) and during the installation process an external hard drive, to which I had transferred heaps of data files, crashed.

It's weird that I am now looking forward to some routine in my life. I have for a few years viewed the random opportunities and challenges that presented themselves as manifestations of freedom after resigning from full-time paid employment. Right now, I want my life to be a bit more structured. (I might change my mind next week!)

It was depressing to return home shortly before Christmas as it had been so hot and dry that a number of plants had curled up their toes. I almost decided to stop trying to keep things alive but am so glad that I didn't because, more recently, we have had some great falls of rain and heaps of trees and shrubs have come back to life! I'm eagerly waiting for the mud to dry so that I can go "play outside".

We hate Indian Mynas

..because.. ABC article... and that is only one of many articles detailing these problem birds. We had regarded them as undesirable for a couple of years and understood that they had a preference for mowed lawns and tidy gardens (not like ours.) However one was recently spotted aggravating the galahs that are nesting in one of our trees for the fourth consecutive year and I was prompted to read more about them.

The galahs are now feeding their young and my male magpie that I have been feeding for twenty years has brought his sole baby this year to our back door. The ground is so hard because of the dry weather that it must be difficult for the birds to find sufficient food, so I am glad that they have only one baby this year. We have a couple of bird baths at the front of our house and the variety of birds that come in for water confirm what we already know: that there's not much water lying around the area.

whales!

Despite getting up early and going to gym at 6am I "lost" today but am determined to fulfill my intention to update my blog.

Our new carpet is down and we were too tired to go away immediately afterwards but we did have a wonderful trip to Hervey Bay last week. We had perfect weather, an awesome whale watching trip, an excellent accommodation deal and a great bike ride. It was the first time we had been away on the bike for ages and the conditions were perfect.

Toowoomba Quilters Club have a wonderful exhibition at TAFE, 100 Bridge Street, this week which is well worth a visit. I will go up there again tomorrow to take some more photos some of which will feature on their blog site. Our next event will be Open Day on Saturday 17 October.

New Carpet

Finally! Our new carpet is to go down next week! After much procrastination and endless debate (not all pleasant) our home is to be re-carpeted. Of course it has necessitated a big tidy-up, which is the reason for the debates. We have so much "stuff": bookshelves and cabinets full of things that we rarely use but are of sentimental value, some monetary value or "likely to be useful sometime." Anyway lots of things have gone to Lifeline and several boxes that have been put into the shed will not return to the house until they have been sorted through. I am finding the whole exercise emotionally draining. Lots of old books and magazines that have been sent to new homes are a record of our activities and interests over the years: cars, motorbikes, archery, guns, woodwork, gardening, alternative health, camping, caravans, nutrition & cooking........plus a big box of video tapes and LP records (we haven't had a turntable for years!) Lots of things are staying: a couple of early editions of Popular Mechanics (1949), a postcard album dated 1903 that belonged to a great aunt, a selection of National Geographic, Australian Geographic and Nature Australia. We have plenty of more recent publications to fill our shelves, and how many photo albums have we accumulated over the years?!!

Our living area has been thinned out. Next task: the bedrooms!

Winter Solstice

We've had some miserable weather in recent weeks - but it is winter and there have been some bright spots! The advent of our winter solstice means that from now on the days will get longer. Hooray!! I understand completely why this date features in pagan celebrations.

My cymbidium orchids are flowering and so too is my sole camellia (in a pot.) I am convinced that position is the most important factor that determines whether or not one's orchids flower.

Finally, we have got the website and blog for Toowoomba Quilters Club Inc up and running. It needs some work - but it's up.

Also I had a pyjama day last week. For those who don't indulge in such decadent behaviour, it means that I spent the entire day in my pyjamas, large parts of it in bed being a sloth. It was a bright spot because, afterwards, I felt so much better for being lazy and self-indulgent!

Our next major project is to re-carpet the house and I am somewhat heartened to know several people, including Di, who are managing to stay sane during major renovation projects in their homes. Packing up the contents of shelves, sideboards, dressing tables....not to mention the mess behind the computer desk...(Does everyone have endless cords, wires, connectors behind their electronic equipment?) ..is a nightmare!

A Winter's Day

I have just spent a large part of today sitting in a sunny corner of our house reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. What luxury and what a good book - highly recommended if you enjoy a bit of history woven into the plot.

I did venture outside into the cold wind for a short while to tidy up a few broken plants after the storm cell that passed through here early yesterday morning with lots of wind and not much rain. Fortunately there was not a lot of damage although we had a few garden chairs that travelled a long way.