Monday Blues.....

I've never quite understood why some people don't like Monday - unless of course you are still at school & not that fussed about it. Because lets face it when you are still at school - the weekends are never long enough! But after we've finished school the rest is about choice. Plain & simple.

I have always loved Monday ( I don't profess to have always liked school though....) & I still do. To me it signifes a fresh beginning & often a chance to catch up on the things I didn't get done the previous week.

The only thing I don't enjoy about Monday these days is that they seem to be getting closer together, coming around just that bit too quickly.

The up side to that is that today was a spectacularly "Blue Monday" - everything with even a hint of blue in it was showing off.

My gorgeous waterlily was showing off yet another bloom.

Plectranthus caninus ( Dogbane)  getting in on the act

This poor baby is blue because I can't recall it's name.

Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa - Yellow Passionfruit 

Clitoria ternatea - Double Blue Butterfly Pea is
singing the blues...at the top of it's voice.

Argyreia nervosa - Elephant Ear Vine with friendly grasshopper.
Not exactly blue - but she's certainly"In the Pink"

Even the weeds were getting in on the act!

Oh, yeah - I do so love me some Monday Blues & hope that the prettiness involved in this form of "Blues" brings a smile to the start of your week.

Easily Distracted

This week has been wet. It's also been overcast - but mostly it's been wet.

Wet here apparently involves huge drops of moisture alternating between pelting down manically, flooding guttering so that it overflows drenching humans, pets & plants within minutes, & stopping suddenly leaving a person wondering where the heck it has gone. The saving grace is that it is also warm - with temperatures still being 24° - 29°C ( 75° - 84°F those of you stateside).

Given that the rainy/storm season has finally arrived I had made plans for the days when I couldn't be working outside this week. They involved a little painting &, more importantly, unpacking the rest of my glass now that I finally have more storage sorted. Or so I thought.....

Right up until the time that I stopped to make my first cup of coffee & looked out the kitchen window...

This little guy was sitting on the patio railing. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing at all unusual about Rainbow Lorikeets in the garden - apart from the fact that they don't usually venture up to dog & cat territory. Just as well the dog is a rain wimp & was curled up in a pathetic wee ball on his beanbag - with the cats doing similar in the bedrooms.

This particular Lori wasn't at all afraid of the human that, feeling sorry for them that the bird feeder had just received an impromptu clean out & was now a water bowl, ventured out with a freshly peeled lychee & two slices of mango. He just sat, not even a foot away along the rail, & watched me - then when I backed off  he invited his friend up.

What happened next was as funny as a play! Straight off he knocked the first piece of mango off...
It really doesn't need a dialogue but I couldn't resist.

"Oh darn, Ethel - that's one down."

"You go for the next thing, Archie - I'll just keep an eye on 'er over there!"

"Easy there Archie - don't scoff too much, you never know what it could be."

"Hmm, Ethel - I'm not so sure about that one...unusual texture."
"Careful Archie - you nearly knocked me off!"

"You sure it's not some sort of egg?"

"Oopsy, seems it just joined that other thing."

"This isn't so bad - you hold that end & make sure it doesn't fall."

"Grr - I said hold it Archie!"

By the next downpour the mango & lychee are forgotten as my latest distractions take refuge in the tree right next to the deck & groom each other in an attempt to dry off.

 

 

These birds are so entertaining to watch - gregarious & unafraid, for the most part, of humans. They did go down onto the patio & eat the fallen mango between showers - but left the lychee for the ants. 

Just as well really - it could become time consuming peeling lychees for the Loris ;)

The Grass Isn’t Always Greener On The Other Side Of The Fence….

Or in this case, the ditch. …..in fact sometimes the grass can be a crispy brown – so crispy that it’s like walking on shredded brown paper. Hot, shredded brown paper.

The grass isn’t always greenest where you water it either – especially if there are water restrictions on & you can’t water it at all.

No, this isn’t an analogy about life…it’s a fact. Australian grass is completely different to New Zealand grass. I suspect the fact that it gets so hot here you can smell it heating up & marinating for a bit, before cooking itself, under the sun’s intense rays has something to do with it….along with the type of grass planted.

It’s also high time I posted about my arrival in Australia – something I started to do months ago, but somehow I got side tracked.

Oh yeah, side tracked by a country that is sensory overload on every which level. I’ve been visually distracted by birds so behaviourally bold & colourful that they refuse to be ignored, by dragonflies that resemble helicopters & butterflies & moths the size of small aircraft. 

My ears are constantly assaulted by sound - birds from dawn until dusk with cicadas & crickets adding to the wonderful cacophony on warm days (which is pretty much every day), frogs, possums & owls pitching in once it gets dark.

Perhaps I should save chatting about how easily distracted I am by the readily available tropical & sub-tropical plants that thrive in this climate for another time…. & about how excited I was to find a stand of Blue Ginger among the bush & weeds down the back or how I was hooked when the neighbour threw the first Bromeliad over the fence…..

And all of the above distraction is before I even leave home!!

 A few quick snaps from today in the garden ....
see what I mean about distractions!

This is city full of huge glitzy malls accessed by large busy highways bulging at the seams with loads of BIG cars (& even bigger trucks) often driven by people wearing maxi dresses…the cars that is – not the trucks! Just thought I’d throw that in there while using nouns relevant to size.

On one hand it’s a fast paced city, one that wakes early & ‘appears’ to sleep early too. On the other hand, once one discovers where to look it’s also a city full of beautiful parks, outstanding gardens, speciality markets, farmers markets & a seemingly endless round of entertainment &  fun community events ….often involving fireworks.

It’s a wonderful cultural mix. Locally there are many beautiful Sudanese women – tall & stately with a proud bearing & long slender legs that never seem to end. It’s always a highlight when I see the older women gathered outside a shop in their traditional colourful costume & head wraps.

Vibrant & colourful is the name of another game here too – tattoos. Large tattoos. Large, vibrantly coloured tattoos. Lots of full sleeve & leg tattoos…on woman. I'm pretty sure that I’ve seen more since I’ve arrived here than I have seen in my entire life before.

I’ve been here 7 months & one day. In that time I’ve been initiated into the Australian lifestyle by way of bush fires close by & a couple of good tropical storms – one the tail end of a cyclone. I’ve seen some rather substantial spiders, evicted some messy house geckos (well actually I might have set the cat onto one or two of them), stumbled across my first bearded dragon in the garden, have  killed a *few* cane toads & now drive willingly on that highway that I was never going to drive on – ‘never’ being right up to the point that I discovered a plant nursery that I needed to visit.

I've made new friends, met lampworking friends previously known only online, discovered that I have great neighbours & that tropical storms & flooding can bring about good things - such as enjoying the company of fabulous house guests & forging lasting friendships.

I love it here - even though I have to admit that the settling in hasn’t always been easy. The first 5 months were often fraught with obstacles in getting some of the more important things done such as arranging schooling, medical care, bank accounts, internet & a landline. You know, just the little things. Red tape, more red tape & all that. Now that I finally have myself a Doctor (one quite knowledgeable about thyroid issues – finally, thank goodness) & a bank account. I’m not sure which I’m most thrilled about ;)

Post Script: This post was intended for yesterday – I fell asleep in my chair last night before checking the draft & posting it. Remember those early starts I mentioned?....

It seems appropriate that I post it today though – as it helps me to focus on the positive rather than dwell too heavily on the significance of this date. I feel as if it can’t possibly be two years since that horrific day when  life, as my home town of Christchurch knew it, changed forever… for everyone. But there you have it.

"How does one become a butterfly?"...

she asked. "You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."~Anonymous

Imagine spending your days flying around, alighting on flowers & drifting on gentle air currents (yes - I am studiously ignoring any negatives here!!). Butterflies transfix me, sighting one will cause me to be still, almost holding my breath without realising I am doing so, & just watch. And I could watch for hours, gentle, silent, beautiful creatures that could teach us humans a lesson or two .....& have if we stop to think about it.

If nothing ever changed there'd be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.  ~Rabindranath Tagore

When I grow up - I want to be a butterfly. Besides being able to fly, be free & for the most part beautiful,  they get to hang around a whole heap of orange from what I observed today ;) Rarely do we get to see admirals & monarchs at the same time so they must be attracted to this plant.

And with that Deb quietly toddles off to bed making a mental note to plant some Tithonia rotundifolia in her next garden.....

Time Rushes On

As I type this January is about to roll over into February. I can't believe it - I'm pretty sure the last time I looked at a calendar was over a week ago, it was around the 20th January & I recall thinking well there's still 1/3 of the month to go.....

That was immediately before I started pulling the house to bits - or rather the roof space which was home to about 30 boxes full of stuff.  I'll touch more on that particular subject later. Suffice to say the rest of the month has since rushed by in a blur of being surrounded by boxes & an ever growing pile of 'stuff'' in the garage that I need to start selling.

I'm not particularly looking forward to this month - I know it too is going to whizz by. I realised today that I'd almost forgotten my own mantra of taking time out to stop & smell the roses. I've spent very little time outside over the last ten days & it probably accounts for why I'm feeling a little 'blah', so I remedied it with a quick tour around the garden....camera in hand.

The tiny piece of Astilbe I got out of my Mother in Laws garden back in October has settled in well & has even given me a flower.

Ipomoea Grandpa Ott is doing his thing again this year & providing a daily splash of vivid purple wherever he decides he wants to.

Self seeded sunflowers from last years deliberate planting of of the (non) Dwarf Moulin Rouge variety are displaying a variety of colours this year as seeds from hybrids do....& they are still not that keen on being dwarf either!!!

Of course I remembered to stop photographing & actually smell the roses while I was out there. Just as well I can't walk past Abraham Darby without doing so!!

The Weekend

May yours be as bright & cheery as a bunch of daisies!

I had a somewhat humorous blog post planned for last night - but I couldn't find the images I had intended to use...again! It appears that my computer tidy skills are not quite in line with what I 'think' my memory retention is - need I say more?

Today has been pretty much the same around the house....put something down, forget where I put it, 30 minutes later I'm either still searching or hopelessly side tracked.

Lets just say that I'm eternally grateful for the peace the garden gives me, the enjoyment I get from checking on what has come into flower every day - so I thought that this wee group of Gazanias that are busy flowering while waiting to be planted out amongst the boring old grey stones out the front might be just what you need too.

My Other Boyfriend

As he lays snoring, like a....well, like a man really, at my feet I can't help but try & recollect what life was like before he came into it. In short I can't imagine it without the naughty wee rotter stealing things when I'm not looking or rearranging the vege garden (& vegetables!!) so he can bury one of his bones.

Perhaps it is just as well that I haven't gardened for years so can't really recall how much faster things got done without having to run after a dog to retrieve my tools every few minutes, because he's decided the secateurs or trowel is a toy...

or what it's like to have lavender bushes that aren't broken in some places because someone has been chasing the bees & put a paw in them!! 

Every once in a while he stands still & manages to even look a little majestic....enough so for me to get a decent shot.

When I'm in the garden - there he is right beside me (unless he's taken off with something).... or he's prancing around the back yard chasing bees. Belive me when I say that is hilarious to see!! He's a nut most of the time - doing the most ridiculous things & rarely staying still.

But then there are the times that he is either laying at my feet if I'm at the computer - or curled up like a tiny puppy on his bean bag. He's my constant companion - & I don't even want to imagine life without him. I wonder how he's going to like Australia. (haven't told him yet that bees are tame compared to some of the critters over there & he might have to pull his head in as far as chasing them goes!!)

Antonias Garden

There is something about gardening & gardeners that makes it amazingly simple to connect with others similarly inclined no matter where you go in the world.Gardeners are also chatty people by nature, so no special arrangements need to be made to meet up - it just happens somehow. I guess one could say that depends on where you hang out, plant nurseries, garden centres & botanical gardens are, of course, going to increase the chance of you meeting someone of a similar mind. Complete strangers connecting on a more than passing level. 

In dropping the mailleman to the train station in the early hours of Brisbane's balmy mornings I had noticed a garden that stood out in my still half asleep state. Admittedly it took a while to register (probably about 4 trips past it in all truth) that here was a real garden - one planted with an eye to design & lavished with care & attention. 

Instead of the usual few tropical trees & a bit of struggling lawn this garden looked full & lush with a house somehow blending seamlessly into it. I started to look closer each time I passed in the car & finally decided to take a walk, camera in hand, to explore some of the plants that bordered the street more closely. 

 When it comes to private gardens & peoples property I am a somewhat reluctant photographer not wanting to intrude on their privacy so I stuck to a shot from along the street & a couple of close ups of individual flowers.

 

 Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Pride of Barbados ( a member of the pea family!)

While I was busy trying to capture the true beauty & deep almost indigo blue of the above flower I became aware of someone watching me. I look up to see a figure at an open upstairs window, so I waved out & asked in hand motions if it was ok to take some photo's. I took the smile & nod I got in response as a "yes".

Shortly afterwards I met Antonia, the lovely owner of this garden & I was invited in to photograph to my hearts content. I had loads of  questions about specific plants so I asked them & I guess that Antoinia realized I was not merely  interested in taking a few good photos, but rather genuinely interested in plants & gardening. I was invited to stay for a coffee which Antoina suggested she'd make while I explored & photographed....& explore I did. 

A sloping section interlaced with rock edged gravel & grass pathways & steps it was a wonderland to me. So much so that I didn't take the usual amount of photos as I was so absorbed in the magic, the beauty...the utter peacefulness of it all.

I knew that there were many critters & a resident snake or two inhabiting the garden so I trod carefully for fear of disturbing them. Butterflies were busy fluttering around in the cool lush tropical rainforest area that Antonia had lovingly recreated out the back of her property.

It turns out that it has taken Antonia 20 years to turn what was a bare sloping section than ran with small rivers of water into what you see here. Quite obviously she is woman of determination, knowledge &  respect for the indigenous flora & fauna of her adopted country.

She has planted thoughtfully, knowing what will grow in this hot climate carefully interspersing the abundance of vividly coloured plants with plants that display the greener/cooler palettes or bloom at different times to create a environment that looks as though it has just happened naturally.

Just the right amount of man made structures to add interest, & focal points but not overwhelm the plantings.

Meandering pathways that separate only to merge again later after leading you through to a new area, each of which in turn would make me stop & hold my breath for fear of disturbing the lush beauty that lay before me.

Later, sitting on Antonia's balcony, sipping coffee & chatting (it turned out that we had more in common than just plants, both sharing a love of reading with similar tastes in authors), overlooking the tranquility of the rainforest garden she commented "Why would I ever need to go on holiday when I get to wake up to this every morning?". Why indeed!!

The Goddess In My Garden

Sitting outside on an overcast but warm day it was hard to ignore unmistakeable buzz of the bee's as they busily flew from bloom to bloom gathering pollen. The breeze gently moved the plants & grasses while I was planning what had to be tied back or deadheaded before what looked like the threat of rain became a reality.

Rather than stick with the job at hand my thoughts drifted to melting glass (isn't that always the way?!) then, in turn, to a gift I had received some time ago. Bear with me here.....

I've never had much by way of statuary in my gardens, but was rather taken with some of the Indonesian garden statues I had seen in Brisbane. They'd lent an air of calm grace & peacefulness to what were otherwise hot & vibrant gardens. I'd decided that "one day" I would have one.

The gift, which normally graces my windowsill in the kitchen where she sits framed against a backdrop of greenery & catches the light play all day long, that my mind went to was one of the lovely & super talented Angela Greer Garren's glass sculptures "Pillar of the Sun". I realised that I already had a beautiful piece of garden art - even if only while I was out there during the day.

So out she came to watch over me & enjoy some filtered sunlight.

Pillar of the Sun

Ang - if you read this I'd just like to say "Thank You" again - you've no idea how much pleasure this particular piece of glass has given me.

Around the garden in January

High temperatures, long hours of sunshine & plentiful watering has resulted in what flowers I have planted putting on a continuing show for me. The first thing I do every morning is take a wander around the garden & check on what is happening....it was with a huge whoop of joy that I saw the first runner beans were ready to harvest.

Guess what I had for dinner ;)

This Month in the Garden

Mother nature has decided that oranges & yellows are the 'ín' colour! Thank you Mother Nature :)

Last Month in the Garden

Pink was my favourite colour - who knew ;)