A watching tree frog

 John went into the orchid house this morning to water and said he felt as though he was being watched, and there was this delightful little brown tree from looking at him from the midst of the leaves.
They are very sweet and only about 2 inches long if that.
Still no rain so the sprinklers are on.
Quite warm and humid, it feels like rain but that is all.
I have 4 stitches on the back of my right hand where a potential nasty was removed, that was my mornings effort, I want to do some stitching but the hand is still a bit numb.
I think I will read my book instead.

This and that

The peacocks are calling, making a huge noise but it is mating season. I have 3 males and 2 females so there is a lot of competition. They like to sit as high as they can in the trees, this one is in a huge old wattle tree.
My madagascan geranium has been at its peak, it midly self sows around the garden and its huge head of flowers makes a great show. It favours certain places and not others so I let it go where it likes to be.
The weather has been warming up,  we have a cold night with fog and then up into the 30's again. It is windy today and my hayfever has driven me inside.
There is talk of a change and a possible shower tonight. I wish we would get another decent rain things are drying off and I will have to get the hoses out again, I would love to live somewhere where spring is warm and balmy, lots of showers but sun as well, the impossible dream I think.
I have been up early most mornings as still no foals, the mares all look as if they will burst and their bags are full of milk and yet every morning, at 6 am, nothing! I have this terrible feeling we will have them on the morning of the show on Saturday, and I will be left to deal with them and wont get to the show, as it is the 2 hour drive up and back is making me wonder, but of course I want to be there to see my ponies.
The last photo is of the dresser in the hall, full of all sorts of bits and pieces. I know I have shown it before but I took the photo the other day and thought I would like to put it up again.
Off to do some more sewing, there is plenty to do and I have this horrid feeling I will run out of time before Christmas.

Friends for lunch

 I took this photo yesterday just before friends arrived for lunch.
It was a lovely setting and the sun did eventually come out.
Far too nice to move inside and I had warned every one to bring a jumper.
My mother would have been 100 yesterday and her favorite rose was Peace and just on cue my climbing peace was full of lovely blooms.When she could get around my mother quite often came down for a family lunch for her birthday and the glory vine always had flowers on it which showered down on us, as it did today.
We had a great lunch but what once was so easy to do is now much harder and much more tiring, even though I did try to make it as simple as possible. I think it was enjoyed as we talked and reminisced for over 4 hours.
We didnt need any food for dinner!

My cuffs

 When I checked my blog these were up and then they were not. Not sure what is happening.

I have been making cuffs

 I have been making these cuffs from a base of old linen or silk and using up a lot of odds and ends from my lace drawer. In some ways it is a shame to use up my old lace, but then again who is going to use it?
I am much more pleased with these and hope some one will enjoy them.
I have friends coming in for lunch tomorrow, last week end was such a lovely week end, today its will it be warm enough and will it rain or not. The forcast is for morning showers.
I do have a plan B but would rather be outside.
I think I have all the makings and there is a pot of soup on.
I try to make things as easy on myself as I can these days.
Lots of little hand sewing going on but mostly for Christmas presents so I cant show them.
Money is very tight this year and we have just been told that the bank we re financed with has gone belly up. Really all rather depressing especially as they mostly financed farmers. At least we hadnt invested with them.
So I am mostly making stuff and hope they can appreciate what they get, its always a bit hard on the grand children who are at a stage where money is probably more appropriate.
Off to make some peanut butter biscuits and I will try not to burtn them as I did the last lot of rock buns!

Blogger didnt like these photos

try again with these photos.

Photos from a few days ago

 Yesterday we raced up to Glenelg to have our hair cut and after buying towels with a birthday gift voucher at Marion we went to Brighton beach for lunch. I dont think I have ever been to Brighton beach, we pass the turn off for the jetty on our way home but have never gone down to look.
It has a short jetty, like most of the ones along the gulf as they have been slowly ripped apart by storms, but it was a charming little beach village with nice places to eat and a lovely sandy beach.
It was quite warm yesterday and there were lots of mothers and small children around.
we had a very pleasant lunch on the footpath looking at the sea and the passing parade, not a huge amount of people but enough.
I imagine in high summer it is crowded.
We parked the ute along the esplanade and I saw these beetles on a storm drain cover, fun, but what for and who did them?
We walked out to the end of the jetty, and I took this photo from the end where there was a musical pipe making not much noise under us.
Last week when we were in Adelaide I took this photo of Gaye's Arcade which is one of the little old arcades in the center of the city, and then as we came out of the art gallery I took this photo of what I think is the old armory building. Any way it is a lovely old building tucked away behind the museum and next to the new wing of the art gallery.
It is lovely to find such treasures.
After my week end of high activity on the garden I am now feeling rather tired and achy.
I really do need to pace myself and not go at things like a bull at a gate.

Its Saturday!

 We went in to the market this morning and then over to Pt Elliot for a walk around the headland. A beautiful morning. The council have planted a lot of native shrubs and trees arund this area and this lovely callistemon was in full flower.
I really love the conglomeration of rocks and there was a fairly large lazy swell coming in.
Satisfying.
The pashmina is from Kashmir and is one my sister bought for me. I think it will be very useful.
Yesterday I went over to visit a very close friend,  who was recently widowed.
We talk a lot on the phone but she is about 3/4 to an hour away and its not always easy for us to coincide.
Her garden was looking lovely and we had lunch outside and talked and talked, trying to put the world to rights but feeling we dont have a lot of hope in changing things.
I came home tired but so pleased to have caught up with her.
This afternoon John and I have been trying to sort things out in the garden, I bought some seedlings this morning and they needed to be potted up, and in doing so I went searching for nice pots and found some not in use and one thing led to another and now we are both exhausted!
Needless to say the bit by the back door has suddenly sprouted morte pots and I really didnt mean that to happen, but its nice to have the herbs close by and I think the sunny bit will be ideal for the tomato I bought, its a heritage one so I hope it is not prone to too many diseases.
At least I dont need to buy more pots, just potting soil!

A few minutes ago

I walked Max and this young fox came within about 10 feet of me, he did this yesterday morning as well. I need John to dispatch it.
I then walked up the track to the house and took a few photos of what is out in the garden, the little gladiolis wont last long but they are so pretty. a few corms given to me years ago by a dear friend have moved around to various places in the garden.
The rose over the garage is flowering well, so well that on Tuesday I reached up to cut a few and fell over backwards into some pots, luckily nothing but my ego was bruised. well there may be some bruising on my bottom but I cant see!!
I really must be more careful.
My small water feature and some of the pots I am arranging around it, this backs onto the garage wall and is a difficult area so ages ago we paved it but now I have re done it. I hope the geraniums and herbs will like it and grow well, we are also aiming to put the shade cloth I put together this week over it as it gets terribly hot in summer. Even the succulents I tried there didnt much like it.
Yesterday we had a lovely day in Adelaide, called in to see my sisters and get my birthday presents  and in doing that saw my newest great niece, 3 months and gorgeous but no time for a photo.
We headed into the city and went to the Art gallery and had a quick lunch and saw three exhibitions, Anna Platten, Lydia Groblicka who had some interesting lino cuts, and La Belle Epoch, French drawings and prints from 1880 to 1910, some very interesting works to be seen here in an era I love.
From there we went to see the Geoffrey Smart exhibition, not just his but lots of his contempories, some of whose works I own.
Something totally different I then went up to the textile exhibition at TARTS where some friends of mine had some work in.
A long day for us and a dreadfully slow drive home, there seem to be road works every where we went as well as every stop light seemed to have it in for us.
I ache rather well this morning from the couple of minor falls I had to sitting in the car for too long and walking on city pavements.

Walking Max

 we went down the old raod as far as the duckpond lovely reflections in the early morning water.
Max had lots to sniff and smell and look at as we havent walked this way for so long.
As you can see the fire hazards, lots of grasses, are every where, a good growing season but a bit of a worry.
I could hear the lorikeets in the trees and this is why, the gums have proflific blossom at the moment and I found this and several more on the ground.
I wonder if they will leave the fruit in the orchard alone. Probably too early to tell.
My haveyfever and sinusitis are back, that will teach me to venture out in the wind on a lovely spring morning.
Off to do some indoor chores.

yesterdays photos

for some reason these did not appear on my post.

Finally a morning walk

 It has been a lovely day, in to the market early, and then a walk along the cliffs and to the beach from Petrels Cove, surfers, rolling waves and a seal foraging around the edges of the underwater rocks. Also a young seagull, watching.
Lots of lovely rock shapes and tidal pools.
Click twice to see.
It was magic and we then had a coffee afterwards.
Home and I am still potting up stuff, I am getting there, and I also managed to sew up the centre of the shade cloth I want to put over the paved area, it gets so hot in summer.
I drove over to see Tab and the children and she took me around to look at the Cobs. All the brood mares look about ready to burst.
She tells me they are mostly late this year, and so are ours.
Off to walk Max and feed the chooks.
I hope every one is having a great week end.

I tried to post this yesterday

 This was yesterday mornings walk with Max, this morning we have returned to winter and it is freezing cold and wet and windy.
Yesterday was almost hot.
My GP said I had to swim or walk, walking could be easier as swimming means going in to pools and membership fees etc.
So we walked through the padedocks and down to the old road. I loved the blackboy on the side of the road just sending up its flwer spike, no flowers yet, they are full of honey and loved by the honey eating birds.
The last time I took a photo of the bridge pool the creek was in full flood, today this time the trees were reflected in its cool brown surface.
The old road is almost covered in grass in some places, still green and lush but the problem with Spring is that summer is not far ahead and it will all become brown and I am not a great lover of heat and hot winds and flies.
I took a photo of part of the milking herd in the paddock over the road, with the pony paddock in the forground, the lttle stallion had just been chasing his mares and was a bit puffed out.
When I came back I began tidying up by the back door paved area, this is raised a bit and is a heat trap, we have set up my little bubbling water feature there but I need to get at it so I have cleared away the steps and lots of weedy growth and am planning to plant up some more pots and re do it.
We had to move a couple of big pots as well so I was hot and bothered by the time I finished yesterday.
Now I will have to wait for the weather to get better before I can do much more.
Another disaster with a foal being kicked in the head, another vet visit, I wonder what the 3rd one will be.
Lots of stitches in his little head, we had called him Harry Potter, now witha zig zag scar on his head it may be even more appropriate! As I said to Sarah, beware what you call them. It seems to just be skin so with any luck he will be ok and we wont be able to see where it was when he grows up.
I stood in the freezing cold and my knee is playing up so off to sit by the fire and do some stitching.

Glorious flowers

 Day light saving began this morning here in Australia, or those parts who use it, and so I had an earlier wander around the garden than usual and with my great little camera captured some of what is on offer.
The azalia near the water tank, apple blossom on a tiny tree, pear blossom, the pear blossom has been wonderful this year, and the very old crab apple who is doing its usual wonderful burst of flowering. This tree was not young when I first met John, so may be almost 80 years old if not older, not that I met John 80 years ago but his mother probably planted it well before he was born.
I will never know who actually planted it, maybe his father.
Age seems to be not creeping up on us but leaping at us at the moment, although there will be other reasons why I ache so much, but I also went to move a plant out ofr a pot and found I really cant do it on my own any more. John has at least gone fishing today which gives him some company.
I walked down to see my little mare this morning, she seems to be doing better, and spoke to Sarah who had a long and tiring day yesterday at the show, although they did wel with the ponies.
I am off to stop feeling sorry for myself and find some fabric scraps to start making little Christmas gifts before there is no time to do it! Nothing like a project to get one going.