This Week's VERY Random Photos

I just couldn't think of anything to say this week (catching a cold from a certain toddler didn't help) so I thought I would take the camera outside, do a lap of the garden and see what I could find.

I really wanted a photo of the goanna that lives in our ceiling space leaving his hideout and going out for the day but I can never catch him.  I hear him moving from inside the house and I run outside with the camera and point it to the small space he squeezes into but so far no luck.  Last year we had a handyman up here doing something else and we asked him if he could fix the gap where the possum, the goanna and the carpet snake enter our roof space but blocking up the hole is not an option because we would probably lock something in there and that would not be good!

Anyway he said he put a small trapdoor in place where anything that is in there can get out but will not be able to get back in - great!  Problem solved!  Hmmmm, we can clearly see where the trapdoor has been broken and our ceiling is once again the abode for all and sundry!  Sometimes when Leo and I are reading or watching TV and we hear a noise from "up there" Leo looks up and just gives the most disgusted look, he does not approve.

                     The first thing I found was a five legged grasshopper! I told you these were random!

                                                         Lovely red berries on a cordyline

                                                                                     
                         A Golden Whistler, a beautiful rainforest bird with a most amazing song

                                                                                   
                                                              A gorgeous bromeliad

                                                                                      
                 Our baby Eastern Water Dragon has come out of hibernation, he looks a little thin but is enjoying soaking up the warm sunshine.                                           

                                                                            

                      A self sewn orchid on a palm tree, love how they just come up randomly like that.
                                                                                  
                                 

           
                                                                             Skeeta!

                                                                                 
                                             Esmeralda always likes to present her best side.  Is she a prize winning chicken or what!

  

                             

I just thought this is fun, I need another photo so I went outside and look who is sunning himself on the swimming pool bridge as I type this!  I wonder if he just left our ceiling or if it is another one - probably is our noisy house guest!   : ))))

                                                                                        
Ok Leo gets the last spot, just took this photo and he is clearly not amused!  Needless to say he has gone straight back to sleep. : ))

                                                                   
 So that is what I found in about five minutes walking around the garden, there is always something interesting to see. 

                                                                                                                                     

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly

Well after last weeks little encounter I though I would like to find something light and beautiful to talk about and I had been wondering what to write until yesterday morning when I went outside to admire the gorgeous spring day and there was the season's first Richmond Birdwing Butterfly flying and swooping and obviously delighting in the mild sunny weather.

There are Birdwing recovery groups on the Sunshine Coast and in the Brisbane area helping to restore the habitat of this vulnerable butterfly but we have them breeding right here on our property.  Obviously somewhere in our bushland there is a very old Birdwing Butterfly vine (Pararistolochia praevenosa) and over the past few years we have also planted about seven of these vines to help preserve this species but at this stage our vines are still quite small.

This is a photo we took of the butterfly sitting on a white cedar that is near our house.

These are very large butterflies and they do not flutter like other butterflies but fly like birds, flapping their wings and swooping onto branches and flowers.

It is so very special to be able to go outside and see a species that is listed as vulnerable to extinction right in our own front yard.  At times I have seen three of these butterflies together all feeding from the flowers of our native frangipani (Hymenosporum Flavum) which is about 6 meters tall and at the moment is in full bloom.  A few years ago we were talking with someone who belongs to one of the Birdwing recovery groups and he said he had never seen one of these butterflies in the wild, we are fortunate indeed.

http://www.wildlife.org.au/wildlife/speciesprofile/insects/richmodnbirdwing.html


Ok, I couldn't go without showing you what we are having for morning tea this week, a lovely boiled fruit cake which has ground cinnamon, ginger and all spice added - a very old fashioned recipe but what a luscious cake! 

                                                                                 

The chickens are all doing well. : )



                                                                      

Huge Eggs, Broody Hens and ...............!!

Today I was planning on telling you about the huge egg one of the chickens layed that is twice the size of their normal eggs and then I was going to tell you about Ruby our broody hen and how she is sitting on the nest hoping to hatch out chicks from nothing!  As there is no rooster all her effort is in vain so I have been removing the eggs every day but she is still sitting there.  The only problem is the other chickens lay their eggs in that area also so we have a bit of a traffic jam in there at times but they seem to be working it out. 

As you can see, Esmeralda is squeezing into the same space - even though there are two other nesting boxes. : )

Ok I will put in a photo of that huge egg but I really want to talk about something else right now -
                                                                              

It's a beauty isn't it, I will crack it open tonight, it will have a double yolk for sure or maybe that Bush Turkey has also taken a liking to that nesting box. : ))

Well now it is spring and our lizards are coming out of hibernation - the Major Skink and the Water Dragons have made an appearance, so I have been thinking the snakes could not be far behind and this morning there was a carpet python near the chicken pen (we relocated two last summer) so I have been checking on them more often today but that is NOT the big story. 

This afternoon Leo and I walked out to the letter box to get our mail and when we got back up to the house we came face to face with two, BIG brown snakes that were in a "loving embrace".  Well Leo and I both backed off at the same time as these snakes are one of the deadliest in the world and they are aggressive especially when disturbed at such a "delicate" moment.  I have never seen anything like that in my life and I'm very sorry to say that I didn't have my camera handy so I could post a photo.  Unfortunately it is emblazzened on my brain!! 

These snakes were only meters from our front door and when they saw us they parted company and slithered off together around to the back of the house no doubt to take up where they left off.    Needless to say, I made sure all the screen doors were securely closed - I don't like snakes!  And I just saw three in the one day.  Now when I go outside and see the garden hose on the ground or a curved stick I get the same feeling for an instant - ahhhhhh  gross!

Here is a video from YouTube of Brown Snakes but beware it may also make you feel more than a little jumpy. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJu67SGalJU

Until next time.  xx







                                                                                  

Carnivorous Chickens!

 

Today I was going to tell you about the magnificent perfume from our flowering citrus trees as it wafts around the house telling us that Spring has arrived.  But no!  instead I have to tell you about an incredible scene I just witnessed that put the scent of citrus blossom right out of my mind!

 I was changing the chickens water when I heard them a short distance away and out of their pen, clucking very excitedly about something.  I was thinking “please not a snake”, the weather has warmed up and they will be on the move and I detest snakes but on investigating further I saw Abbey had a live baby mouse in her beak.  It was pink and hairless and about 4cm long and swinging from side to side as she tried to escape from the other chickens. 

 It was how they all reacted to this find that had me fascinated.  They were going mad!  Then Skeeta got it off Abbey and ran off with the others in hot pursuit, around the corner they all ran, they were worse than cats!  Then back around they came and in all the excitement Skeeta dropped it by mistake and they all had it finished off in about 3 seconds.

 They then strutted around like proud hunters, chatting loudly about how they demolished their prey!  

 I am pleased to say that they have now settled down and are sitting under a shrub and chatting quietly to each other no doubt saying how they wish I would stop giving them yogurt and oats, greens and fresh grains and actually give them something that moves!  Meanwhile the beautiful fresh yogurt and oats sits uneaten while they daydream of worms and grubs, beetles and bugs and mice and slugs!  :)

 

                                                                     Look out!

                                                                  

 

 

 

 

This Weeks Random Photos

Well winter is quickly making way for spring in this part of the world and that can only mean one thing - dry weather!  After three years of a strong La Nina weather pattern resulting in very serious floods, the weather bureau now tells us we are entering an El Nino weather pattern and that means dry.  Someone turned the tap off in early July and we have not had a drop of rain since and wouldn't you think after three years of rain I wouldn't have to water the garden for months but already some plants are starting to suffer, I really dislike dry weather.  It would be so nice if we could have "normal" weather again with rainfall corresponding with historical monthly rainfall records but we haven't had that for about 10 years, now it seems to be either wet or dry, average no longer figures.

I have a few random photos from this week as well as some showing all the weeding Tony and Chelsea did recently, the result is really beautiful.

Showing all the fishbone fern growing in the forest



                                                                      

                                         A whole patch cleared                                   

                                               

                                        
                                One of the many spider holes that were hidden amongst the ferns!

Sturdy gloves were essential!

 

A whole area cleared.  This fern (a weed in this area) grows so densely that native species cannot compete with it.

                                         

      A strangler fig was uncovered.  This wonderful tree (will get really huge) attaches itself to a host plant and eventually kills it, but the fig tree will still be here in hundreds of years and is absolutely beautiful when it is fully grown.
                             

A winter flowering heliconia. 

                                            Giant bromeliad - Alcantarea Imperialis Rubra      

                                                                                   

                            A tiny little Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog catching some winter sunshine.  He is about

1.5cm long (half an inch).

                                                                        
                                                          A lily growing in our pond.
 

                                            
                                            Thought I better finish with some chicken photos!
                                                                    Hello Esmeralda : )

                                                           
                            So I just went outside and took these, what lovely girls they are.   : )

                                                                                                                                

Passionfruit and Lemon Season

At the moment we have an abundance of passionfruit and lemons, the passionfruit are huge and the lemons are very juicy.  With Tony and Chelsea coming up for the weekend to continue weeding out the fishbone fern (a weed in this part of the world) that has infested a large portion of our bushland, I thought I would make a little picnic for them using some of those passionfruit and lemons.

So I made lemon curd and passionfruit curd and bought some little pastry cases to finish off. 

                                                                                   

                        This passionfruit curd recipe used 11 passionfruit and 4 eggs, all produced right here, lovely.                   

                                                                                        

                                                                                                             

Chelsea is working hard!

I also made a Turkish feast for Saturday night but I didn't take any photos, needless to say the three courses finishing with Baklava which had honey, lemon juice and cloves in the syrup was unbelievably amazing!!  It was a great weekend.  : )



Not about chickens, well not directly.

This time I’m not talking about the chickens, they are fine, except for being stalked by an eagle/goshawk (?) three times in the past week which flies away as soon as it spots me coming out to see what all the fuss is about but apart from that they are fine.  : )

No this week it’s all about how much I enjoy trying something different that doesn’t entail sky diving or bungee jumping off some bridge, although I have done a 100 meter abseil which was fun but things we can do much more often than that with resources  we already have.   My Grandmother was the same; she loved trying new recipes which I do also.  Each one is a new experience – the lovely ingredients, the preparation, the cooking smells and of course the finished product – each new recipe is a revelation.  For me the process is the adventure and the end result is the icing on the cake! (Sorry about that). 

Bill sent me a recipe for a pecan pie that is cooked in a cast iron skillet, well I have never cooked a pie in a cast iron skillet so how could I resist this one.  The simple pleasures of preparing the ingredients, admiring the golden colour as it cooked and breathing in the magnificent aromas of freshly baked pastry have been enjoyed for generations.  In a world of change, these simple but rewarding activities are not only good for the mind and body but they are good for the soul.
                                        
                                 I had to get these eggs from the chicken pen, one was still warm.

                                                               Ready for the oven.

                                                                      
                                                                           Wonderful.

Hmmm, now I better go and check on those chickens.  : )