long-toothed hinterland dweller

Siezing the day

The grandchildren descended last weekend.  The day started out sunny, but clouds soon gathered and the weather became quite threatening.

A good excuse for 'Grumpy' to drag out the old dragon kite - the one we bought in Tiananmen Square ten years ago.

The gusty day was just right for a kite...  as was the vacant land beside the shopping centre that the developers haven't moved in on yet.

The heavy cloud cover didn't make for good pictures, but at least it didn't rain - and no-one had to worry about trying to keep a hat on.

The string is attached to an old fishing line which makes it easy to reel it in - and more difficult to accidentally let go.  Grumpy's invention!

Meanwhile, the fast-growing, littlest grand-baby is such a joy to watch as he begins the lifelong task of assimilating what there is to know about the world around him. 

He has been starting small with the musical toys that dangle above, and of course the various family faces that hover nearby.

Something a grandma can cherish - the first smile of recognition from someone who has been in the family for only 8 weeks!

*  [TIP FOR GARDENING GRANDPARENTS: the absorbent filling from wet disposable nappies - 'diapers' in other parts of the world - makes an excellent additive to garden soil, holding large amounts of moisture for long periods.

** [Used nursing pads can be recycled too.  The little flat disk shapes fit nicely into the base of a plant pot.]

Coffee and chicory

We were all tea drinkers in our house when I was a child.  We kids began drinking tea out of our Bunnykins cups at around 4 years of age. 

The only coffee we ever saw was the bottle of coffee essence that came from the grocer.  It was coffee with chicory - Bickfords brand.  Coffee was considered an exotic drink, but there was no art to the brewing - we just stirred the essence with some sugar into hot milk.

Now I have my own pretty flowering coffee bushes growing ...

... and the chicory too.

There are no plans at this stage to process our own coffee.

They're just handsome trees to have around; and the birds enjoy the red berries..

Looking forward

After battling for a frustrating two hours with the previous post - and eventually giving up on ever sorting out the font size and formatting, I've decided to move on.

This is something I DID enjoy today.  Checking all the fruit trees for spring blossom - even though it is still officially winter here.  It's hard to believe when daytime temperatures are consistently around 20C.

The oranges, lemons, limes and cumquats are all in flower.  There was a fat bee busy at work on this espaliered lemonade tree. 

As long as we can provide enough water, there should be a bumper crop this year.  There are already some egg-sized fruit at top left.  And only last week I picked the last of the previous season's fruit.

This was the tree last year when it cropped for the first time.  In front are chilli and sweet basil plants.

                        

The fruit-fly traps with their attractant of May oil are are a real success.  The bottles are full of both dead and live insects.

The recycled plastic bottles each have a band of yellow tape around their lids.  It is the yellow colour as well as the scent of the oil that attracts these little fruit-sucking critters.

         

There. Now I feel better!

Books

I have been tagged by Pat the Chooks with the latest book meme.  Other people seem to dash these things off without much effort, but I tend to find myself agonising for ages trying to work out my answers.  Is it because I am not good at analyzing -- or just because I find it hard to make choices?

After a couple of days' ponderance, I've still not thought of answers for every question.  This is as far as I got.

1: One book that changed your life.

Probably 'Two thousand tongues to go; the story of the Wycliffe Bible translators' - by Ethel Wallis and Mary Angela Bennett.  The compelling story of a group of missionaries and the hardship (and martyrdom) they suffered in South America, it made a lasting impression when I read it as a 15 year-old school-girl.  Three years later I found myself in Papua New Guinea where I spent the next 14 years working as a teacher and a community worker.

2: One book you have read more than once.

Since my reading preference is for reference books, there are plenty.  One I've dipped into over and over again is Jenny Allen's Paradise in Your Garden.  My copy is a few years old and I see that the latest edition has been retitled 'Smart Permaculture Design', which doesn't sound nearly so appealing.

3: One book you would want on a desert island.

Being practical, I reckon The Compact Oxford Dictionary with its 2,416 pages, could be spun out over quite a long time.  I am fascinated by words too.  Pat the Chooks is always coming up with interesting old Scottish words I've never heard before.

4: One book that made you laugh?

The most recent - In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson.

5: One book you wish had been written?

Pass on that one.  There are still a million or so books out there I haven't read - more than enough to satisfy my many passions and interests.

6: One book you wish had never had been written?

Mmm - can't think.  Although I may not like or appreciate a particular book, it may hold great meaning for someone else - if only its author.

7: One book that made you cry?

Ruth Cracknell's memoir, 'Journey From Venice'.

8: One book you are currently reading?

'Australia's Quarter Acre' by Peter Timms.

9: One book you have been meaning to read?

'The Art of Happiness,' by the Dalia Lama.  I received it as a gift several years ago, and surprisingly, I couldn't get past the second chapter.  I found it uninspiring - deadly boring in fact.  But because it had come highly recommended, I feel I ought make another effort.

10: Now tag five people  I won't be tagging anyone.  This one seems to have been pretty well done by everyone now.

A trip to the nursery

This week we made a trip over the border into Northern NSW to pick up a few more trees to add to our home orchard.  Our destination was a large commercial fruit tree nursery, Daleys, near Kyogle.

After selecting 10 plants we stopped in at the shop and nursery attached to Tropical Fruit World near Murwillumbah and bought 3 more.

This was what we squeezed into the back of the old station-wagon to bring home -  and there were others on the floor inside.

At last count we had 68 different fruit, nut and vine food plants growing.  Now to be added are a Jak Fruit tree, a White Mulberry, a Rose Apple, a Custard Apple, a Babaco, a Japanese Raisin, a Granadilla, a Banana Passionfruit and a Cape Gooseberry.  There are also three new native food bearing plants - a Native Tamarind and a Small-leafed Tamarind tree and a Midyinberry bush. 

Another interesting plant we acquired on this expedition was a Yacon.  Also known as Apple of the Earth, the Yacon produces a sweet, crunchy edible tuber.  Although highly nutritious and easily grown (in warm climates), this vegetable is little known, but receives rave reviews from anyone who has ever tried it.  We can't wait for ours to come into production.

But before we can start dreaming of all the luscious produce we'll be dining on in years to come, there are a lot of holes to be dug and a few trellisses to be built!  The resident gardener has made a good start, but as his able assistant, I am currently taking a stint of sick leave while recovering from a double hernia operation - without doubt the result of over-exuberant hole-digging and rock-moving exercises in the past.

Here's the first tree to go in the ground. 

The new little Babaco is planted beside one of its relations, a young pawpaw.  Beside it are open bags of horse and chicken manure. 

Babacos are fast growers, so this one should be away and bearing in no time!

Cool cat

Friday always used to be cat-blogging day.  But I notice that any day is fair game for dedicated cat people.  Some of them are up-front and include the three letter word in their blog title.  Others wait until you are nicely hooked on their clever writing and then casually slip in a photo of their self-satisfied moggie.

I haven't touched on the topic of my feline phobia for a while, but here's a picture someone just sent me for my Dead Cat Collection.

It needed a better caption:

Maybe,  'How to enjoy having a cat permanently hanging around your fridge door, without running the risk of stepping on it.'

Any other suggestions?

Have a good Friday.