Archive for the ‘Garden’ Category

Squirrel Hanging From A Cage

Thursday, October 18th, 2012

Here’s a photo I just took:

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Note two things:

1) The line of demarcation between our yard and that of our neighbour, made all-too-obvious by the maniacal lack of fallen leaves on her grass! I guess I should take this as a hint that it’s time to get outside and start raking.

2) This guy, hanging from a suet-feeder:

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This is actually a brand new suet feeder, since the last one was stolen by squirrels. Yes, stolen. As in they fished it up to the branch by pulling on the chain, and then somehow detached the entire cage and took it to parts unknown.

I wonder if this one will disappear as well?

A Garden Post

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

It’s been a very long time since I did a post on the garden, and since they were always very popular I’m probably overdue for another!

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Last weekend we bought a new whiskey barrel for our back patio, and planted a calla lily and some ‘red things’ in it. Our original barrel has this year been devoted to morning glories and some other type of flower at the base. Here’s a shot:

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Some detail of the plants:

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That light is solar powered. I expect we’ll have to move it when they grow in!

For the front yard, the first significant change I made this year was to remove one of the hedge bushes near our mailbox and letting the black-eyed Susan’s take over:

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We also bought a ‘white bush’ (possibly a dwarf willow) and planted it near our steps:

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It’s small now, but it’ll be bigger in a few years!

Lastly, in the ongoing struggle to control our ‘front garden’, we added more hosta and ferns. It’s slow going, but I think we improve it every year:

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Incidentally this post was 100% done from my phone, which is what I plan on doing from Florida next week. How does it look?

Wildlife Camera, Once Again

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

I think our wildlife camera is beginning to show it’s age. The sensor seems wonky, and the battery life (even on fully charged batteries) seems dismal.

I put it out on the back patio 6 days ago, and only 4 photographs were taken. Three of them contained nothing of interest, but the fourth was this:

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I love it!

That said, it may be time to look into getting a new camera…

Longer Time Man

Saturday, January 14th, 2012

I’m so tired! Today was the penultimate full day, and included walking, shopping, a casino and tiredness. Some photos, with brief explanation:

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I had a cheese stick for breakfast…

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…saw bonsai for sale at Paddington markets…

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…won a cute toy in a UFO catcher…

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…enjoyed a delightful afternoon tea…

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…and (much later in the day), took a photo of the $2600 Bernard won on only $5 bet at Star City Casino.

Yes, that’s not a joke. Bernard won enough money today to pay for his entire trip 🙂

Glenrock Lagoon

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Yesterday, Sue and I did the Glenrock Lagoon bushwalk. This is a 2 km stroll down through a heavily wooded valley alongside a creek that eventually becomes a lagoon and connects to the ocean at Dudley Beach.

At the top end (near the carpark), the walk is level and shaded and easy and looks like this:

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Wonderful! Imagine the sounds of bellbirds and whipbirds as you walk these paths.Soon enough you encounter the creek, which is now not exactly rushing with water:

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And then about a third of the way down to the beach there is a waterfall as the creek flows over a rocky edge:

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Somewhere shortly after this point we met a shy friend:

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He was pretty big. We tried to sneak up to get a better look, but some joggers ran past and scared him away 🙂

A lookout is at the halfway point, showing how beautiful the valley is and how much farther one must continue walking to reach the lagoon outlet:

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The white buildings on the right side in this photo belong to a permanent scout camp. The walk alongside the lagoon goes along the left side in the above photo. There was some sort of meeting going on at the camp, and music was loudly blaring as we walked down toward the beach. Here’s what it looks like down there:

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To get back the walk must be repeated in reverse. This meant the casual downhill stride switched to a taxing uphill battle. Sue took the camera for the return trip, and took many lovely shots of the expatriot looking tired 🙂

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Here’s me at the top of that waterfall, shot from a distant lookout:

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From my vantage point I could look down the impressive drop onto a large flat rock on which several water dragons were basking. They ranged in size from about 15 to 60 cm, and ran and skittered nervously when they heard me yelling at Sue. Since she had the camera, I was unable to take photographs.

After Glenrock we were knackered, and a quick lunch of kebabs led to a bit of this:

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And even this:

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At this point, the technorati amongst you will be saying “What what what??!?!?”

The answer is simple: today I borrowed Bernard’s fully waterproof camera, and all of the photos in this entry were taken with it. They look good, don’t they?