June in focus - lots of orange and green

Our lovely orange trumpet vine has survived another year!  Back here I mentioned the last of the winter vine for the second time. 


Another year has rolled around and it is turning into more of a monolith it seems!  The tree it is covering is long dead if we remove the vine we (or he, dear husband) will have to remove the tree too.

and there's plenty of green in the choko vine, citrus trees - plus a rather petite green frog I spotted.  I couldn't believe it, we don't get many frogs these days, mainly cane toads.   This guy was so cute.

Cannot believe that it is July next week!  Hopefully July will see the rewards coming through in our veggie garden too.

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By the way, there's some retro orange featured in some of the homeware I'm selling over at vintage_declutter at the moment too, with more to come!

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cheers for now
Wendy

About this time last year .....

I asked the rhetorical question - is this the last of the winter vine?

However, the monolith still looms!

 Cannot decide whether it is because we love it when it blooms, or we're just too lazy to chop it down!

However, this time of year, the orange-ness is always appreciated!

Cheers for now
Wendy

The Last of the Winter Vine

We have a rather spectacular monolith in our yard.

Looming up iinto the winter sky – looks its best against a vibrant blue Queensland winter day.

The spectacular orange is the Orange Trumpet Vine not an unusual vine at all in this neck of the woods..    It is the vine that is beautiful, not so much the tree that it covers.

It always seems to bloom just in time for our sons birthday in June (which as always been nice when we have a party or get together here)  and peaks about July.

For a number of years we have all said ‘that tree just has to go’.  The tree is a gum and way too close to the house.  The tree has been pruned back a number of times and now of course doesn’t grow too well,

So while the winter view is spectacular, the rest of the year it’s a bit ho-hum - the snubbed branches and minimal leaf growth not very inspiring.  

It is way too close to the house.  Too close to the drains, the roof, the verandah.

One year that tree just has to go.  Maybe next year.  The last of the winter vine.

Cheers for now

Wendy

Waving hi to new follower Karen... Hi!.

It's an Orange Winter Wednesday

There is something about winter and the colour orange in Queensland!  I spotted this gorgeous hedge of orange trumpet vine.  Not in my backyard, but when I was out and about on a walk.

 

 Isn't it just beautiful.  The fall is so luxurious, the colours so vibrant.  

 What is is with the colour orange that has such a happy feel about it?  

When I went back with my camera to take these shots, I also spotted something unusual in a front yard.  A pair of  Bush Stone Curlews.  

While not uncommon in these parts (we often hear their haunting call at night) I've not seen them during the day before.  I can only imagine that they were somehow disturbed in the nocturnal foraging. 

 I took a few photos and wished them well, not wanting to disturb them too much.

Or maybe they were just basking in the glow of all that orange-ness!

That was my Winter Wednesday morning.  How is it with all who participate in Hazel's Winter Wednesday theme.  Cold and wet perhaps??  :))  Sorry - couldn't resist that one!

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My replies to your comments on the previous post

Daffodil  - sounds kind of cosy to me!  I enjoy a cold wet day sometimes - maybe not for too long though!

Nelly - it is nice at the moment.  Can't say I'm looking forward to those long hot days ahead of us.

delia hornbook - thanks Dee.  I find it amazing that this is probably the first time I have taken photos of our surrounds.  It is lovely to have done it now.

Ali - yes, we certainly are lucky at the moment.  Bit dry though, hope we get some rain before the Ekka and those westerly winds.

**Anne** - I just love the big gums the most too.  Once they are gone they won't be replaced, and so many animals and birds make use of them. 

saving for travel - I look forward to seeing your photos too SFT.  It will be interesting to see the difference!

Tasmanian Vegan and Minimalist - I often think about Tasmania - particularly when it is so hot here!   Not so sure about the depths of winter though!

Little Blue Mouse - thanks for commenting.  I'm hoping that I'll be organized enough with my photos - we'll see! 

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cheers for now - Wendy

A little of what has been going on lately

 

Lots of juicing of our plentiful mandarins at the moment.  We do eat a lot, and I have cooked an orange (mandarin) cake,  but juicing seems to be how we deal with them the best.   A big glass of MJ in the morning is just lovely. 

Actually looking back, a few years ago, if we mentioned to anyone that we juiced our mandarins, that was considered strange.  However, now I see mandarin juice all the time in the shops.

 

So this is how to make one clucky hen very happy, if a little bemused to what happened overnight!  This hen (Little Banty to her friends) has been clucky for so long I decided to do something about it.  As the rooster we have is her sibling, we can't go that way!   In the past I have bought some fertile eggs and put them under her, but only one hatched and he consequently died, so that was a bit of an expensive exercise.

I bought some 1 day old chickens and put them under her at night. The breeder seemed to think that it would work, but didn't totally guarantee it, so she advised to be prepared to have to take them back out again and keep them under a lamp if she rejected them.  Not a chance!  Little Banty loves them and straight away fluffed up and tucked them under her wings. 

They are all bantams - the breeds being Silky (hopefully one lavender, one buff) Pekin (black) and Light Sussex (white with black).  They all seem to be doing well.  I'm hoping to start a little bantam flock. 

These two are still getting a lot of attention too!

cheers for now Wendy