The war in Ukraine continues and it seems to me Mister Putin is becoming increasingly belligerent (and, I suspect, worried), warning the West of dire consequences if he doesn’t get his way. I’m hoping the West realises that if this thing is not ended now it will simply get worse. There’s an election on in…
It’s a muggy, windy, not very nice day today. We woke up early, before the clock had made it as far as 5. It’s all too much like summer and it isn’t even November. I suppose if we were so inclined we could look forward to Halloween tomorrow evening but it was never a thing…
It’s Australia Day here in Oz, the day back in 1788 that marked the official founding of the penal colony in New South Wales. It’s a Saturday, as it happens, but after a few years of celebrating the day itself (ie not having a public holiday if the 26th January was a weekend) we’re back…
Here in Hervey Bay we’re begging for rain. It’ll probably have as much impact as praying but at least we can feel we’re doing something. The grass is brown and crackles underfoot, except for the bits that manage to get some water from somewhere. We never water the grass. We recycle the water from our…
The thing about being retired is which day of the week it is doesn’t matter much. In fact, you know those questions they ask old folks to see if they still have mental capacity? One of them is ‘what day of the week is it’? Just as well I have a computer because otherwise, quite…
The drought in Queensland appears to have broken – in our part of the world, anyway. A series of storms have swept in from inland Australia, the warm air mingling with a blast of cooler air coming up from the South, a perfect combination for storms. We were lucky. There was lots of thunder and…
Several years ago we used to put bird seed out for the parrots. While lorikeets mainly feed on nectar, a lot of the other breeds like cockatoos, corellas, and pink and greys, like seed. The trouble is, at first you get a trickle, then you get a flood and there’s this pushing, shoving, jostling bunch…
A few days ago a friend shared a set of pictures from Gardening Australia on Facebook. They are stunning photographs of flowers taken by Craig Burrows. It’s a shame they didn’t tell us what the common name was for each photo because with the “ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence” process, they are transported to the extraordinary. In…
About THE most useful thing any backyard can offer the local birds is a place to bathe. This bird bath is in a protected location, with a tree nearby for grooming and drying. It’s also well off the ground, so local cats won’t be an issue. I keep the water clean by emptying the bath…
There’s nothing quite like watching wild animals doing what they do. I’m privileged to live in a bird rich neighbourhood. If you come here often you’ll know about my local rainbow lorikeets. They come to the pool fence not far from the kitchen window to partake of apple juice, and sometimes fruit like apples and…