A Walk in the Vegetable Garden.

        Spherical Zucchini, a new one for me this year. I'm not even sure just how big they grow.

       The first of the dwarf beans are beginning to produce beans, fresh beans for Christms dinner!

                                          A row of assorted lettuce about ready to eat now.

              Tiny tomatoes, maybe this year will produce the holy grail, tomatoes ripe at Christmas.

A Hot Day.

                                              The best way to cool off is a dip in the creek!

Feathers.

 I found these feathers while out walking this morning. I think that they must be from a Tawny Frogmouth, a type of Owl that we sometimes see here in the city.

Here below is a Tawny Frogmouth, courtesy of Google Images.

 

Silky Oak.

This is the wonderful flower of the Silky Oak, which isn't an Oak at all but a native Grevilia. This one is a very handsome tree, but Grevillias can grow in all shapes and forms, from flat to the ground prostrate forms to these very tall trees. All sorts of different colours too, from white and palest pink through orange and shades of red.

Mr. Music Man.

I spotted this fellow at a local market yesterday, busking for all he was worth. I don't think that I've ever seen anyone playing this type of music ensemble in real life before, though I have seen a similar set up on film and in magazines. Note the connecting wires at the back of his calves. He sounded pretty good too.

More Christmas Sewing.

 I needed a small gift for a friend with whom I have a long standing arrangement that each year our gifts are to be hand made and not necessarily particularly useful.
I decided to make a small bag or pouch which could be used to store almost anything, from make-up to CDs.
 Here I have cut out some large purple flowers from a piece of patterned fabric and bonded them to one end of the main fabric.

I have cut some thin wadding and a lining the same size as the main fabric and turned over and stitched one end.

 I satin stitched around the edges of the flowers and then cut them out around the lower edges of the petals.

           The side seams of the body of the bag were stitched and the bag turned right side out.

I finished off the side edges of the bag flap with more satin stitching and added a press stud under the flap. All done!

Wildlife Damage!

This is only a selection of the lemons damaged over night in our garden. There were another 3 fruit competely denuded of the skin. Possums, who needs them in the garden!

Another Cup of Coffee.

           Here I am fiddling around in Photoshop with another image from another cup of coffee.

Nameless Rose.

                I have no idea what this rose is called, but the colour and form are just beautiful.

Sewing Christmas Gifts.

These easy to make fold up Shopping Bags are just the thing for my sewing group as Christmas presents. I have chosen the feature fabric to reflect the interests of each person. Well more or less, as I have a couple of duplicates.

                    The bag folds up neatly to fit into a handbag or into the glove box of a car.

                                             The opened out shopping bag is quite large.

                                                     All folded up ready to be wrapped.

Somewhat Larger!

Again I have no idea what this picture is trying to convey, but it is a very interesting design, with the strong diagonal left to right involving the woman's hair and the mystical figures in the centre. Opinion is divided as to whether it is actually a finished piece.

Tiny Graffito.

You can see by the size of the grass growing below this picture that it is very small, in fact I almost had to get down on my hands and knees to take the photo. I have no idea what the artist is trying to convey in this picture, but it's an interesting piece of street art I think.

Pretty Garden Corner.

The Amarylis continues to flower in its pot with the pink and red roses and the Jacobean Lilies making a pretty corner in this section of the garden.

Magpie Family.

Here's a local Magpie family out looking for breakfast. Not that many years ago we would never have seen Magpies in the suburbs, but now they're everywhere. Their song is beautiful, but they can be very aggresive in Spring when they are defending their nests. Many people have been 'dive-bombed' by a Magpie and I've had one fly into the side of my head and draw blood from just beside my eye. I shudder to think of what might have happened if that sharp strong beak had hit me right in the eye!

A Couple of Comedians!

Interesting Pattern.

            This will make a very useful background for some digital play in Photoshop I'm sure.

Aint Love Grand!

   Goodness knows how these carrots became entwined, but they do look very happy together!

Definitely Not Delicate!

In complete contrast to the photo taken yesterday, these Bird of Paradise flowers are so striking and bold.

Eucalypt Flowers.

                              I just love the delicate little florets making up these flowers.

Handy Little Plant.

I really have no idea what this plant is called, but it is the most useful of plants.  It self sows all over the place, even in the most unlikely of spots and looks so delicate with its feathery leaves and dainty flower heads in white with a yellow trim.

The Perfect Rose.

Not only is this rose beautiful to look at, but it has the most gorgeous strong rose perfume. So often nowadays roses are bred purely for colour and form and they have no perfume whatever. I have no idea what this rose is called, but it is the perfect rose as far as I'm concerned.

Fossil Fern?

           Nope, just a beautifully decorated cup of coffee with the colours inverted in Photoshop!

What a Difference a Day Makes.

After a very warm day, almost all the flowers on this lily have now opened and the chewed up one doesn't show so much.

Who Has Been Eating My Hippeastrum?

The big pot of Hippeastrum is just coming into flower, but some horrible animal has been eating holes in the petals of one of the flowers! Probably a snail or a slug, as it has been reasonably wet recently.

Egypt in Suburbia.

I have walked past this Masonic Hall many times, but on the same side of the street so I had never looked up at the fascade and seen what was above me. Today I walked on the opposite side of the road and spotted this splendid scarab high up under the roof and the 'Wings of Horus' on each side above the windows and above the portico. Amazing what you can miss if you don't look carefully.
Pity about the power lines however.

Off to the Scorpion Doctor.

Our wonderful metal scorpion has unfortunately managed to have one leg broken off, so he is off to be welded back to health again. He is made from all sorts of old farm equipment, a horse shoe for front nippers and bits of ploughs etc. I hope he will be back to full health soon as we miss him!