Rain! Glorious rain!

When I got up this morning early, it was raining quite gently and it persisted most of the day. I couldn't resist going out and take photos of the raindrops falling on the pond and seeing the fish swimming in clear water. It has been so long since the last rain that it is hard to convey the inner feeling of relief at the sight of raindrops on water. The bark too, which is lying around in great profusion, looks so colourful when wet with rain with the red undersides and the silver topsides so bright.  We used to have bearded dragons living under the bark but we think that the grape harvesters have caused a lot of mayhem because the lizard used to sit on top of the trellis posts and would not have been able to get out of the way quickly enough.

 The grape harvest machinery has been a continual hum during the night and the vignerons are probably not happy with this rain as they may have to spray to prevent mildew setting in. The dry grown grapes will produce a wonderful wine with intense nose and flavours this season and our area is famous for its intense shiraz.
The rain has also improved the fig crop . I am still having to beat off the Sulphur Crested cockatoos early in the morning and make sure we get walnuts to last us for the coming year.
I didn't do any pickled walnuts this season as I was too late and they had set their woody shell by the time I got to them. In the photo below I tried to capture the brilliant red colours ot the Canna .

plant. It had been in a pot and didn't like it so we planted it under the Holm Oak where it would have some shade and it does seem to prefer it there, to being in a pot. It is interesting how tricky it can be to find a place for a plant where it will thrive. Even the hardy Geraniums I find will die if the situation doesn't suit it. Yet some will survive and thrive in situations you'd think were too harsh.