Sequel to Storm damage

Continuing on from my previous blog which showed photos of the tall Eucalypt torn apart by that horrendous storm we had, laying on the ground, it has since been cut up by my son Gordon into fire wood. I bought him a chainsaw as a welcome home present after he lost everything in that Gidgegannup fire in February 2021. Well, it has already paid for itself with all the cutting up of various other trees that fell down and as you can see, the trailer was filled with this latest tree by Kym and me last Friday.

This time we also put down recycled vineyard posts first so the fresh wood will have plenty of air circulation and dry out fairly quickly.

Kym has an artistic eye and the wood is stacked in a very pleasing manner which the chooks, on the other side of the fence ,enjoy as  a windbreak.

It will unfortunately take twelve months before it is ready to be used in the wood burner.

The other rather exciting thing that has taken place, is that Gordon, after a lot of patience and a lot of trial and error, got the little Chevi truck which he got just after he returned here to South Australia, to run and was able to bring it round from the shed in the paddock to the house under its own steam this week.!

It is the cutest little truck to look at and he wants to keep it as it is and not paint or restore it but keep its history plainly in sight.

I look at it and wonder who it may have been who had it first and how proud and pleased they would have been back in 1925.....

It zips along in first gear at an amazing speed and is really quite a comfortable ride...mind you, if it was on a dirt road the dust would be quite unbearable and in winter of course you would freeze to death....

 The photo of the Willy Wagtail was taken in the Pepper tree and I had been walking underneath it for well over a week with out seeing it as I went to feed the chooks. Normally they have been nesting in the Holm oak in the front garden so am not sure if this could be a new pair.

The Wood duck brought their little family of six around as well last week to have a swim in the pond....so who says country life is dull and boring....

Storm Damage and Blue Things

On Saturday, 12th of November we had been listening to Thor, throwing His hammers around during most of the day....then around 4pm He let loose with the most horrendous storm I have ever experienced in the last 32 years I have lived here...

.The rain was in horizontal torrents and lashed the windows under the South facing verandahs which has never happened before....

When it finally abated and we were able to go outside to see what damage had occurred we found my beautiful, tall straight seedling tree, around 15 years old . had been twisted off about half way up and left a jagged stump as you can see in the next photo....the canopy fell on a bottle brush but I don't think that will be too damaged...

Walking further on the track we found the iconic Sugar Gum on the corner of the property, had been forced to relinquish a limb which fell on the boundary fence and tore out the strainer post holding up our newly installed gates....

We installed the gates only recently as our neighbour had intruders damage her shed as they tried to steal her ride on mower.... and a neighbour across the road had been broken into and most of their electronic gear stolen...so gates do stop yahoos from just taking a turn around our yard...

 On a happier note...  the photography group I have recently joined , was set a project to photograph something blue... well, my irises were in flower before the rain ruined them.. so here it is... a Blue Iris in all its glory....

Do remember to click on the photos to get a better look....

Haiku for Alexis

                                                         Green Goddess Lilly

                                                           Regally Flowering Once

                                                          Frogs Trumpet Their Joy 

Wild Game or Christmas dinner

Here is a total surprise from late this afternoon.

While I was sitting here at the dining room table with my laptop,late this afternoon, this amazing Guinea Fowl appeared in front of the window....it may have come from the Peacock farm but that however is about a kilometer and a half from here. Still they do have long legs I guess and can fly but only up to a roof top or in a tree where they are safe from foxes. A friend of mine from years ago used to artificially hatch their eggs as they are very poor parents. Then when they were a certain size he would sell them as pheasants....hence the idea of a Game Christmas dinner coming up.....

It was rather curious that the resident Magpies didn't put up a fuss at all, as usually they do and at anything strange, they protest very loudly. I do hope it stays around and befriends my chooks...

The irises have started to flower now and I quite like the white one with the yellow falls. the other ones are a lovely rich yellow and there is also a yellow one with white falls....

The garden has gone ballistic with all the rain we have had. Not that the rain has been heavy as the soil underneath is quite dry and I noticed today with the warmth the vegie patch looks like it will need a drink tomorrow

It is Bird week this week apparently and I have no bad bird stories other than that my chooks ,when I let them out for an extended scratch around , will come over to me and peck my shoes and legs of all things .....it keeps me moving I can tell you......

Best Twenty Eight Dollars I ever spent....

Earlier this year I had the good fortune to buy four Brown Chooks from a free- range farm in the hills of Willunga. They were 18 months old and apparently not good enough to be commercially viable in the egg laying department. I payed $28 for them and that is the best $28 I ever spent...

I picked them up in wine boxes and settled them into my chook run on fresh hay with a bowl of water and some pellets which are meant to give them all the nutrients they need.

The following morning , as a "thank you" they presented me with four eggs and wandered into the spacious yard where I had dropped a wheel barrow load of hay from a round bale that was still in the paddock close by.

They loved scratching around in it and it was a huge success with them and still is. The bale is nearly finished now but there is another one in the paddock which will be brought over with the tractor. They have laid a constant four eggs a day with occasionally only three.....right through the winter months. My friends love buying these happy eggs and so their feed bill is taken care of as well..

This photo on the left, shows the Tawny Frogmouth parents on the top limb with the two chicks below them. Again he was a long time sitting on the eggs, they seem to take four weeks to hatch. They stay on the nest for a week or so more and then suddenly the chicks fledge and  they are off into the wide world beyond the Ash tree where they were born.

You may have to click on the photo to see them more clearly...another successful spring..

Haiku for September II

                                                     Raven Robbing Nests

                                                      Hopefully the Noisy Miner's

                                                       Sadly the Blackbird's 

Haiku for September I

                                                 Wild Winds Wet the Rain

                                                  Animals Huddled for Warmth

                                                Books Beckon on the Sofa