Silk Tree

A branch has broken off the Silk tree, in the wind that has been blowing since the storm.  It’s not a  thick branch, slender really, but long, and top heavy with leaves and flower buds. It probably didn't really stand a chance in the gusty, easterly winds.  

Only one or two of the buds on this branch are open, but there are hundreds of these pink feathery flowers covering the tree canopy. I feel as though the tree is blossoming early this year, but can’t be really sure. 

That's the trunk of the Silk tree in the background. The branch is actually lying in the middle of yard, but I'll leave it there for a day or two for the cats enjoy.

Morning sounds...

A young butcher bird on the roof, squawking a demand for food.

A flock of rainbow lorikeets, screeching their delight at the flowering mistletoe high up on the Silk tree.

A train, speeding up after rounding the bend at the end of our street. 

Bertie purring; he knows I'm awake.

A car door closing; our neighbour heading off to work. 

Time to get up.

Strange weather and some drying

What strange weather we’ve had these past few days. Saturday was 39 degrees, a blazing sun in a vivid blue sky; more a summer’s day than spring. Sunday evening we had a short but spectacular, electrical storm with rain heavy enough to have us scurrying to close windows, and thunder that sent the cats under the bed. And today, well again, it has the look of rain about it.  

One of last year’s tomato bushes has had a resurgence and set fruit, which has ripened all at once in the summery heat. I bought it on a whim, only to discover later that this particular variety, Principe Borgese, was bred as a tomato more suited to drying than eating freshly picked. We’ve been eating the fruit fresh regardless, but as we now have so many (not what you could honestly call a glut but enough to play with), I thought I would give drying a try. 

The tomatoes had to washed and halved before being put into a low oven.

 Here they are ready to go. I set the oven at its lowest setting - 50 degrees.

This is the same tray of fruit, three hours later (we taste a few before taking this photo). These tiny dried tomato halves may not look like much, but the difference in taste to the fresh fruit is amazing. Almost tasteless and quite mealy straight from the bush, these dried morsels are now a burst of rich tomatoey goodness in the mouth. 

Because I’m not sure they’ve dried sufficiently to store in the pantry for any length of time, I’ve bagged them and popped them in the freezer, though they may last too long in there either, as I have a definite urge to make pizza….

In the Garden

It’s easy to pretend with photos that everything in the garden flourishes, but I can’t deny we have had a few fails, the worst of which have been kangaroo paws. We’ve planted a succession along the limestone retaining wall, where they've struggled along for a month or two, then died a slow death. Undeterred, we tried different varieties, as some are less fickle than others; the common red and green plant that is the state emblem, the tall black and green paws which are my personal favourite, and others with deep red flowers, specifically bred for home gardens; all have failed. One though, planted a little further from the retaining wall than the others, has flourished and has been covered with these gorgeous silver ‘paw’ flowers for months. 

With this one success in mind, and not being a couple that give in easily (or maybe we’re just gluttons for punishment), we have again replaced the dead kangaroo paws with three new plants.  This time though, we’ve planted them well away from the retaining wall because, yeah, we’ve finally worked out they don’t like limestone.  

These are Gold Velvet. I wasn’t sure when we brought them home if I liked the colour in the garden (much to SP delight.... not), so positioned them in their pots for a few days, just to see they grew on me. In the end though, the honey eaters made the decision easy as they love them, and I'll get used to the yellow.

This one though I love; it’s a new variety called Ghost Paw. The flowers here look green but are actually an unusual pale blue in colour. They are also more delicate than other kangaroo paw. We only bought one of these, as being a ‘new’ variety it was expensive, and we’re not sure how it will go. If it grows well though, we'll get few more and fill the back corner of the garden.