Sunday 10 April 2016

Ducky Duck Ducks

The weather has been cool and fine, perfect for revving ourselves up to do stuff, neither of us are very active during the heat of summer and we find renewed energy with autumn.  We've been concentrating on cleaning up the peppermint forest area, Steve has been chainsawing off all the dead crappy bits on trees and either consigning the wood to the pile for winter burning, or chucking it on the ever enlarging bonfire heap.  We can start burning rubbish again as of the 1st May, there are many piles of garden rubbish sitting on properties around the place so the scent of smoke will be in the air soon, but for a good reason.  The smell of smoke in summer is scary and not wanted, but now the rains are due to start, it's okay.
 We keep saying that we should put a few seats around the place, to sit and reflect whilst on our walks.  Well, Steve made a fabulous bench this week, it's down near the Faraway Tree near the creek.  Isn't it great!  He used a chunky piece of painted jarrah that his mate Mel gave him a while back (thanks Mel!), he sanded it back and rounded the edges, then welded a frame using square tubing.  It's very strong and sturdy and just the right height.  And the grand finale of it all, as displayed above, is the fact that Steve's magnetic stubby holders stick to the legs :-).
Meanwhile I went ahead with my mission, to dig out the lower end of the creek bed.  18 hours of digging later, I dug down to the original floor of the creek bed, which was obvious as it was hard and a bit stony, I removed all the sand that has clogged up the creek over the years and caused it to flood, and created new banks with the sand.  What I'm hoping is that we'll have a creek that holds a little bit more water rather than just washing all over the grass and spreading out.  I had to promise Steve that I wouldn't cry or have a tantrum if heavy rain washes away all my hard work :-)  It will be interesting to see what happens, but regardless, it looks really nice, and I'm hoping that the grass will grow over the new banks before the heavy rain arrives, and stabilises it all nicely.
 Look look look, we have duckies!  Happy happy joy joy.  Our friends Ruth and Laurie rang a few days ago asking if we wanted a couple of homeless ducks, after a quick look in a book to see if I was capable of looking after them, it was "yes please!".  They are very lucky to be here, they were in a batch of ducks that were being prepared for the freezer, and it was decided that these two didn't have enough meat on them for the effort of preparation.  They don't know how close they came!  Anyway, I love them, they are female Muscovy ducks, nearly a year old, and I think they are the prettiest little duckies.  They are currently living in my fenced garden alongside the chicken yard, so they can all see each other and get used to each other before I integrate them.  The ducks are very very timid.  I'm doing to send a photo each to my granddaughters and ask them to choose names for them :-)
 We have so enjoyed having apples in the orchard this year.  We haven't had many, about 75, but it's been so nice to walk through and pick one straight off the tree and munch it.  These are the last of the Red Fujis and the start of the Sundowners.  We've finished the Cox's Orange Pippins and we've still got 6 Granny Smiths on the tree and about the same of Sundowners.  The Red Fujis are the stars I reckon, they are absolutely delicious!
 This is the next project around here.  This eyesore is the back of the shed, where we keep all sorts of crap for various projects.  Stuff like wire and colorbond sheets, and poly pipes and bits of wood.  There was heaps more there and Steve has gradually used it up on various tasks, but a lot that is left can probably go to the tip. 
Steve is going to build a retaining wall along the back of it, in the same manner as he did my garden beds out the back, using treated pine sleepers.  Then we'll get a load of gravel for the ground, looks far nicer than sand.  It should look a whole lot better.
 Speaking of the back garden, look how much it has grown!  I'm so impressed, the house looks more nestled now, rather than plonked.
 We took ourselves into Denmark this morning, for a pie and a Chai latte at the bakery for breakfast, then a wander up the main street.  It was very pleasant.  This is our very bad attempt at a selfie, we obviously haven't quite got the hang of doing it glamorously ha ha
 I had some birthday money to spend, and decided to treat myself to a digital microscope, something I've wanted for ages.  I settled for a fairly simple one with limited magnification, this one plugs into the computer via USB, it's a hand held one with LED lights in the end to illuminate what you are looking at, then you can take a snap shot or video of what you're looking at.  It's going to be useful for garden stuff, like identifying bugs I think.
These are the pollen-laden stamens of an Abutilon flower.  Pretty cool huh.  :-)

2 comments:

  1. Love the seat and your home looks more settled, you two continue to AMAZE! and don't worry Selfies never look brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Pennie :-) we love our rural lifestyle

      Delete