Weekend in Castlemaine

 This weekend I am at a conference not a long way from home. Here is a sweet vase of native flowers on our table at the Friday night dinner:

Saturday involved a couple of walks in the local bushland.

Mostly on small tracks, looking at wildflowers, but this was just heading back to the cars at the end of the morning exploration. 

Also a quick visit to Castlemaine Botanic Gardens between the bush walks.

Their wisteria is at its peak. Ours at home is just starting.
 

Bits and Pieces

I took a few photos of spring happening around the garden, then my camera battery went flat, and then when I tried to get to my blog I got an error message that I didn't have time to resolve.

So here are a few random things!

A cockatoo starting to have a nibble of a high window frame early one morning. I don't want to encourage that behaviour! 

It flew off when it noticed me.

We had quite a lot of rain last week. Over 70mm at our place. So we went to see how Lal Lal Falls was looking:

 This is a pot near the front door, with a forest of Ajuga in flower:

And this is a miniature iris:

And the only shot I managed of orchids in the greenhouse:

Then my camera told me the battery was exhausted!

 

Happy October!

 This morning I found that the quince tree has started flowering:

 

Then as I was having my breakfast I checked in on the peregrine falcons nesting in Collins St in the city, and saw that the first egg has hatched:

And not long after the first chick was also eating its breakfast:

 

Fighting Inertia

A week has gone by, and I've taken a few photos, but not got round to writing blog posts. That's how it happens! So here is an effort to overcome my inertia.

Firstly, the "sandpaper" wattle flowered:

 

The flowers are like big golden fuzzy caterpillars. They are very soft to touch. The leaves on the other hand, are covered in hard little bumps, and do feel like sandpaper: 

 

Here's some cherry blossom from a couple of days later, with a touch of early morning light rain:

My weeping redbud is bursting into flower:

And today I finished the last batch of 28, to give me a total of 360 little half-square triangles for my Rajah Revisited quilt:

Tulip

 This tulip was a nice surprise today:

 

On Sunday the temperature reached 26 (far too high for this time of year) and my tulips all drooped. They stood up again after I gave them a good drink, but I didn't expect any flowers to survive that treatment. But here is one, and there may be another few to come.

This afternoon we went for a walk down a road we haven't walked for a few years, and saw these kangaroos grazing peacefully in a paddock.

 

Strawberry Parfait

 Today I gave my little greenhouse a spring clean and was delighted by these delicious-looking flowers:

The plant is a "Strawberry Parfait" vireya.

 

Repeats

 I'm still working on my half-square triangles, but they don't make interesting blog posts.

 

I have about 100 to go.

 

I'm not going anywhere much at present because of the cost of petrol. It almost feels like lockdowns did; staying home and only going out for grocery shopping when necessary. It is the one down-side of living in the country. Nothing is within walking distance, and there is no public transport.

  

Last night was a bit warmer, and I put out my moth light again. I was very happy to find this one just as I was about to pack it away again: 

 

 

It's a shame I didn't put anything beside it for scale. It is a Helena Gum Moth, and it is about 150mm, or 6", across. I don't see them often so am always happy when I do.

 

The blossom in the orchard still delights me every morning when I let the chooks out: 

 Anyway, that's life here. Lots to enjoy, but not much variety in the blog posts!