I Drove It

On a beautiful last day of winter, I finally drove the Jag:

And not just around the block; I drove to Beaufort, an hour away.

Actual destination was the Heritage Fruit Tree nursery:

They are having a one-week clearance sale to sell off all these bare-rooted trees that need to be in the ground. We don't need any more fruit trees, but we had some grape-vines to collect. And it was a lovely day for a drive in a fancy car!

Orchid Opening

The first of four flower spikes on this orchid is opening:

Something's had a nibble on the ends of the petals. I wonder what?

I have no idea what this orchid is called. It was given to me last year by a lady who had been given a piece by a neighbour 30 years ago. So it's a "pass it around" type of plant.

Beside the River

While waiting for my sewing machine to be serviced in Geelong, we visited the Fyansford Paper Mill, which is now home to various art spaces, a winery, and cafe and the like. However early Tuesday morning is not the best time to visit, as nothing was open.

So instead we went for a walk along the Barwon River.

These steps behind the mill car-park lead down to the river:

Steep, damp, pebbly steps with no hand rails. Walk carefully! And be glad you don't have to deal with all that oxalis.

Buckley's Falls get their name from William Buckley, whose story would be familiar to many in this part of the world:

The view of the falls might be better from the other side of the river:

Revegetation project between the oxalis:

Amazing rock formations:

Encroaching suburbia:

All that yellow around the houses is oxalis. Glad I don't have to establish a garden there.

This stone-work engineering, which includes a weir across the river about about a kilometre up the river from the falls, was built in 1876 to direct water along the race (on the right and in the foreground) to power the mill:

The beginning of the water race:

Notice how it is lower than the weir across the river, to ensure that water enters the race even when the river flow is low.

Above the weir the river is wide and tranquil. One of the people we met on the way said he had just seen a platypus somewhere up here:

Unfortunately we saw no sign of the platypus, but it was a lovely walk.

Sundew Flowers

A colony of scented sundews (Drosera aberrans) growing nearby:

They are so low to the ground I can't get close enough to tell how scented the flowers are, but they are said to have a sweet perfume.

Nice Day for a Walk

There's been a bit of rain around here:

Photo taken along the way on a walk to the Lal Lal hall to see the annual photographic exhibition. Paddocks all around are covered in water. The frogs are happy.

Back home in the garden a couple of different varieties of daffodils are starting to open:

Two flowers so far from the very many bulbs planted in early June.

Family Photo 1902

This photo shows my great-grandparents with 6 of their children, and one of their grandchildren:

I don't know where it was taken, but it appears to be a suburban back yard. The Chinese screen is an interesting backdrop on the left. I don't know what the occasion might have been. The men all have floral buttonholes, and the women are all in dark clothing. Might it have been a funeral? I don't know.

The plant growing on the right looks like a dahlia. It has buds, but I can't see flowers, which would possibly put the time of the photo as early summer. But these people really don't look dressed for summer, do they?

Another clue - they may be dressed in their Sunday best, but this photo wasn't taken on a Sunday. The next-door neighbour has washing hanging on the line, which would not have been done on a Sunday even in my childhood.

The young man on the right is my grandfather. He died when I was quite young, so I have no memories of him. And this is the first time I've seen his photo, or known anything about this part of my ancestry.

Purple and White

This morning I finished quilting another of the charity quilts I basted last week:

That's number 18 done.

It isn't easy to see the quilting on either the front or the back, but here's a closer view of one corner so you can get a bit of an idea.

I'm not fond of the cotton batting I used for this one. The guild purchased a big roll for use in donation quilts, but this is the first one that I've done using it. But it seems flat and lifeless in comparison to the wool/poly blend I usually use.

For something completely different, almond blossom:

The almond started flowering just after I did my monthly round up, and now has quite a lot of open blossom.

As I've been quilting over the last couple of days, I could see that a small shrub in our native garden bed had flowers open. This afternoon I finally went to have a close look:

Unfortunately its tag has gone missing. But from the shape of the flower it could be an eremophila, and from a google search it is possibly Eremophila lehmanniana. It is pretty, whatever it is, and hopefully the flowers will attract insects which will in turn attract birds to the garden.

White Stuff

It is probably not at all possible to see what is happening in this photo:

So I stepped out into it, to catch some evidence:

A little bit of snow on my fleece top.

Seventeen

It looks a bit dull because the sun disappeared behind the clouds just as I finished pegging up this quilt to take the photo:

But that is the seventeenth top I've turned into a quilt since the charity sewing bee I organised last year.

Close-up of the quilting:

I stitched in the ditch between each square unit, then did these large herringbones wishbones across each one.

And now I know exactly how many remain. There are four more tops to quilt.

Winterknit Revisited

Back in June I posted about this decorated tree near Ballan station, and the Winterknit festival.

I said at the time, "I will have to go back to Ballan in the daytime before the end of winter", and today was the day.

It was a beautiful sunny day, although the air was still chilly, so winter woollies were called for.

This tree was decorated by the Anglers Club:

And this one by the Ballan Garden Group:

This cutie is tethered to a street tree:

But it is not only the trees which are wrapped up for winter.

I should have got a closer picture of the chooks on top of this car:

Embroidered tulips on a gate:

One of Ballan's three op-shops was closed today unfortunately, but there are a few new shops open since my last walk through the town, including one which sells vintage wares and sewing goodies, Chrissie's Timeless Treasures.

The Garden in August

Since my last monthly garden summary we've had some frost, so the salvias are finished, but there's a lot more happening. I'll start with the white flowers, then try to work my way all around the colourwheel.

Most exciting - the first blossom in the orchard! The plums are first this year:

And some winter white, the snowflakes:

Here's a pink beauty:

It is a fuchsia, "Wendy's Beauty".  We bought this and another fuchsia at a Horticultural Society meeting earlier this year. The other one doesn't have flowers yet, but this one has several enormous blooms.

Magenta pigface flower:

Grevillea:

Correa:

My cyclamen:

After thinking this wasn't going to flower this year, I found the buds hiding under the leaves last month. Since then, several of the buds have been snipped off by crimson rosellas, but finally one flower is open!

Red camellia, "Yuletide", just opening:

There are some more buds too. Camellias seem to grow really well in this area, but so far we have not had a lot of luck with them. But maybe this one is going to survive? Or even thrive?

Red hot pokers, slightly orange:

This leucadendron is a bit of red and yellow

An orange abutilon:

An acacia:

Golden jonquils:

No green flowers, but here's some broccoli:

Something else green:

A hyacinth looking blue. In reality it is more purple:

And the first light purple spring star, along with lots of buds to come:

Speaking of buds:

I haven't seen this orchid in flower, but I believe it will be magenta, so that will take us back to the beginning of the colour wheel.