Creatures in the garden!

Today we were working in the to-be vegetable garden when,
to our great delight,

we discovered some amazing creatures.

Two frogs were hiding under a piece of steel.

 

We often hear them croaking when it is raining.

And the most amazing, biggest earthworms that I have ever seen. They were at least 15cm long! 

James loved looking at these incredible animals and so did his Dad and Uncle Stefan, who helped him gently hold them. A great experience for boys in the backyard!

The Alchemist - A fable about following your dreams

I just finished reading this lovely book about following your dreams.  A lovely story about observing and hearing nature, looking for omens and listening to your heart. Beautiful.

Our daily visitor

Every day, sometimes twice a day we have a sulphur crested cockatoo come to visit us.

 He sometimes brings his mate but usually he is by himself.

And if we don't have the sunflower seeds out ready for him,

he squawks and screeches until we bring some out for him.
Which sometimes happen at 6am!

It is a lovely experience for James to be able to see these beautiful birds up close 

but still free to come and go, not being caged.

Heirloom Tomato Painting

Shopping at the Burnside Village fruit and veg shop the other day, I spied the most unusual tomatoes. I think they are called Bock tomatoes...

I don't like eating raw tomatoes at all but I was intrigued by the shape of these red fruits.

I bought 3 in the hope I would paint them before Tim got his hands on them!!

Initial sketches of tomatoes, James then added some suggestions!

First layer of paint

 

The final painting...

This was the first time that I have painted in Acrylic and I must say, I rather liked it!

Might put my watercolour brushes away for a while and explore this medium for a while!

Poppies

James and I stopped at a roadside florist in Verdun the other day to buy a bunch of poppies.
 They are such beautiful flowers, how they start tightly wrapped up in their prickly case and then before your eyes, uncrinkle to the most magnificent blooms.

Stuck inside...

Today James and I were going to spend the whole day in the garden.

We had a huge list of jobs... feed the sheep, take the blackberry cuttings down to the bonfire pile, plant some plants, weed some weeds, put firewood away.

We were expecting rain but not thunder and lightning!

So inside we went where I was able to entertain James for a while by chasing raindrops on the glass.

"Lets count the raindrops as they pour,

1 million, 2 million, 3 million four!"

"Rain, rain, rain
Rain, rain, rain
Dribble, dribble, sploosh!
Dribble, dribble, sploosh!
Grab your boots, your coat, and hat,
Jump in a puddle and go kersplat!
Stomp about and become a drowned rat,
Rain, rain, rain
Rain, rain, rain"

Hopefully tomorrow won't be quite so wet...

Spring, the Sweet Spring from Summer's Last Will and Testament by Thomas Nashe 1600

Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king,
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing:
    Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay:
    Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet:
    Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to witta-woo!