Two Cockatoos

OK, so technically, there hasn’t been any fire here, but this post is about the ladybird children growing into adults, so I decided it still works… sort of…

Meanwhile, the ladybirds were also breeding (and still are). I had the amazing privilege of seeing part of the process of a brand-new ladybird emerging. I even managed to document some of it. The first photo was taken four days before the other two, with the other two taken about twenty minutes apart.

I didn’t see the final colouring of the new beetle - by the time I checked back again it had flown away - but this is a mature one of that type, with some eggs (I don’t know which species) and some more aphids for good measure!

Well, I could go on and on about my ladybirds, but I’ll spare you. There are all sorts of interesting websites that give more information of course.

In case you haven’t worked it out by now, I love ladybirds!

I actually intended to write about this weeks ago. However, there are still some beetles around, so it’s not too late.

I’ve had this rhyme running through my head now for weeks, every time I venture into a certain part of the garden. I only remember the first two lines from my childhood, so I’ve used the first one for this post, and I’m saving the second one for the next post.

I have always been fascinated by ladybirds (or ladybugs, or lady beetles). I think they’re so cute, especially these ones! And then I learned that at least some species (including my favourite) are voracious little predators, and that made them even more fascinating! Some of those particular ladybird species just love eating aphids. And I love that they love eating aphids, because I don’t love having aphids eating my plants.

We have had a lot of aphids on our poor little lemon tree in its pot under the pergola, and while white oil and hand-picking both work, they both have their drawbacks, especially for lazy gardeners like us… but the ladybirds wouldn’t go and do anything either. It wasn’t that they weren’t around; we saw them in the vegetable garden, doing a great job on the aphids there, defending the developing coriander seeds and the other plants that had gone to seed. I tried gently encouraging them, picking them up and placing them on the lemon tree, but they would fly straight off and return to the garden.

Finally, I had a brainwave (it took me a while!) DH helped me move the lemon tree, in its pot, to the vege garden. We placed it right next to the popular coriander plant, making sure the leaves of both plants were touching each other, and waited to see what would happen.

I was so excited to find that the ladybirds were quite happy to migrate to the lemon tree while it was in this location, and while I wasn’t forcing them to move. The aphids were rapidly polished off, and the ladybirds seemed pretty happy about the arrangement too.

Now, of course, I’m not as fond of the plant-eating ladybirds - at the moment, we have a lot of the kind that love the solanaceae family - but the tomatoes have been holding up pretty well against them, and they seem to prefer the weeds of the family anyway. This is where leaving some weeds as sacrificial plants comes in handy - we just have to make sure we pull them up before they go to seed and spread! They will eat the leaves of other plants too (this one is pictured on a bean plant) but they especially like solanaceae.

So, as I’ve mentioned, there was another storm last night.

After going to the school, then the shops, then returning home, I went into the back yard to check on the gardens and feed the fish. The neglected pond and bog garden have collected a lot of water, and I started to go through the vegetable garden to look for pesky cane toads in the water (they were attempting to breed in there yesterday). I realised that I couldn’t use the path around the herb spiral. I wonder if you can figure out why…

Can you spot the difference? No, I don’t mean the compost bin in the foreground of the top photo; it hasn’t blown away, DH has moved it to another spot… and I realise it’s a different time of day… and yes, the arrowroot has grown (it’s about a month between photos)… no, no, look a little closer…

Um, yes, cassava trees normally grow vertically! That’s it, there on the right side of the vegetable garden.

And it’s not really surprising, given the shallow roots, that it finally gave in to the elements - although not as impressive or terrifying as a huge eucalypt!

I’m thinking that maybe it’s time I made the effort to use some in the kitchen.

On Sunday afternoon, a storm described as the worst in 20-odd years in Brisbane caused all sorts of devastation in the north-west suburbs. I won’t bother trying to choose a link - if you don’t get news reports from Queensland, I’m sure all you’ll need to do is websearch “brisbane storm” and you’ll learn more than you’ll ever want to know. It’s been compared to a tornado, but nobody has actually announced that that is what it was. Tornadoes are not common here, definitely not like certain parts of the US, but they do happen. It was only a year ago that a mini-twister tore through the town I grew up in - the main difference being a smaller, sparser population; hence, less obvious destruction. And when I was a baby (and the same town was merely a small village with few residents to witness it) my parents experienced one cutting a path frighteningly close to our house.

We’re a mere 20 km away from the one that just happened, but we only caught a mild edge of the monster. Last night, another storm ripped through Brisbane, causing flash flooding and major headaches for those still trying to mop up from Sunday - some still waiting for assistance with repairing, or at least covering with emergency tarps, what’s left of their houses.

So there was another storm last night. This time there was a lot of rain, but again, we had a mild dose here. When I went to bed around midnight last night, I had looked at the weather radar, and I lay there listening to the thunder and the rain, wondering what we would see in the light of the morning. This morning, we looked out the window upon a glorious clear blue sky, streets washed clean and a freshness in the air. I was so busy getting organised to take DS to school that I really hadn’t thought any more about it until my mum rang to find out how we had fared. She had been hearing reports of flash flooding and more damage. I assured her that we were all just fine. DH even went to work on the north side of the city without any hassles.

I don’t take this for granted. I may not totally love where I live, but I’m definitely thankful that our weather is usually kind to us.

Please spare a thought for those who are still/again cleaning up after these storms.

DH was a little disappointed that I left the last garden update at the half-cleared point. I promised him that I was going to continue from the “teaser”, so here are a few more glimpses. This first photo was taken after the last part of that section was cleared and mulched, but as you can see from the foreground, the rubbish hadn’t been cleared from the work area yet. This photo, taken on October 15, is actually two weeks later than the previous post.

Another two weeks on - November 3 - things are greening up, and I’m actually starting to feel enthusiastic (even through the haze of the cold I was fighting off at the time).

The other day, I hacked off a whole bunch of canes from two of our bamboo clumps, with the intention of making a rough lattice-type trellis for the beans to grow on. The original idea was that the corn and sunflowers would be the main supports for the climbing beans, but we didn’t give them enough of a headstart, and the beans have overtaken many of them!

Cutting the bamboo also serves to clear a little of the area they’re planted in, and open up the space a bit. Additionally, it’s making use of our own resources, which is something I’m really interested in doing more of.

This photo was taken yesterday, after DH helped out and cut more canes so I could make the structure stronger (the original lattice was a lot looser and spaced further apart). The bamboo is simply pushed into the ground and connected together using a simple “weave”. This photo is also a slightly wider shot of the area than I showed previously. The poor little mango tree in the centre was at the far right of the other photos.

If you look carefully, you’ll notice my obsession with patterns - the bamboo came from two different varieties, so the right-leaning canes are one variety, and the left-leaning another. I was a lot less obsessive about the length and trimming of the canes, as I quite like the “rustic” effect of the mix.

When I first met DH, he was terrified of spiders. If there was a huntsman spider in the house, I was the one to get the container to take it outside. Both of us were happy to have them around, and neither of us wanted to kill them, but we preferred it if they were not patrolling the inside of the house.

I don’t know what happened. Now they freak me out. I still admire them, I respect them, but I can’t be near them - at least, not the big ones.

The other night, the kids noticed a huntsman crawling around behind a curtain in the bedroom. It looked moderately-sized - not huge, but certainly not small. For perspective, that’s her in the photos - the cardboard in the second photo is about A4 size, and the short side is at the top of the photo. DS2 was very anxious and had trouble going back to sleep. He eventually succeeded by pulling the covers completely over his head.

Last night, after they were asleep, DH noticed the spider on the wall right above DS2’s head. She was in an awkward spot for catching, and even if she hadn’t moved below the mattress level, it would have been difficult. I was picturing the horror of DS waking up after being disturbed by DH missing the spider and ending up with her on the bed. Needless to say, after she moved, we had to resign ourselves to leaving her alone.

Today, I was doing some washing. I went to the bathroom to pick up the laundry that had been dumped on the floor, and almost put my hand on the spider. She stayed put long enough for DH to rescue her (and me) and he delivered her to the garden.

What I want to know is - how did DH and I switch places? I used to be the brave one…

It’s been a while since I posted in this blog, and lately I’ve been thinking that I want to start it up more regularly. It’s spring, and we’ve really been inspired to get back into the garden. We’ve neglected it badly, and while the breaking of the drought has resulted in a lot more green, most of it appears to be weeds, or all sorts of stuff out of control. This first photo was taken on 27 September.

Anyway, a few weekends ago, DH got stuck into one particular part of the garden near the western fence. It was full of weeds, buried plant pots and assorted junk. For a while I had been thinking that I’d love to use that space for something better, but didn’t have the fortitude to clear the rubbish. He pulled everything out of there and covered the area in compost and mulch. Already it was like a breath of fresh air! Here it is on 29 September.

So, I’ve decided to document some of our progress here in this blog - not because we’re doing anything that remarkable, but because I’m inspired, and I want to share it with you. And because if we can do it in our humble backyard, I’m sure you can do something in yours, too - and if you already have, I’d love to hear from you!

Anyway, I’m not going to go into more detail today, just a little “teaser” … Watch this space!

It’s still officially winter here. It’s been pretty cold (for Queensland!) but now the sun is rising earlier, the days are becoming milder, and driving DH to the train station at 6:30am isn’t as painful as it was even a week ago.

This morning there were still patches of fog lying around at that hour. The sky was overcast for most of the day. There was a shower of rain early in the afternoon. And then I smelled the air. Yes, there was the smell of fresh rain, but there was something else too. I thought about it - there was something familiar about it, but it seemed as if it were a memory from years long past (you know those “smell memories” you get that take you straight back to a moment in time?)

Finally it hit me - it was the smell of spring. The smell that usually seems to arrive right on the first day of September. It’s in the air. It’s coming. And it’s not far away.

We (OK, mostly DH ), in the process of cleaning up and shuffling things around in the shed, decided to dig out and clean up the old fish tank. It still scrubs up OK, even after all this time sitting in dust. Using the waste water that we redirected from the reverse osmosis filter (i.e. pretty much perfectly clean, previously just sent down the drain - I really have to post about that some time) the tank was filled, the old heater and light were checked and installed (they still work!), new gravel/stones and plants were added. Finally, on the weekend, DH took the boys to the pet store, and they came home with the new residents. We now have four pacific blue-eye fish, and two little catfish to help with the “housekeeping”

Master D has adopted them and is taking the feeding of them very seriously. He has decided that it’s his job. I guess he’s happy that we finally acquired some sort of “pet” - they asked for a baby sister, then a dog…

When Master A was sick in hospital, there was an aquarium in the common room, and the boys loved visiting the fish. We’ve been told that watching fish swim lowers your stress level and heart rate, so now that I’ve given up on getting a clear photo, I may just try that out.

Apologies for the quality of the photo; apparently fish don’t like to pose, and these guys are quick, not to mention the light reflecting off the glass! If you want a good photo, check out the link I included above. This is really just to show the eye of the one on the right - if you look closely, you can’t see the pupil; I’m not sure if it’s blind in that eye, but it seems to like checking out the fish that keeps looking at it in the glass.

Master D has already named three of them:
“Camera Shy” is the catfish that hides under the wood and in the pebble “caves”, or scoots around cleaning the glass at the back of the fish tank;
“Gardener” is the catfish that likes hanging out around the plants;
“Bung-eye” is the pacific blue-eye with some sort of deformity of its right eye (as mentioned above) - DH said “that one has a bung eye” and it stuck (I also suggested “Dudley”, as a play on “Dud-eye”, but he didn’t like that so much - however, today he told me that he was using both names… so complicated!) [I realise that we’re verging heavily into the realm of political incorrectness, but I assure you we don’t talk about people this way.]

The other three look far too alike at this point, but I suspect we’re going to see some personalities developing (yes, I know, they’re fish, but we’ve already seen some behaviours unique to some of them, so…) We’ll see…