The flowers of my garden today.

As I wandered around the garden, I was surprised at how many flowering plants I have in the heat of summer here in Queensland. 

First the beautiful Frangipani

Also Geraniums are flowering

Then there is the lovely Spider type Orchid in the front garden, and a greenhouse Orchid is open as well

Also Lavender, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, and right up in the top of the Golden Pender tree.

Also we have some edibles flowering, the Garlic Chives, the Lemon tree and not quite open yet, are the flowers on the Native Raspberry bush.

And last, but by no means least, hanging over the fence from the neighbours we have the beautiful Bouganvillia and Alamanda.

Curious winged creature!

Found this insect on the side of the greenhouse. Looks like a cross between a horsefly and a christmas beetle. So interesting I just had to take a photo. 

A Special Nestbox

I decided today to take a coffee and go and sit beside the water. This is something we used to do often, but lately it is only a quick trip, just to view the water, or to see how the baby Curlews are doing. 

Well today when sitting at Victoria Pt. I spotted a pair of Lorikeets checking out a nesting hole up very high in a large Eucalypt tree. 

I thought the hole looked a little large for them and I was proved correct when suddenly a large screeching noise came from over the back of the tree. Then out of the blue, two large Cockatoos came flying through the tree and landed on a branch beside the hole.

 I think perhaps the nest has been used by this pair in the past as the cocky turned and backed into the hole and disappeared all the way down except for his/her crest. 

Family!

Another lovely time getting together with family last night. We spent some lovely time on my brother Ian and Janes rear deck. 

This rear deck, where we had spent a wonderful day celebrating Christmas and the New Year to come.

It was a birthday party this time, Michael has turned 30. 

Michael, Megan and Archer.

And it was great to have my son and his fiancé come to celebrate and to get to know cousins just a little better. There is never enough time spent together as families these days. Everyone is so busy, either working or playing, and Danny and Mel are shift workers, so often don't get to join in family times.

Daniel and Mel

Lorikeets and Orchids!

Things these have in common are their beautiful colour and the greenhouse. 

I placed a bowl of seed on the greenhouse after being visited by a Cockatoo, now I have many Lorikeets visiting as well.

I then opened my greenhouse and was greeted with the most spectacular bunch of orchids. 

These orchids need to be inside where they can be appreciated. :)

Beautiful rain!!

It is so refreshing to get some rain. Many places in Qld are drought stricken, cattle are dying and farmers are at their wits end. Living on the coast we are so fortunate to have more regular rainfall. The grass has been very thin and patchy as we have not had much rain, but lately we have seen some lovely falls and this past week we have had around two inches of rain. This has been a welcome change after having very hot temperatures the week before. Still quite muggy, but nice to have cooler temps when a little bit housebound.

Noses are for smelling

Well, I feel like I've been punched in the nose today after have a small surgery on my nose. I'm grateful that I didn't need a skin graft, only a few stitches. The Qld sun has rather a nasty bite to it, and as youngsters, hats and sunscreens were something that were overlooked. Today we have lots of advertising about our strong Qld sun and the damage it can cause.

Looking on the bright side......my nose is still working the way it should be. The sweet scent of my Murraya (mock orange) hedge in flower, has reached my nose!!