Race day

Three things I've never done before:

1. Travel by train from Melbourne to the Macedon Ranges

2. Attend a horse race

3. Display or wear Australian patriotic paraphernalia, especially on Australia Day
(for me this conjures up images of racist bogans (rednecks/chavs) behaving like morons .... I know it needn't, but it always does)

 

Thus, today was a day of firsts. Serena had organised a marquee at the country races, so we set off early in the sparkling sunshine to have our own little Picnic at Hanging Rock.

We watched some horses running very fast and then turned to people-watching from our strategically-placed tent, all the while enjoying a huge range of delicious culinary treats.

 

 

Getting into the spirit of Australia Day, Serena brought along countless Australian-themed flags, tattoos, hats, stubbie-holders (beer coolers), plates, napkins, cutlery, undies (!), wigs, fans etc...... Eeek!
I was tentative at first but in the end I succumbed to the spirit of the occasion and donned a little tattoo heart.

We had a really lovely day. I'm glad I did three things that I've never done before.

Real cork or robot poo?

In Australia, composite plastic 'corks' and screw-top lids have replaced natural cork stoppers in the majority of wine bottles. I wonder if many people think about the decline of Spanish and Portuguese cork plantations and the implications of this change for various interrelated systems? Cork-producing regions are some of the last places in Europe where sustainable local economies still dovetail harmoniously with nature ...

For the past few years I've tried to buy bottles with real cork, as a small protest against the overwhelming market dominance of 'robot poo' plastic alternatives. Apparently the BBC has produced a documentary about cork oaks, which I hope to find somewhere soon. Naturewatch sets the scene thus:

"Every time we weigh up which bottle of wine to buy, we hold the fate of nightingales, rare black storks, secretive wild cats and one of the world’s most remarkable trees in our hands. It’s all to do with the stopper. If it’s cork, it probably came from the bark of one of the ancient cork oak trees from the Montados, in the Alentejo region of Portugal. The cork oak is the only tree in the world whose bark can be periodically removed without killing it. But this tree is amazing in other ways.... it survives in poor soil and searing heat and provides not only nesting places for Booted Eagles but also space for some of Europe’s rarest wildflowers.... "

I wonder if we can really know what will be lost if cork stoppers are totally replaced by plastic or screwtops?



(Cork pic from here; oak pic from here)

G is for ginkgo

Oh ginkgo! How pretty you look in this beautiful autumn weather!







~ you're definitely one of my favourite trees.

A little story about trees

Overheard on the tram this morning - a highly animated conversation between a very small child (VSC) and a young mum (YM):

VSC: Mummy, why is all everything all on the ground?

YM: Well, the trees lose their leaves in Autumn, so they fall on the ground.

VSC, wide-eyed: They lose their leaves?

YM: Yes - when it's sunny the trees get all their nutrients through their leaves, then when it gets cold, the leaves die and they fall off.....

VSC, completely crestfallen: .... oooohhhh ....

YM: .... and the trees have a rest during winter ...

VSC, devastatingly saddened: .... ooooohhhh ....

YM: .... and then in spring, they get a whole lot of new shoots and the leaves grow back.

VSC, squealing with delight: .... The leaves come back?! They get new leaves again!! Then they're pretty and they have leaves!!!

It's a simple process, but it makes me happy too.

This pup just wants to go up!

Sometimes we meet up with the lovely Anne-Marie and her three dogs when we're in Carlton. She loves watching Gus climb trees, and he seems pretty pleased with himself when he has an audience, be it human or canine.


He hasn't made it out onto the branches of this particular tree yet (although this is not through lack of trying!*)




Tree hugger ...

Almost there, little one!

Poor little possums get disturbed from their sleep ...



.... but the boisterous rainbow lorikeets don't mind - they keep on hanging around (literally!) to feast on elm seeds and chatter at top volume!

* I know I shouldn't encourage him. He has reduced his tree-climbing ventures lately, as I've indulged him less and less. But when he does go up and down the trees repeatedly it's a great way of getting his energy out!

Late autumn sunlight

The soft light on these warm sunny days is so wonderful...

Sweet autumn glow

I couldn't imagine a more superb day to be stuck on campus at Melbourne Uni .... this crisp and sunny autumn weather makes my heart sing!

Spring greening

I've uploaded these pics a little late, but I want to keep a bit of a record of my garden over Spring and Summer. This season we have lots of broad beans and oriental poppies adding texture and volume, although some of the other plants have been crowded out. The Queen Anne's Lace, Rudbeckias, Echinacea and lower-growing perennials are struggling to find space and sunlight.

Emerson has been making nests in the straw mulch, so I have to be careful and protect my seedlings where possible. I've set up a bird bath under the Pandora - hopefully when it sends down its curtain of tendrils it will provide lots of shelter and entice the birds into the shade (despite Gus' outrage at having birds in his garden).





The beans are ready for harvesting now. I can't resist them when I'm working in the garden - they're so deliciously sweet I eat them straight from the pod and they don't have a chance to reach the kitchen.

Gus is climbing trees again.

Olinda