The weird and the wonderful

Lace Monitor

Lace Monitor tracks

I don't even know what to say about this. All I could say at the time was "WOW!" I heard it walking around the cottage just as I was eating lunch. Needless to say, it was a cold lunch by the time I got back to it.

It was a beautiful lace monitor. Or goanna if you like. Of course, you can click on the pictures to make them larger. Around here, goannas have a yellow band on the tail, and it seemed to be searching for something good to eat. The Noisy Miners made sure everyone around knew exactly where it was, and our rooster alerted in a hushed tone. It didn't have any problems going under the electric chook fence, but luckily that fence doesn't have anything living in there (and the fence isn't "live" either). It didn't find the main flock with the day's eggs and two broodies with the single little chick they're mothering. Either that, or it wasn't worth the trouble.

The chimney has been pointed a bit, well, the biggest holes have been filled by a lime mortar mix. I think it was only a mud mix used previously, so I guess it's an upgrade. More mud has gone on the walls to help fill some of the holes left over from the concrete plaster falling off. The incidence of blowfly getting into the kitchen has dramatically reduced as a result. Well worth the effort. There's more to do, of course, but there's always more!

Mid October 2017

Fungus on the strawbale

Calendula
with native bee and spider

After a fairly dry winter, there isn't a lot of green growth on the plants, but lots of flowers none the less. A lot of grass pollen, which is causing our hayfever, the purple flowers from the wild Salvation Jane, yellow from the Cats Ear and plenty of white flowers on the radish we grew.

Willy Wagtail egg splat!

Grapevine moth
(Phalaenoides glycinae)

An odd thing happened this morning. Two Willy Wagtail's were singing while sitting on the fairy lights under the veranda, when I heard the splat of a little egg hitting the step. There are no nests or anything above.. Nature is just weird sometimes.

When the rain comes

We've had some glorious rain lately! 54mm (just over 2 inches) over a couple of days, filling the tanks, making even the most overgrazed paddocks around us look green, encouraging frogs galore and of course, FUNGI!

The native area on the top of our hill has "environmental significance" and we're suppose to protect and enhance it. Well, that's not a problem. It's absolutely beautiful, and we love nothing more than wandering around up there leaving only footprints and taking only photographs. :)

We've had to start shutting our main gate lately due to our land being too much of a temptation to other people's sheep. The fences are being tested and found lacking too, which has required quite a few hours repairing them. I do feel sorry for the poor sheep surrounding our property, but no, they can't come over for lunch! Because it's been at least 4 years since this property has seen stock, the local native trees are starting to grow back (especially around the edges) and much of the ground is covered by mulch and beginning to look healthy once again.

We will have stock of our own some day, but in a controlled, and hopefully well managed way with electric fences and rotational grazing. But in the meantime, it's wonderful to see an increase in diversity and health of our little slice of The Hills.