Wattlebird Toddlers

One advantage of living with a train line behind your house is the wildlife it brings into your backyard. In particular native birds. All the native plantings have made our backyard a nice place to raise their young.

I am especially fond of a couple of Wattlebirds I've nicknamed Fred and Ginger. Recently I noticed their nest in a tree just behind our back fence. Like all new babies Fred and Ginger's offspring are a noisy pair, keeping Mum and Dad working night and day to feed and protect them.  It has been an impressive display of parenthood from Fred and Ginger.

This morning to my delight I noticed the two babies had left the nest (over the back fence) and were now in our Gum tree (next to our deck) learning to feed from the flowers while Fred (or Ginger, its hard to tell) kept a watchful eye on them. 

While I like to keep our distance when they are around (don't want to spook them) they have become quite fearless around us and you can actually get quite close. I will be sad when they finally leave the coop for good.

We also have a very cheeky Magpie who visits us regularly and is bolder than brass (another story another time perhaps). 

Bebe's learning to feed while awkwardly moving about the branches. Mum is only a meter away.

Dad keeps a watchful eye on the wider landscape and will not hesitate to attack an intruder.

Little Garden Project - Part 3 (Bill, is that you?)

Could it be?  It's been around 3 weeks now since I planted about 5 Geranium Pyrenaicum 'Bill Wallis' seeds which I purchased online from the UK. 

Initially I had my doubts about them even arriving, then even greater doubts of them germinating after being X-rayed (upon entering the country). But today my hopes have risen sky high with this solo little baby plant born overnight.

Of course it could be some kind of weed seed that has found its way into the pot and my newly found optimisim will all be in vain. 

But what the hell, lets be hopeful, and welcome Bill to our happy home and hope he stays awhile.

What Bill will look like all grown up below (fingers crossed he lives that long).

Little garden project - Part 2

Well it's been a whole week now and nothing. I didn't plant all the seeds only a few, maybe I should have planted them all.  I don't know what is a reasonable time to wait for these seeds to germinate? They are suppose to germinate quickly according to the instructions I am following. Think I will give them another week or two before I give up, I still have hope at this stage. (Note: I have since learnt to expect them to germinate in between 4 - 6 weeks)

On a positive note my chocolate mint geranium cutting is still looking good (the other pot).

Over the weekend I purchased a heap of filler plants to hopefully soften the edges on my garden until the rest of the plantings take off.

Still a lot of work to do but slowly getting there. 

Splashback Tiles - Part 3

The finished Splashback. It was a gloomy day when these photos were taken so you don't get to see the lustre created by the mix of matt and gloss when natural light hits the tiles. My kitchen now feels complete though.