Grass is SCARY !

"Come little human!  Take me closer to my prey!"  - says Ru, still terrified of grass, being carted about the garden by Miss Bok.

Anyone else have animals that are scared of grass??

The Bok Flock are quite disdainful of little grass-phobic Ru

  

 

If not cart then legs...anything really as long as he doesn't touch the scary grass!

In other news, the tawny frogmouths have returned to our front garden this Spring!  Hooray!

Spring Spectacle

The plums were the first to blossom in the garden followed closely by the almond...the others are displaying promise in the swelling buds and the girls are all laying again!  The blue and green don't come up in this picture but they are very pale.

 

I think the ladies are happy in their new enclosure - I know my vegies are!  They still come out to free range  but only for a few hours each day instead of all day long!

Oh yes - I got new spectacles.  I snapped my old pair whilst out at drinks and desperate for a new pair of glasses, the next morning I unwisely let the optometry shop lady pick them for me as I couldn't see with my glasses off...and besides I was hungover from the night before!   The result?  Well.  There was much hilarity at work and when I arrived later at my desk I found it plastered like this - gives you an indication of what everyone thinks!

  Spring is almost here but until then I'll keep my beanie on.  And hide out until the laughter dies down.

Settling in

Hallo lovelies!

Conchita and Consuela have settled in beautifully, no blood, no squabbles in the flock, it's like they've always been here.  And unlike the other girls who are yet to start laying, they give us a beautiful green and a beautiful blue egg daily (although the sizes vary).

Mr Bok made banofee pie - he rarely cooks let alone bakes so I was a bit impressed at this effort!

 If you live in Melbourne - have you noticed how popular Mexican food has become lately?  I had lunch here and it was so yummmm even if it leaves your wallet a bit lighter...

 

 

I still have no idea when to pick the babacos.  Seems the possums don't know either.

 

The possums are still after my chillies and capsicum but the baskets seem to be working.

My apples are greatly confused - they've started blossoming for goodness sake...at the same time as ripening apples!  On the same tree!!

 

Loads of self seeded tomatoes which I've had to pull out:

Any ideas on how to keep chooks off the verandah?

Conchita & Consuela...and the evil possum

Being a guardian of a flock of boks necessarily entails endless contemplation over the acquisition of more and more hens...who knows why this condition exists in chook keepers but it's always there.

Pumpkin mandarins and flowers from the garden

So when I found 2 araucanas in need of a new home I couldn't resist. I'd been thinking of adding to our flock for a while now anyway but the thought of a massive dustbowl that I thought might ensue always held me back.  5 full grown full size hens roaming the backyard without a care.

Another thing to ponder.  Why is it that araucanas are always named Conchita and Consuela?  Surely not every buxom lass in South America is a Consuela or a Conchita?  No doubt if I ever acquire an araucana rooster he will be named Inigo Montoya.  In fact I think I'll get a rooster just so that I can name him after one of my favourite characters.

I digress.

So in the peak of the crazy storm in Melbourne last night, there I was on a wild hen chase aquaplaning through water past my tyre tops on the freeway making my way to the hens.  Of course the part of the world they were in was quite dry but they endured crazy driving on the way back to my place.  I'm sure they snored in the dark the entire way ignoring the erratic driving and the pelting rain.

Today, their first day, they spent in the coop learning that it is now 'home' whilst the other bok flockers roamed the garden as usual.

Conchita (with tag on her leg) even laid us an egg!  A green egg.

 

The other girls however are still freeloading *FROWN*

Welcome Conchita and Consuela!

The tragedy that is feeding local wildlife unintentionally

Meanwhile can someone confirm that it is a possum (we have LOADS of them on our street) that has eaten ALL of our capsicum and ALL of the red chillies (having left the unripe green ones).  Surely not a chook could be so neat?  Not a scrap of fruit left.  Neatly bitten stalks left behind.  No signs of scratching.  I've never seen the chooks up on the apple crates but I have seen possums sitting on our fence laughing at us.

 

GONE!  ALL GONE OVER NIGHT!

GONE!  All the red chillies - GONE!

the late summer garden

It's late Summer in Melbourne.

Those hot arid days where the unrelenting sunlight dessicates any living thing in the garden still appear but we are getting a few cooler days of low 20's (thank goodness).  The garden has gone brown and the grass is still crispy underfoot.  We've pulled out most things now but a few remain valiantly and determinedly pushing out new growth.

 

Pulled out the kiwi fruit that was never really happy in this spot and I've planted a native gem lime instead.

The grass in the pot is lemongrass that has gone brown and resurrected many times...

 

The peppers, chilies, zucchini and herbs are still prolific but the rest have gone to vegie heaven

The chillies are thriving 

Have you seen white flowering thyme?  I love thyme in all its varieties but the white flowering is constantly covered in petals and is so pretty

 

 

Pulled out the cardamom - after nearly 2 years they never did flower let alone set pods so I decided it was time for them to go...

Valentines was lovely - I got the perfect gift, a speedball - not very romantic granted but I'm loving boxing at the moment

 

The yacon has been pulled up too to make way for a compost bin

The girls are getting bigger every day but no eggs yet. They are a funny old little flock of 3, they have a habit of sitting quietly together at dusk peering out across the lawn together.

 

I've been enjoying artisan bread, canoli and bombalone from Baker D Chirico in Carlton.

I'm looking forward to cooler days, chunky jumpers, cosy boots and lots of baked goodies!

What are things like in your part of the world?