Africanaussie

I saw this recently on  The little black cow blog   - one of the readers that follows my blog and writes wonderful comments that spur me on to share what I do in my little patch.  Now, Kim has a farm, with a milking goat, and a B&B, makes cheese and  has published a book.  OK Ok I am envious, but I just so enjoy following along with her farming life.   This really resonated with me as I have been volunteering at the local markets, and slowly started to buy more veggies from there.  Veggies that are home grown, full of flavour and last through the week.... I bought a little bucket of some interesting eggplant, and cut some in half and gently sauteed them in a pan lightly greased with olive oil.  Oh my!  the taste!  Awesome.   The stall owner is a Thai lady (she also sells buckets of chillies - enough to last me for a year!)  and I asked her if she would bring in a plant for me to try and grow them in my own ...

As we were clearing up debris after the cyclone, my hubby called me over to see a Ulysses butterfly.  Now as you know they normally flutter about so quickly that it is very hard to capture good photos of them.  This one was showing some distress, flopping about, and other butterflies would flutter down to check on it.  I took the rare opportunity to capture some awesome photos. I am so blessed to live here where these colorful butterflies flit around my garden regularly. Recently my dear Mom passed away and I have noticed little things that give me comfort.  Butterflies live short lives and it is sad to see one die, but that is the nature of the world.  I don't know if the cyclone cut its life short, or if it had just reached its allotted time. We need to catch our beauty where we can, and stop and live in the moment, and tell our loved ones we love them. This quote from Ecclesiastes 3:1 sums it up for me.         ...

I know I often show you pretty colourful flowers, but there is another side to life in the tropics. Cyclones!  Technically cyclone season ends at the end of April, but lately we have become a bit complacent.  Cyclones have been forming anad wandering around the coral sea and then dispersing. Last weekend it seemed as though Ita was going to be different.  She became a category 5 and there was talk that this was going to be the biggest cyclone or storm of the year.  We readied ourselves and buckled down.  I took this photo outside our front door just as the winds started. Luckily it downgraded quickly and most of the damage was caused by flooding.  The most important thing to do at times like this is be prepared, sit tight, and wait for the all clear. We just got our phones back, but electricity is still out.  It will be a while until I am posting pretty flower photos again, but that is life in the tropics. 

Time to link up with other gardeners around the world for the end of March  Garden Share Collective .  All the best Liz for a safe and healthy delivery, next month we will have an extra little host.....  thanks for continuing to host this for us avid gardeners. Harvesting I am mainly harvesting herbs right now, and seem to have been able to maintain a few herbs throughout the year which is really nice.  Garlic chives are in flower, and look so pretty.  Parsley, which I use a lot of, struggles through the wet season, but I had a couple of little pots make it through, so will continue to keep some in pots, and maybe the ones in the besa bricks will last through as well.  The main thing is to have good drainage. My little herb pots that I planted for my stepsons are filling in - the parsley seed is taking its time though as usual. The pots were atually started peeling around the top edge, so I scraped that off and painted a lip around the top. The...

When a plant is easy to grow and propagate, and never any trouble do you find that you also take it for granted?  Cordelines are like that with me,  I can  just cut the top off, stick the cut end into the ground and it will grow a new plant.  If I want a whole row of cordelines I place the stick horizonatally in the ground, cover with a bit of dirt and a new plant will pop up at every node. I add them here and there to break up the green.   Now the cordelines are in flower, and over the weekend I took a step back and looked at these plants through new eyes.  Just look at a close up of these lovely flowers..... I dont know why I have never really looked that hard at the cordeline flowers.  Maybe because they come at a time when the garden is growing so profusely and all the large tropical flowers are in bloom.   Once I started really looking I noticed quite a few "hidden" beauties. These chleredon (I thought that was what they are c...