Summer in the Garden!

Summer in the Garden ...

Well, what can I say ... today is absolutely stinking hot! We're expecting worse though, so I'd better not complain too loudly.

Despite the heat, with a bit of water, things are looking rather lovely! Our pool, a wee bit green ...


... as the new saltwater chlorinator decided last week that it would only salt the water, and not chlorinate, is surrounded by hibiscus...

... and a palm.
On the other side I've planted Hydrangeas. My Mum planted these as cuttings, and we brought them from her house when she passed away.

I lost one but the others keep going. Not the best for an Aussie garden, as they do like water, but I don't overdo it and they seem to cope.

At the moment, one of our paperbarks is flowering and if you lie in the lounger and look up, it looks like snow.

 

It's covered with bugs and beetles, bees, wasps and butterflies! Lying there with the Nikon is a real hardship at the moment! No, one of my joys in life! A really lovely feeling, just lying there camera in hand, waiting ...

We have a lot of Christmas beetles at the moment, and poor clumsy things ... I've been rescuing them from the water. They have such a strong grip, it beats me how they ever manage to fall!

Our baby Magpies are now independent, and we often see them racing across the neighbours' lawns after beetles, worms, whatever. They still come back here for odd hand-outs though, and to drink at the birdbath!

Our newest residents are a pair of young PeeWees [Pied Mudlarks]. Pretty late in the season, but they're still pretty much attached to Mum and Dad, and the whole family comes and goes.


Recent visitors, now moved on, was a family of Tawny Frogmouths.

Not owls, but very similar looking, this family came and went over weeks.

Then finally, one baby and one parent! Then last of all, the baby. It' looks like it was time to leave the nest, but we became really attached to them over the weeks they were coming, and can't help hoping they're all OK!

 

And lastly, a photo for those who think that animals don't 'feel' and 'reason'! Two Tawny Frogmouths ~ not always the same two ~ covered this smallest one for the WHOLE time, during a solid week of cold rain! He was the smallest, the weakest, and they protected him by shielding him with their bodies.

Well, another hot day tomorrow! This sure is a land of extremes!