Glossy White Windows

Light bounces off the window frames and window sills on its way into the house. So the size and colour of the frames and sills really affects the the amount and the mood of the lighting.

To maximise the light the frames and sills on my house are gloss white.

Colour under the sun.

I chose the exterior colours of my house from the Colorbond range - this means that they can be matched by different manufacturers and that they are fade resistant. For example the facia could match the gutters.

My Colorbond  palette is:
Pale Eucalypt
Headland
Ironstone
Surfmist

and the windows are gloss white.

I was helping a friend paint his house recently. One  of his colours was Colorbond Pale Eucalypt. There was plenty left over - so if I need some paint in the future I might be able to buy his left over stock.

Bunya

Six hundred and eight hundred year old Bunya trees are dying in the Bunya Mountains. The blame is put on a water mould soil-borne disease.
Previously myrtle rust became widespread along the east coast of Australia. Many different plants are susceptible including eucalyptus and melaleuca. It was very sad some years ago to see so many dead xanthorrhoea walking around Wineglass Bay in Tasmania.

This is why bushwalkers scrub their boots after walking through native forests.

Blue tongue

I try to keep a part of the yard around the house in a nature friendly state with  trees, shrubs, sticks, leaves, native grasses. I augmented nature with artificial logs made from old steps and watering points.

There was a winter a couple of years ago when a fat blue tongue lizard Tiliqua scincoides would emerge from the fake log each morning to sun itself. I would be watching out from the bedroom window. After that I noticed a couple of skinny juvenile lizards sneaking around.

A this point in the story I should mention that Jack the neighbours tom cat likes to visit my place. He sneaks around the undergrowth or naps under the hedge. And likes watching the birds.

To encourage the lizards and help them hide from Jack I have made hidey holes from old pallets. But with leaves and sticks and hidey holes I had not seen any blue tongues for a year or more. But I saw a big one rustling leaves under the steps where its shady and cool. Knowing a blue tongue lizard is living here makes me smile.

Cucumber frown

Having harvested and eaten a few home-grown cucumbers, I am now cucumber free.

The local moths sensed the quality of the cucumber patch and laid their eggs. I awoke this morning to find my cucumbers riddled with caterpillars. They were everywhere. I cleared the patch to protect the adjacent tomato crop. Afterwards caterpillars were crawling out from under the patch mulch. No magpies came to help clean them up and I had to get rid of them myself.

The cucumbers I ate were delicious.

Kookaburra watch

When I wished the neighbours a happy new year, I mentioned that a blue tongue lizard was living under their house. They said that a kookaburra often sat on the gutter watching under the house. So we both learned something.

Cucumber smile

Growing my own vegetables will not necessarily give me all the food I need.
But it makes me smile.
And a bonus - there is no plastic wrapped around my cucumber.