Hadn’t happened here yet.
roughbarked said:
Hadn’t happened here yet.
currently 39˚C and that’s basically all of last week and all of next week.
38°C 38°C 39°C 39°C 39°C 39°C 39°C
roughbarked said:
roughbarked said:
Hadn’t happened here yet.
currently 39˚C and that’s basically all of last week and all of next week.
38°C 38°C 39°C 39°C 39°C 39°C 39°C
Yuck, yuck, yuck and yuck.
Actually looking at my forecast I am only about 1 degree below you, if not the same some days :(
Hopefully Autumn will be here soon and we can recover somewhat.
We are into Autumn. This is the time the tomatoes ripen, the chooks stop laying every day, and the leaves start turning. The Autumn crocus leaves are up. And it is apple picking time.
:)
Cooler nights, warm days.
Brambuk calendar says for March into April……“Cool mornings, warm, still days.”
My succulent babies moved up a pot size last evening. Eventually they will make a whole garden in the remains of where a chimney was taken down, but the base is still there.
Will have to wait until at least the Autumn break to set it up though, or they will all die…
We have slime mould in evidence. I think this one is called dog vomit slime mould. Rather obvious why, really, although it’s not like anything our dogs have ever produced. I thought the feral cats were vomiting near the chook run.
buffy said:
We have slime mould in evidence. I think this one is called dog vomit slime mould. Rather obvious why, really, although it’s not like anything our dogs have ever produced. I thought the feral cats were vomiting near the chook run.
Have it here too if there is a small amount of precipitation about.
roughbarked said:
buffy said:
We have slime mould in evidence. I think this one is called dog vomit slime mould. Rather obvious why, really, although it’s not like anything our dogs have ever produced. I thought the feral cats were vomiting near the chook run.
Have it here too if there is a small amount of precipitation about.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/roughbarked/albums/72157625483486323
roughbarked said:
buffy said:
We have slime mould in evidence. I think this one is called dog vomit slime mould. Rather obvious why, really, although it’s not like anything our dogs have ever produced. I thought the feral cats were vomiting near the chook run.
Have it here too if there is a small amount of precipitation about.
Slime mould – I had big brown ones one year. Looked like big sloppy cow pats.
Catching more brown snakes. Count is four so far. Three in two weeks and the one at the beginning of summer. I seem to have a veritable vipers nest!
31mm of rain! Yay!
bluegreen said:
31mm of rain! Yay!
11 mm here.
I have found another Child of Uluru in my backyard. Bit of garden bed that I hadn’t yet dug over. I’ll have to get the trowel out and dig around the edges…..I can only move it slightly with the crowbar. I suspect my back is not going to love me tonight.
buffy said:
I have found another Child of Uluru in my backyard. Bit of garden bed that I hadn’t yet dug over. I’ll have to get the trowel out and dig around the edges…..I can only move it slightly with the crowbar. I suspect my back is not going to love me tonight.
“Child of Uluru” LOL! Take care.
Had the grandkids visiting this weekend.
bluegreen said:
buffy said:I have found another Child of Uluru in my backyard. Bit of garden bed that I hadn’t yet dug over. I’ll have to get the trowel out and dig around the edges…..I can only move it slightly with the crowbar. I suspect my back is not going to love me tonight.
“Child of Uluru” LOL! Take care.
Got the rock out…..and it had its cousin staying with it! Anyway, I’ll have to get the trolley out to move it to the other part of the garden where it can become part of the landscape above the soil level. The joys of living in a volcanic area.
:)
buffy said:
bluegreen said:
buffy said:I have found another Child of Uluru in my backyard. Bit of garden bed that I hadn’t yet dug over. I’ll have to get the trowel out and dig around the edges…..I can only move it slightly with the crowbar. I suspect my back is not going to love me tonight.
“Child of Uluru” LOL! Take care.
Got the rock out…..and it had its cousin staying with it! Anyway, I’ll have to get the trolley out to move it to the other part of the garden where it can become part of the landscape above the soil level. The joys of living in a volcanic area.
:)
You have all the ingredients for a rock garden.
I’ve had to bring all my rocks in. There are no natural rocks here. Unless of course I want calcrete paths.
So now Photobucket is working properly, here are some pictures. I told you they were heavy!
The big one in the bed on the right in the second picture is even bigger. Mr buffy dug that out several years ago and it didn’t move from where it came from. I’ll be able to move the others with the trolley to a more suitable place. But not today.
“cough, cough, splutter….”
:(
bluegreen said:
“cough, cough, splutter….”:(
You’re ill too?
roughbarked said:
bluegreen said:
“cough, cough, splutter….”:(
You’re ill too?
Yeah. You too?
bluegreen said:
roughbarked said:
bluegreen said:
“cough, cough, splutter….”:(
You’re ill too?
Yeah. You too?
roughbarked said:
bluegreen said:
roughbarked said:You’re ill too?
Yeah. You too?
Yeah. Hasn’t been fun at all.
Aw. Get better soon you two. Hugs.
Happy Potter said:
roughbarked said:
bluegreen said:Yeah. You too?
Yeah. Hasn’t been fun at all.Aw. Get better soon you two. Hugs.
Whilst I greatly appeciate hugs ((thanks)), I don’t think they will help me other than provide moral support. Glad nobody is praying for me. That could be the last straw.
I’m still ripping out my front garden a little at a time and planting fruit trees, one or two now and then, here and there. It’s slow going, but I’m getting there. I’m busy with other things but that’s just one reason, there’s frogs and lizards I don’t want to disturb too. The bee waterer fountain is moisture for lots of things. I’ll get a photo later.
Take care digging. I gave it up after forking up a banjo frog.
Another project taking ages to do, making a fox proof run for the two silkies, Lin Lin and redhead. They had such a vast area about 15 mts long by 4-5 m wide to forage in, but as there’s no green pick in there I want to reclaim part of it to plant out. I couldn’t do this in past years because tree roots from next doors three large trees planted too close together invaded the whole area. You couldn’t put a fork in without damaging a tree root. But.. two of their trees died (only because I stopped watering that area), one blew over in a severe storm and both have been removed. So we also removed the stump for the cabbage tree. That was a week long job in itself.
I’m waiting to be able to afford temp fencing panels, need ten all up, then the pen build will begin. This will give me enough room for a fig tree and a greengage plum. They will be interplanted with currants and other berries, herbs and comfrey. True north facing, this will be perfect. It’s also summer shade for the two hens and winter sun.
I was going to plant the fig out front but the thought of passerby tramping my garden to nick fruit put me off.
roughbarked said:
Take care digging. I gave it up after forking up a banjo frog.
That’s whats taking so long to get one spot ready for a tree. Frogs. I clear the area by hand and gently scrape dirt out and make sure there’s no creature there first. There’s a ‘bee’ plant, purple flower, can’t remember the name of it, next to a couple big rocks that was infested by tall grass weeds..pulled out a frog, argh, apologised to the little animal and put him back. The resident magpies stay about a meter away waiting for any crickets that emerge. I’ve cleared a little walking trail for myself so I know where to step.
One day out there watering I saw one of those massive 2 inch long orange wasps dragging a dead or paralyzed, huntsman spider along. The wasp kept dropping it’s food bundle then running back to get a better hold. It eventually disappeared in the huge yacon. I didn’t have my camera on me, bugga.
Happy Potter said:
roughbarked said:
Take care digging. I gave it up after forking up a banjo frog.
That’s whats taking so long to get one spot ready for a tree. Frogs. I clear the area by hand and gently scrape dirt out and make sure there’s no creature there first. There’s a ‘bee’ plant, purple flower, can’t remember the name of it, next to a couple big rocks that was infested by tall grass weeds..pulled out a frog, argh, apologised to the little animal and put him back. The resident magpies stay about a meter away waiting for any crickets that emerge. I’ve cleared a little walking trail for myself so I know where to step.
One day out there watering I saw one of those massive 2 inch long orange wasps dragging a dead or paralyzed, huntsman spider along. The wasp kept dropping it’s food bundle then running back to get a better hold. It eventually disappeared in the huge yacon. I didn’t have my camera on me, bugga.
Sounds like there weren’t enough cicadas around and it had to be content with a spider.
roughbarked said:
Happy Potter said:
roughbarked said:
Take care digging. I gave it up after forking up a banjo frog.
That’s whats taking so long to get one spot ready for a tree. Frogs. I clear the area by hand and gently scrape dirt out and make sure there’s no creature there first. There’s a ‘bee’ plant, purple flower, can’t remember the name of it, next to a couple big rocks that was infested by tall grass weeds..pulled out a frog, argh, apologised to the little animal and put him back. The resident magpies stay about a meter away waiting for any crickets that emerge. I’ve cleared a little walking trail for myself so I know where to step.
One day out there watering I saw one of those massive 2 inch long orange wasps dragging a dead or paralyzed, huntsman spider along. The wasp kept dropping it’s food bundle then running back to get a better hold. It eventually disappeared in the huge yacon. I didn’t have my camera on me, bugga.
Sounds like there weren’t enough cicadas around and it had to be content with a spider.
Going by the noise cicadas make it sounds like millions. But there’s so much competition. The magpies dig for them and find curl grubs too. Then there’s the blue flower wasps on the hunt for anything.
Oh, I also saw a garden orb spider rapidly spinning a european wasp caught in it’s web. You can’t mistake those yellow wasp’s legs. There’s siders everywhere, hence me being the only one who will go into this garden. The chooks take care of spideys in the back yard.
There is no mistaking a cicada killing wasp. They do bury their prey in a burrow in the earth and they are capable of towing a cicada through what look like impentatrable obstacle courses faster than I can get inside to grab a camera. This one covered 15 metres in a matter of five minutes dragging this cicada.
The burrow. It had made three or four of these and immediatey started another after filling this in.
I can see a peach stone and an Italian snail in that picture for comparison of the burrow size.
roughbarked said:
I can see a peach stone and an Italian snail in that picture for comparison of the burrow size.
Great photos!
Yes the wasp hauled the spider over boulders and through jungles at a great speed. I knew if I went to get the camera I’d miss it.
They weren’t easy photos to catch and they reflect the difficulties I had to maintain focus and exposure control. These wasps are highly industrious and fast.
sorry, that last photo was meant to be this one.
of the five photos I got, none are excellent but they do portray the scene.
oops.. still got the link wrong. This was probably the best of the lot.
I don’t know the name of the wasp I saw dragging the spider but looking at images of them, came across this article. It was the same wasp and is exactly what I observed it down. The wasp was big but the spider even bigger. I’m not sure if you can watch the short video.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-06/huntsman-killer-spider-wasps-turn-crawlies-into-baby-incubators/7068188
roughbarked said:
oops.. still got the link wrong. This was probably the best of the lot.
That’s a ripper pic :)
Happy Potter said:
I don’t know the name of the wasp I saw dragging the spider but looking at images of them, came across this article. It was the same wasp and is exactly what I observed it down. The wasp was big but the spider even bigger. I’m not sure if you can watch the short video.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-06/huntsman-killer-spider-wasps-turn-crawlies-into-baby-incubators/7068188
managed to watch your video. Thanks.
roughbarked said:
managed to watch your video. Thanks.
Cool. I love watching creatures
Happy Potter said:
roughbarked said:
managed to watch your video. Thanks.
Cool. I love watching creatures
I will try to get close to them with a camera if I can.
Happy Potter said:
Aw. Get better soon you two. Hugs.
Thanks :)
bluegreen said:
Happy Potter said:Aw. Get better soon you two. Hugs.
Thanks :)
I was feeling well enough to try getting some sun.. selfie.
Happy Potter said:
I don’t know the name of the wasp I saw dragging the spider but looking at images of them, came across this article. It was the same wasp and is exactly what I observed it down. The wasp was big but the spider even bigger. I’m not sure if you can watch the short video.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-06/huntsman-killer-spider-wasps-turn-crawlies-into-baby-incubators/7068188
hee hee.
“891 ABC Adelaide Facebook fans have shared their stories of encounters with spider wasps.
“My mum had one of these drop a paralysed huntsman into her lap as she was getting into her car,” Eve Rogers wrote.
“The wasp wasn’t going anywhere until she got her hunty back.
“Meanwhile Mum was having a myocardial infarction .”“
roughbarked said:
bluegreen said:
Happy Potter said:Aw. Get better soon you two. Hugs.
Thanks :)
I was feeling well enough to try getting some sun.. selfie.
Need the shirt off to get more sun :)
Happy Potter said:
roughbarked said:
bluegreen said:Thanks :)
I was feeling well enough to try getting some sun.. selfie.
getting too fat for this shirt.Need the shirt off to get more sun :)
My poor garden at Casterton is parched, dusty and cracked:
I can’t dig over the veggie patch at all, as it is just dust. What grass there is is actually green, but I don’t know how it it surviving. My plan at the moment is to keep the grass tidy and as soon as the Autumn break happens, dig over the veggie bed. The soil is flood silt, it’s fabulous to grow in. If I was there to water things, I could have a great Summer garden. But I’m not, so I don’t. Just the way things are.
:)
buffy said:
My poor garden at Casterton is parched, dusty and cracked:
I can’t dig over the veggie patch at all, as it is just dust. What grass there is is actually green, but I don’t know how it it surviving. My plan at the moment is to keep the grass tidy and as soon as the Autumn break happens, dig over the veggie bed. The soil is flood silt, it’s fabulous to grow in. If I was there to water things, I could have a great Summer garden. But I’m not, so I don’t. Just the way things are.
:)
What a magnificent pitch for bowlers. The batsmen would need underwear changes faster than gloves.
roughbarked said:
buffy said:
My poor garden at Casterton is parched, dusty and cracked:a href=“http://s114.photobucket.com/user/lizza_06/media/Casterton/Garden/2016%20CrackedGround1%2026Mar16_zps2jatb0zv.jpg.html” target=”_blank”>
</a<>
:)
What a magnificent pitch for bowlers. The batsmen would need underwear changes faster than gloves.
You need the chooks to make more of that mulch.
roughbarked said:
roughbarked said:
buffy said:
My poor garden at Casterton is parched, dusty and cracked:I can’t dig over the veggie patch at all, as it is just dust. What grass there is is actually green, but I don’t know how it it surviving. My plan at the moment is to keep the grass tidy and as soon as the Autumn break happens, dig over the veggie bed. The soil is flood silt, it’s fabulous to grow in. If I was there to water things, I could have a great Summer garden. But I’m not, so I don’t. Just the way things are.
:)
What a magnificent pitch for bowlers. The batsmen would need underwear changes faster than gloves.
You need the chooks to make more of that mulch.
What I say is true. Your soil is fine and fertile, you just have problems baking the cake. The answer is simple. If your chooks make perfect compost, pay them to work overtime.
Your soil is missing the top layers of the humus compendium.
Stop asking the chooks and make your own mulch.