Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Sunday 30 December 2018

Sunday Selections #412

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  River flagged last week that she may not be joining us for a few weeks.  We will miss her.


Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  Since Christmas it has been hot here.  Not quite as hot as some parts of the country, but way too hot for comfort.  For the next week our temperatures will range from the low to the high 30sC (90 - 100+F).  So I have taken very few photos this week, and am trawling through older ones.  And of course, my usual obsessions with the sky, the birds and the garden will be on display.


And a view of my fruit salad - which I have been largely living on.  


It includes pineapple, mango, passion-fruit, kiwifruit, lychees, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, peach , plum, nectarine, apricot, red and green grapes, and probably more things I cannot think of at the moment.  Yum.  Fruit salad spells Christmas to me.  I made a multitude of Christmas cakes too, but we haven't had any here yet.

From the relative cool of 'inside' we continue to delight in the birds.  


 There have been LOTS of corellas.  Charming, cheeky chaps.





 In this photo you can catch a glimpse of the reason for the multitudes of corellas.  They are very partial to the flowers of the Japanese Silk Tree.  As are the galahs and the cockatoos.




 We can now hand feed this Crimson Rosella too.  He/she is still wary, but getting braver by the day.

We are (naturally) on water restrictions.  I have been weeding early and dragging hoses around in permitted watering times (and fell over yesterday doing so) and the garden and the birds have been loving it. 

When I was complaining/whinging/bitching and moaning about the vandal cockatoos I mentioned that they haven't yet discovered the back yard.  Which means that the sunflowers I planted (for them and others) have flowered.




The lilies are flowering well too.  Some of them are on stems over eight feet tall.


This red one has no scent and doesn't assault sensitive noses.




I hope the New Year (which is approaching at a rate of knots) brings you everything you could hope for.  Stay cool or warm - whichever is appropriate.




142 comments:

  1. You are my favorite fellow bird lover!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cloudia: Thank you. There are a lot of us about.

      Delete
  2. I have been reading about the scorching temperatures across the country and it makes me glad that I visited in September/October when conditions were a little more reasonable. And we went to Tasmania which was pleasantly temperate. That fruit salad looks wonderful. Let it ferment for a while and add a bottle of rum and you will be transported to realms unknown!
    Going back to the weather, I always contend that cold is much easier to deal with than heat. Here in Canada we can always layer up and stay warm and get outside and enjoy ourselves, but the kind of heat you are experiencing is impossible to escape. The whole country will hibernate indoors! How could you live there without air conditioning?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David Gascoigne: I so agree with you that cold is easier to deal with. In addition my MS loves and thrives in the heat, which gives me another reason to dislike it. Quite a lot of people do like the heat though. 'Mad dogs and Englishmen'?

      Delete
  3. Such beautiful shots. Hope it cools off for you soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lady Fi: Thank you. The next couple of months will be challenging but more moderate temperatures will return (and can't come soon enough).

      Delete
  4. I am always in awe when I see pictures of birds... birds visiting your backyard! What an experience!
    I just finished my lunch. I would have a bowl of that great looking fruit salad... no problem!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Caterina: I am loving my fruit salad, and will top it up later today (more mangoes, cherries, lychees and strawberries for starters...).

      Delete
  5. The corellas are gorgeous - but what I really envy is your fruit salad. It's carbohydrate city here in the land of Christmas leftovers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marty Damon: If Christmas fell in our winter it would be carb city here too.

      Delete
  6. hot weather and that's all one should eat is salads, meanwhile we are having soup and stews, we are being inundated with rain most of any winter on record here, mother nature is full of feast or famine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda Starr: Some world-wide weather moderation would be nice.

      Delete
  7. Great shots of birds and flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is exactly what I expect fruit salad to be, except...is that a fire under it? Warm fruit salad?
    Happy new year and cool thoughts to you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne Noragon: No warm fruit salad (horrid thought). I put it on the cooktop (which was firmly off) to take the photo and the light was reflected. Happy New Year to you too. And a healthy one too.

      Delete
  9. I love colorful birds and flowers. So pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful salad, full of tastes. And the birds, you shot them well. Have a beautiful new year 2019.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob Bushell: Thank you - and a very happy New Year to you and yours.

      Delete
  11. Dear EC
    Lovely colourful photos (including that fruit salad). Your lilies are looking beautiful as are your garden visitors. I hope you didn't hurt yourself when you fell.
    With many good wishes for 2019
    Ellie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ellie Foster: Bruises and stained clothing. No more than that fortunately. I hope that your year brings you health and happiness.

      Delete
  12. So much beauty out your windows! I hope Jazz doesn’t get too disgruntled as you try to keep him safe and cool. Or that you don’t bleed too much in the process. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. River Fairchild: A disgruntled Jazz is never a good thing. It is a tad cooler than yesterday so I will probably give in and allow him out for a little while. A very little while.

      Delete
  13. Everything is so lush there - even the birds! I guess the heat is the price you pay for that beauty, though. Even the birds who stay in our winter are monotone in colour - white, greys, browns, and blacks. The finches lose their brilliant yellows and turn greyish-brown with just a dab of pale yellow on their undersides. Nature is ever-wonderful.

    Your fruit salad looks tasty and cool. I wish I could eat lots of fruit. I could at one time, but my innards don't agree now.

    Wishing you and the SP a kind-to-you and healthy-as-possible new year, EC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jenny_o: How sad that your innards deny you fruit (among other things). So very unfair.
      The garden is lush at the moment, but that is watering. I suspect your birds mute their colours for camoflague. Mind you I am always surprised at how hard some of our quite vivid birds can be to see until they move.
      I love your new year wishes - and return them to you. Thank you.

      Delete
  14. Fruit salad looks yummy and healthy

    Those corellas are so colorful

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: My fruit salad is delicious - but doesn't really count as a 'balanced' diet. Tough. Until it cools down I will continue to eat it to the exclusion of almost everything else.

      Delete
  15. I've been having very healthy breakfasts over the past few days...since Christmas Day....a large mug of coffee and a thick slice of Christmas cake! I broke the pattern this morning, though...I had a couple of fruit mince tarts with my coffee...just to add variety to my pattern!!

    Oh, well...I care not...my aim is to please myself...and, so far, that is working out just fine!! Among all the fresh fruit and raw nuts I'm ingesting, a bit of wickedness is allowed to add balance....in my little corner of the world, anyway. :)

    The hares have been hopping energetically around this property over the past couple of days...at my leisure, trying not to expend too much energy of my own, I've enjoyed watching them.

    I wish you and yours all the best for 2019, EC...I hope only good things come your way. Cuddles to Jazz. Stay cool...as best you can, anyway. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lee: Your diet sounds more balanced than mine at the moment. I am a firm believer in the need for treats. It is years since I have seen hares. Lucky you.
      I hope that you, Remy and Shama have a wonderful year ahead.

      Delete
  16. Fruits make for my favorite healthy desserts.

    A saner, safer, healthier, happier New Year to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Saner, safer, healthier and happier sounds WONDERFUL. For the world.

      Delete
  17. Those lilies! I've not had any, not even potted ones, this year.But I do have a lovely rose geranium which, when things cool down, will become many.Its doing so well and still in a pot.And I showed the Banks' rose the photo of yours and it's pulled up its Big Girl Pants and is climbing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. dinahmow: I am glad the rose geranium is thriving. Happy to send more in the fullness of time. The lilies are spectacular this year. And for those who can cope with it, the scent is lovely.

      Delete
  18. Gorgeous flowers. And the Crimson Rosella is a stunner. I have been reading of 49C heat in your neck of the woods. -not pleasant at all for humans. How does the wildlife get on in such temps, I wonder?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bea: Fortunately we won't approach 49C. Shudder. I suspect that the wildlife suffers just as people do. And that some don't survive.

      Delete
  19. That is so hot! I've read that Australia is above normal temps for this time of year. I do hope you'll be all right, dear friend. You should not be falling like that, either. Love your pretty birds and flowers. Thank you for putting a smile on my face. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DJan: I fell because I am a klutz. I was fortunate and got off relatively lightly. Some impressive bruises though. Some of Australia is having some dreadful temperatures. We are hot, but the high 40s is a foretaste of hell.

      Delete
    2. My soon-to-be 70 sister lives in the mid north where temperatures are hovering around 46, she has a small desk fan (I hope it still works) but no other form of cooling. She'll be coping as well as she always does I expect. My brother, who is more mobile than me will probably check on her a couple of times. He drives and has no pets.

      Delete
    3. River: Your poor sister. I really, really hope her fan works.

      Delete
  20. Our summer is only just cranking up to what we think of as 'hot' - 28-30 is usually as hot as it gets. Although there doesn't seem to be much "usually" about the weather any more...
    I love warm weather but wouldn't like to be living in Melbourne (for example) - it was 37 there yesterday when Mr A was watching cricket! I do try to get out for my walk early in the day at this time of year.

    Your birds and flowers are so beautiful, and I would very much like some of that fruit salad! After all of the hullabaloo of the last week I don't feel like cooking at all. Salads and fruit are the order of the day.
    A Happy New Year to you, EC, and stay as cool as you can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alexia: Even 28 is hotter than I like it (but preferable to the temperatures we have been having). It was 37 here yesterday and the day before. In high summer I pretty much become a troll and only come out at night (or very early).
      The fruit salad is an annual indulgence. I make it for my Christmas treat - and keep eating it. A very Happy New Year to you and yours.

      Delete
  21. Cold, wet, windy, miserable here today, but better than too hot! Happy New Year, and hugs across the Dateline.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bill: Much better than too hot (in my eyes). We are a tad cooler today. 34C (94F) rather then the 37/38 of the preceding days. A very, very happy New Year to you and yours.

      Delete
  22. I've never seen a Japanese Silk Tree and now I want one. I wonder if it would grow here in the dry, mostly useless soil? Probably not. The birds are beautiful. I've recently enjoyed the squawky squabbling of sulphur crested cockatoos fighting over which branch of the gum tree to sit on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Japanese (or Persian) silk tree (Albizia julibrissin) is a lovely tree but prone to borers. We have lost one to them, and this one has significant damage.

      Delete
  23. You should have some cooler days coming, only 29 here today and tomorrow, that should move across to you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. River: Ordinarily we do get your weather (a day or two later) but this time the forecast is for the heat to continue. We dip to 31 tomorrow and then it climbs (rapidly) again).

      Delete
  24. Wow. Beautiful gardens and birds, and i envy you your fruit salad!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. messymimi: Thank you. I spent an hour or so this afternoon topping the fruit salad up. And is is delicious.

      Delete
  25. you inspired me to make fruit salad for Christmas (well i actually got the girls to do it) but somehow i just couldnt think what to put in it and it ended up as a lot of melon plus a few strawberries. It was nice but not spectacular, a bit of coconut ice cream jazzed it up a whole lot!

    a neighbour of ours gave us mango pudding which i have been eating for breakfasts with a bit of shortbread thrown in for a change sometimes!

    my very best wishes to you for the new year!

    xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. kylie: Good thinking on getting the girls to do it. Cutting up the fruit is seriously time-consuming - and sticky. I am not really an ice cream fan - but could make an exception for coconut ice cream.
      Mango pudding? Drool.

      Delete
  26. You have such beautiful blooms in your garden and of course wonderful bird visitors. I hope the heat subsided a bit for your comfort and to help your MS. Thanks for all the comments you have left on my posts over the past year and may I wish you and your family a happy and healthy 2019 Sue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Margaret Adamson: Thank you. Today was a little cooler than predicted (yay), and tomorrow shouldn't be toooo bad. After that it will ramp up again - but it is summer after all.

      Delete
  27. Your fruit salad looks delicious. Can I have some, with cream? The Japanese silk tree is very pretty. I've never seen one before. All good in your garden, in spite of the heat and water restrictions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andrew: Of course you can have some - though I suspect it wouldn't travel through the post well. Part of the garden (particularly the weedy bits) are indeed thriving.

      Delete
  28. I've just realized you live in the Southern Hemisphere as well. We've had incredibly hot weather for weeks. At last it rained two days ago, and is raining now again cooling things down a bit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jo: Definitely Southern Hemisphere and definitely hot. We had three (or perhaps fours) spits of rain last night.

      Delete
  29. Good evening! !
    It is 9:30 PM on 30th Japan time now.
    It is the custom of Japan's year end.
    In the year end, we say “Yoi otoshi wo” to each other wishing for the coming
    year to be pleasurable.
    The New Year season is the most significant season for the Japanese.
    All the Christmas décor is switched to the New Year’s in a blink.
    Major New Year icons are the pine tree, bamboo, plums and so on. All of them are symbols of good fortune and longevity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ryoma Sakamoto.Japan: Welcome and thank you. It is 6.41 AM on the 31st here.
      I hope your New Year is delightful, and filled with pine trees, bamboo and plums.

      Delete
  30. There is nothing like a cold fruit salad on a hot day - especially when paired with a chilled pinot gris! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. daisyfae: Chilled pinot gris? Or merlot? Now there is a thought. Fruit salad goes well with bubbles too.
      And a very Happy New Year to you too.

      Delete
  31. 90 to 100 F is hot! Hope you survive that. MS makes it much harder I would imagine. We have not had water restrictions here while I've lived here. We had them in other areas where I've lived in long hot summers following winters of little rain. I thought by end of last summer there might be some put into place but no. We've had lots of rain this November and December and snow, so am hoping this means a normal water summer. We rely completely on winter mountain snow for summer water.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Strayer: After a couple of horrendous droughts this stage of our water restrictions is permanent. And sometimes gets escalated. I hope you do get enough water this summer - we rely on winter rain too - which didn't happen.

      Delete
  32. OMG - I'm salivating right now because that fruit salad looks so amazing, and includes everything I adore! Never heard of corellas, but they are so stunning! Happy New Year EC! Hugs...RO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RO: It really is a delicious salad. And is filled with my favourite fruits. A very Happy New Year to you too.

      Delete
  33. Hi EC, I noticed Canberra is really hot. Hope you didn't hurt yourself falling while watering the garden. Crimson rosellas are beautiful to look at, but they are giving me a headache at the moment. Love the closeup of the Corella, so you can see clearly its strange blue and red coloured face. Happy New year to you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue Catmint: It is hot. We have a small respite today and then the heat ramps up again. Is the headache the crimsons are giving you literal or metaphorical? Like many of our other birds they can be destructive.

      Delete
    2. It's literal. They were screeching day and night for a couple of weeks, but they must have stripped the nectar from the gum flowers because it's quiet again. I know they are aggressive and can be destructive, but they are so wonderful to look at. Unfortunately they rarely come down to ground level in my garden, they are just seasonal visitors that stay up high.

      Delete
    3. Sue Catmint: We have a small family group who visit often but cause MUCH less damage than the cockies (and the corellas). They do punch considerably above their weight though on the feistiness stakes.

      Delete
  34. Such beautiful photos and the fruit salad looks delicious. Wishing you a safe and wonderful New Year!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. my biggest vandal is my own butt-head, AKA Taedy Baer, who loves to dig in my irises.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Author R. Mac Wheeler: You should have buried the body/bodies deeper...

      Delete
  36. Fruit salad is what we live on this weather too, cooking in my kitchen in summer is like hell on earth lovely in winter thou.
    Merle........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Merlesworld: Hooray for fruit salad. There has been some cooking for the other inhabitant of the house, but not a lot. And this week is also going to be hot so the pattern continues.

      Delete
  37. Your fruit salad is wonderful, we too have been unseasonably warm and had an unusual amount of rain. A happy and abundant New Year to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. e: Thank you so much. The warmth continues, and we would welcome some rain. We had three spits last night.
      I do hope that your New Year is happy, healthy and infinitely less challenging than this.

      Delete
  38. The birds are gorgeous. My cousin in ACT has told me about the very hot weather.... hard to survive when it's so hot every day. I;m wishing you some nice cool breezes for the New Year.
    All the best for 2019 to you and the family.... be happy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shammickite: Cool breezes would be nice, but aren't (yet) a happening thing. I hope that 2019 brings you everything you could hope for.

      Delete
  39. I'm back! Or will be tomorrow:)
    I always love your beautiful photos of birds and your garden.
    Fruit salad is one of my faves too. Yours looks mouthwatering. I toss in coconuts and nuts.
    Happy New Year, my friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandra Cox: Coconut and nuts would be a nice addition. Thank you - though I toss both in my 'other salads'.
      Happy New Year to you, and hugs.

      Delete
  40. Great series of photos and I agree, the coconut and nuts are a nice addition. Loved the photos as I always do. I envy you your birds, even the naughty ones :) I had a starling at the feeder out back yesterday and today. It is the first time I have seen one in about a year. I've been wondering when his 10,000 relatives will turn up!!! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Denise inVA: Thank you. I suffer from world-wide avian envy and would love to see some of 'your' birds too. If the starlings are like our pigeons when word gets out you will be inundated.

      Delete
    2. I am surprised that the same starling turned up the next day, minus his thousands of cousins :) I'm still waiting for them.

      Delete
    3. Denise inVA: Perhaps you have escaped, and your solitary starling is an outcast.

      Delete
  41. I love seeing your flowers during my winter. And your birds are spectacular! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mshatch: I have been revelling in cool images from your side of the globe. A very Happy New Year to you - and a big welcome to Bruno.

      Delete
  42. Love the birds and those beautiful flowers and that fruit salad looks too good to eat. I can almost taste it from here. A wonderful selection of fruit too. Happy New Year to you both.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mimsie: The fruit salad continues to be excellent. Another stinking hot day here, so it will probably be lunch and dinner again.
      A Happy New Year and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you.

      Delete
  43. Happy New Year Sue! Love you blog photos and I am sorry that I have been absent a lot with commenting. Hopefully 2019 will be better for my use of time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grannie Annie: Happy New Year. You are welcome whenever you find the time/energy to stop by.

      Delete
  44. I should plant a flower for indoors so I could see some color during these drab ugly months; but.......I do not have a green thumb for stuff indoors. I do fine outdoors in the spring and summer, but......Your flower pictures always make me smile and makes me envious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandy: I am not good with indoor plants either. Any which survive are very, very hardy critters.

      Delete
  45. These are so beautiful! I hope you have a great new year :)

    www.ficklemillennial.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  46. Happy New Year to you! Your fruit salad looks so delicious and your feathered friends are always a delight. Thanks for sharing that list of words posts, I shall try my best to add to many of them too. It's always fun to jog our thoughts with random words. I am a lover of words. Words are a gift (or sometimes a curse) that cause so much meaning for us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen S.: A very Happy New Year to another word nerd. And thank you.

      Delete
  47. Oh your warm-weather Christmas so fascinates me;
    the fruit salad looks amazing. All those fresh things.
    We're doing root veg and apples still fresh from the trees. And lots of hot soup:) Good to see blooming things. I've been cutting and arranging evergreens into wreathes and making table arrangements out of spruce and pine and cypress and magnolia. And bright red berries. Lots of fun making things in a cold barn for customers:) It's been joy to use my hands to create art with nature again. Your sunflowers feel like a pleasant dream.
    Love to you where you are,
    Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jennifer Richardson: I really like the sound of your wreathes and table arrangements. As well as being beautiful I suspect they smell delightful too. Your food sounds lovely too, I am a big, big fan of seasonal. Hugs.

      Delete
  48. Love the photos of the birds and flowers. Your fruit salad looks and sounds so delicious. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rasma Raisters: Thank you - and a very Happy New Year to you too.

      Delete
  49. Your birds take my breath away. And to hand feed...wondrous.
    Happy New Year, my friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandra Cox: We are blown away by the trust that they give us. And know we are incredibly privileged.
      Happy New Year to you and yours.

      Delete
  50. Happy New Year to you.
    Lovely photos of some of our parrots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Margaret-whiteangel: Thank you. We do love the birds who visit. Including the vandals.

      Delete
  51. My dear friend EC,
    Thank you so very much for you kindest words of comfort to me.

    Till yesterday I could not had the courage to do a homage post telling you all my friends that my dear husband Carlos passed away.
    I am so very sad more than I can say. I can not believe that he never more will stay at my side and embrace me..

    I wish my dear friend that you have a Very Happy New Year filled with much joy, happiness, health and peace.

    Hugs and Love to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sonia a. mascaro: I was so sorry to learn of your loss. Be kind and gentle to yourself. Please.

      Delete
  52. Oh how absolutely breathtaking!!
    Thank you so, so, much for these wonderful images...oh WOW...😊😊

    And wishing you a Happy New Year!

    Big Hugs xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ygraine: Huge thanks. I hope you are feeling better by the day and wish you a happy (and healthy) New Year.

      Delete
  53. I haven't seen a Japanese Silk Tree before. I can see why the corellas like them:)
    Have a great one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandra Cox: The corellas love them and the ground beneath the tree is littered with chewed blooms.

      Delete
  54. I like seeing other people's garden and pets/creatures, the birds look so at home. the flowers are quite pretty.

    just as you are experiencing hot weather, we are having a cool winter.

    happy new year!

    p.s. - I'm on new york time zone so my Words for Wednesday post might be a day late to people outside the U.S., just fyi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lissa: I have seen your Words for Wednesday post and really enjoyed the takes on your prompts which have landed already.
      The birds which visit us ARE at home, and their species were here long before us.

      Delete
  55. Oh my gosh! There it is! The fruit salad you mentioned on my blog. It looks even better than I imagined it to be. Why can't we be neighbors? Then I could ask you to bring some over :)

    Elsie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elsie Amata: It is wonderful. This is yet another hot, hot, hot day and I will be having fruit salad for dinner. And would happily share it if you were here.

      Delete
  56. What stunning colors! Love those white birds with the vivid blue eyes. As usual I loved the stroll through the flora and fauna where you live. Today I'm working on staying warm. It's down in the 30s C. and that's cold for California near the coast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. cleemckenzie: The corellas rock the blue eye make up don't they? Better than any person I have seen. I hope you can stay warm - I would be more than happy to send some of ours your way.

      Delete
  57. I love sunflowers. My grandfather planted them every year when I was a kiddo. I remember them being so much taller than I was:)
    Have a creative day and pleasant evening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandra Cox: My father planted them most years too - and yes, they stood taller than me too. These (because of the heat) are only about five feet tall. The birds will like the seeds though.

      Delete
  58. Your garden! Love the Japanese Silk Flowers, they're new to me. How lucky you are to live so close to such beauty! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All Consuming: Aren't those blooms lovely? And the birds benefit too.

      Delete
  59. Hi EC! Sorry I'm late! I'm sorry about the heat too! I don't know how you do it! Your fruit salad looks amazing! I could eat that all day, with your Christmas cake! I hope you didn't hurt yourself, from you fall!! You have to take care of you! You are a special lady! Your pictures to me, are always magical and breath taking! Thank you so much for sharing your birds and your gorgeous garden! EC, I am sending you and your loved ones many blessings for a great, healthy, happy and abundant 2019!!! Big Hugs and Much Love! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Magic Love Crow: You are not late. You are very, very welcome whenever you arrive. And huge thanks. I hope that your year is all of the good things you wished for me - and more.

      Delete
  60. I see you are using those wonderful glass saucepans. I have 2 sets of them, various sizes, and use them all the time. But I broke one of the lids so I've been keeping my eye open at thrift stores to see if I can find a replacement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shammickite: We love our glass saucepans. Is it worth contacting the manufacturer about a lid? Most of ours are interchangeable, but the lid for the one I use for fruit salad is huge and fits nothing else.

      Delete
    2. I don't think they are still manufactured, or at least I haven't seen them advertised in the stores. Mine are about 25 years old! My best bet to find a lid is the thrift shop, they do appear on the shelf every so often!

      Delete
    3. Shammickite: Good luck. I can't remember when we got our glass saucepans, but yes it was quite some time ago. And I love them.

      Delete
  61. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wow, you're getting to be a real bird whisperer, aren't you? It's cool that so many birds have been eating from your hand. I think it's safe to say they know you'll do them no harm. (They're, um... in good hands!)

    Your birds and flowers are gorgeous. Our weather's been so wet and warm, way too many plants are already in bud. Poor things don't seem to know it's winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan: Some wet would be more than welcome but I am over the warm. Well over it. We really are privileged in gaining the trust of so many birds.

      Delete
  62. Fruit salad. YUM! Happy 2019 with a great big side of boogie boogie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Happy Whisk: BIG yum. And a happy year to you and Tim.

      Delete
  63. Eight foot tall lilies? Wow! Oh, and I'll have a big bowl of that fruit salad please.... Happy New Year EC!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Molly Bon: We very, very rarely get lilies that reach for the sky quite so enthusiastically. You will have to get in quickly for the fruit salad, there is not a lot left. And a Happy New Year to you and yours.

      Delete
  64. Charming cheeky birds - it's funny how we tend to love them, right? My biggest birds in the garden currently are scrub jays which are super cheeky and very vocal, digging up the soil to bury the peanuts I put out for them. Nevertheless, I love them. I also love the more cheeky crows who sometimes come in to snack on the peanut suet block.
    How lucky you are to have those sunflowers. My attempts of growing sunflowers were always finished by either the birds or the squirrels. I saw a squirrel taking off with a huge sunflower bloom in its mouth, dragging it across the "lawn". Cheeky monsters, but still beloved by me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carola Bartz: Incontinent, destructive and much loved. I am surprised that the birds haven't found the sunflowers. And may plant more of different varieties next year.

      Delete
  65. Time to get out and blog again, so waving hello to you.

    ReplyDelete
  66. I do hope the weather will cool down for you soon.
    You've shared some lovely photographs.
    Fruit salads (any salad) is perfect for hot days.

    My good wishes for 2019.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lowcarb team member ~Jan: Thank you. For the next few months there will be a LOT of salads made and consumed here. And all the best to you, Eddie and your family for the year(s) to come.

      Delete
  67. I love the red lily. So beautiful and I think it is great that it doesn't have a scent as I have many friends whose allergies get irritated by lilies.

    So many lovely photos!
    ~Jess

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DMS ~Jess: I have a lot of friends who have problems with those scents too. I am grateful that I don't but sympathise with those who do. And don't bring the blooms inside when any of those friends are expected.

      Delete