Trimming the Lilly Pilly

We have four Lilly Pillies that we put in to provide a screen as our neighbour's kitchen window over looks our garden. They grow with such vigour that they completely hide the whole house which is fine for us but makes it a bit dingy for the neighbours doing the washing up. Every now and then I shove Virginia up a lader and she chops it back. I am not allowed to take action shots but here is a picture taken with the job half done.

Hot

Gosh, it is hot today.

Got some nice beans from the "bean bed".

Canoeing on the Woronora River

I hired a canoe from here and had a lovely couple of hours. I ended up with sunburnt ankles and stiff shoulders but it was worth it. I could get into this.

Canoeing at Audley

We drove to Audley in the Royal National Park and hired a canoe from the boat-shed there. We were out for two hours and once we had worked out a chain of command progressed very nicely. We had the river to ourselves and I have to say that boating through the bush is better than hiking. There are no hills on gentle inland waters. A lovely morning!

Kayaking at Tea Gardens

On thre second day of our camping trip we decided to try our hand at kayaking. It was a lovely spot on the Myall river at Tea Gardens and the people who took us on the tour were great. Unfortunately I had major problems in fitting into the kayak. As the picture show I was leaning back and couldn't get myself upright. The shooting pains in my thighs detracted rather from the pleasures of the trip!

However I liked the concept so I shall investigate to see if kayaks come in larger sizes; I shall never be able to emulate a swivel hipped Inuit!

The pelicans were not that impressed either.















I was rather taken with this houseboat.

Raised Garden Beds

I had always regarded Aldi as a food supermarket. I was alerted by friends to their special purchases on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I bought six raised garden beds that they had at a very nice price and I have put up three of them.

 This one has lettuces and a couple of cucumbers at the back. The bed is in a shady position (to suit the lettuces which bolt at the drop of a hat if put out in the open) and it has been favoured with a brick plinth

 The second bed has been planted with perennial basil, parsley, french beans and leeks. I fear that I might have been a little bit optimistic about my plant spacing.

 The beans are forming nicely.

An indulgence - a mass planting of petunias with a couple of geraniums. 

Rainbow Lorikeets

The Lilly Pilly trees in out garden have been flowering - the flowers which are white and fluffy grow out of lovely red flower buds. They attract Rainbow Lorikeets which are very noisy as they go about their business. The subspecies that visits us is Swainson's Lorikeet  (Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus).