Friday Five

Hello

Thanks for popping in.

I always enjoyed Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home, did you?  It's such a good way to round off the week with five odds and ends from the week just gone.  Although Amy is no longer doing a link like this, she has started to write some blog posts again. 

Here we go with my week!

1.  Hyacinths -  The second pretty pink one has opened up, so gorgeous and the darker one I showed you last week has turned two-tone ( and is trying to get out of the window!)

2.  Daffodils -  Supermarket daffodils are in abundance, who can resist!

3.  Blanket -  The squares are building up!  So far I've made 5 out of 13 of each colour, apart from the olive ones which was out of stock when I ordered the wool.  Sadly one of my local wool shops has closed down and the others don't have stock either.  Hopefully by next week, I'll have my hands on one.

4.  Snow -  Yesterday we had 5 minutes of beautiful big floppy snowflakes floating like feathers down to the ground.  Although they are in the photos, you won't be able to see them!

5. Tasty treats -  Finishing off the Christmas goodies, how about this fruit cake in its own tin!  It was exceedingly moist and fruity, yum!

The tall tin of pistachio and clotted cream biscuits were also delicious, really crunchy and very creamy. Look how tall and thin the tin is.  I'm not sure what we will use it for yet.  Many thanks for all our wonderful presents.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Cheerio

Caversham Wildlife Park

Hello

Thanks for popping in.

The first thing that strikes you when you arrive in Perth, Australia, apart from the blue, blue sky, is the calls of the birds.  The crows sound more like cats.  The quiet gulahs and noisy parrots are quite colourful.  

Gulahs

Around the City, looking for wildlife, we only came across a small lizard that fell out of a tree as we sat underneath.  We thought it was a stick until it moved! There were some really quick butterflies about and lots of annoying non-biting flies, that hadn't been there during our April visit.  So to see some of the well known native animals, although not necessarily native to Western Australia, we visited Caversham Wildlife Park -  a beautifully landscaped park in the middle of a large bushland park where kangaroos roam.

Privately owned, Caversham is a good mix of hands-on child-friendly interaction, education and conservation.  Let's see what we can find.

Albino kangaroo

Wombat

Olive snake

Splendid tree frogs - that's their name!

Rufus Bettong, a relative of the kangaroo

The olive snake stretched out by some primary school children.  Luckily olive snakes are not venomous.

The quoll is Australia's largest carniverous marsupial.

Quite a spooky owl.

Here's a possum. 

The animals are usually in an enclosure but are brought into a huge building with a keeper to chat to the visitors about them . . .

Female Eclectus Parrot, the male is green, they look so different.

. . . or take photos - that's a wombat, it looks quite different that way up!

Can you spot a couple of echidnas?

The stars of the show are the koalas of course, sat there with their eucalyptus leaves.

Pelican - these you can see around Perth.

A couple more kangaroos, one with a Joey in its pouch, enjoying a good rest.

A great place for children, even those in prams!

Cheerio

Plants, Flowers and Colourful Wonders of Perth

Hello

Thanks for popping in.

It's still quite dark and dreary here in the UK but at least we are heading towards Spring and the days are getting slightly longer.  Spring in Perth, Western Australia is a very colourful affair.  I've already extolled the virtues of the fabulous Kings Park but you only have to wander around the streets to appreciate everybody's gardens to see all the possibilities of plants that are blooming.

From the tiny daisies in the lawns, different to ours, to the blousy roses and garden plants, from the small wild flowers in the Bush areas to magnificent trees, there's a wealth of variety which is wonderful for the visitor and resident alike.  You wouldn't really think that the soil quality is so poor but it has to be improved regularly, water retaining chips added frequently and soil covered to prevent evaporation.  Reticulation systems are in place for watering the garden outside as well as parks but have only to be used on certain days.

Below the palm trees make a pleasant contrast to the busy Highway and bus station.

A quick cup of coffee to keep us going in the City.

You might have noticed my Remembrance Day poppy in the collage above.

The house above that is for sale, has a pile of palm tree branches on the lawn ready for collection and shredding. The Town provides a quarterly green refuse collection together with a twice yearly bulk refuse collection, where you can just put your old sofa or large items on the verge and they are taken away.

I'll be mentioning these purple jacaranda trees in another post.

Even travelling along the busy highways you can spot some colour like this bougainvillea hedge.

The suburban roads are wide and well spaced with plenty of room for trees of many types. There's the City in the distance.

Pretty as a picture!

Cheerio

Having a Look

Hello

Thanks for visiting.

Getting out and about for some fresh air, we were interested to see what had happened to the patch of ground in the middle of the countryside that had been cleared a few months ago.  Would more houses appear?  It seems not.  It's been turned into a rugby pitch with changing rooms and a nature area with a pleasant walk through.  The pitch had had to be relocated due to a new housing estate being built on the old one.  

Certainly the grass is exceptionally green but at least the area will remain peaceful, except for matches!

New trees have been planted to replace those chopped down.

The footpaths meander through the sedge waiting for warmer weather.

The moss is a miniature forest in its own right.

Enjoy your day.

Cheerio

Friday Five

Hello

Thanks for popping in.

Can you believe it's Friday already!

Here are five things from my week.

1.  A bargain from the charity shop, this little teapot-cum-cup is just the ticket for my licorice tea.  I'd offer you a biscuit but they are made of plastic!

2.  Delicious treats from young Mr CK, chocolate raspberries, my favourites, and two loose leaf teas - Peppermint Infusion and Mr CK's favourite Bombay Chai from The East India Company.

3.  My hyacinth is opening up and what a gorgeous colour!  Just behind it is another one peeking out, they are going to look fabulous together.  Sadly I can't smell the scent at the moment as I've gone down with a nasty cold.

4.  My Stylecraft Batik wool has arrived, ready for me to make another blanket during the cold Winter days.
 

5.  A glorious sunset plus a new setting found on my camera which makes it look more like a fire in the distance!

As a postscript to my recent book post, I have now finished The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It raises some interesting questions on separation and was based on a true recollection although it was embellished for the sake of the story.

Have a great weekend.

Cheerio