Busy busy bee

Autumn is a time of frantic industriousness....a rush of preparation for winter.

  Here we've been lucky enough to have had a wonderful season

and everything has flourished in abundance, especially the weeds! 

In the garden my cosmos, which I have grown for the very first time, are attracting the bees.

  Their buzzing is incessant and their busyness admirable. 

But busyness can sometimes mask what's important...

lull us into thinking we are doing what we should be when we're not. 

Time to take a breath, smell the flowers, listen to the hum,

 feel the chill in the air and the pull of something more urgent,

that just maybe we are letting slip by, or choosing to ignore. 

Waiting

Doctor's appointments are renowned for being delayed so it was no surprise when I turned up to be told that the doctor was running a little late and perhaps I'd like to go and have a coffee and they would phone me when it was my turn.  I had a coffee before I left home to drive the 40 minutes down the winding mountain road through rain forest towards the coast and my appointment in the little town of Bellingen.  So I grabbed my umbrella and knowing my camera was in my handbag I wandered down the side street to see what I could see.

With no expectations I wasn't disappointed. 

Tin roofed cottages brimming with spring flowers, sweet smelling jasmine, delicious wisteria, 

azaleas and buttery banksia rose, rainbow lorikeets feasting on grevillea's nectar.

 Mallard-type ducks puddling about close to the creek,

 and all the time looming clouds promising rain. 

In no time at all my phone was ringing and I fumbled to answer it with camera and umbrella in hand!  The waiting was over and it was my turn next.  Shucks!  I hurried back disappointed to have to leave but realising that sometimes waiting can be enjoyable.  

What do you do when you have to wait for an appointment?  

Do you carry a book to keep you amused or start up a conversation, 

or perhaps you browse through a magazine?  

I hope you don't sit and get agitated!

Bye for now

Neighbours

How I enjoy it when my neighbour asks if I would mind feeding their dog and giving him a bit of a run,  because they'll be away for a night.  That means I can venture down the road; sometimes I walk, other times if I'm in a rush or if it's raining I take the car.  They have a gorgeous garden and at this time of year there is a delicious display of spring flowers, gerberas, freesias, violets, camelias, a vibrant yellow grevillea and a profusion of primulas, to name a few.  I was even lucky enough to see a Macleay's Swallowtail in the veggie patch, though it flits its wings at such a pace that it was really hard to get a decent photo. 

(Just to clarify...the first photo is actually through a spider's web...not a window as my husband thought.)

As I was writing this post, the following words from the theme song

 to the long running  Australian TV series 'Neighbours' kept playing in my ears!

To excuse myself, I don't watch it, but we all know the theme song, 

which I learnt today was written by Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch.  Well fancy that!

Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours With a little understanding, you can find the perfect blend Neighbours, should be there for one another That's when good neighbours become good friends Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours Just a friendly wave each morning, helps to make a better day Neighbours, need to get to know each other Next door is only a footstep away

I love visiting my neighbour when she's home too, because she is a friend as well as a neighbour.

Are you lucky enough to have a neighbour like that?

Bye for now

Blazing from Winter to Spring

In no time at all it will officially be Spring here in Australia!  

It already feels like it's here with longer days, warm breezes, 

and the smell of native daphne floating on the air.

Sharing here that transition from frost-chilled orange juice for breakfast and bonfires, 

to the buzzing of busy bees around a bottlebrush in balmy Bellingen!

  the cattle were inquisitive when we cleared a fence line and had a bonfire

Crimson Rosella


Native daphne or sweet pittosporum which I read is becoming a weed in some areas.  
Sad because the perfume is delicious

flowering pear blossom 

budding tulip tree against the moon 

Australian red cedar (Toona ciliata var. australis) ~ new pink growth.  
I'll tell you more about this wonderful tree soon.

bottle brush (don't ask me which one!)

I was listening to a program which spoke about the demise of the awareness of the seasons

because so many of us have air conditioned houses, cars and work places 

and so the seasons can pass without us feeling or noticing any change.

If this is the case, then I feel very sorry for those people

but I for one will keep on seeing and sensing the seasons

 and I'm pretty sure you will too!

Bye for now

Look and see.

How's your week been?  

Two of my grandchildren had birthdays this week, 

so we have had some wonderful family time.

But in between I've been trying to see in a different way. 

Looking as if seeing things for the first time.

Appreciating patterns, shapes and the space between.

 It's surprising what you see when you look through different eyes, isn't it?

Bye for now