Swarth

I used to call an expanse of lawn a "swarth" which had David teasing me endlessly. He pointed out there was such a thing as a "sward" of grass and even a "swathe" of grass. But my brain had combined the two and  made "swarth". Actually, it's not a bad word, is it? I just looked it up - guess what? It's a real word! Our brand new swarth is currently being drenched by rain, a very satisfactory thing. The swarth was extended on Friday by a pallet of cheap offcuts courtesy of the turf company. Quite a large area is now under proper grass and what an improvement a good swarth makes to the outlook over the dam!

It is officially winter. I am wearing a cardigan. David is still doggedly in shorts. The house is performing really well thermally. Here is the weather station today showing that it is 13.3C outside and 20C inside - with no heating! It's cooling down now it is dark.

Looking forward to the installation next week of our new wood burning stove. Its a Lopi Avalon Camano, for those interested in what we selected. http://www.lopi.com.au/wood/camano.html

Today we had a quiet indoors day, phone calls, emails, paperwork. But the indoor plants had an outdoor day, getting drenched in all that nitrogen-rich rainwater. That's an indoor gardening secret for you - rainwater bristles them up like nothing else.

All the rain and cooler weather has been bringing in some new birds. This big bird is a straw-necked ibis who has been foraging in the boggy area between the dam and the new creek we have created. We have decided not to drain this area, but will rehabilitate it to a proper wetland by spraying out the weed species and planting riparian and bog plants. Eventually. Big plans. Big talk.

These (below) are hardy head ducks. Males have startling white eyes and blue/white bills.

The more common visitors are the wood ducks (below). Big mobs of them swoop in with their feet forward like landing gear and splash down noisily to bathe and carry on.

Beating wings, ducking under, waggling tails, flicking water, rolling about. Quite a kerfuffle.

They are loving the new grass around the top of the dam. Lots of fertilising going on.

Sometimes the bathing is hilarious. The duck somersaults and rolls and flaps until it completely disappears in a plume of water.