What's happening in the garden?

A garden is a true friend of entropy. It will always eventually revert to chaos without order being created by virtue of the input of energy. The source of most of that energy in our beginning garden is David. He's out there nearly every day, mowing, weeding, spraying, digging, mulching, brush cutting. It is pleasing for us when people comment on how much we have achieved in the nearly 12 months we have been here. Yesterday we planted eight kangaroo paw plants that we divided up from one large pot bought a couple of weeks ago. Today, I will start propagating the spotted gums that we plan to put right across our front boundary. I have sourced seed from a nursery in Cobargo that harvests from properly spotty south coast spotted gums growing near the Murramurrang National Park. Local spotted gums are more blotchy than spotted. Interesting to see if these ones grow true to their parent trees.

Last week the Hallidays Point Garden Club had its monthly meeting at our place. Apparently it is very interesting to see a big garden in its beginning phases. There was a huge turnout - at least 40 people came, listened to our story as part of the proceedings and then swarmed all over the block with their cups of tea in hand. We picked up a few tips (such as: don't plant lotus in your dam) and made some contacts for future cuttings, seedlings etc. Neither of us thought to take any photos, der. So here's one I took later the same day of a full moon rising over our trees.

Pool progress is on pause. Yesterday David and I got into the empty shell and walked a lap, making swimming actions and noises. Pathetic, huh. It's going to be good, I think. Never had a pool before. Love the idea.

This is the time of year that the birds around here start to get all reproductive. The welcome swallows are back, zooming around like Astro Boy, looking for mud out of the dam, looking for places to build. They keep doing swift aerial forays in and out of our covered deck area. So fast they are hard to follow with your eyes, let alone a camera. This one (below) must have had an unfortunate encounter with a window because it sat still for quite a few minutes, just like this. Then suddenly it was off, although flying at about half speed.

Our resident pair of masked lapwings are even more abusive than usual at present. They make a hammeringly loud call at you if you come near and they swoop repeatedly. This is why (below). They have four newly hatched chicks. The mother keeps trying to corral them under her wings, but one always seems to escape and run off, which causes a lot of shouting.

These birds nest in a scrape on the open ground, so its a miracle they weren't mowed off. Last night when we drove home after dark, they were all nestled up together on the concrete apron in front of the garage. Little birds running left and right in the headlights, parents making panicked calls. How will they ever survive, with no common sense whatsoever?

If those two manage to actually raise those chicks, I will be amazed.