2021 Begins

January started with a blast of hot summer days which is very typical of this time of the year.  Forty degree heat become hot sticky nights if the southerly ocean breeze doesn’t come.  The night can remain hot until the easterly winds bring a cool desert breeze, by 7am this has one again turned into a scorcher as the Nullarbor desert heats up. North Beach missed the only January shower which passed just to the north of us, so no top up for my water tank this month.

The summer weather also brings out the garden pests, such as the white cabbage moth and leaf minor, which disfigure my citrus leaves as they eat trails in the top layer of the leaves.  I used to have lots of slaters and Indian millipede but I think the bobtails have reduced their numbers since I’ve moved in, although there are still far too many for my liking as they munch any seedlings I leave unprotected.  I still have a lot of slugs and an occasional snail.  I found a mole-cricket which I suspect came in with the new lawn.  He didn’t last long.  I’ve spotted a few stink bugs too, they are carriers of plant disease as they suck the nutrients out of leaves and fruits, they also have a hideous smell thus the name.  I even caught a large green grasshopper in my citrus tree. There are of course occasional bouts of scale and the like.  The good thing is I have lots of insect catching birds and beneficial bugs in my garden too. The bobtails not only eat the bugs but they also help themselves to my strawberries which have been struggling in the heat. Recently I found another bobtail skin. I’m sure they feel safe in my garden to be able to shed. It was 40cm long!

I have lots of birds visiting my garden.  Just the other day I was sitting eating breakfast when a little bird sat on the wall less than half a meter away.  Some of the birds I see include crows (ravens), butcher birds, red wattle bird, willy wagtails, magpielarks, magpies of course, and I’ve even heard the call of the Tawny frogmouth owl which lives in Star Swamp. Flocks of pink and grey galahs, some sulphur-crested cockatoos, occasionally both the white and the red-tailed black cockatoo, the latter being an endangered species, also fly overhead. Then there are the imports from the Eastern States like the Kookaburra’s and rainbow lorikeets.

The beneficial insects in my garden include the paper wasps, whose nest is attached to the wall under some geraniums.  I’m told they lay their eggs in caterpillars and as long as they are left alone they are not aggressive, so they are welcome to stay.  I also have ‘Leaf Cutter Bees’ – these are solitary native bees which cut little circular holes in the leaves of my roses to make a blanket for their eggs.  Although she is very destructive I leave her alone, as she also does a job of pollinating. The hoverfly is another beneficial insect, which camouflages itself as a bee.  They attack a range of soft-bodied insects, including aphids. There have been swarms of these all over my garden this year.  The ladybird of course comes in for a feed of aphids too, when they are around. Then there’s my new addition, an insect eating plant named Drosera Capensis, which is called a mozzie muncher.  I decided this small plant might help catch a few mozzies, which love my type A+ blood.  I’m told that mozzies prefer A+, and all the people I know who have a problem with mosquitos are of course A+. 

Walking back from church one Sunday I could hear the sulphur crested galahs in a tree.  As I gazed up I could see one peeking down at me.  It looked like he was saying “So! What are you looking at?” I had to laugh.  Who’s checking who out?

Although I love the birds coming into my garden, when you have fruit trees, you have to protect the fruit with nets.  I’ve tried other methods but found only nets covering the whole tree really do the job. I had to share the blueberries this year as our native birds found them, by that time it wasn’t worth netting the bush.  I did net my three bunches of grapes, but by the time I cut the first bunch off, the top grapes had already been eaten, but wow what lovely sweet grapes they are. The last bunch, I’m not sure how those sneaky birds got under the net, but the whole bunch was eaten!  The vine is a seedless sultana grown from a cutting from a neighbours vine.  The three pears are ripening too.  I netted them before they got pecked.  And I can’t believe it, my wisteria has blossomed for the third time this year! Seems my garden is growing things in threes lately.

My water feature area is now completed (well, for the time being) with the urn holding the bulrush, and another water dish with Bacopa Caroliniana growing, which is often used in fish tanks. I’m hoping this will grow over the lily pond to help protect the fish during the winter months when the lily hibernates.  It will also cascade over the side of its pot where the mosquitos have been breeding, which makes a great place to catch them to feed to the fish.  I’m going to have to be diligent in checking the water dishes as I definitely don’t want any larvae hatching!  I bought three pygmy perch but unfortunately one jumped out while I was refilling the pond. I didn’t see it till a few hours later, dried up in the sand. I hope the other two will not follow suit!  Hopefully spoiling them regularly with mosquito larvae will help them to stay.  Regrettably, a few weeks later, another fish disappeared.

I finally finished repairing my urn, with three extra coats of water-proofing inside and glue in the hairline crack on the outside.  I then part-filled it to cover the Australian bulrush which I repotted into a larger pot.  I checked the crack after a few hours and praise the Lord, it wasn’t leaking, although I did only have a small amount of water in it. It wasn’t long before I noticed there were mosquito wrigglers in the water. Some I scooped out for the perch, then found a net to put over the top and tie around the bulrush to prevent further mosquitoes getting in and the hatched larvae getting out. I was determined to get more fish but unsure of what type.

On visiting a pet shop, en route home one day, I asked about small fish that will eat mosquito larvae and was shown some white cloud mountain minnow which are actually very colourful and I thought were perfect for the urn. I added more water after raising the bulrushes by sitting the pot on bricks, which the fish can also hide under.  I also bought three sucking cat fish or Siamese algae-eaters; one for the urn and the others to help keep the algae down in the lily pond.  When I looked into how to keep both varieties, I was surprised to read that the white cloud also eat algae, which is great. So now I have more pets added to my menagerie.  I’m also happy knowing the mosquitoes will be kept at bay. Its lovely sitting on the end of my stone wall watching the fish in the lily pond.  I’ve even seen new lily buds forming.

My joy was short lived when the following day I saw a dead minnow.  Taking a closer look, I could only see one live minnow swimming around the urn.  I took the bulrush out to see if I could see the catfish but no sign of it there or the others in the lily pond.  They could of course be hiding, camouflaged on the bottom.  I hoped so.  I rang the shop, who suggested I bring in a water sample from the bottom of the urn and if all was ok, they would replace the fish.  I did wonder if it could be caused by the waterproofing, although it stated it was fish pond safe.  When I took the water sample in (looking like urine in sample jars) the conclusion was high ammonia in the urn but all ok in the lily pond.  It was suggested I take half the water out of the urn and replace it with rain water as it was most likely the tap water with too much chlorine that caused the problem.  So no more fish for the urn till it’s safe.  After a search on google, I found that white vinegar also reduced the ammonia so I tried a small amount and tested it a few days later.  The pet shop attendant was surprised at my success and although it wasn’t perfect, it had certainly reduced to a safe level.  I added more and tested again, showing the water was definitely improved.

Later in the month, Glenda and I went to the Fish and Lily Farm in Woodvale, where I wanted to buy some water plants and check out more fish.  This time I bought Rosy Barb, a small orange fish, which not only eats mosquito lavae, but also algae, so apparently, they do not need feeding. I bought six as they were only four dollars each. One was a darker colour so I put him and one of the orange ones in with the remaining perch, hoping they will become friends. The rest went into the urn with some long grassy water weed, Vallis which I’m hoping will encourage them to breed.  The fluffy Milfoil water weed, which I also bought, I put into the lily pond for the fish to hide in when the lily dies down over winter. I also put some wire mesh around the pond as I suspected a cat may be hooking the fish out of the water and then leaving them to die. It will be interesting to see if I find any more fish outside the pond.  I also purchased a bottle of water purifier, which is supposed to neutralise tap water before adding it to fish tanks.

When checking all were ok a few days later, I noticed one of the minnows may have survived, as there was a smaller darker fish in the urn with the Rosy Barb. What a bonus.  I do hope the catfish have also survived, although I have only seen one in the lily pond. I’m presuming the other is ok too, but none in the urn.  It either didn’t survive or I can’t see it because it is quite small and well camouflaged. God-willing now both the urn and the pond will stabilise, forming a natural environment, which will remaining clean.  I’ve now found another container I can use for holding water and hope to buy some edible taro, English water cress and Kang Kong. Looks like I might need a few more fish to keep these waters free of mosquitos too.

Since October, I have been planning a trip to Australind (but went to Newman instead). I wanted to visit family-friends from Christmas Island.  Lyn was one of my primary school teachers there. Since the arrival of both families into Australia, we have had frequent contact over the years, with their family visiting ours in Perth or ours travelling down to Northcliffe, where we would stay on their dairy farm during the summer holidays. There was always lots to do on the farm helping out around the house, making bottled fruit, babysitting, bringing in the cows or taking a trip to Windy Harbour on the coast for the day.  The farm has since been sold and Lyn moved to Australind, where she was later joined by her daughter Neesha and partner Danny.  Australind is two hours south of North Beach and my last visit south was in May 2019 with my cousin Val from the UK.

Finally the timing was right for a trip south. I wanted to leave in the afternoon as I had planned for Dan to finish off his granite bench for the grass.  Unfortunately he was unable to come as planned, so still with a list of things to do, I finally headed off by 1pm.  I stopped to fill up with petrol before I left Perth as it’s cheaper here.  We were in the middle of some very hot weather with 40+ degrees Fahrenheit predicted over the next few days. I had watered my garden before leaving and asked my neighbour Kath to water the seedlings while I was away.  I arrived in Australind mid-afternoon and had a lovely time catching up that evening.  The following day Lyn and I took her dogs for a walk along the estuary before Neesha picked me and one of the dogs up to get her coat groomed.  After dropping the dog we drove into Bunbury for a look around and a coffee.  We also bought some fresh stone fruit.  The apricots were amazing, unlike those which are picked while still green, these are picked ripe off the trees and were so flavoursome. After taking the dog home, I surveyed Lyn’s garden with her, collecting plants for mine, then drove Lyn back into Bunbury where we met the others for Yum Cha.

I left for home just before 3:30pm, aware I would hit peak hour traffic but didn’t want to get home too late.  I was pleasantly surprised, arriving home by 5:20pm with plenty of time to unload the plants and water the garden after a day of heat.  I dropped a plant around to Kath with some fruit as a thank you for helping out.  She was so delighted, as the plant I had given her was one she had been admiring in a garden she had visited that day and had actually tried to put up a piece for her garden.  The plants I brought back for my garden were planted the next day, although the forecast was for 41 degrees.  Fortunately most of them were for semi shade and have survived.

The following day I picked up Dan, whose car had been impounded as it was out of rego and his Mum hadn’t paid for it as she was avoiding him due to the money she owed him.  He had left most of his tools in my shed, except for some black silicon which we picked up en route to my place.  It was another stinking hot day but he insisted on finishing the job as promised.  Praise God, there was a little shade for him to work in and lots of cold water drinks to keep him hydrated.  He polished and polished the stainless steel till it shone then siliconed in the gaps between the stainless steel and granite sides. I kept saying I didn’t need a perfect job done as it was just an outside seat but he insisted. He had also brought a diamond drill to drill through the granite base for drainage.  It looked really smart when he’d finished.  Some days later I asked Kath to help me remove the grass from the polystyrene box into the new granite one. It took a bit of work as the boxes were different sizes. I cut through one side of the grass to make it shorter and kept the leftover to fill in the missing part at one end.  Cutting off the side of the poly box enabled us to lift the grass onto the mesh beneath it.  After peeling this off, we lowered it into the new base, to which I had added more soil but it wasn’t enough, so out came the grass again.  It needed topping up twice more before the grass fitted. I was pleased it all stayed together in one slab.  I then added more potting mix to the longer end and stuffed the leftover grass in, the sides also needed a bit more potting mix where there were some hollow places.  Then a good watering with Seasol before putting it in the shade to recover. It will certainly be a novelty piece on the patio and now I can sit on grass. (it’s not the scratch or itchy type either).  I also collected some couch grass runners from a neighbour to see if I could make another smaller seat in a tin bucket.

Emma called one day, asking me to give her a hand repotting some of her plants, as she is not supposed to handle potting mix or do gardening while recovering from chemo. She had bought some potting mix but not enough and I had only brought a small bag from home. We sorted out what plants would go into what pots, then removed plants which were very root bound, putting them into different pots with fresh potting mix.  Some plants were very root bound and tangled up with other plants, which had self-seeded into the pots. In the end we ran out of new potting mix, so I suggested we use some of the old mix from plants we had removed and Emma would have to add compost and fertilise them well when she could. We got quite a bit done, but still needed to finish off another day. When I returned, it didn’t take us long to do the rest of the pots. Emma was also cleaning out her freezer, so I suggested if she wanted to donate the food, I could take it to Dan, as I knew he was a bit short financially.

With a car full of pots and plants for Glenda to plant at the church, I drove to Dan’s.  I had offered to buy his fish tank to help him out and to return a drill bit he had left at my place.  He was very grateful for the food and the cash.  However, I was now stuck with a fish tank that was too big for my home!  It had filter, light, lid, heater and temperature gauge.  Praise God, I found a buyer on Gumtree, who paid more than I had paid for it, so I gave the extra back to Dan to help him out.

Having read about fruit picking in and around Perth, I decided it would be a nice thing to do and asked some of my neighbours if they would be interested in joining me.  There were four of us wanting to go and Bob offered to take his SUV so we would have more room.  I did the research and sent the information to Kath who approved of my choice.  It wasn’t until we had driven over half an hour to the place in Roleystone, that we were told they didn’t permit picking.  So instead we picked our stone fruit out of their sales bins.  What’s more, there was a power failure, so no coffee from their café either.  Kath knew of a nice place in nearby Armadale, which also made ice coffee with a shot of real coffee and ice cream.  I was impressed. Overall it was a fun trip, with lots of laughter, mostly at my expense, due to misreading the fruit picking information.  Oh well, there is always another time.

There’s been another incident with the not-so-friendly neighbour. Once again he has verbally abused Kath, which has made it very unpleasant for the three of us ladies who live in the top units. We all dread seeing him and avoid coming out when we hear him about.  The following day our unit manager, his landlady, sent out an email reminding us to keep to the 10km speed limit on the driveway. He had obviously complained to her about what happened. I just couldn’t help myself, I emailed her back, letting her know what really happened.  Another neighbour who had witnessed the incident did the same. This encouraged Kath to share her side of the story too.  She later told me the guy had called the police, saying Kath had hit him with the car, leaving a bruise.  This of course was a lie as a bruise would not have shown up so soon. His landlady, who we know well but hasn’t been very helpful said he was a very good tenant and that “some people are just like that.”  A few days later, when he had his two year old daughter visiting him, he made a comment to Kath, who had called in to see me, that we should all drive at 10km.  I told him the only one who speeds down the driveway was him, explaining that I had seen everything the day before and Kath was definitely not even going 10km as he was blocking the driveway. I don’t like people trying to discredit my friends and blatantly lie about things. I even rang the police station to get some advice on what we could do.  It was suggested that Kath reported every incident with them so there was a record of events.  I suggested she keep a notebook of all her encounters with him.

A few days later I was very surprised when I overheard his landlady commenting on some plants I’d planted in front of his place, he actually backed me up saying they helped suppress the weeds.  I had been asked not to touch her garden, but as a plant lover I couldn’t let them die due to lack of watering. You’d think she would be grateful for me caring for them!

Australia Day, 26^th January fell on a Tuesday this year.  The walk and bike paths along the beach were very busy from 7am.  The water was chilly and a little rough but that didn’t stop beach goers arriving to enjoy the water throughout the day.  The beach and BBQ are a typical Australia Day tradition.  It saddens me that the celebrations are now also marred with those who try to instigate disunity instead of joining in the celebrations of our multi-cultural heritage.  Watching the Sydney celebrations later on TV made me proud of the assimilation of ALL cultures.

There were a few more jobs on my to-do-list that I could tick off, including fixing more of the retic by adding more drippers to another hanging pot and two seedlings I had grown which I planted in my garden as well as redoing some pipe so that it went behind the new pergola post.  I’ve also been working in my shed again, rearranging and sorting things so I have even more room.

And some exciting news to end this blog, is that I have spent the travel voucher I received from my cancelled flight to Thailand from last year  I’ve booked to visit my sisters in Queensland, end of April this year. God-willing there will be no border closures or lockdowns by then.  I’m not sure how long I will be away, as I would love to visit friends in Brisbane and Sydney en route home.

Photos:  1. Fern    2. Mole-cricket    3. Paper wasp & nest    4. Who’s checking who out?    5. Water features    6. White Clout Minnow    7. Mosquito Muncher     8. Rosy Barb    9. Sultana grapes    10. Yum Cha    11. Dan finishing the planter box    12. Grass seat    13. Grasshopper    14. Bobtail’s skin    15. North Beach at low tide

Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for a new year with lots of new potential and hope, especially as the vaccines for Covid 19 are rolled out across the globe.

I praise God for the possibility for a trip to catch up with my sisters and friends in the eastern states (as we in the west call the rest of Australia).  Please pray that our borders remain open, that there will no longer be periods of isolation for interstate travellers and that the vaccine will be safe and available to all travellers.

Thank you for faithfully following my blogs, for your encouraging words and comments.  I pray this year will be one of praise for the great things the Lord is about to do in our lives.  Live in hope and thanksgiving for His Grace and love towards us all.