Getting hot October 26, 2009

Whew…summer is certainly in the way. Has been quite a warm weekend. Can’t say I am looking forward to the WA Summer heat…oh well, we have survived it before.

Forgot to mention before that Petrina made it over from Canberra for a quick visit recently. She actually came over for work….a couple of cases quite nearby which is handy. she did manage to stay over night with Mel and then had a night in Perth. We met her on her birthday and had a nice meal in the city, then spent the afternoon with Bronte and Bec and kids. The kids sure love their aunty P. She is hoping to get back for a few days over Christmas.

I realised today that I am in “orchid withdrawal”….it has been a week since I went out and photographed some orchids!!! Mind you it has given me time to do some work on my photos.

Jim and Sue…thinking of you as you pack up and prepare to move house. Have heard from our new housesitters again..they move in mid-Dec so will be good to have someone in the house again. The neighbours are great and look after it, but it is a big responsibility for them.

Just a few more orchid photos!!!

Many of these orchids we saw at sites at Mt Barker and near Albany where there were burns last year and there were just thousands and thousands of orchids. Such an amazing sight. We also stayed with Lyn Goundrey at Mt Barker who we knew from Canada…it is great to catch up with her regularly. We will be heading down that way in early December with the Orchid Society again.

More orchids October 25, 2009

Hope you aren’t getting sick of orchids!! But we have just seen so many different types, it is hard to try and pick out a few to show everyone.
Eric and I are recovering from a nasty vomiting/diarrhoea bug. But woke this morning deciding we would actually live!! But sure saps the energy. Have spent 2 days doing nothing but sleeping and recovering.
Bronte and Bec brought the girls around to the caravan park today for a visit, but we were careful not to make physical contact…sure don’t want them to get the bug.

The orchids vary so much. From the minute Gnat Orchid which is about the size of a large mosquito, to the Tall Leek Orchids which thrive after a fire and can be as tall as a metre and quite stunning.

Beautiful Orchids October 24, 2009

Here are some more of the beautiful orchids we have seen.

Just a word about the hybrids. Normal native pollinators of the orchids will only visit one specific type of orchid. The introduced European Bees don’t discriminate and will visit all sorts of orchids. Hence you get lots of cross-pollination and beautiful hybrids result. Great aesthetically…..not so sure environmentally.

Orchids and Grandkids October 23, 2009

How does a month disappear so quickly!! We have been out with the Orchid Society every weekend, seeing many, many thousands of beautiful orchids. Eric has joined me in photographing orchids and often takes as many or more photos than me, and is always the last back to the car out in the bush. It is great to be able to share the interest at last. In between orchid hunting, we have spent time with the grandkids who are all growing up quickly.

Kara enjoyed her school holidays and even came out with me to see some orchids. She has a great memory and loved finding the easy-to-identify-orchids, such as the spider, donkey, dancing and cowslips. Jada continues to have her recurrent tonsillitis/ear infections/bronchitis/asthma and is no sooner over one episode than she gets another. Sure hoping the warmer weather gives her some relief…and her Mum too.

Mateya is growing like a weed and starting to make eye contact and give away the odd smile. Jett just loves his sister, and Mum and Dad take a poor second when he wants to welcome her home after a day apart.

I help out with babysitting either of the kids or working in Mel’s plant nursery when needed and Eric is kept busy working on our vehicles on the farm and doing jobs for Mel. When up at Bronte and Bec’s we usually look after the girls as much as possible to give Bec a break. They love coming to play at the caravan park and sure keep us on our toes. Jada is such a live-wire with the most infectious personality, and Kara is getting so knowledgeable now that she is at school!!

Last weekend we had the sudden arrival of the heat with a 35 degree day…sure was hard to take after all the cooler weather we have been having. Makes us wonder how we will cope with another WA summer!! Thank goodness for air conditioning.

We now have our little Suzuki 4WD in action and it is great for heading out into the bush after orchids. Still have the little Mazda which we plan to sell shortly, so at present have a choice of car to take with us when we head off after flowers.

Bronte and Bec and girls had a weekend down at the farm with Mel, Mark and kids recently, but we were off on a weekend away, so missed out. They all had a great time with Jett and Kara loving the new training water ski we bought Jett(see the photo of Jett). The kids also love going on the 4 wheeler with Bronte…see the photo of him with Kara and Jada.

Yet more Orchids September 25, 2009

The Flying Duck Orchids are very, very tiny and with their colouring just blend into the bush, so are very hard to find. I was rapt with this find of these 2 together.

Wondrous Orchids September 24, 2009

Here is a small selection of just a few of the orchids I have seen over the last few weeks.
Each variety has great variations even within the group, as shown by the 2 photos of the Clown Orchid.

This weekend we are heading south with the Orchid Society to hopefully view some more orchids I haven’t seen before.
Bec’s 30th birthday tomorrow. Congratulations to a wonderful daughter-in-law.

Wildflower Info September 22, 2009

Just a few words about the wildflowers I put on the last post. The photos certainly don’t give a size perspective.

The Teasel Banksia is very tiny..one of the smallest Banksias only being about 5cm or 2″ high, whereas the Red Swamp Banksia is much larger at about 4 times bigger. That is the one I squished through the swamp to get the photos down near Esperance.

The Spider Orchid photos were the first of the season, especially down south.

The Pom-pom Darwinia is a fascinating flower. The white ‘petals’ are actually only bracts and the true flowers are the very tiny black dots inside the bracts. The whole pom-pom itself is only about end-of-thumb size, so all very minute.

These flowers were all taken at Cape Le Grand when we visited Esperance in July. Yep..I have lots of photos to catch up on. Have seen literally thousands and thousands of beautiful orchids the last few weeks…and Eric has become almost as hooked as me!! When we go out wild-flowering he is usually only back to the car after me these days. It is good to enjoy the interest together.

So now that I have made a start there should be lots more photos to come.

Photos of Grandkids and Wildflowers at last September 22, 2009

Busy, busy, busy. September 17, 2009

Well firstly a very happy 34th birthday to Jacki for today and also a happy 32nd birthday to Mel for exactly 2 weeks ago. Her birthday sort of snuck by in all the new baby-Jacki visit excitement, although Jacki did stay at the farm long enough to spend Mel’s birthday morning with her. The other exciting news is that Petrina is coming to visit in just over a week and will also be here for her birthday on Oct 2nd. It’s all happening!!! Petrina has to come to WA for work and is extending the trip to spend a bit of time with her nephew and nieces, so all looking forward to that.

Mateya continues to thrive and Mel is just so happy and relaxed with her. The poor little mite did have a nasty case of thrush a week ago, but quick treatment soon fixed that. Jett had thrush for a long time too when he was tiny. Mateya also has a cold at present which babies aren’t supposed to get at such a young age…Mel had exactly the same thing at the same age. Jett has gotten over his upset with the change in routine etc with the arrival of Mateya, and then his arm, which finished up with very severe bruising above and below his elbow. And he is now back to his normal totally charming and happy self. He loves coming out to the motorhome when he wakes in the morning and yesterday when Mel brought him out after his daytime nap, he very quickly sent her on her way! All our grandkids see the motorhome as their special precinct….no parents allowed!! They have their own special toys which stay in the motorhome and know exactly what they can and can’t touch. I’m sure they would all be most confused if they saw us in our own house. Mateya has even had her first sleep in the motorhome when I brought her out one morning after Mel had a bad night with her when she had thrush.

Last week we had a few days at the farm while Eric fixed the Suzuki and I headed down to The Stirling Ranges, staying overnight at a neat little rammed earth cabin at the caravan park. YES…I did get to see 4 Queen of Sheba orchids…plus thousands of other orchids and flowers. Wow, what a truly amazing place. Hope to get back down there again in a few weeks as the flowers are changing all the time. Saw about 30 different types of orchids on the trip, so was most successful. Mind you, I sure had to keep on the move and still didn’t get to see all I wanted to.

On Thursday we headed back to Bronte and Bec’s in order to go to Grandparent’s Day at school with Kara. We enjoyed it so much and Kara topped it off by getting the first stamp of the day for good behavior. So interesting to see how they are in a different setting. Poor little Jada had yet another bout of tonsillitis and was totally miserable and just wanted to be cuddled. Poor Bec has had such a long run of Jada’s tonsillitis attacks, and we try to give her as much time away from the kids as possible when we are down there. Her 30th birthday is coming up in a week and she and Bronte are having a night away on their own.

Last Sunday Eric and I had a great day out with the Narrogin Naturalist Club and got to see heaps of new flowers. Also keep discovering new reserves to visit. Of course, the biggest problem is that I just run out of time to go to all the places I want to…in the 2-3 months of prime wildflower time. Oh well…a good excuse for another year in WA!! I am also a member of the WA Orchid society and this weekend will go out with them. Often have to choose between the two groups.

Today I am babysitting Jett while Mel goes to Perth for a business shopping trip…she will come home exhausted, I’m sure. Then tomorrow I am working in at the plant nursery for her, so yep, keeping me on the go. Next week we both have dental appointments to repair breaking teeth and other medical checkups. Have got to the stage where we have dentist, doctor etc both home and here in WA.

Will try and get some more photos up soon. Yep, and some flowers too.

Grandkid photos September 5, 2009

OK…have scavenged some time to get some more photos organised.