the beginning of winter in my garden

time to prune. in times gone by, our property was an orchard and I have a few of the original trees, still growing in my yard ~ one being a pear tree. This poor old gal has had a hard life. Last week - I cleared around the ground underneath, planted some comfrey around the drip line and mulched her. But she needed a haircut - a pruning. So Tuesday, just gone - Marion, a friend of mine came up and helped me to prune my old pear tree. She is all tidy now and when fruiting time comes, I will be able to net her, to stop those white cockatoos from destroying every last pear.

and ~ damn possums !!! yes, Daisy, I do curse. especially when possums chew my plants.
I had seeded an area with lupins - to creat a green manure in readiness for my potato crop.. and as each tiny seed burst its little head out of the soil - the damn native possums nipped the little heads right off - leaving a patch of green stalks!
some might say that possums are cute but me thinks not - I keep thinking possum pie - just like Granny Clampett.

I also pruned my ornamental grape vine - it was out of control. Now it is just a stick and hopefully next spring, when it starts to shoot - I will be able to train it alot better than I have in the past - I just have to remember to do it each day, otherwise it grows overnight, much like a triffid !
being a witch and it being Yule-tide for me - I wanted to make a wreath for my door - we don't have the greenery that is available in the Northern Hemisphere - I wish I had access to Holly & Mistletoe - but unless I go raiding the neighbours gardens, it does not grow wild here - so I substitute. I used the prunings from my grape vine:

above are my prunings and below - the first stage

then I cut some small rosehips to weave into the wreath - I am going to add berries, cinnamon sticks, stars, garland and bells & hang a little talisman bag from it - full of the Yuletide crystals - Bloodstone, garnet, jet, obsidian, onyx, peridot,
quartz, sapphire, serpentine. I will probably do a little sacred ceremony on June 22 with some frankincense incense to bless the wreath and ask the faeries to protect my home during the coming year.

there is something about the photo below that I liked - I don't know what it is - maybe the shadows, the dark & light....

the stillness of this new moon

so weird. this morning while I was outside, I noticed a stillness. a quietness - it is like the moon is resting and the earth along with it. Oh the birds were singing, the washing machine was going, clothes hanging in the sun, traffic noise in the background. BUT it was quiet. I found it quite comforting actually - like our earth was resting along with the moon, getting energy to cope with all that is happening out there. today I am cleaning and as I do, I am burning the samhain incense that Daisy sent me - with this stillness, it still feels like Samhain to me

I took a few dark moon photos of my garden and I believe that you can even sense the resting of the moon in them...

see how all the leaves are now falling - but, how odd is it that my gardenias are still blooming at this time of year - curiouser & curiouser.....

even the peace flags are still & notice all the leaves under my apple tree - I will rake these up over the weekend and put into my compost.....and even my vegie garden below is in resting mode - I am getting it ready to plant beetroot, onions and potatoes.

where have you been?

"Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son? Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?"

~I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains, I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways, I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests, I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans, I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard, And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard, And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.~

- BOB DYLAN -

well, not quite - but I have been contemplating the world - taking part in this course with Starhawk has made me realize just how fragile our world is & how much we need to do to help heal it.

I have been wondering where I am going with blogging

I have been researching composting methods and permaculture

and I have been in my garden.

I have been suffering hayfever after mixing 4 bales of lucerne and 2 bales of straw to use as mulch on my garden.

I have been mixing vegimite, malt and water to put into empty lemonade bottles to capture fruit fly

& I have been snuggling.

this is taken from my lavender garden - looking towards the front of my home

The moon is waning and I am going inward.

For some reason I don't have alot to say.

Yesterday I was in the garden for a few hours. I am feeling very connected to the earth these days which is good for me.

I was weeding and looking at my Feverfew & I noticed, about 6 ins in front of my face, a hoverfly - just hovering right in front of me. I saw its face! And its eyes - like it was actually saying hello to me. It hovered for quite a few mins, I stood still and just watched - it could have been a faery in disguise.

Now, THAT - was an amazing experience.

come, for a wander, to my sacred space and see what we can find...

I have a sacred space under my ancient pine tree - a place where I believe faeries live, a place where I have an altar to leave little gifts to the fay, a place where I meditate and sometimes talk to the faeries - there is a gate and a seat......
gorgeous sunlight twinkles through the leaves of my persimmon tree -

and then I saw it . . .

and another ~ just before Samhain - I wonder......

So, caution my friend, as you walk and sing
Do not step into a Faerie ring;
Beware Fae food or a Faerie kiss,
O, lest your life as mortal,
..missed.
Written By
Bexboomer

look closely and tell me what you see. . .

and I don't want to hear theories of why the mushrooms grow under pine trees nor do I want explanations of anything you may see in my photos - 'cause ~

I BELIEVE !!!

not much to report from down-under

I really don't have alot to say - can you believe that?

I started a 6 week on-line course this week with Starhawk - called "Earth as Healer" and have been grounding myself outside quite a bit - amazing what you notice when there is a set task....

we have been asked to observe our 'special place' and to wonder - not worry about answers just to wonder....

I wonder why some leaves on my apple tree turn yellow before others.......I wonder what the birds are saying when they burst into 'song'.....I wonder where all the christmas beetles have gone....I wonder why my persimmon tree produces fruit, year after year and the tree next door produces nothing..... I wonder why snail shells turn white after the snail dies.....

the avenue of flowering plum trees that grow down the side of my home are nearly completely bare - it is raining today and you can hear the plants sighing in relief - they know that mother nature won't let them down - she will send rain when her children are thirsty..... I wonder why rain makes a plant perk up so much - we can water all we like but a drop of rain is like magick!

below is a photo of my front garden - taken this morning - the persimmon seems to have decided on a gorgeous gown for this years autumn ball - she has produced alot of fruit - the birds are having a ball with their share - they sing and carry on all day in her branches...

are there faeries in my garden?

I took a wander around my back garden this morning - picking citrus bugs off my orange & lime trees, looking at the basil which has just about finished for the year and noticing how the garden is truly getting ready for winter - I love this time of year!

the morning is a crisp autumn one - the grass heavy with dew, the choughs having a fine old time in my magnolia, the magpies warbling and little finches in their hundreds twittering away in the ancient apple tree......

*yes, the same apple tree that I 'saved' - 'cept I didn't do a real good job as the borer is still munching away at the heart wood. But the apple tree is holding its own - it still looks healthy and hey! it is over 75 years old so it deserves to have a few barnacles and bumps.

do you think faeries live here?

Joe made me this birdhouse for my 40th birthday - behind is a lemon, just outside my kitchen door - I use old lemonade bottles for fly traps - along with a mixture of vegimite, sugar and water it is supposed to trap fruit fly before it can sting the fruit..

and nasturiums - I love them! the way they self seed everywhere. My grandfather grew these in his garden and would eat the leaves on bread and butter - an acquired taste. I wonder if there are nasturtium faeries?

the autumn ball

the faeries are busy in my garden getting the trees ready for their autumn ball. They have started to dress the trees in the autumn finery - leaves of gold, russet, burgundy and copper. over the weekend, they told me to get off my behind and get on with my job as 'official faery photographer' - they have been doing their work and were a little peeved that I had not being doing mine - they didn't take my search for my cornish roots seriously....

so I went for a wander in Leura and snapped away. . .

above is an avenue of trees - the faeries are having a hard time getting this family to decid just what colour to go with this year. . some are being difficult, they just don't want to shed their comfortable summer clothes..
as you see below, at least these twins have decided to go to the ball in matching burgundy gowns - making my faery friends job alot easier. . .

this gorgeous golden colour seems to be quite popular with many trees this year. . .

and another view of the trees in the autumn ball gowns - the faeries certainly have their job cut out for them this year with the array of colours available!

official faery photographer

the above photo was taken on my walk in a village called Leura - 10mins drive from my home. . .

I have been appointed 'official' photographer for the faeries so that I can share - my little corner of the world, during autumn ~ so come with me over the next few weeks on a tour of my world in autumn.....

gritting my teeth & accepting what will be

for a few months, I thought I had bandicoots in my yard - digging holes under trees, scattering mulch everywhere - but no, it is an english blackbird and not only do I have one, it seems I have a whole family of the damn things. I think they are the same ones that delivered my faery gift from Daisy & I think they liked it so much here, that they decided to set up home. Ahh yes, they have a beautiful song and I love birdlife BUT - this bird takes great delight in getting into my garden, especially along the pathways and having a wonderful old time throwing lucerne mulch, this way & that. and does it throw it on the garden? NO. I sat and watched it this morning, through my kitchen window and it gets a piece of hay, and tosses it with wild abandon onto the path - not one piece but every single piece ~ one by one.... so I go and sweep it back into the garden, the bird flies off, watches me and when I am inside - back it comes and does it again. I have cursed and cursed this bird, each time I have sweep the mulch back but this morning, I noticed that it was actually getting snails. SNAILS! I have changed my mind about the blackbird now, of course, 'cause I hate snails. Have done for quite awhile - heck, I even blogged about it once before hating snails...... so I will continue to sweep the mulch back & grit my teeth as I go & keep thinking to myself - everything happens for a reason & some things in life are just sent to try us !!!!