Rain glorious rain

It's been raining!  Last week after a couple of days of chilly cloudy days.  I say chilly but really the temps had dropped to 23c in the UK I'd be celebrating and wearing shorts and T-shirt!  It started raining and kept on for at least 4 hours... proper rain.

It was fascinating to watch the plants reaction to the downpour.  Independent of the water hitting the leaves they seemed to shudder, like they were really enjoying the shower.  It doesn't take much to make everything in the garden look clean and green again.

When we arrived were given a lovely present of an Aussie 2013 gardening diary, full of very helpful advice for gardening in Australia.  One of the things you would never see in a UK diary was the rainfall chart!

So that's two things, I didn't think I would ever get excited about rain again... at least not so soon and finding temps in the 20's chilly!!  Must mean I'm settling in.....

This week we've seen a return to sunshine, big blue skies and today a 'warm' 34c.

In between reading about permaculture, passive buildings, organic and bio-dynamic gardening.  My head bursting with facts occasionally I need a break from the study, I've been in the enviable position of being able to watch the local wildlife.  

Our back yard with the Geisha Girl

Outside of the kitchen window is a beautiful shrub called Geisha Girl, a favourite of our local and territorial Honey Eater (very hard to get a photo of) and honey bees.  

The Honey Eater is a very busy little chap, not resting for long but yesterday I caught him having a quick bath, he was having a glorious time, diving into the water and back out again.





We've got a couple of fledgling blackbirds, one in the front garden and one in the back, the parents have a wonderful time sorting through the pea-straw for insects for their hungry charges.

This morning our friendly native brown rat (a dear little creature) whizzed along the fence while we were having breakfast outside.  Far too fast for me to get a photo of him.

Sunday we took the bikes out again, a gentle cycle ride through the Parklands (which are currently being converted to a racing track and into the CBD (she says trying to sound like a local, it's the Central Business District!).  Easy and believe it or not a pleasure to do, I don't think I'm friends with the bike but neither did it try and throw me off this time! 

And of course we had to stop for lunch at the little cafe (Always good to support local economy).  I had a delicious freshly made salad, pretty yummy and Rick tucked into a BLT on what looked like freshly made bread.  Delightful......

It was a lovely very gentle ride home after a quick whizz through a very small part of the City.  I was amazed and relieved just how cyclist friendly it all is. AND it only takes 20 mins to get there!


Onwards then.... we've been talking to builders and drafts-men local to Naracoorte this week. They know the lay of the land and the soil,  which apparently is one of the best to build on.  It's so interesting what can be done to make the house ecologically friendly these days.  All new builds here have to reach a 5 star energy rating but after talking to a drafts-man we should be able to get ours to 7 or 8 stars.

So we're off to Naracoorte this weekend to talk to a local firm of builders and to join in with the local wine festival!