News & Updates from Vicki Avcin ~ AusCrafts · Page 39
Although I have my chainsaw ticket and have no problems using a normal size chainsaw, Ive been saying for years that I wish they made mini chainsaws with a battery so I dont have to worry about fuel and pull starting the big ones.
Well my wish has been granted!!We had a brochure in the mail from the local rural supply shop and they had these cute little chainsaws advertised.
So of course I told hubby that we HAD to have one, after all we have a heap of branches/timber down the back that needs cutting to length for the wood potbelly stove next winter.
So I was told it could be my early Christmas present.
So we purchased it, and I was dying to try it out but one problem, its been raining every day (most parts of SE and SW Qld have had record rainfall for 150 years for November) so apart from trying it on 3 or 4 lengths of timber that had been put in the shed and was therefore dry, I havent had a good go at using it yet.
But for what Ive done with it I am rapt!!! So easy to use and cuts through the timber like hot knife through butter. Cant wait for some sunny days to get into this timber pile. Of course the big stump timber will need the big chainsaw but not complaining.
Isnt this little tool just the cutest!!!!
Its that time of the year again when the magnificent Jacarandas flower here in Queensland. The flowers cover the trees and as they drop the ground turns purple. As a kid, we knew when the Jacarandas flowered it was exam time at school.
The property next to us has these along the footpath ultimately turning their footpath purple, this one is on the corner of our property so out driveway is also purple.
As pretty as they are some councils have declared them a weed, as the seeds drop and grow and they say it stops growth of native plants.
However people do plant them as ornamental plants so they are controlled.
They are native to South America so obviously have been introduced to the warmer eastern parts of Australia many years ago.
They can grow to 20m and was first recognised as becoming natural in Queensland in 1987. Byron Bay in NSW has a Jacaranda festival every year so although liking the warmer climate they do well there too.
Hubbys birthday is on Remembrance Day….. so its hard to not forget. This year he hit the Big 60 and for the first time in over 20 years he got to celebrate once again with family.
I organised a BBQ with just our kids and grandkids and although his son and family in Townsville couldnt be here, the rest of our kids and grandkids (except for 2 grandkids) were able to be here and help him celebrate.
I organised a cake with the figures 6 and 0 and the centres were filled with chocolates, one chocolate cake and one vanilla cake.
The bakery did a great job with it but we had enough left over to give some of each to the neighbours and still had some left over.
A good excuse to eat just cake for lunch for the next couple of days too!! It was a great night and even better that most of the family were with us this year.
We really have missed birthdays and anniversaries, Christmas and all the other celebratory occasions so really enjoying our family times again now.
Since weve been in the new place, we were wondering if we would get the wildlife like we had in Hervey Bay.
We were happy to find out that we still had Eastern pale headed Rosellas, Rainbow Lorikeets and the odd King Parrot.
We missed feeding the Magpies and Butcher birds too but now have 4 maggies and 2 butchers that come down for a feed.
Of course we miss our kangas and the babies but there must be some in the reserve down the back of us as weve found roopoo down the back yard….. we just havent seen them yet.
The reserve is a designated Koala reserve and although weve not seen them, we do believe weve heard their grunting noises at night time.
One of the things we also had in the Bay was Wood Ducks and Pacific Black Ducks, which weve also got most days in the back yard here, but weve seen two ducks weve not seen before.
Very distinct in their markings and after much investigation believe them to be Plumed Whistling Ducks. They are a tall, long necked duck, with very prominent long lanceolate off-white plumes edged in black along the flanks.
The face is light, the crown and hind neck are pale brown and the brown feathers of the upper back are edged buff.
The breast is pale chestnut, finely barred in black. They live in the northern and eastern tropics but can also be found as far down as New South Wales.
They live around lagoons and swamps and as we have a lagoon not far from the back of the property our bet is they hang around that and come into the yard eating grass seeds.
As their breeding season is at the start of the tropical wet season (already started this year), we hope theyll have some babies which theyll bring up to the yard sometime.
So we arent without our wild life here which is fantastic.
We have a couple of trees in the front garden that Ive not seen before. The neighbour called them Pigs Ear because of the shape of the big leaves.
The leaves are unusual in that they are triangular in shape with scallop edges and look and feel like velvet. (The Pigs Ear is actually a small leaf succulent that doesnt grow high and is better suited as ground cover)So after doing a little investigating I found out they are actually an Elephants Ear, or sometimes called Velvet Elephants Ear or Felt Plant.
The botanical name is Kalanchoe beharensis and has upper leaves that are bronze and the underside is silvery grey. It comes from Madagascar, is a succulent and grows to about 2 metres.
The reason they are doing so well is they like a sunny spot, need next to nothing in the way of care and actually thrive just being let grow.
They are slow growers and mid to late spring with little yellow flowers. There were a couple more growing which got flattened when the trees were cleared from the side of the house but it seems like what is left at the base/roots will grow back.
I think they are a pretty cool looking tree, definitely gets a conversation going because visitors have comment on this weird plant.