Spring is on the way

OK, so I'm generally a glass half full kind of guy, and I'm sure we'll still get blasted with some cold patches from the south, but I just get the feeling that today marks the beginning of a new spring. It's been one of those perfect winter days that we get up here, probably about 21 degrees, still, big blue sky and sun. I decided to make it a slow day as well and haven't really done too much at all.

The pic is of a zigzag wattle, Acacia macradena, which we have growing in The Big Bush Garden. It's covered in little fuzzballs of yellow and the wonderful wattle fragrance is wafting around, making me think even more of spring. Once I saw what a truly beautiful plant this species is, I've gone ahead and planted another half dozen so they will look pretty nice in a year or two.

I've taken notice of the birds I've seen today, or at least those I recognised, and so for my ornithologically-interested readers, I've listed them below, in no particular order:

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Magpie

Pied Butcher Bird

Masked Lapwing

White faced Heron

Wood Duck

Welcome Swallow (or Fairy Martin, not sure)

Satin Bower Bird

Rainbow Lorikeet

Eastern Rosella

Pheasant Coucal

Noisy Miner..I think that's it

We are also being dusted again with pine tree pollen. The verandahs are covered in fine yellow pine spoof.

Steve has gone to Newcastle to attend a 60th birthday party and catch up with friends. Piglet is here of course, going into his 4th of his 5 week prac at St Vincent's Hospital. He headed off to Bangalow Market earlier this morning and will be home soon to attend to The Girls (who I'm pleased to say are back on the lay) and The Boys (who have now become very demanding and have even taken to galloping, well almost, up the hill to the 'pen' (where we feed them lucern hay and their molasses and pollard) when they see one of our cars driving past in the hope that we'll give them a treat. Cheeky monkey steers!