Misty mornings

It's often misty in the mornings here at Maryville, but it usually clears by around 7.30am. However, the last couple of mornings the mist has persisted well into the day. These pics were taken just before 8am on Sunday 1 February. You can see the sun trying to break through to get the first day of February happening in a sunnier fashion. Just on things meteorological, we scored 123cm of rain in January which is just under 5 inches. Feb and March are the wettest months apparently. We'll wait and see....

Five beasts and a daybed

My how we all enjoy lolling about on our new daybed. On the bed with Richard (middle), Steve and Graham are our friends, Kerri and her son, Jack. Kerri and Jack spent the weekend with us before leaving this morning to drive to Lammington National Park for a couple of nights. All of us had a great time at Bangalow Markets yesterday, with our friends, Glen and Catherine, with Steve and I adding to our daybed cushion collection with three new cushions, most of which are hidden in this pic. Pity, they are nice cushions.

Tree Planting

Graham gets to work digging a hole for a lemon scented ti tree he bought for us. This will become known as Graham's tree and we're hoping other friends who visit will do the same. Simeon and Graeme (another Graeme) bought us a black sapote and Jenny a vanilla bean plant to kick things off last week.

In goes the soil around the young tree, note how Graham is careful when he pats the earth down around the base of the tree.

Richard now pours some water around the plant to 'water it in', giving it a head start. Nature can be a harsh mistress, so any extra help is well worth it.

Doesn't Graham look happy and pleased with himself standing next to his young ti tree. He can't wait to come back and see how much it has grown. Girls and boys: You may note Graham is only wearing thongs - you should always dress appropriately with proper footwear when working in the garden. The blade of that mattock is rather sharp.

Red Necked Wallaby and joey

This wallaby has recently shooed off her at-heel joey who now has to fend for himself. The little fella poking his head out of her pouch will start to spend time out of the pouch in a couple of weeks, and no doubt, she also has an embyro ready to be born soon, too. She is usually grazing on the lawns around the house each morning up until about 7.00am, together with a buck, her previous joey and a couple of other females.
I wonder if these wallabies have ever seen The Omen....

Stewart tells us a story at Mavis Kitchen

Here we are on the lawns at Mavis' Kitchen at Uki, see posting below. Stewart, on the right, is quite a story teller, and here he is, captured in mid-story!

Dinner at Mavis' Kitchen, Uki

Mavis' Kitchen is a wonderful restaurant run by two boys in a magnificent old Queenslander at the foothills of Mt Warning or Wollumbin, at a special little village called Uki, about 45 minutes north east of us. We've been a few times now and last night took our friends, Graham and Richard, from Newcastle, and Stewart from Jiggi.

Steve, Richard, Graham and Stewart sitting at our table with the obligatory bottle of bubbles.

The guys who own Mavis have established a beautiful herb garden where they grow much of their fresh produce. The fresh produce in this pic includes Steve, Richardm Stewart and Graham.

Me, Steve, Stewart and Graham on the lawn with a drink.

Me and the Girls

Here's the girls as I put them away after they've been given a taste of freedom for a few hours. They're gorgeous but exasperating because they are strangely drawn to the mulch around the base of our tree plantings as well as the seedlings I had planted in the vege garden. They eat the seedlings and scratch out the mulch from around the young trees.

But, still loveable, and they are now producing around 7 eggs a day.