Meet Orville

I'd like to introduce you to Orville. I'm rather passionate about Orville because you see he's one of my firsts. I've had others in the past but unfortunately they didnt make it very far. Orville's stuck it out though.



Just to make it clear, I'm not in the habit of naming fruit but Orville's the very first orange that we've had on our little orange tree. We've had a couple of others which started to grow but failed to continue so I'm just a little bit excited about Orville.

Looking forward to the day when we get to eat him (doesnt that sound dreadful LOL). I think we'll have to do something special with Orville. I'm thinking about making him the guest of honour on a Jaffa Cheesecake. Whatever it is it'll have to be very nice, Orville's practically family afterall.

Before the weather turned

I think we can officially say that winter is here in Perth. I do believe that we completely missed autumn though. Not that I'm complaining or anything, the weather up until recently can only be described as heavenly. This photo was taken Friday just gone...


And then this storm just 3 days later...

Crawly friends

I like to take photos of all the friends (yes ever the ones that eat you out of house and home) that come to visit the garden.

Samuel found this gorgeous one recently. Given that we have a grape vine out the back we came to the conclusion that he is probably a Hippotion celerio or better known as a Vine Hawk Moth Caterpillar...

Now normally caterpillars that visit the garden are put on the "Caterpillar Relocation Programme" ie they get taken to the park across the road (I simply can not squash a caterpillar) but seeing as this was a pretty one off, his lease was extended.

Autumn Colour

I'm glad I took a photo of the chestnut recently because its blowing a gale here today and its now all but leafless. Up until this morning it was looking like this...



Its interesting to see it change each year. This is the first deciduous tree that I've had, all the gardens I've known in the past have been native. I think this year it coloured up beautifully because we haven't had the strong winds and heavy rains which normally strip the leaves off early on in autumn.

Actually I'm sitting at the study window writing this and the ground is absolutely covered in pretty leaves, they've pretty much all fallen all at once.

Its so lovely to see the gorgeous autumn colour this year, I've really enjoyed (and noticed) all the lovely yellows and reds for a change. I'm tempted to get a dwarf Japanese Maple. I saw a gorgeous bonsai one once, wish I had have bought it at the time.

And just another because I love the colours...