Can a magpie show gratitude?

.

This is a Magpie.  Lovely birds with a beautiful chortle song.  They take meat pieces from my hand.  It amuses me that, if the piece is small, they turn their head and take it sideways so as not to peck my hand.

This is an Indian Mynah.  The avian equivalent of a rat.  It is about  a quarter of the weight of a Magpie but pecks well above its weight.

This morning the two had a fight in my front garden.

In fairness to the Mynah, the Magpie started it.  Two Mynahs were on the feeding tray in the front garden when the Magpie swooped in, squawking and scattering them.  Not wanting to take this nonsense, the Mynahs called in reinforcements and about four of them turned on the Magpie.  Savagely.  It was on the ground and losing feathers at an alarming rate.

Watching this from the bedroom window, I ran out into the front yard, shouting vaguely ineffectual things like "Hey!".  All birds scattered, leaving a post-party assortment of Magpie feathers around the yard.

In the past I have put what meat the Magpies haven't taken by hand on a feeding tray and, when the Magpies have had their fill, then the Mynahs and Ravens share the leftovers.  After this morning's pack attack, I think I will revert just hand feeding the Magpies.

...

It does it no justice...

(Click to enlarge)

Last weekend was Margaret's xxth birthday.

We went to No 35, a restaurant on the 35th floor of the Sofitel Hotel in Melbourne.

Ten course tasting menu, with matched wines.  Four and a half hours of foody heaven!

The above list is a reminder but in no way shows the care and thought that went into the food.

A brilliant night.

...

A few more garden photos

.

In the 'Aztec' bed, the beans find the corn to be a supportive friend...

...while, down below, the pumpkins (Anna Swartz) enjoy the mottled light.

I was a little underwhelmed by the insipid colour of the rhubarb (although it is a vigorous grower), so what to do with a lime green stewed fruit?

Add elderberries.  That worked.
...

Random garden photos

.

The remnants of the Flanders Poppies that self-seed in the back yard.

A rose of some sort - I call it the petticoat rose but that will not be its true name.

Salvias - they always remind me of the dog in Garfield cartoons.

The tamarillo is promising a good crop.

...

No thanks, I'll have a Coke.

.

Anyone who has seen Japanese games shows on TV knows that they are part of a different world.

But vending machines that doll out used (!) school girl's knickers?

A colleague at work said that he had seen them in Tokyo.  I took him at his word but, when I told Margaret, she demanded proof.

It wasn't hard to find and, for the sceptics, Snopes confirms it to be true too.

It is a different world out there.
...

Up, down, whatever.

.

Last year a a friend gave us a begonia in a plastic hanging basket.  Not having anywhere to hang it I put it in a tall pot on a ledge.

After a worrying dormant winter, where there was no sign of the plant in the pot at all, it reappeared and is growing beautifully on our front verandah.

Half wants to grow upwards and half wants to hang down.

But it is pretty even if directionally challenged.
...

2011 - Sweet & Sour

.

Well, farewell 2011.  We saw it out with a sweet & sour sauced pork dish.

Seemed appropriate for a year of many highs and a few lows. (No, not everything gets to blogs or Facebook.)

Looking forward to 2012.

Day one is bright, sunny, expected to be 35°C.  Fed the birds, watered the pot plants.  Some home-brew is in the fridge.  Off to a good start.

Ah, the clock chimes 11am - New Year in the UK.

Best wishes to all of you who wander past this blog.  I must confess I have not felt particularly bloggy for some time so full marks for persistence, if you are really there!
...

Cracker of a joke.

Just being an atheist isn't enough to guarantee a better class of joke in the Christmas cracker.
...

Christmas Wreath, Australian Style.

.

I hope the Christmas season is a happy one for you all, whatever your beliefs.

...

Vegetable Garden Update

.

Haven't been blogging much but the garden has been growing in my absence.  Basil in the metal pot (had our first fresh pasta with pesto for the year last week).  The closest raised bed is an Aztec mix - corn, pumpkins and climbing beans.  A salad bed (lettuce, coriander, spring onions, parsley and others) behind that and raspberries along the fence.

My Granny always liked to have ripe tomatoes by Christmas - I may make it.  Time will tell. Another salad bed in front of the tomatoes, a tamarillo in the background.  The green bins have climbing beans in one and rhubarb in the other.  Various things in pots - sage, New Zealand spinach, normal chives, garlic chives, tarragon, savoury, chillies, perennial leeks, rocket, strawberries.  Front beds have zucchini and parsley, bush beans.

The worms in the farm seem happy.
...

Some taxi!

.

My mum, 78 year old, uses public transport extensively.

The other day she wanted to get to a particular plant nursery and walked down to her nearby bus-stop.  A bus was there already and she asked the driver if he went past the nursery.

"Yes" he replied.  He then looked at his watch and said "Look, I don't start my next run for 20 min.  Hop in, I've got time, I'll take you there now."

And he did.

There are some wonderful people out there.
...

The need for a new word.

.

I love the English language but there is one word missing that it needs:

A word to describe the emotion that you feel when you get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and realise that you have been given a sh*t haircut.

Massacre at the tree of Mulberries

.

Our mulberry tree is in full fruit at present.

The reason why you wont see them in the shops is that they are very delicate and difficult to pick without bruising and, consequently, getting a very red-purple stain on your hands.

But you had probably guessed that already, hadn't you?

But they were ideal fodder for the saucy part of our 'traditional' Halloween dessert of 'Mud, blood & poached brains'.

For the prosaic, this is dumplings with red berry sauce and chocolate ice-cream.

◊◊◊

The tree overhangs the footpath and we happily let people pick what they want, if they want. Some even come to the door and ask if they can.

Saddest question: Are they strawberries?
...

Keep your head still!

I have watched the doves on our powerlines and their heads don't move when the line (and their body) does but I was fascinated by the extent of 'head-stillness' shown by this chook.
...

Disconnect to Connect - Commercial