To do list overload

Ok, first off, I am not complaining, as I know the alternative is not good, but I seem to have a "to do" list overload. And this is retirement! Where is the time sitting in the garden reading a book or strolling along the beach! ha! But seriously my "to-do" list is wearing me down at the moment and causing me to stress and feel rather over-whelmed by it all as I see time zooming by and end dates getting closer. 

So what is on my to-do list this week, other than the usual around home things?

Today, Monday, I had some Photography club web-site work, and Centrelink computer stuff to do. Plus washing and a bit of gardening. And doing some work towards my art market on the weekend. Tick

Tomorrow, Tuesday, I am going to an eco-dying workshop an hours drive from home. I am looking forward to this as I have been playing around with eco-dying (leaves on fabric and paper) for a couple of years and I am ready to learn more. Yes I will share in a later post.

Wednesday I have lunch with a couple of friends. We've been meeting up for lunch for over 15 years, and have been through a lot together, and we really don't like it when we have to miss a lunch. We say it is cheaper than therapy! Plus I have some jobs to do in town while I am there.  Honestly we don't care where we go for lunch - even a muffin will do - as long as we meet up. 

Oh, and my Spanish dance class Wednesday evening. 

Thursday I have to get all my bits and pieces together for the Tree Street Art Safari on Saturday.  I had a stall last year at the home of Maggie in Banksia Street and had a lovely sheltered spot to display my wares. The idea is that home owners host artists in the "tree street" area of town and visitors walk from venue to venue. The tree street area is lovely with it's old weatherboard houses and lovely gardens and the art safari is always well attended. I had a fabulous day last year and Maggie agreed to host me again. It is a lot of work it get all my stuff organised - photo prints, greeting cards, cushion covers and tote bags featuring my photography, paper flowers, and my eco-printing on scarves, prints, greeting cards and this year also cushion covers. Thank you Maggie!

 Friday I am going to an all day writing workshop organised by my writer's group. Bad timing for me really the day before the Art Safari. Got to get my pre-workshop reading done! 

Saturday I will be at the Art Safari all day. Saturday night we have our grandies staying over and all day Sunday.  I am sure they will like to put a movie on while Grandma and Pop collapse in a chair with a glass of wine on Saturday evening.

So that's it from me today.  Do you get overwhelmed with your to-do list? Anyways, I have to get back to it, so have a fabulous week! 

You might also like - hmm... looks like I've been here before....
 Being grateful for life in the retirement fast lane
Is life running too fast?  
Exploring your creative side in retirement 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. But please forgive me in advance, like I said I'm at bit overwhelmed at the moment! Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday
Friday Bliss at Floral Passions

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Nature walks

I am slow in writing my blog this week. The days are a little cooler, and I am starting to feel a little better after coming down with a summer flue a few weeks ago, so I have ventured out for a walk a few times in the last week. There is something rejuvenating don't you think about getting out in nature, whether it is in a park, along a river or the beach, or in bushland or forest.

I am lucky that I have four places close to home where I can walk along a bush path or by the water. Walking along suburban streets is too boring for me and I like to walk where there is shade.

The first is very close to home, only a couple of hundred metres away, a bush block tucked between suburbia and the main road into the city.  Here you will find a mixture of peppermint trees, jarrah and marri eucalypts, a couple of varieties of banksia, creeping hovea and wild wisteria, and a host of wildflowers, including orchids pushing up through the imported weeds during spring.

Peppermint trees

 The second is a favourite walk along the Leschenault Estuary first thing in the morning or late afternoon or at sunset when it is cooler after a hot summer's day.  In the sunset pic you can see our port facilities on the horizon, beyond that is the Indian Ocean.

The third is along the Collie River which flows into the estuary. It follows along the river. If you cross the bridge you can walk along the other side. Sorry about this rather dodgy phone photo from a lookout point. Silly me decided not to take my camera! It was a cloudy morning though.  I am sure I have better photos....somewhere on my hard drive....

 The fourth is behind the houses along Miller's Creek, a shady artery which runs through the middle of a housing development. This shady walk is particularly lovely on a hot morning. 

Do you have a favourite nature walk? What does it look like? Perhaps you would like to share in your comments. 

You might also like - 
Down in the woods today
Where wild orchids grow
The wildflowers are starting to pop at Crooked Brook
  
A circle - a moment in time - on the forest floor 

A circle on the forest floor

 Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 


I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday
Friday Bliss at Floral Passions

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Feasting on the Kangaroo Paw, Western Australia

My front garden is lovely in summer. Especially during the months of December and January it is ablaze with colour - the red of the coral bush, the yellow of the kangaroo paws, yellow daisies and day lillies, the purple and blue of the native hibiscus and agapanthus, and the pink of the hydrangea. Plus the various colours of the roses. 

I know I have shared some of these delights before with you - Summer in my garden

And I am sure you remember the tinsel I draped around my kangaroo paws in a miserable attempt to keep the parrots from devouring them!

But strangely this year we haven't had the parrots visit our yard in the numbers we usually have, so the kangaroo paws have been safe from them. 

Most mornings during January we have sat in the cool shade of our front verandah for morning tea.  It is a lovely place to sit looking over the garden. 
Just off the edge of the verandah is a stand of tall green kangaroo paws. From my research I am guessing these are Anigozanthos flavidus. 

The kangaroo paw derives its name from its flowers, which feel furry, and are shaped just like a kangaroo's paw.  They are native to Western Australia.
These green kangaroo paws were in are garden when we arrived, and have thrived every since.

 Anigozanthos is endemic to Western Australia, where there are 11 species and 13 recognised sub-species. All are recognisable by their distinctive inflorescences (flower-heads) and are found through-out the south-west from Kalbarri to east of Esperance. They have been known as ‘Kangaroo Paws’ since the 1850s – but were originally called a ‘Kangaroo Foot’. Smaller species are now referred to as ‘catspaws’.  Anigozanthus is closely related to the genus Macropidia (the’ Black Kangaroo Paw’), which now has its own monotypic genus.
Wildflower Society of WA - Paws for thought 

Can you see the little open flower heads? I can guarantee you that the nectar feeding birds have, and that is exactly what the kangaroo paws want.

Key nectar-feeding birds pollinating the kangaroo paw are the brown honeyeater, red wattlebird, western spinebill and white-cheeked honeyeater.

 The nectar of the kangaroo paws is found in the long and tubular flowers and is an important high-energy food source for many birds, mammals and insects. 

The long flower-stalks usually rise above the undergrowth and 'advertise' the presence of nectar in the flowers. The stalks also provide a perch for visiting birds.

The shape of the flowers and the position of the pollen-bearing anthers is a feature which allows pollen to be deposited on the head of feeding birds. This pollen is transferred from flower to flower as the birds feed. Different species usually deposit pollen on different areas of the birds' head. This means that pollen from one species is unlikely to be deposited in the flowers of another species.

Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra 

In the pictures below you can see the little brown honeyeater which visited our kangaroo paws every morning, flitting from plant to plant. It was delightful to sit and watch them while we had our morning tea. They seemed unconcerned about us.  

I noticed that there seems to be only one "flower" open on each "paw" at a time. Perhaps they close up when the nectar has been drunk, and another one opens up, and that the red anthers signal to the birds. Although I can't find any information about this.

We also have a yellow kangaroo paw in our garden, so I found it interesting to read that because of the position of the pollen-bearing anthers depositing the pollen onto a different part of the birds head, it was unlikely to cross pollinate flowers of a different kangaroo paw species. Isn't nature amazing! 

I must say thank you to my husband for the photos of the brown honeyeater. 

Below you can see the Mangles Kangaroo Paw - Anigozanthos manglesii - which is the floral emblem of Western Australia. About 1.25 metres tall, the red and green flowers are very striking. 

The birds have to bury their heads into the base of this flower to reach the nectar. 

The size, flower-stalk height and colour of kangaroo paws flowers varies between the species. Many new forms have also arisen as the result of deliberate hybridisation.

For more information on kangaroo paws you might like to visit:
Backyard Buddies 
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra 
Scitech.org.au 
Blue Planet Biomes 
Australian National Herbarium - WA emblem 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this post about the kangaroo paw, which is just one of Western Australia's amazing native species which I feel so lucky to be able to photograph, and in this case to have in my garden attracting birds.
 I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday
Friday Bliss at Floral Passions

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.