Oranges and Lemons - Wintery July in Western Australia

"Oranges and lemons say the Bells of St Clements"

This post has nothing to do with the nursery rhyme and it's rather sinister background, but the oranges and lemons growing in my garden did bring the nursery rhyme to my mind, 
 and then coincidentally the little girl, Ivory, in the book that I am reading -  Kate Morton's "The Forgotten Garden" - was singing this rhyme in the hidden garden in the chapter that I have just read. 

Have you read it? It is a fascinating story with each chapter set in different years - 1900 - 1913, 1930, 1975, 2005 - and following the lives of several women who are woven together by a family secret - Nell (whose actual name is Ivory), Rose, Elisa and Cassandra. Mostly set in Cornwall, the earlier chapters are set in Brisbane and London. When Cassandra's grandmother Nell (Ivory) dies Cassandra discovers she has inherited a cottage in Cornwall. Cassandra travels to Cornwall to find out the true identity of Nell and why she was left sitting alone on the wharf in Brisbane in 1913 with a suitcase containing a book of fairy tales. I love these sort of books that flit between characters and times.  
I would love this book to come out as a movie!

If you would like to learn more about Kate and the inspiration for her books, go here - Kate Morton

 How about meeting on the porch with friends? French marmalade on bread. Delicious.

It is winter here in Australia, and a lovely time to be curled up with a book, especially if it is cold and raining outside.

But we have beautiful clear blue sky days too, when the air is crisp and the sun is deliciously warm.  Perfect for getting outside. And lets face it, in winter, we need all the sunshine and Vitamin D we can get.

These sunny days are perfect weather to spend time in the garden. The bees on my yellow daisy bush were enjoying my garden too. A few last yellow rose buds are hanging on, the last of the grape vine leaves are ready to drop, the spring bulbs are pushing up, and I planted out some new herb plants.

And with an abundance of lemons on our tree this time of year it is a great time to make lemon meringue pie and lemon butter - both are family favourites.

These crisp winter days are a great time go for a walk and after the crowds of Europe it has been lovely to get out in the bush and enjoy the peace and the fresh air.

We went walking in the Myalup 100 Acre Wood which I had known about for a while but hadn't visited. Whilst there is nothing spectacular about this walk, it does take you along relatively easy sandy tracks through a variety woodland to the beach, and during spring I am sure there would be lovely displays of wildflowers. There are a couple of different trails which are marked with coloured posts. You access the walks from Reading Road, where you will see a map at the information shelter.

This are Cockies Tongues - Templetonia retusa - which we saw along the trail.

 It was nearly lunch time by the time we finished our stroll, so we drove a few kilometres up the road to The Crooked Carrot Cafe. We have passed this cafe many times on the way to and from Perth, and there are always cars there, but we had never stopped in. We enjoyed a delicious lunch. There are various sitting areas ranging from inside, to the patio, to outside. There is also a fabulous children's playground. This is a great place to stop on the way south.

We also went up to the bush with our grandkids. The water bush, which you can see in this first picture will be flowering soon. Noodle Cups made a easy lunch for us.

This morning it was a perfect morning to walk around the Leshenault Inlet in town, finishing with a coffee at the new cafe at Koombana Bay just along from the new children's playground which opened earlier this year.  It is school holidays so there were lots of families enjoying the playground.

Another walk close to home is along the shady Cathedral Avenue at Australind beneath the old paperbark trees and beside the Lescheanult Estuary.  There were lots of black swans on the water, but I couldn't get close enough to take a descent photo. We are lucky to have a number of walks close to home 

Last weekend our son and daughter-in-law were doing some work out at their small acreage which they recently purchased.  They invited us out for roast dinner cooked in their camp oven on the hot coals. The kids enjoyed their swing tree and the kangaroos were curious to see what we were up to. By the size of her lower belly, I am fairly sure she must have had a joey in her pouch.

 Unfortunately on one of our walks my small Canon G11 go-everywhere camera decided it didn't want to focus anymore, then the lens wouldn't retract, and it stopped working altogether. I've had this camera for a long time, and it has been repaired for a similar thing previously in 2014, but it has been a great little camera for when I don't want to haul my "big" DSLR camera. So now I am waiting to find out if if can be repaired. If not I think I might buy one of the new mirrorless cameras. Do you know anything about mirrorless cameras? I would be interested to know if you have one what you think of them.

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. 

You might also like:
Paperbark Walk, Cathedral Avenue, Australind 
Leschenault Inlet, Bunbury 
Bushwalking at Hoffmans Mill, Harvey 
 
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
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

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If you are a blogger you can also link your blog to Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global. 

Delighting in a bowl of cherries

Welcome July!  We are now past the shortest day of the year which means we are well into winter and spring is on it's way! Though I must not hurry it on as we desperately need the rain, the dams are so low down after several dry winters.

Of late whenever I go to our local fruit and vegetable market I look for interesting delicious fruit and vegetables to buy and bring home to photograph. I don't mind the simple approach to just photographing the fresh fruit in natural light.

It is mid winter here and certainly not the time for cherries - but our local market has been selling cherries imported from America - so of course I had to buy a bag of cherries so that I could photograph them and eat them after! Seen here photographed in natural light on my patio.  The china bowl has come from my mother-in-laws china cabinet.

There was also these Pomegrantes. This is my first try at photographing and eating pomegranates. Seen here photograhed in natural light on my patio and also in the bottom right hand corner under tungsten light on my kitchen bench. Drizzled over icecream and eaten by me afterwards - delicious! I must buy some more!

The cherries were so delicious l I just had to go and buy some more so I could play around taking more images. And of course eat them also! They feel like such a luxury! Photographed here in natural morning light on my kitchen windowsill - I really like the reflection in this one.

For this image I put the cherries on a mirror with a white backdrop-

And I also found these wonderful squat red pears at the market....

It is also the time when we have oranges and lemons ready to be picked in our garden. I always think that fresh tree oranges are so much more sweet and delicious than shop bought ones.....

And what about quinces - such a delicious smell and flavour - I can't describe it. They are a rock hard fruit that you can't eat raw, but when you cook them they turn a delicate pink - the aroma is wonderful. You can also make quince paste to have with biscuits and cheese!

and to finish apple tart..........

I hope you have enjoyed my fruit collages - what is your favourite fruit?

Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. To see the work of Mary and other wonderful contributors - click here - Mosaic Monday
I look forward to hearing from you and your comments are always welcome. I love making new connections and seeing parts of your worlds too!

Oranges and lemons.......

It is the time of year for oranges and lemons in my garden. The fruits of winter.

Today was a mixed winter day - white clouds scudding across a beautiful blue sky one minute and then grey sky and driving rain the next, but always constant was a a howling wind that blew all day, wrapping my washing around the line, and tearing at my hair as I worked in my garden doing some winter pruning that was well overdue.

The orange and lemon trees are bearing their bounty and so I picked this basket of beautiful oranges, and made a jug of lemon juice - pretending to be a summer day.

 

 The last few grape vine leaves are clinging onto the vine, and will soon wither and drop - making way for the new shoots of spring to come.

I hope you have enjoyed these pics. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a wonderful week.

This is my contribution to Mosaic Monday. To see the work of Mary and other wonderful contributors, please click on the link - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House