Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Morning in the tree house


morning melody

tree ferns in our gully behind the house

view from the corner of the street looking into the Jamison Valley

banksia ericifolia in flower in the winter

seed pod with some pods open

old seed pods collected for the fire in winter

We have spent the past few days at our cottage in the Blue Mountains (1 and 1/2 hours from Sydney) enjoying the company of the birds and the peace and quiet. Because of the altitude (1000 metres) it is usually about 10 degrees cooler than the coastal plain so is always pleasant in summer. An old banksia needed lopping so the seed pods were collected to be used as fire starters in the winter. This mountain banksia flowers in winter and honeyeaters migrate to the area in large numbers to feed on the nectar. Unlike some other banksia varieties (of which there are about 50) the seed pod does not require a bushfire for germination but opens spontaneously.

(Giveaway! - last chance to be entered in the draw for the free skein of yarn - to be drawn on Friday)


5 comments:

Lynne said...

It looks lovely. I hope you don't get too cool for the rest of week with the forecast of lower temperatures and rain, rain, rain!

Anonymous said...

This looks a fantastic spot to chill out - and what extraordinary seed pods - I've never seen them before!

Aussie Maria said...

What a great spot to chill and relax - just needs some knitting :-)

melissa said...

beautiful.
thank you for sharing. i feel more relaxed just looking at your photos.

Hand Knitted Things said...

Wow! What a view! This is almost as good as my view here in Scotland! Only thing is I don't get to sit outside that much here due to it being too cold, windy, rainy or midges! To sit on that balcony relaxing with some knitting...