EASTER SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Today it has been so quiet on our street.
Easter Sunday and there's no-one around.
I guess it's because the school holidays have fallen on both sides of Easter this year.
Everyone has gone off to the beach to take advantage of the lovely weather after a wet Summer
and left us alone-ish in our little suburban patch.

A little outing was what we needed this afternoon so we set out for the city for a walk  around Southbank Parklands hoping for some good photos tonight of one of the city bridges lit up especially for Autism Awareness Week.

This is what we found.....



This is where all the people were !

All sunning themselves and swimming at the beautiful artificial beach in Southbank Parklands.

By the time we arrived many were packing up their picnics, towels and eskys as the afternoon began to cool down but there were still a few hardy characters swimming.

It is a little more than a year since floods devestated large portions of the parkland and the beach area was severely hit.

The bouganvillea walk beckoned in the distance.

This specially constructed pathway winds through the Parklands.
Each of the supporting pylons is a different shape. Cables are strung between them and bouganvillea is trained along the cables.

As you can see it is only just beginning to flower in some places

but when in full flower the effect is stunning.

A yellow  roof  provides shelter from sun and rain in some of the more open sections.

 

 

Some sections have better coverage than others.

 

 

 

This section is relatively new and the plants are just beginning to run along the cables.

But lovely bouganvillea is not the only plant to grab our eyes today.

Dramatic heleconias peeped from behind the lush green foliage

and flowering gingers were at their showy best.

Lovely umbrella- shaped Poinciana Trees provide welcome shade

Bottle Trees that store water in their trunks

and delightful gum trees too.

I'm not really fond of the modern use of grasses as landscaping plants

Just looks like the garden is over run with weeds to me !!

This new section was constructed for viewing live performances.

We walked over the Goodwill Pedestrian Bridge taking in the view of the city.

Not a bad for a city that was only settled by Europeans less than 200 years ago !

We waited for night to fall - about 6:00pm these days - and as we travelled home the bridge came into sight.

Decorated in lights to a design painted by an autistic teenage boy.

Sorry about the blurred photo.

 The CityCat was travelling quite fast as we sped under the bridge.

Home for bacon and egg toasted sandwiches for tea.

Cheers.

GOOD FRIDAY ACTION

Well it's 11:00am on Good Friday.

It's about 27 degrees C and if you are out in the sun it's HOT !

This is what we've been doing today.

Our front garden had become very overgrown ( so has the back garden for that matter !!!)

and today's task was to get it back into order.

When Tony cuts things back he really cuts them back !!

Just look at the state of the Murraya hedge

and the Grevilleas and flowering gums needed a "trim " too.

Dash was supervising and keeping a look out for any dogs that might think they can walk past !!

The dwarf agapanthas still had the old seed pods and look ragged and untidy with long bits of grass entwined amongst them . UGH!

We started at about 5:00pm yesterday afternoon in the cool.

The first thing was to trim back the hedge that frames the garden.

Looking better already.

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This is the finished product.

A bit bare but tidy and ready for some sugarcane mulch.

The side hedge is now tamed and trim

but the poor old grevilleas look awful without their leaves and flowers.

Now the mess at the front door has disappeared too.

Tony's taken the cuttings to the dump and I'm off to the shower.

No more gardening today...

but the back yard is an even bigger job.

Hope we'll have a day off tomorrow !

Happy Easter to all my Blogland pals.

Cheers.



GOOD AND BAD

At the moment I'm finding it hard to find something interesting to post about.
Life is just rolling along.
So I thought I would show you what's happening outside in the Autumn garden.

I'll start with the good things.

These bushes/ small trees ( Tibouchina ) are making a lovely show everywhere.

This one is a slightly different variety.

There is a subtle difference in the colour and size of the flower.

The lovely double Mandevilla  is making a final show before it dies back a bit in the Winter

and the passionfruit from next door has a great crop coming that we are able to share!

Unfortunately there is a bad side too.

The wet, hot, humid weather has made its growth very vigourous and it has jumped from the fence where it belongs ....

to the Leopard Tree

... where it has scrambled all over the canopy of the tree smothering it and blocking out the sun.

Here's hoping these will be ripe enough to harvest before we pull the vine off the tree.

You could be forgiven for thinking this was a field where hay making was underway

but it is just the second level of our backyard.

The lawn had bolted in the rain and this is the result when Tony tackled it with the mower.

 It was too long for the catcher to cope.

Never mind it will pick it up next time !

Everything is so overgrown........

... but not as bad as next door's backyard !!!

And finally the Ixora bushes at the front that were so lovely for Dad's birthday

have once again fallen victim to the dreaded pest that eats the flower buds as they form.

Guess it is easy to see what we'll be doing over Easter !!!

Cheers.