SUNDAY DRIVE

The hot weather we have been having makes me just want to stay inside in the cool of the air-conditioning but today we decided to get out and take a drive ( in the cool air-conditioned car !!) to see the sunflowers.

They are growing in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane and about 2 hours later we came upon this field.

As you can see it is very dry and the poor flowers on the edge of the field were showing the lack of water.

You can see how withered the leaves are and the background is pure country Australia - grey-green and brown.

 However as you move further into the crop it gets better and soon there is a sea of happy yellow facing the sun.

 Such a pretty crop.

We were a little early as this was the only field properly in flower.

The rest will probably burst forth in the next two weeks.

On the way home we passed this pretty house in Gatton.

It is built in the typical Queensland style,

set high off the ground to guard against floods but mainly to catch any breezes that may be around.

Wide verandahs and a central hallway leading past a bedroom on each side at the front  to a "lounge" room (living room ) and dining room with kitchen and bathroom in the enclosed part of the back

 verandah.

A very practical design for our climate. You will find many of them in any Queensland country town.

You may remember I posted about "Old Queenslanders"   here  way back in 2010. 

It has been one of my most visited posts over the years.

We were home by 4:30 and it is finally cooler than the 32 degrees it has been all day so I'm off for a cool Aperol Spritz which is our drink of choice in the heat.

Cheers.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT HELSIE'S PLACE

In Helsie's garden:

 

Spring, Queensland style, has sprung into action with the daytime temperature going straight to the mid to high twenties though the nights are still pleasantly cool - around 13 degrees C.

 

The Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow ( Brunfelsia) is coming into bloom.

 Lovely perfume and flowers that change from purple (yesterday) to lavender ( today) to white (tomorrow)

 

The Grevilleas are well into their best and full of honey eating birds.

 

I'm trying some flowers in pots like they do in the UK.

Blue and yellow theme in this one.

Hoping for success before it gets too hot for them.

 

and this little tree.

 

This is a Lemonade Tree. Do you know this fruit?

It tastes like lemon but is not sour like a lemon.

Very refreshing.

I know I should not have let these fruit progress on such a small tree but I could not resist.

As soon as they turn yellow I'll pick them and prune the poor little thing right back to thicken it up.

They bear prolifically and there are lots of flowers and more tiny fruit but I'll be good and take them off.

You can't buy the fruit in the shops and I have a reason for growing them.

I have a delightful Summery cocktail that I have invented that I have named .....

 

Helsie's Downfall !

 

It can only be made with these lemonades.

Just lemonade juice and Malibu and shaved ice......

Delicious !!

(but not too many now ... and go easy on the Malibu !)

 

 

In the kitchen :

 

Corn fritters for Sunday lunch.

 

 

They tasted pretty good too.

 

 

Now I'm on a roll so Corned Beef Fritters planned for sometime this weekend.

 

We have a new BBQ, a Weber Q, so we had to try a pork loin roast on it.

 

Very successful and good crackling too.

 

A healthy breakfast

 

No, it's not that big !!

This is a tiny one-person pan !

It's made with one egg for protein, one tablespoon of oat bran for fibre and one tablespoon of low fat cottage cheese for calcium.

Add a bit of sliced tomato for vitamin C and you are not hungry till lunchtime for under150 calories.

 

 

The same breakfast in my new Firestone pan - as seen on TV !!!

It is living up to the ad so far.

 

Nothing beats red Paw Paw ( or Papaya )

Well mango does but it's not available yet !!

 

Salad, salad, salad.

Still a bit chilly for dinner but BBQs will soon be the order of the day.

 

 

Around the house:

 

The Positano Room had its unveiling recently.

 

One more cushion to go - that large cream one on the sofa.

 I have framed some postcards and placed some actual photos of the same place in Positano and hung that on the small amount of wall there is available for decoration.

 

Sorry for the reflections but this is the best I can do in the daytime.

 

 

Underneath the photo frame is the little table made out of an old Singer sewing machine where I always put out the coffee and tea things

 

 

 

 

 Above the door I hung some stings of plastic lemons I found.

 

 

It's coming along very nicely and can go back to normal very quickly with the removal of a couple of props.

 A bit of fun and bright and cheery too!

 

 

 

So that's what's happening around Helsie's Place.

 

Cheers.

SUMMER IN THE CITY

When the end of the week rolls around

and the weather is fine and the temperature balmy,

sometimes the need for an outing comes upon you.

So it happened on a recent Friday evening that we set out for an aimless wander along the river at Southbank in the city.



We were not the only ones feeling like an outing !!

Southbank was bright and sparkly with lots of people of all ages out enjoying the lovely evening.

The lovely bouganvillea walkway was ablaze with colour

 

By 7 o'clock darkness was falling as it does here in the sub-tropics....

very quickly !
.

Families and couples were enjoying picnic teas on the grass as the city began to sparkle across the river.



It was only a short time before it was completely dark

 

 so we caught the ferry across to the other side of the river for a bite of tea .

The paddle steamer restaurant was loading up for the dinner cruise.

Then it was off home again on the CityCat ferry.

We sat out the back and watched the city disappear

with the breeze adding to our enjoyment of another fantastic evening

in our lovely modern city.

Cheers  .....

 from Brisbane

 

RED

Spring has come and gone and we are now plunged into full Summer weather.

Luckily, as yet, we have not had much of the humidity that makes our Summers so hard to cope with.

The lack of any rain at all through August to November meant that our Spring was a pretty colourless affair with the almost complete absence of annual flowers in dry suburban gardens.

Thankfully we have our lovely tropical trees to add colour to our city.

The lovely purple Jacarandas have now a disappeared from the streets of Brisbane to be replaced with a blaze of vibrant red in the form of the Poinciana trees.



These large trees need a large garden to grow in

and are found in gardens and street plantings all over Brisbane especially in older suburbs where the trees can be very big. 

They have an umbrella shaped canopy providing beautiful shady areas in a large garden.

You may remember I wrote about them  here .

~ ~ ~ ~

Yesterday Tony came upon this cute fellow.



It's a mail box made out of old gas bottles !



People are clever aren't they?

Collecting the mail would be fun every day.
I'd never be able to resist having a chat with him as I checked his tummy for any post.

 

Bet the Postie likes him too !!

 

Cheers.