Stick insect at sunset

Bug

Breakfast

A home for honey bees

Our local beekeeper brought three hives round the other week and installed them on our land. He's lost nine hives to damp on the bush block on the other side of our premises so he was pleased to find these hives a place in the sun. 

I don't expect that we'll see a great change in pace in the regeneration of the bush in our back paddock but I know the bees will be doing the best they can to speed up pollination of the native plants. And we might even get the odd jar of honey...

Early sighting

Our chickens are just unstoppable this year! We had 27 chicks at the end of last year and now there appears to be another 11 on the loose. The cunning hen hatched her brood in the bush and hasn't been close enough for us to catch them yet. 

I think we'll let them grow up a bit then cull the roosters (and cook them like poussins?) and keep the hens. We'll have to get rid of our mature rooster too seeing as he is both their father and brother and we really don't need any more chicks. 

The Sugar Plum Fairy

Look! It's our first and only plum! I snatched it off the tree before the birds could get it and now I'm waiting for it to ripen up on our kitchen bench. 

Limelight

The other good news from our garden is that we have limes on our lime tree. Lots of them! Looking forward to lots of lime juice and south-east Asian cooking when they fatten up.