Summer Nothin’

Is it okay to be safe and sound, and relatively happy when so many people are trying to survive under incredibly difficult circumstances? Dunno.

I concentrate on the small things. That reminds me of Arundhati Roy’s novel, The God of Small Things, which was one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. But I digress.

Another hot summer here in sunny Canberra (Australia). We had no rain and then fortunately the rain arrived. Plant reprieve. While we waited for this momentous event, we sprinkled some little birds which made them and my garden happy.

Check out this cutie.

Waiting.

For a boy like you.

And the whole extended wren family. Must have been over a dozen. My camera didn’t know where to point. But they were too fast. And the grass too long.

The bird garden is tiny like its inhabitants. When the garden closes in, there is always neighbourhood weeding. A few hectares. With my friends. Sometimes by myself. Note the long thin strip of newly green African Love Grass that is currently the focus of our combined attention.

Having weeded the outsides, we are now meeting in the middle. Not bad considering we don’t have elephants or power tools. Everything is done the very old-fashioned way. By hand.

The next drain photo is from another angle. We’ve woman-handled the ALG, the festuca, goose grass and paspalum from this once rampantly weedy area. My True Love helps but he still has a big to-do list that he is working his way through. The reeds and native grasses are doing their job too, filtering the run-off.

Small steps. And then there is the admin and advocacy for our natural spaces. So I sleep a lot. And the photos sit in their catalogue and another Silent Sunday opportunity slips by. And yet, here I am. It’s not even midnight! The crickets sing summer nothings. Sounds of autumn. Time to get even busier.

And to all my lovely readers, I hope you too are okay, and are able to breathe in a few small things each day. Take care.

Kind Regards.
Tracy

Possum Tales – A Series

30 Dec 2026 – A Christmas wish and a possum tale.

We are fairly certain that Junior Miss has been very naughty this year.

Not me!

I’m so hot!

Brush-tailed possums wee on themselves and lick their paws to cool down. It is currently 33oc in the tinny.

No matter the time of year, a kind word and a kind deed are worth more than all the riches in the world. My TL and I hope you spread your warmth and kindness generously over the festive period and we wish you all the very best for 2026.

Kind Regards.

Tracy

The High Life

The honeyeater migration is underway. As I have gone native, that is, planting species indigenous to my local area, I have been contemplating ripping out all my exotic plants. It doesn’t help that my new neighbour is trying to hedge me in with European plants. This is ‘Straya, I feel like saying.

Anyway, the visiting Yellow-faced honeyeaters have reminded me that it is okay to retain a few of my less weedy exotic shrubs.

I knew it! Everyone loves camellias.

Still, the woodland birds really love the garden changes. They are coming in droves now.

Take care, everyone. Grow it and they will come.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Hey Dude, don’t make it bad

For Anita. With apologies to The Beatles.

Hey Dude, don’t make it bad.
Take a fad song and make it madder.


Remember to let her under your skin,
Then you’ll begin

to fake it
Better better better.


Have a good one, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

PS. Not my garden but some other people having fun.

Silent Sunday


This is a test, perhaps of my patience and perseverance. It seems there has been a software update somehow, somewhere, so I can no longer load photos that are true to the colour that I shot them in. I’ve tried the fixes but they aren’t working. So my workaround is to over-saturate my photos in Photoshop and then re-edit the de-saturated photos in the Windows photo app. Technology!! Anyway, this will do. I now look forward to seeing how this photo looks on my various devices.

Life goes on. Yes, I am still here. Hope you are too.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Neighbourly

Thanks to our neighbour’s wonderful native garden, we have many little birds nesting nearby.

The Superb Fairywrens are up at the crack of dawn collecting nesting materials and hunting insects. They have been incredibly bold bounding around our dog yard.

Here she is.

Here he is.

And a female Golden Whistler also visited today.

Down the road at our park, currawong chicks have already hatched, while the magpies are currently on their nest too. It is all happening.

It is a very different year to last year. It is much drier and hotter. The temperature is forecast to be 35o Celcius next week and we are only three weeks into Spring. Perhaps the rats will leave home then, although it is probably better for the wren chicks if they do not.

Photos courtesy of my True Love.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.