Our New Garden

16 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by RuthsArc in creativity, one with nature

Tags

This is the garden we’ve acquired with our new home. African daisies are in full flower, in various colours.

There are a couple of flower beds in front of the house. One easy care bed with rosemary bushes. One beside the drive with roses, small azaleas, lilies and other as yet unidentified plants. IMG_3268A

At the back, there is a large wooden deck area, with the real garden behind the hedge. When we viewed the house the two raised vegetable beds were full, but they were empty when we moved in. So we are starting from scratch in those beds. IMG_2542A

On the right hand side of the decking there are olive trees and one citrus bush. The lemons had been picked before we moved in but olives are maturing on at least one tree.

We are happy that there is no lawn and we won’t need a mower. As this is the first garden we’ve had in Australia, we had no tools or equipment. We only had a hand trowel for our balcony herb box in our rental place. So we have purchased gloves, secateurs, watering can and a hose to begin our new garden journey.

I’m looking forward to the coming months, to see what this garden will reveal. The first year will be full of surprises.

Does anyone know what this lovely soft leave bush might be?

Changing Seasons – January – Tasmania Bush Fires

31 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by RuthsArc in one with nature

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

seasons, tams

January has been a month of bush fires, here in Tasmania.
BUSHFIRE TASMANIA
There are currently 3 major fires burning out of control, each caused by dry lightning strikes. All have threatened towns, communities, rural residents, national parks and tourist attractions. Thanks to round the clock efforts of the Tasmanian Fire Service, the volunteers of the State Emergency Service and fire fighters from mainland Australia and New Zealand, only a handful of properties have been lost to date. There are over 50 active bush fires on the TFS website alert page.

The fire at Gell River which started on 28th December, has burnt 27,958 hectares. Another in the Central Plateau, which started on 15th January has burnt 51,140 hectares and one in the South West National Park at Tahune/Riveaux, which started on 16th January, has burnt approximately 56,230 hectares.

To put into perspective, the total area burnt to date, is equivalent of 135,328 rugby pitches, or 135,328 four hundred metre tracks. Or 86% of the area within the M25 in England.

The fire front is currently 1,300 km long.

An evacuation centre is temporary home to hundreds of residents. Many others are staying with relatives or in hotels. Volunteers are providing support and practical help such as meals to the evacuees and fire fighters. Some residents are staying to defend their homes and livelihoods, to help create containment lines.

Even though the closest fire is over 50kms away, smoke has been drifting across Hobart on and off for weeks. Again, today there was a strong smell of smoke when I got up, visibility was low, smoke inside our homes and workplaces. At times we can taste the smoke.
img_0601-2
Last week, the rising full moon, was dark red, brighter than any lunar eclipse. An unnerving glow of smoke in the darkness.

It’s very eerie and scary, the worst fire experience I’ve had since we’ve lived here.

The Tahune Airwalk has been devasted, although fortunately the visitor centre has been saved.
51244515_2204067653143307_2071595286731423744_o img_0359-2

(Photos without my signature are from TFS or local news websites)
8d839d40910eb58ff24169fbec35da7e hobsmoke

Praise and thanks to all emergency personal who are battling these fires.

Changing Seasons

Views from Mount Wellington

11 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Hobart

The city of Hobart sits nestled between a river and a mountain.

We recently drove to the Pinnacle of Mount Wellington, to enjoy the views of the city, the River Derwent and the landscape beyond.

Bridestowe Lavender Farm

27 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

flowers, Tasmania

DSC03432-2 DSC03433-2

Last weekend, we visited Australia’s largest and oldest lavender farm, here in Tasmania. We timed it perfectly.

“The fields contain approximately 65,000 plants and the total length of the rows are 200 kilometres. Harvesting takes place in January.”

The scene and the scent were both beautiful. We wandered along the rows, amongst the plants and enjoyed lavender inspired treats in the café.

DSC03452-2 DSC03448-2 DSC03422-2

Maria Island

26 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

animals, history, Tasmania

Maria Island is a delight. An island of history, of beauty, an island with no vehicles, no shops. A place to relax and connect with nature.

The island is a thirty minute ferry off the east coast of Tasmania. The Painted Cliffs are stunning coloured sandstone sculptured by the sea and wind.

The Fossil Cliffs are limestone rocks containing numerous and varied fossils.

There are white beaches, open spaces, bush tracks.

The historic settlement of Darlington has been a convict probation station, a camp for whalers and sealers, a Victorian resort. The island has housed a cement works along with farming and fishing.

It is now a National Park and wildlife sanctuary. As well as wombats, there are wallabies and numerous bird species.

Wombats on Maria Island

25 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

animals, Tasmania

We’ve spent the day on Maria Island. An island off the east cost of Tasmania.

I’ll write about it later but I wanted to share these photos of wombats. Wild wombats on the island that are very healthy and very tolerant of walkers with cameras. In total we saw 21 wombats, on grass, in a barn, crossing the footpath, one with a youngster.

IMG_E8348

“Since the late 1960s Maria Island has become a kind of Noah’s Ark, as a number of threatened species have been introduced here in a bid to protect their kind. The very things that made the island a convict settlement, now make it an ideal refuge for plant and animal species that are elsewhere under threat.”

Colour at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

20 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

flowers, Rediscover Tasmania

The gardens are looking colourful in this spring season of their 200th anniversary year.

Along the Rivulet

29 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

art, Hobart, walks

This morning, I went for a walk along one of the rivulets that flow down from Mount Wellington. Two hundred years ago, these streams provided fresh water to the new settlement of Hobart, although they gradually became polluted by industry and the growing population. Today they are public spaces with walking tracks.