truck shed pigeons

In the hay shed next door lives several pigeons.

I love listening to them coo and watch them fly around our pine trees, wishing I could get close to one or two. 

Well, now I can...

A gorgeous pair have decided to nest in our truck shed.

Aren't they just lovely?

Man-slave is furious and plans to evict them.

But...you know...Yeah Right!

So anyway, the pigeons are quite used to me now and they performed beautifully for their first photo shoot.

Not sure if there are any eggs yet. But I will endeavor to find out.

I thought it unusual for birds, other than chooks, to lay eggs in autumn, but apparently pigeons will lay at anytime if the food supply is good. 

Yay!

:)

rotation

Tis a sad day.

Wallace has packed his curly tail and left home.
He's gone to live with friends where he'll lead a pampered life of food and making babies.

Wallace was Janey's first-born and I love him to bits.

Out of all the fatsos he was the only one who'd stop eating and waddle over for a tummy tickle.

Here's Wallace in his new home with future 'wife' Fern.

Fern is one week older than Wallace. 

As you can see, I feed my piggies well!!

Janey and the Fatsos.

:)

taboo

I couldn't think of anything else for the 'taboo' photo challenge.

So pork it is.

:)

The curly tails belong to Janey's Fatsos.

decay

A huddle of day-old piglets. 
Eleven of them!

The unlucky mum, Honey.

And this is Runt Of Litter.

Rol for short.

Rol in one hand, camera in the other. 

He has the most gorgeous wee trotters.

I love my piggies :)

foliage in the garage gutter

Man-slave is threatening to pull them out.

But I think they're pretty. 

There are different trees and grasses. And it's home to many spiders and bugs. 

So I've put my foot down and told Man-slave he can't.

And if it comes to it, I will lie naked on the garage roof in protest...

...as long as it's not a hot day!

;)

decay

For the 'decay' photo challenge, I chickened out of the rotting chook and went plumfluff instead.

(photo looks clearer when you click on it)



Sorry to put rot and roast in the same post but...
today for lunch I'm roasting beef and a pile of veg...and it smells delicious!


Love, love, love roast kumara.

This morning I was greeted by a whopping frost.

It's only nine days into autumn. 

Oooh...finger-sting!

Even skinny R.Scruff felt the freeze. 

She looked like a giant puffball with her fur fluffed out.

It's sunny now, so I guess that makes up for it.

Brrrr!

pear rosemary bread

The best bit about being gluten-free (apart from feeling great) is I get to play with ancient grains.

This bread is made with brown rice, amaranth, and quinoa flour. 

There's baking powder, salt, pear, rosemary and walnuts. 

Olive oil and eggs.

And for sweetness...agave nectar.

Believe it or not, it really is yummy. 

Go Gluten-Free!!

:)

Mantis One-Arm is back!

I'm posting him on the student discussion board, and the only way I can insert him is by copying his URL from my blog.

Mantis One-Arm is entered in the March Photo Challenge under the heading -- 'Unbalanced' in portrait format with watermark.

Other headings are 'Taboo' in portrait format and (this is my favourite) 'Decay' in landscape format. 

I've a decayed chook under the pinetrees just waiting for that one.

Any suggestions for 'Taboo' would be greatly appreciated.

:)

caramel square

I'm all in a tummy squishy fluster.


Silly me offered to bake for a PTA fundraising dinner. Something I never do.


I thought surely I could cope with a simple slice in between stalking ferrets and dealing with the other things happening round here.


And it was looking good, too. The base was passable, the caramel came ready-made in a tin, and the chocolate icing spread easily. Phew!


But this morning...the icing was too soft. 
:(
When I cut the slice the icing slid and drooped over the sides and didn't look at all appealing. And to make matters worse, I'd eaten so much (for taste-testing purposes) that there was a piece short. 


So, using a bit of kiwi ingenuity, I cut the slices smaller and produced that missing piece (plus several others :) :) 
And any icing who threatened to throw itself overboard got trimmed immediately!


Now I can safely say that my caramel slices look tidy and square as they sit in the freezer hardening their heads. 


Let's hope I remember to get them out in time to thaw a bit before delivery...