'two turtle doves?' & a bah humbug 'christmas' tree

earlier this week, I was just about to walk out the door to drive my grandson Thomas to school, when two birds flew onto my deck and sat looking at me for quite awhile... I immediately thought of 'two turtle doves' but no, they weren't turtle doves they were brown cuckoo doves... a gorgeous pair of copper coloured birds come to say hello to me.

I am feeling much better although the cough is still hanging around. I was talking to a friend yesterday who has had the same thing for 3 months, apparently it is just a thing that won't go away for months. I think I might take up smoking so at least I have an excuse for constantly coughing (of course this is tongue in cheek)

ok, ok.. I 'must' have a christmas tree because that is what we do here at this time or year. For years I have gone out and bought a real pine tree from our local fire brigade or Lions club but this year, I refuse to do that. I refuse to have a huge tree in my loungeroom, having to vacuum all the needles that constantly drop, watering it trying to keep it alive in summer heat... so I decided to do my own thing.. a live tree, I thought. Joe and I trotted off last weekend to a nursery to find something suitable. At first I thought of buying a frangipani.. these are out in flower at the moment and are truly a summer type plant, but they won't live indoors for too long.. then I thought of the Wollomi pine, an ancient tree that was discovered a few years ago, deep in a hidden valley not far from where I live.. it is from the dinosaur age and has survived millions of years.. it has been cultivated and is now being sold in nurseries. However the biggest one was only about 14 ins high and a cost of $100.. I just could not bring myself to buy one. So we left empty handed. Well, not quite empty handed I bought 3 Echeverias to decorate my table on christmas day... will show them later.

While in the local hardware store yesterday, I spotted some palms and even though I am not a lover of these plants.. they are a summery kind of thing.. so I bought one for $10.. an odd choice I know but with a vintage sari wrapped around the base, some personalised baubles, a few lights and some vintage birds hiding in the branches or fronds.. it does the trick, I think. And after the silly season has gone as quickly as it comes... I can put the palm out on my deck.