Did Mr Kiwi...

...do the right thing by Ms/Mrs Kiwi at last?
Did he finally send out flowers?To enable the bees to pollinate the female flowers? And we'll finally get some fruit?So far the fruit is the biggest it ever grew. So, maybe this year? That would be nice! :)

More berry treats...

This time another berry tart. The best so far, I think. The pastry is very crisp and the filling very light. It's very more-ish. Everyone had a second piece!

I keep experimenting with the crust and filling, so no final recipe yet. The filling is mainly quark, yoghurt, eggs and some sugar. With tons of berries on top. I crammed in as many as I could. The pasty is shortcrust.

Hydrangeas

The hydrangeas are looking spectacular at the moment.
Let's hope they won't get burnt in the next few hot days. The temperature is supposed to reach 37C by Saturday. We will just have to wait and see. (And take pictures while they are looking that great.)

Cucumber "Home-made Pickles"

The plants are looking rather good at the moment.
There are lots of tiny cucumbers on the plant.
I'm just hoping that they will all be pollinated and result in lots of yummy cucumbers to munch on. Even though they are called "Home-made Pickles", I will be using them to eat in salads. There are still plenty of jars with pickled cucumbers in the pantry.

Berry pancake ...

... for brunch. Pancake recipe from Jamie Oliver's "Happy Days". Always a winner. Can't fail with plenty of berries, a dollop of thick cream and some maple syrup or honey.

A glut of berries...

...and no more room in the freezers. Plenty of jam made. Also experimenting with berry liqueurs. And still the berries keep coming. Everyone is getting berries as pressies, but still.... So, now an experiment in making berry wine. This is a mixture of boysenberries, silvanberries, raspberries and blackberries (frozen from last year). The colour is fantastic!
Let's hope it's better than last season's blackberry wine! It was disgusting. At least it was, when we last tried it. Might have to check again, it may have improved.

Twins!

Our zucchinis are early this year. Yeah! I took a gamble and planted them a lot earlier than I usually would. And it paid off - we weren't hit by late frosts - and we have already enjoyed a few zucchinis the last few weeks. The first variety to produce a good-sized zuke was the Lebanese zucchini, then the old faithful, Fordhook.

This is the first of the golden zucchini.Twins!

Laughing Kookaburra

...sitting on a post.
It sat still for quite a while and I was able to get fairly close. They are lovely birds, aren't they? I love hearing their laughter in the trees.

Then it had enough of all that and flew off.

Have you ever seen...

...a chook with a leg in plaster?

Here it is.
No, this is not one of ours. A lovely friend, whose name I shall not mention to protect the (crazy? mad? very caring?) person, had to take this chook to the vet. Blame the new dog, who caused this accident. Anyway, after the X-ray (which revealed a broken leg), the plaster was put on. Isn't she cute?

Berry brekkie

One of the marvellous things about a glut of berries is that breakfast turns into pure indulgence.

Take bowl, fill with selection of berries.Mix in (home-made) yoghurt. Enjoy. Simple but - oh! - so good. :)