Things Not Strictly Ridgie or Aussie

Winter didn't want to leave this year so it didn't take much to entice the wild roselle's from the feeders in the trees to outdoor table under the kitchen window.

With most of the paired up Rosellas being busy in the bush with new eggs & hatchlings it's nice to see the odd bachelors & young juveniles still pop in for a feed & hello. It's always extra nice to see 'Goofy'. He's a sweet natured bird.

It was a long cold winter this year, spring is still battling to make a stand but our wetlands are full of birds & birdsong & the black swans have learned to be a lot more protective & managed a bumper crop of 4 signets this year. To the cowards telling everyone to run away from Australia's Totalitarians, I remind you they are Global and Australia's not their only target, but this is my blessed backyard & well worth fighting for.

This is a young bird who while not quite as brave yet as some of our older regulars, at times likes to get creative with his songs. Here he's not putting full heart & soul into his song because the oldie is just out of camera shot & doesn't approve of his sirens, wolf whistles & other sounds. I'll try to catch him making them as well one day so you can see how much he enjoys is 'modern music'.

She likes to eat grapes, he likes to play football with them.

The Green Budgie Boy has long loved swinging on his loofa swing but the White Lady Budgie wasn't that sure about such an uncouth game but he gave her some room to try it out (yes she was a little awkward at first), and now they both love it.

The Budgies simply love chewing on string but lately, as they're finishing their moult He's been getting extra manly, flying extra fast & fancy, showing her the extra treats I put around, lifting & moving things around, like the climbing, swinging chew that he's been tossing all over the place ... and She has been impressed ...

They're an odd couple. She's big, strong and opinionated. Sometimes when she's in his ear and he just sits there, you feel sorry the little hen pecked guy, but you shouldn't. He just lets her have the little wins that cost him nothing & keep her happy but when he puts his foot down as the man of the house she's happy to comply and proudly raises up her little Big Man.

The Budgies have been getting into a lot of serious flirting lately. Life's good for them, so good they seem to be thinking of adding to their household :)

As adults, Rainbow Lorikeets has clearly delineated colours but when they're young their colour is more opal like & I find, much prettier.

Rainbow Lorikeets were better known in Australia's hot north, but they've moved down to the cold south and so appreciate a regular feed to get them through our often harsh winters. It's also nice of them to decorate our bare winter Elderberry Bushes. :)

The Rainbow Lorikeets didn't used to be seen this far south but now we have many healthy populations of them. Still, I prefer the more elegant Crimson Rosellas. They were the first wild Australian birds I fell in love with as a child and while I've come to love many others, none have managed to knock the Crimsons off their top spot.

It took a year to get the more timid birds to regularly come to seed blocks where they we're NOT in our direct line of sight but yesterday when they polished off the last of those this brave bird started looking around for more free food in front of the kitchen window so I whipped out and got more blocks, setting a smaller one up in the old local and the big one outside the kitchen window. This morning the brave bird was back, had a good feed then took off calling the rest of the flock. I love Australia. Even in Winter it's full of bright beauty.

While we have the house budgies because, well, they are comical, entertaining little dears and a house is plenty of space for the little free ranging birds, we also enjoy the wild birds that drop by daily. What was one bold Crimson Rosella became a pair, then a juvenile bird joined them & the next day it was the flock of at least 6.

The turquois chap is still very young, couldn't fly yet when we got him. The white lady is only a little older and a master of the air who loves showing off her aerobatic skills. She thought she had a bit of a dud when he first joined her & he'd sit quietly and take all her chattering demands, then, after about a weak he got enough feathers to fly and boy did he fly! He must have studied her grace in the air because in no time he was out flying her and She Was In Love! He must be pretty fond of her to, as he lets her think she she still wears the pants, most of the time, but when he calls her to order, she dutifully follows.

Like kids who play with the box instead of the toy inside, these Budgies just love their string!

Budgie does his crazy workout around 11am each day

A Terrifying, Beautiful Hairpin Mountain Road In European Autumn is not the best place for an Aussie to learn to drive on the WRONG side of the road. You tend to watch the road to closely to dare lift your eyes to the stunning scenery.

My DiL couldn't quite steal herself to even get on the see-through platform, never mind trusting a few cables to all that weight.

2019, Vietnam had some great Soccer wins & I was blessed to be there to enjoy the experience ... and no, the mass of honking scooter laps were not annoying at all, it was like carolling at Christmas, you didn't want the joy to end.

My son & his wife had a 3 week honeymoon in lesser traveled Europe. This was one of their favourite stops

It was a coconut grove, became a restaurant, but I got to see it when it captured my son's heart ... and body ...

I LOVED living there. Three months was WAY too short. Can't wait to get back.

I couldn't tell you the name or address of this wonderful Restaurant in My Tho, Vietnam, but I can 'walk' you there on Google maps