I am at home alone. The men have gone to a family birthday party down at Goulburn, so I dropped them at the door of the airport and went home to the quiet. I can read in the quiet, and can think in the quiet, and be on the computer in the quiet and not go anywhere in the quiet. I do of course miss them but sometimes it is nice to have alone time.

So this morning I have been to the tip to get rid of our rubbish. When you have to dispose of your own rubbish it certainly makes you think about it more. Cardboard in this bin, general rubbish in that bin, and recyclable stuff to be separated into individual bins for glass, aluminium and plastic. We don't have a lot of rubbish, but I don't like going out, I think that is all it comes down to, so if I can have less rubbish then I don't have to go over quite as often. Though it only takes maybe ten minutes all up, but still, I could be doing something else. But we have to do what we have to do :p


The above photo is of a flowering paperbark full of birds though you can't see them :)

The lovely flowering paperbarks that I have been admiring are still lovely, and now I am taking more notice, the large paper barks are flowering too. You just have to look harder as there are not so many flowers on them and they are high. The bats are coming in at night to feast on them, and during the day a variety of birds are making a racket eating them including parrots. They are all competing with each other and make such a noise pushing each other out of the way.


Some more seeds are pushing their way through the soil, though looking at them six times a day does not make them grow faster :) I have forgotten what I planted so am looking forward to them coming up so I can identify them :p


I have Gota Kola growing in a lot of my pots with other things so it is good to get some of them out of pots so they can all start to spread. I actually have two pots of Gota Kola just by themselves, but having in the other pots means eventually I will have more (I was also afraid of not having any, so went a little overboard with bring it up here).

There is actually a fair bit growing around the property, in the wetter spots like the gully running into the dam. However it is not as good looking as mine as it doesn't get looked after, but I like knowing it is there.

Gota Kola is a ground cover, very easy to grow and have a lovely shaped leaf. It contains vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, B12, B17 C, D it also has calcium, magnesium, selenium, zinc. It is good for arthritis, to increase brain capacity and for longevity. It can be added to salads, which is what we do, or cooked.

Isabell Shipard has written quite a few pages about this herb in her book so really worth looking up.

So I guess I had better have a salad with my meal tonight. I haven't used too much out of the garden as it all still getting established, but seeing as it is just me, a few leaves here and there won't hurt :)