Jill Dyer

♥️♥️♥️LOVE♥️♥️♥️

Trees, saws, ladders. . .now I visions of the old "Roadrunner" cartoons. Chain saws, pole saws, etc are all Stihl brand, some engine driven, some battery powered.  All perform well, and the original chain saw is 30+ years old and still going strong.  Several chains and a new bar replaced, but still answers to the call!

I'm also going with "Here comes the sun" from the Beatles.  It's been very overcast recently, moderate amount of rain for the time of year, but over only two days.  So it's really good to see the sun!

If you can be bothered . . . dodder is an excellent subject for natural fibre basketry or weaving sculptural forms.

Interesting question.  Not one I've considered before, as like Nancy, over ripe ones get stored (as if) as cake.   I have found however that avocados will last when ripened on the bench for a couple of days after purchase, will store well in the section of the fridge where butter might go.  Usually the shelves at the top of the door. One has the avocados, the other has medications and dried yeast.

All things being equal, I reckon the weather is the problem too.  We get very hot days (over 38°C) and coupled with hot winds, the pollen dries out before the bees can get to it.  Since the rumour is that tomatoes hate their leaves being watered (what about rain, I wonder) I'm reluctant to give them an overhead spray.  I'm looking into Rouge de Marmande this year to see if a variety that doesn't need a pollinator will do the trick. Frustrating isn't it?

From buying alfalfa, I seem to remember that it is cut before or at the flowering stage so there should be few if any seeds in a bale.  Then the crop gets watered and then there is a second cut - more if the season allows it.  It also goes to mold quite quickly.

Maybe, just possibly it could be a young Sambucus nigra (Black elderberry) which I think grows in your part of the world.   Definitely has leaves growing in threes at the end of the stems, but more usually has a further two lower down the stem when older,  see :-
https://allrareherbs.com.au/product/black-elderberry-plant/   If so this is a handy addition to the garden, berries have all sorts of properties, flowers make a great wine.
There are dangerous leaf look-a-likes, so best plan to wait for a flower and/or fruit appearance.
Edit to add:  does anyone have an image of the leaves of an older plant for comparison - elderberry doesn't grow near me.

Now I have the picture in my head - can we have the next installment please?.  I see the cat letting go, the dogs withdrawing, the cat backing up and all four combatants bowing politely to each other.  

a friend served the Bestest Ever apple pie, which was flavoured with lemon - maybe an alternative "spice" to the more common aromatics.  I think orange would work too.