Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff

on my walk

I noticed the ginger

flowering

 

Shell Ginger

is a clumping ornamental ginger

called Alpinia zerumbet

 

sometimes referred to as

Pink Porcelain Lady

 

The shell ginger

has sweet bell shaped

pink and white flowers

 

 with a bright yellow inside petal

showing red spots and stripes

 

The rhizome

is native to South East Asia

 

and grows well in this climate

 

The other ginger

the hot stuff

is also a rhizome

called Zingiber officinale

from the Sanskrit word siugabera

meaning shaped like a horn

In the early 1900s

ginger was planted at Buderim

a town one hour's drive

south of Noosa

on the Sunshine Coast

The ginger was used

for the domestic market

Up until that time

ginger had been imported

from China

 

During the war times

when supply was difficult

to obtain from China

a plantation was developed

and now the industry provides ginger

and ginger products

to 17 countries

around the world

The Buderim Ginger Factory

produces a range of ginger products

marmalades and jam

preserves

chutneys

toppings and sauces

beverages and confectionery

but my favourite

is crystalised ginger

which I love to eat

with walnuts

or almonds

 

 Ginger is one of man's earliest medicines

It first appears

in China's Pen Tsao Ching

a classic of herbs

circa 3000 BC

and is mentioned by Confucius

for its health properties

as a carminative

aiding digestion

It is also frequently mentioned

in Greek and Roman literature

Ginger was one of the original

Silk Road products

I like to use fresh ginger in Asian cooking

drop a few slices into a pot of tea

and

on a hot day drink ginger and lime cordial

or sip an ice cold ginger beer...

and of course

there are many

wonderful baking recipes

using ground ginger

Delicious hot stuff

*

Cockies

*

Cockies

Here

in Australia

we have two kinds of cockies

those that scuttle around

the kitchen floor
after dark

and those beautiful creatures

that claim the skies

as their home

The Yellow Tailed

Black Cockatoo family

sat on the edge of the ocean

in the National park

this morning

 

Mrs Cocky

has a white upper bill

and a bright yellow cheek patch

 

Cutie Cocky

her daughter

sits nearby

in a Banksia tree

 

enjoying the seeds

of the Banksia nuts

Cutie reaches out for a nut

snipping off a branch in her way

with her secateur like bill

 

she grasps a banksia nut

in her claws

and severs it from the tree

 

 

what a clever Cocky I am

she raises the nut

to her mouth

like a luscious corn cob

Click the photo

to see the seeds in her bill

 

and proceeds to extract the seeds

 

she then tosses the nut down below

to where I am standing

 

in an adjacent tree

her father sits

Can you spot the gender differences?

My Cocky has a pink rimmed eye

a softer yellow cheek marking

and a grey upper bill

He is also

considerably bigger

 

He too is munching

on Banksia nuts seeds

Mrs Cocky all this time

has been crooning a plaintive song

unlike her usual loud distinctive call

which other days makes me stop

on my walks

and search the skies

for the graceful slow flapping sweep

of these large birds

over the wallum and forest

 

and she leaves her high

look out perch

 

to join her daughter

on a branch

at the edge of the ocean

 

 

which is where
we will leave the Cocky family
the Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos
the harbingers of rain

*

Windy Walk

A Windy Walk

along the ocean's edge...

The wind gusted

and rain fell

last night

 

and today it is blowing

out at Hell's Gates

almost strong enough

to fly...

 

like the Black Cockatoos

swirling and circling

 

over the wallum

that edges the coastal strip

 

It doesn't appear

as if the rain reached this side

of the headland

 

where the grasses are rusted brown

 

and the hillside colours

muted and homogeneous

 

 along the side of the path

the tussocky grasses fold

in the gusts

 

the white-capped waves swell

and bounce

onto the rocky shoreline

the casuarinas on the beach

sway their hula skirts

with enthusiasm

 

and a solitary seagull

on the wet sand

doesn't mind

at all...

*

Brisk But Beautiful

*

Brisk but Beautiful

Put on your coat

and hat

and gloves

Grab your scarf

It is brisk...

we are going to

the Botanical Gardens

 

parking in here under the

new shoot green

tree canopy

the rununculous

 

are bright and cheery

just what we need

on such a chilly morning

 

the pansies are huge

 

as are the resident ducks

 

my eye

is drawn to the green

dome of this spring sky

We warm ourselves

over coffees

in the Gardens tea house

 

and later

I head off for a walk

to the University

in Ilam

 

Cherry blossom drift

almost a prettier sight

than the cherry tree

 

new leaf growth

on deciduous trees

 

and conifers

 

a sign of

renewal

and rebirth

 

camellias

that seem too perfect

almost like a lotus

 

I am particularly fond

of the rugged

old man

clematis

 

and its ability

to transform

a dusty city fence

into a thing of beauty

bluebells ring out

 

 and fat thrushes hop

 

over fairy tale lawns

 

and here we are

along the stream

that becomes the Avon River,

on its way down

from the Southern Alps

 

the learned hallowed

Halls of  Knowledge

are rainbow fringed

 

in azaleas

 

Look, azalea

rainbows encircle the green

an insect heaven

 

 We'll warm up in the coffee shop

at the corner of my street

with my sister and niece

hot chocolates

 

a tiny sample

of rich caramel cake

 

and the requisite

soy flat white

with jaffas!

Happy Days

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