Another Allergy To The List

May I introduce my next allergy on the list and yet another reason why my body is highly unsuited to my job. Bee stings! Im lucky though, I dont do the whole anaphylactic, stop breathing thing. I only swell from the sting, and I do mean crazy swelling. Six years ago I was stung on the upper knuckle of my right ring finger and my hand swelled up so much that I couldnt move my fingers and the swelling extended half way down my arm. A couple of months ago I was whippersnipping the bollards along the main road and this thing flicked back and landed inside my collar. Few seconds later the sod stung me, took me a bit to figure out it was a bee. That was an unpleasant couple of days. I dont mind bees though. Im certainly not afraid of them or being stung by them. Im quite happy to pick up a lost bee and send her in the right direction (well, at least get her off the pathway). Bees seem to know that they die after they sting you, so they tend to play it cool, theyre happy as long as they arent trapped. Wasps on the other hand, nasty buggers. They can sting and keep stinging and Ive been on the receiving end of that far more often then I would like.

Heart Of A Lion

Willy Wags Tails! Most awesome bird EVER! They have absolutely no fear, Ive seen them take on anything that they decide comes too near. Its one of the most amusing things to see a crow being harassed and swooped by one of these little guys. In a place I use to work, there were a couple that became quite accustom to the gardeners. They would swoop down and run amongst the soil I was weeding/turning over so they could grab all the little grubs I upturned. There were two of them that use to occasionally fight, so one would spot me, fly down in front of me and warble at how awesome he was, the other wag tail would hear him and swoop down to chase him away, so the first would run behind me, warble again so the other ran behind me to chase him away. He would then jump on my back and down to the front of me and peck the bugs while the second one would be behind me trying to find the first one. This would go on for a while until the second one would wise up and finally catch the first wag tail, then it was on for young and old. It was always amusing to watch. Seriously, if I get the choice to be reincarnated after this life, Im totally coming back as a willy wag tail!

A Perfect Blossom

This is my image of a perfect flower. Its one of the camellias growing at the Depot. Its a good example of a double flower and I just think it is beautiful. There are some camellias you can get that still have stamens amongst the petals of the bloom, personally I just think it looks messy. These camellias confused the hell out of the bees as well. Small things amuse small minds, and smaller minds look on as the saying goes.

The Devil!

I apologise for the picture quality of this photo. It is zoomed in as opposed to getting close to the subject like I normally try to do. The reason for this is I have a ridiculous fear of these little beasts and I just wasnt willing to get close enough to the little monster incase it jumped! Dont ask me where this fear of crickets, grasshoppers and locusts came from, Ive had it since late primary school. I dont like the look of them and I freak out when they jump. Even typing this up is making my skin crawl. I had to get my nanna to save me from a locust once (she was the only one about and the flyspray just wasnt killing it quick enough, and lord knows I didnt want to let the thing out of my sight!). Suffice to say that my workmates find it hilarious. Ive had to get them to save me from them on several occasions and right now its the season for the monsters, so the bunker we work out of is infested with them again. So a shriek can occasionally be heard in the parks when I close the roller door to the bunker and a dozen of the beasts fall on top of me. Yeeck!

Stumped

I honestly have no idea what this is. I saw it this morning while I was doing the rubbish run and thought it looked pretty. I *think* it may be some sort of lily, possibly related to a fringe lily, but I cant seem to find it anywhere in my books or in the puddle on knowledge hidden in the back of my brain. So lets just go with its pretty, its purple, and its in flower next to the lake right now!

Sweet

This pretty little thing is a Robyn Gordon Grevillea. It is a hybrid plant and does not set seed (if seed forms, they will not become Robyn Gordon Grevilleas), it is only reproduced asexually from cuttings. It is one of the most popular grevilleas on the market and I am honestly disappointed that we dont have more of them around the parks. They are magnificent for attracting birds, lowish growing, hardy and can handle a jolly good prune. I remember when I was a little girl, I use to pick them and suck the drops of nectar out of the flowers (and I do mean drop). Use to keep me entertained for hours. My mum use to love and loathe it, as it would keep me quiet for a good hour or so, however when I was done there was this mangled pile of grevillea flowers where I had been sitting.

Totally Thought This Through

You know, if I had thought about it, I never would have become a gardener. I have a few 'quirks' that make my job interesting to say the least. First of all, I have a fear of crickets, grasshoppers and locust, but I have a picture I wish to upload on that topic, so I will leave it at that for now. I have some pretty awesome dermatitis in my hands, so at any point I need to have at least 5 different sets of gloves for different tasks around work. I have general gardening latex dipped gloves, plastic gloves, heavy duty plastic gloves, cotton gloves and anti-vibration gloves. Im suffer from minor hearing loss in one ear and cant wear ear plugs for longer then 5 minutes unless I want an ear ache. Im accident prone and have managed to cut my knee 3 times with a hedge trimmer (separate occasions). I burn easily, so the guy in stores is adamant that Im selling sunscreen on the black market, I go though that much of the stuff. I also have some pretty awesome hayfever. Right now Im just about living on antihistamines. Right now the thing in the picture is making my life a living hell. That is the flower of kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum). Grasses are a bugger for adding to the pollen count. Its also one of the reasons I hate mowing days. Those fine little hairs cover large patches of the parks at work and when a mower comes along it disperses the pollen quite magnificently, which really doesnt help my situation. However, its only for about 2 months a year that the hayfever is that bad, so I still wouldnt trade my job for the world.