Saturday 18 April 2026

​A lovely autumn day on the coast, after a week or so of strong westerlies and about 8mm of rain in a few days.  
Coffee under the gazebo at about 8am.  I thought I spied the silhouette of a large-ish sailing boat well out towards the horizon, but it was grey and featureless in the morning distance.  If I was right about what I saw, it was a good sized vessel.
I missed seeing and hearing the park runners go along the bike track because I had gotten away earlier than them to get to the veggie shed for some provisions, but I did pass the entire field on the way back into town to head to Woollies for stage 2 of the provisioning run.
Back on the deck, the usual collection of wattlebirds, wrens, honeyeaters, lorikeets and finches were flitting in and out of the trees.  We had a visit from a couple of lesser-seen avian friends:  a Grey Butcherbird and a European Goldfinch.  The Butcherbird nearly tricked me into believing he was a wattlebird, but he definitely had a darker outfit and a prominent beak compared to the wattlebird.  Unfortunately, he did not offer to sing for me.
Later in the afternoon an armada of wave skis paddled past, with inflatable dinghies as outriders.  I suspect the surf club had sent some novice paddlers out to clock up some kilometres.
My under-deck greenhouse is now set up and ready to host some plants.  I have some red onion seeds, garlic bulbs and broad bean seeds ready for planting - but more of that to follow in coming days.