Tag: eucalypts

Daily Life

Summertime Blues….er, Browns?

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Summer in Tokyo this year was just how I like it: boiling hot and dry, probably the driest I have experienced in 35 years of living in the Japanese capital. But while I loved the heat, my garden in Kangaeroo Corner had mixed feelings, especially the lawn that went from vibrant green to burned brown.

Trees thrived! Most delightedly, the jacaranda we had written off as dead in the spring powered back into life and is now one of the tallest growths on the block. The “branch” silver wattle goes from strength to strength and the golden wattle beside it is flourishing. All the grevilleas, bottle brush and myrtles grew in the dry heat like crazy. Even the eucalypt given the imposing task of trying to survive in what I’d termed the Corner of Death has prospered.

Although death proved to be the outcome for the vast quantity of seeds I brought back from Australia this year, the summer was kind to some. The kangaroo paws thrived and I was able to give many out to neighbors. Next spring should give our neighborhood a real Aussie taste. Hardenbergia, often called the Australian native wisteria, also thrived and we have have it climbing up the fence and around a trellis.

Even the dicksonia, planted in direct heat in a boiling summer that should make it struggle, did as expected for a while, but after we placed it under a makeshift shade, the tree fern has plugged away steadily.

Unfortunately, the spectacular summer didn’t leave all feeling well. My cherished lawn virtually died overnight through, I suspect, fertilizer burn. Anticipating the rainy season, I covered the lawn in fertilizer in early June before we were to hit 30-degree temperatures daily and hoping that the rain would work its wonders on the grass.

Armed with a new lawnmower, I then gave the lawn a crew cut. Well, the rains never arrived. The searing heat and over-mowed lawn proved fatal to the grass roots and within days what had been a verdant strip of land had turned into a dustbowl.

I’ve tried everything since to revive the lawn including aeration, raking, re-seeding, over-seeding, using a sprinkler, watering, not watering, shading, exposing, organic fertilizing and more. Nothing worked. Voracious pigeons didn’t help, either. Finally, this week, after almost two months of an ever-growing patch of brown began to sprout the odd shoot here and there. We’re still gonna have 30-degree or more temperatures daily for the next week or so, which is prompting me to hold back on planting new lawn seed. But it does give me a lot of hope.

Gardening is right up there with cycling for me now. I have had my confidence sapped by an inability to step up to the plate with what life has pitched at me over the past few years. The garden gave me back a bit of a boost last year when I saw it do so well. As summer passed and the lawn deteriorated, it has a terrible effect on my state of mind. Too fragile, for sure, but I was already struggling. While the garden on the whole has done spectacularly well considering the difficult conditions, as always my mind is drawn back to the negative and downbeat, which has been the struggling lawn, a metaphor of myself. Mind you, I got to learn a lot about lawns (most of which I have already forgotten) as a result of what went on this summer and hope that I might be able to revive it. Same goes for myself!

Strine Scribes, 豪cabulary

Australiana for Australia Day

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Austentayshus オーストラリア人コメディアンオーステン・テーシャス氏＊が1983年豪州象徴的なものや地名などのごろ合わせによって詩「Australiana」で全国一世風靡し、No. 1ヒットとなった。かなりやばい言葉使いであり、色な所で放送禁止となった。
1月26日建国近年日にあたる「Australia Day」にちなんで、下記再現する。お楽しみ。

    Australiana


Sittin’ at home last Sunday mornin’ me mate Boomer rang (boomerang). Said he was havin’ a few people around for a barbie, Said he might cook a burra (kookaburra) or two.
I said, “Sounds great, will Walla be (wallaby) there?”
He said “Yeah and Veggie might (Vegemite) come too”.
So I said to the wife “Do you wanna Go Anna (goanna)?”. She said “I’ll go if Din goes (dingoes).”
So I said “What’ll (wattle) we do about Nulla?”
He said “Nulla bores (Nullarbor) me to tears, leave him at home.”

We got to the party about two and walked straight out the kitchen to put some booze in the fridge. And you wouldn’t believe it, there’s Boomer’s wife Warra sittin there tryin to plait a puss (platypus)!
Now, I don’t like to speak ill o’ Warra, (Illawarra), but I was shocked. I mean, how much can a koala bear?
So I grabbed a beer, flashed me wanga at ‘er (Wangarratta) and went out and joined the party.
Pretty soon Ayers rocks in and things really started jumpin.’
This Indian girl, Marsu, turns up, dying to go to the toilet but she couldn’t find it.
I said to me mate Al, “Hey, where can Marsu pee, Al? (marsupial)”
He said “She can go out back (Outback) with the fellas, she’s probably seen a cock or two. (cockatoo)”
Well, just then Warra comes out of the kitchen with a few drinks for everybody.
Fair dinkum, you’ve never seen a cooler barmaid (coolabah).
I grabbed a beer and said, “Thanks Warra, tah. (warratah)”
A couple of queens land (Queensland) at the party, one smellin’ pretty strongly of aftershave. One of ’em sat down next to me and I turned to him and I said, “Ya know mate, you reek a’ Stockade (Eureka Stockade).”
It was a really hot day; Osko felt like a swim. He said to Ina, “Do you want a have a dip in the river, Ina? (Riverina)” She said “I haven’t got my cozzie, Osko (Kosciusko).”
Well, Bo says, “Come in starkers, what’ll they care? (wattle, Lake Eyre)”
Ina says, “What, without so much as a thread, Bo? (Thredbo). Ah, perish the thought (Perisher)! Has Youcum been in (Eucumbene) in yet?”
A few of the blokes decided to play some cricket. Boomer says “Why doesn’t Wom bat? (wombat). Yeah, and let Tenter field (Tenterfield).”
He said I should have a bowl but I was too out of it to play cricket so I suggested a game of cards. I said to Lyptus, “Wanna game of euchre, Lyptus (eucalyptus)?”
He said, “There’s no point mate, Dar wins (Darwin) every time.”
Well Bill said he’d like a smoke. Nobody knew where the dope was stashed. I said “I think Maree knows (merinos).”
But I was just spinning a bit of a yarn.
Barry pulls a joint out of his pocket. Bill says “Great! Barrier Reefer (Great Barrier Reef). What is it mate?”
“Noosa Heads (Noosa Heads) of course. Me mate Ada laid (Adelaide) ’em on me.”
And it was a great joint, too. Blew Mountains away (Blue Mountains). And his three sisters (Three Sisters).
Well, I thought I’d roll one meself. I said, “Chuck us the Tally Ho, Bart (Hobart).”
He said, “They’re out on the lawn, Ceston. (Launceston). Can you get em for us?” Bernie (Burnie) says, “It’s okay mate, she’s apples, I’ll get em for ya.”
Just then, Alice springs (Alice Springs) into action, starts to pack Billabong (billabong). And you wouldn’t believe it, the bongs broken. I said “Lord, how? (Lord Howe)”
“Hey, man (Hayman,” somebody says, “Will a didgeri do? (didgeridoo)”
“Hummmmm mummmm mummmmm mummmmm maybe it’ll have ta.”
I look in the corner and there’s Bass sittin there, not getting into it, not getting out of it. I said “What, is Bass straight (Bass Strait) or somethin’?”
Boomer says, “As a matter a fact mate, he’s a cop.”
I said “Ya jokin’ mate, a cop? I’m getting outta here, lets go, Anna.”
She said, “No way, I’m hangin round till Gum leaves (gum leaves). Besides, I don’t wanna leave Jack around a (jacardanda) party on his own. Have you seen him? I think he’s trying to crack on to Woomba (Toowoomba) He’s already tried to mount Isa (Mount Isa). And he’ll definitely try to lead you astray, Liana. (Australiana!)”