tea tree

  • Behind The Great Green Wall

    It was a blistering hot summer in Tokyo this year–the third year in a row to have the highest temperatures on record–and that had a mixed effect on our garden. One aspect of that heat was to great a great green wall. Our wattles, tea trees, grevilleas, and jacaranda all grew thick and fast over the summer, providing some shade, which was greatly appreciated by the tree fern I’m sure, but robbing other plants of light. Combined with the relentless heat that obliterated the lawn, our proteas have both withered away and many other plants are struggling. Only the big trees have loved the summer, but shown that largely with…

  • ‘Pterror’ Trauma Transforms Into A Tantalizing Turn

    Dino, our modern pterodactyl–or “pterror-dactyl” as I prefer to call her for her innate ability to traumatize–has been crook for a while without showing signs of a complete recovery. I would give anything for her to resume her reign of pterror. The rosy faced lovebird who rules our roost has an infection after eating too much human food. Poor Mrs. Kangaeroo has for months been finishing grueling nightshifts and taking the bird on a draining journey to the avian vet. Mrs. Kangaeroo has also overseen the bird’s strict diet and medicine administration. Dino is better than her worst state, but is not her aggressive, dominating self. Dino continues to struggle…

  • Death Revival

    Today looks like it’s going to be all about Lazarus-like feats centered around reviving death in all sorts of ways. First there’s the Death Machine; the name I give to my recumbent bike because riding it always feels like it could be fatal with each ride. It needs a tune, new chain and brakes to get back to fighting fitness. Hopefully, this won’t lead to a chain-reaction effect requiring increasingly more parts and labor, as is often the case. That segues into dealing with another form of death: that of my career. I can’t find a job and it seems like my working life might be over. I understand I…

  • Breaking The Banksia

    It’s becoming increasingly obvious that we’re finally going to get a banksia flower in the garden. We’ve had a banksia in the garden from the outset, but yet to get a flower some three years down the track. And we’ve had plenty of troubles along the way. In addition to the coastal banksia we started with, we also bought a hairpin banksia last year. It was a ripper and we grew it in a pot. It withstood the blistering heat of the summer of 2023, but I planted it too early into the autumn and it withered and died. We picked up some cheap but very nice birthday candles banksia…

  • Not Getting Cocky

    Some years ago, I got too far ahead of myself and lost my humility with the upshot being daily humiliation now. Over the past 14 years or so, I’ve attended a 12-step group pretty much daily to make myself a better person, and to be more decent to others. As my character improved, I gained a little more self-confidence. But it turns out that I also lost a lot of humility and didn’t show enough respect for others. One of the things I learned in my early days of going to AA was the importance of being respectful to every person who walked into a meeting because, as the old-timers…

  • Tea-ing Off for the Hot Stuff

    Yesterday gave me an absolutely delightful surprise that I am now hoping will be a tee off toward better things as our tea tree bloomed as we hit the heat of early summer, long after I had given up hope of it doing so this year. I was thrilled to see the tiny white flowers appear. As I’ve mentioned often previously, this year had a darker than normal winter, which is usually bright and sunny in Tokyo, and even though it has been warmer, it has had an impact on blossoming. But our tea tree has clearly joined the party now. The next few days should provide even greater enjoyment…