Ally's Notebook

Lovely to see beautiful colours created by the sunset, and festive fireworks.

The above painting is my impression of Lake Tekapo South Island New Zealand. I plan to reproduce it onto a 40X50CM canvas board which I will hang in my lounge.

The painting below was a 30 minute painting challenge using only white, blue, red and yellow.

Both paintings will need some touch up bits here and there. Sometimes it is better to stand back for a couple days before finishing the picture.

The warmer weather is definitely here in Brisbane which means it is also SNAKE SEASON.

There are 27 species  with the most common being Carpet Python and Tree Snakes. The venomous ones include Coastal Taipan, Tiger Snakes, Rough Scaled Snake, Eastern Brown and the Death adder.

I found some photos of snakes  on the internet supplied by Shutterstock. They are regularly found in Brisbane suburbs and some are considered to be highly venomous.

During the last month several snakes have been seen where I live. They come right up by the residential buildings.  I recently heard that its only natural for snakes to be coming into residential areas and the reason is because houses are getting built further out from the cities and into the environment where snakes live.  I actually live close to the Brisbane City CBD almost in a concrete jungle. Maybe its food and water they are searching for.

Snakes enjoy dining on frogs , very sad but its all part of the eco system.

The photos below were supplied by Qld Council and Snake Catcher Brisbane.com.au

I hope you enjoyed my brief story about snakes.   I should add it is also Mosquito Season, they are bad where I live. The council say they do spraying but where and when I don’t know.

Buy your own Christmas present and then you get what you really need. Because I have a passion for art I decided to purchase an easel.

My Black French Box Easel arrived today. It also came with a free box of treasures worth $100.

Do I wait until Christmas….NO WAY…..

I live in a small one bedroom unit so I might need to rearrange a few things.

I was pleasantly surprised with the free treasure box

All good quality products and very useful.

Thank you Santa ❤😀🎨xo

The Poinciana is an iconic Brisbane tree. Beautiful displays of vibrant colour red through to orange flowering throughout summer.

This first photo I took last May or June

The next photos were taken this morning. These trees are all in the backyard where I live.

I picked up a sample of the flower that was on the ground.

I am feeling so blessed to have such beauty in my life.

Beautiful Jacarandas are also in flower. They are often seen to be lining the streets and people’s yards. When the flowers drop the grass and pathways become carpeted with the colour of purple…Looks divine.

During the weekend I purchased a variety of vegetables , more than I can use fresh for one person. I decided to make a vegetable curry, never made one before.

I am not a big fan of curries, can tolerate only mild.

I decided to use my slow cooker. I put in the following ingredients:

Garlic, ginger, onion, egg plant, carrot, sweet potato, broccoli,fennel, potato, tin of tomato puree, butter beans and coconut milk, salt & pepper, small amount of water. I didn’t have curry paste so I added a good quality curry powder.

Cooked on a low setting for 5 hours.

I then did a taste test. For me it tasted too sour so I added some dark brown sugar, still a bit sour so I added chopped mango in juice…..that did the trick for my taste buds. 😋

Dinner is served: Vegetable Curry and Rice.

I can keep some for tomorrow and freeze the rest in single serves 😀.

These are the sounds I listen to at night but definitely not by choice.   The males are the loudest, they are advertising that they need a female. The sounds are actually worse that the YouTube recording, some nights it is almost like the sounds of an army marching in the dark.

I actually  do like frogs but I don’t find them relaxing for at night.

They look so cute

I wonder if this one is looking for a mate ?.