The Winding Trail

 

We’ve lived in our house for 23 years now and neither of us are gardeners, it’s very much what grows grows and survival of the fittest. The diversity of the life that thrives here is a source of never ending pleasure, surprise, comfort and cause for celebration. I am delighted with our urban jungle, the surprising flowers that burst into bloom in unexpected corners and under the bushes and trees. More meticulous friends that visit say things like, “Do you know that’s a weed?” or, “Aren’t you worried about snakes?” The answer is “no” to both, although I was nervous for a time years ago when our cat was bitten by a snake, which resulted in her spending time in hospital and me having to feed her through a tube hourly, day and night, for a week after she came home.

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Moving on to more cheerful things, our jungle has formed a winding trail circling our house. The ugly colourbond fence is now invisible, hidden by the flowering Potato Vine, scented Jasmine and the Honeysuckle Vine that makes me think of my grandfather each time it flowers. He taught me to suck the sweetness from the blooms of the vines that grew in Lavender Bay park and make daisy chains of white and gold.

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The winding trail is bordered by an Apple Tree and self sown Cotoneaster trees. “That’s a weed,” is a common comment from less welcome guests. But I love the Cotoneasters. They are always doing something, flowering, ripening deep red berries or putting on a show of autumn leaves. We have a possum that likes sitting in them and using them as a ladder to reach the roof. Not so welcome is the stray black cat that uses them for the same purchase, much to the annoyance of our little dog Maisie, who lets the neighbourhood know in no uncertain terms that that cat is on our roof again.

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I was sitting, drinking tea and looking at the apple tree from our verandah this morning when I saw a tiny mouse run along the branches. He looked quite at home and only paused for a minute to check what Maisie was doing before he carried on his way, disappearing into the Honeysuckle and no doubt heading to our aviary of budgerigars and the seed they obligingly leave for him. I wondered how he had managed to survive the nightly visits from the cat. I guess some of his friends haven’t.

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Our trail is visited every morning by blackbirds that sing tunefully to each other from the trees along the trail on all four sides of our house. They would rival the most accomplished choir and there are the remains of their nests from last Spring still to be seen in the Apple Tree. Maybe that’s where the mouse sleeps.

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Magpies and Peewees also visit. The Peewees are quite tame. One used to fly down and sit on our son Patrick’s shoulder when he lived at home.

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Where the trail winds around to the other side of the house it used to be overshadowed by a huge Silky Oak reaching over our fence from the neighbours’. It was so big it was shown on the flight map to Mudgee airport. Every year a colony of bats would come to drink the nectar from it’s ripening blossoms. They’d stay for about three days before moving on. I didn’t like them, there’s something creepy about bats, but when they suddenly stopped coming I missed them. It was then we noticed the tree didn’t look healthy. It’s leaves were sparser and the blooms paler. I worried because of its size that it would fall on our house if there was a storm. I couldn’t convince my neighbours of the danger but was very relieved a couple of years ago when they told us they were having it cut down to make room for a swimming pool. When the tree lopper came he found the trunk was hollowed out with worm and the tree was indeed likely to fall. The bats knew.

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There is a family of Blue Tongue lizards that live along the trail as it winds around our house. We don’t see them often but on sunny days they sometimes sun themselves on the lawn, that is, until Maisie spots them and chases them back into the vines.

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A Mulberry tree hangs over the fence from our neighbours at the very far end of our trail. Its delicious fruits welcomed by us as well as the possum and the Honeyeaters that visit when the fruit is ripe.

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Parrots are our most colourful visitors. They enjoy the red Bottlebrush flowers and the peaches that grow on the edge of the trail in summer.

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I know insect life must abound. I would love to be able to place a canopy over the trail and have someone show me everything that lives there. I love my winding trail. Weeds and all.