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…MR STICKYFINGERS (sort of) BOWS OUT FOR A WHILE…

...well these photos are of our back yard... as I said above... it's not as fancy-dancy as the front gardens but it still is a bit of a 'work-in-progress' in some parts... we're happy with it anyway lol!...

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...this is our back verandah where my sweet darling wife and I sit each morning watching the morning sunrise and watching the birds feeding in our back yard... this is where I do my given physio exercises each morning too...

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...this is the garden under a Jacaranda tree and a Muraya tree next to it in my back yard... the square one next to the Jacaranda tree is either a Maple tree or a Liquid Amber tree... (I can never remember which one it is:facepalm::rolleyes:... lol!)... just a little bit of trivia for you all... that Jacaranda tree grew from a bird dropping many many years ago believe it or not!...

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...this is a view from the shed looking towards the driveway... that is my Koi Carp fish pond on the right and the barbecue area is on the left... those metallic doors in the middle against the fence are closet type things for our three garbage bins... that circular brick area is for 2 trays to feed the birds each morning..

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...this is looking from the shade house next to the Jacaranda tree down towards the front of our house... that square brick area with the metal grating on top is a submersible water pump to get rid of excessive storm water in the back yard... all that grass area that you see is covering about 7 tons of gravel sunk about 2 feet deep into the ground where a water collection area used to be...

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...these are two trees either side of the 'Irish Strawberry tree' are Melaleuca trees that also grew from bird droppings that I transferred from the other side of my garden... bird shit must make saplings grow stronger methinks lol!... as you can see I seem to have a preoccupation for trimming trees into shapes... (mainly balls for some reason lol!)... that terracotta thing on the right hand side is from an old house that was being demolished... it was from the top of one of their chimneys...

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...this view is from next to the chair that we sit in each morning and looking towards the plant shade house and Jacarandra garden area... you can also see the barbecue in the barbecue area where I have cooked many meals before... (yum!)... lol!...

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...just another shot of those trees from a different angle...

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...this is looking from the other end of our verandah towards the Jacaranda tree etc... in the next batch of photos there will be more shots of the pond a bit closer up...

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...this is from the end of the driveway looking over to our shed in the other corner of the yard...

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...the shed itself and the pond... well... because you can only put 10 photos into the post at one time that is it for this one... more in the next post to come... I hope that you liked them... cheers.
 
...more photos... (I bet that you wish you never asked now eh?... lololol!)... this is about it... (I had more close up photos of the front garden but figured that you've already seen it all so why bother lol!)...

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...those bushes have taken me about 10 years to get them to that stage... (more balls lol!)... they usually take me about 2-3 hours to do them all... it's fun to do though...

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...the grandchildren love this little nook with the 2 Kookaburras in it... those 3 Gargoyles usually spit water into the pond but I've got to fix the system up that runs it... (another job on my 'to do' list lolol!)...

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...this bush has a snake that lives under it... the grandchildren don't like the that so much for some reason...

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...that weed that sits on top of the pond is to prevent the Koi Carp from getting 'sun burnt' believe it or not...I never used to have it floating on top until 3 of my fish got 'cancerous' growths on their scales from the Sun that lifted the scales from their bodies and it eventually killed them... the pond isn't too deep because if a little child fell into it the child would be able to sit up in it with ease... none of the grandchildren are allowed out there unsupervised at any time either...

...the fish have to have shelter at most times... the island in the centre of the pond in a biological filter... the water is sucked into the pump through the rocks in the bottom of the pond via 'agline' which is a flexible pipe with small holes in it and then gets re-routed through the Gargoyles by spitting the water back in and also through the spout in the middle of the island... green slime grows inside the island and cleans the pond water as it trickles over it... the island is hollow on the inside for the fish to swim under but they have grown too big to swim through the openings... hence the weed...

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...some of the native birds that I feed... 2 'Rainbow Lorikeets' and 13 'native doves/pigeons' having a banquet at 'Cafe' ala Sticky'... lol!...

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...2 'Rainbow Lorikeets'... 2 'Corellas... 2 'Galahs'... 3 'Doves'... (and a Partridge in a pear tree lol!)...

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...funny as it may seem... all of the big birds... (even the Cockatoos)... are terrified of the 'Rainbow Lorikeets'... they may look pretty but they really go at the bigger birds and always win!... (they must be the 'Veloceraptors' of the bird kingdom methinks lol!)...

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...these are old photos of my Koi Carp that I took prior to putting that weed in the pond because it is hard to get good photos of them with the weed... they are way bigger than this now of course... as you can see... the pond is not that deep... they eat anything green that you put in the pond so the weed is like a salad to them... apart from fish flakes their favourite food is a dry piece of toast smeared in 'Vegemite' or 'Marmite' and placed face down in the water... they go ape-shit and go into a feeding frenzy... they also like big clumps of frozen peas dropped into the pond and they eat them as they thaw out...

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...more of the little fellas... well ladies and gentlemen that's about it... I hope that you enjoyed the rather overlong slide show... now you have seen it all... 'the the the that's all folks!'... lol!... cheers.
 
Great photos Mr Sticky, you and your wife have good reason to be very proud of your lovely house and gardens.

...we are for sure my friend... it's been a lot of hard work to get it to that stage but there are still a lot of things to do until I'm totally happy with it... probably about another year of work to do until it's all done because I'm just 'moseying' through it until it's all done since I had my stroke...'baby steps'... lol!... no more 'rush rush rush' anymore... I've learned my lesson not to try and get it all done in one day anymore lol!... thanks for the kind words Meglos... cheers.
 
These are fantastic. I am going to try to get photos but I'm not as good a photographer as you. I'm coming home on the weekend so I will post then.

Your house and garden are amazing. No wonder you were so desperate to get home asap.

I didn't think your birds were real.
 
These are fantastic. I am going to try to get photos but I'm not as good a photographer as you. I'm coming home on the weekend so I will post then.
Your house and garden are amazing. No wonder you were so desperate to get home asap.
I didn't think your birds were real.


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...thankyou so much Rose 711... it sounds like I didn't disappoint you lol!... you're right... that is the reason that I couldn't get out of that Hospital quick enough... I so love having breakfast out on the deck each morning with my sweet darling wife... it's heaven on a stick!...

...lol!... the birds are very real... they are beautiful to watch... one thing that isn't real is my dog 'woof!' who is sitting in the bottom right hand side of this photo... he's made of fibreglass... he scares the shit out of people at first glance lol!... something funny to do with 'woof!' happened one day... when he was looking a tad bit tattered I went to our local 'Bunnings' warehouse store and went to the paint department... I walked up to the counter and then something similar to the following conversation happened...

...store assistant:... "hello sir... can I help you?"...
...me:... "yes thankyou... I need some cans of spray paint please"...
..."okay... what type of paint do you need?... matt/semi gloss/gloss or full gloss?"...
..."um... just a 'matt' finish will probably do thanks"...
..."probably a 'matt' finish?... what do you want to spray paint?"...
..."oh...just my dog"... (me not even thinking of what I had just said because my mind was elsewhere)...
..."your... your dog?"... (him looking concerned... if not a tad bit shocked)...
..."yeah... my dog... his coat is not looking all that good lately and he needs a bit of 'touching up'... he looks a bit shabby"... (I'm still oblivious to what I'm saying to him because I was thinking of other stuff that I was needing to get in the store)...
..."you can't spray your dog with spray paint mate... it'll"...
...(it dawns on me what I have just told him)... "no no!... he's not real... he's made of fibreglass!... I'm sorry... I should have explained that to you in the first place!... sorry about that!"...
...(him looking lets say... 'relieved')... "Thank God for that!... you had me worrying that you were a sadistic weirdo or something!"...
..."no no! ... he's made of fibreglass and the paint is peeling off him so he needs redoing!... honestly!"...

...we both laughed about it and I could see how it would've sounded to him... he said that in all the years that he had worked there that that was the strangest request that he had ever heard... oh well... at least he now had a good story to tell his wife etc about a weirdo that walked into the store and wanted to spray paint his dog because it looked 'shabby' if nothing else lol!... true story...

...please post those photos Rose711... I'd love to see them... it sounds great... I'm glad that you like my gardens etc... if nothing else at least the photos that I posted broke up the constant reading about my progress for a short while lol!... speaking of which... I go to my Neurologist this coming Saturday... I'm hoping for answers as to why I had my stroke... after all of those scans and tests that I've had done surely he has some answers?...

...I'm also hoping that he gives me the go-ahead to be able to drive once again... I'm so sick and tired of having to ask our son to drive us everywhere lol!... if he doesn't then I have to wait until 2 days later when I see my physio Doctor in charge of my recovery process... anyway... that's where everything lays at the moment... thanks for the kind words Rose711... cheers.
 
If I had a garden like yours, I would never be inside the house. Lol I would even sleep outside if need be.:D

Simply gorgeous and serene.

Good job Mr & Mrs S :thumbsup:

...why thankyou Groover... that's so kind of you... we sit out there quite a lot actually... when visitors come and visit we never sit inside... there is a table and chair set at the other end of the verandah that wasn't shown in the photos so there's plenty of chairs for people to sit upon... we love it out there...


...yes it is a nice car BigBrotherCritic... the best I've ever had actually... I bought it because it has dual air conditioning because my darling beloved wife and I are opposites when it comes to hot and cold air lol!... also... it has all the bells and whistles so I didn't have to buy any extras after I bought it... (actually... tell a lie)... I did have to buy one thing... a dashboard mat because they weren't available when I bought the car... (it's a Mazda 3 as if you didn't know lol!)... cheers.
 
Thanks again for posting these. My sister is a bird fanatic and she loved seeing these photos. Your home is so beautiful.

...thanks for saying such nice things about my home Rose711... that's very kind of you... I'm glad that your sister likes the birds... they are such a pleasure to watch... there are usually Cockatoos hanging about the house too but they weren't there on the days that the photographs were taken... they are the noisiest ones too lol!...

What an awesome garden Uncle Sticky! I do not have a green thumb

...thanks mate... I'm glad that you like it... (hahaha!... Uncle Sticky... lol!)...

Mr. Sticky....what a wonderful oasis you've created. I love your gargoyles!

...thanks Bluefin... I've never thought of my garden as an oasis before...that sounds so cool!... I love those gargoyles too...their names are 'shed'... 'fence ' and 'house' by my sweet darling wife and family members for the reason that when one of them stops spitting water into the pond because of some sort of blockage they shout out which one of them it is by what it is closest to... when people ask me if they have names I tell them they are called... 'dumb' and 'dumber' and 'just plain fucking stupid'... my sweet darling wife just rolls her eyes when I do that lol!...

Loving the pond and everything is immaculate.

...the trouble with the pond is that when we have a party or a barbecue or whatever Khun Khun is that because of the sound of the trickling water everyone ends up having to go to the toilet for a pee!... (especially when drinking a copious amount of alcohol lol!)... I try to keep the gardens in an immaculate condition and I am still in 'catch-up' mode since I got released from Hospital... about another week of work and I'll be there... there are only a few things that have to be done... unfortunately I'm like a 'Felix Unger' type of character out in my garden... I'm very much of an anal fusspot that has to have everything looking perfect out there lol!...

...thankyou everyone for the lovely comments on my garden... it makes my day!... cheers.
 
...oh wow tedfthis... I'm not really telling you too much about doing the physio side of things that you don't already know am I?... lol!... they say that knee operations are the worst ops to have because they are so painful!... kudos to you on your recovery process my friend... as with me you were/are learning to walk again...I hope that you recovered quickly my friend... when did you have that operation... recently?...

...going on these walks with my beloved wife each day is sometimes quite tiring and I struggle hard at times but it is doing me so much good... I seem to be learning to walk again a lot better by doing it than just constantly doing the exercises at home... although the exercises are more orientated towards building my strength back up rather than teaching me to walk again I guess...

...thanks for the post my friend...cheers.

I had the double knee replacemenets on Monday April 11th 2015, Mr S, I was in surgery for 5 hours. On May 6th I walked for the 1st time, without crutches or sticks, so 25 days after the surgeries, I was pretty happy with that, all the hard work had paid off. This is probably why you are making such amazing progress, you are putting the hard work in. Good luck my friend.
 
...as promised here are some photos of my gardens etc for you Rose711... I hope that you like them... these are of my front yard...

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...down the right hand side of my driveway are sandstone blocks and recycled concrete in gravel form that extends all the way down to the back yard to the plant shade house... most small plants down that side are in terracotta pots and hardly ever get weeds in them... if any weeds do get into into the recycled concrete they are so easy to pull out or to kill with weed killer...

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...this is the other side of the driveway showing the front gardens and the urn water feature looking out from under the corner of the carport...

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...looking from one corner across the yard... the sandstone blocks that you see running along the driveway will continue along the front of the gardens along the entire length of the grass nature strip to make it complete... a silly little thing called a 'stroke' on my part kind of stopped that little project from happening... once I'm fully recovered it will be my #1 project to do lol!...

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...looking from the corner of the house back towards the previous photo...

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...a closer look at one of the gardens...

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...from a different angle of the same one...

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...this is my most favourite plant in my front yard... I have no idea as to what it is called... (I call it 'worms')... hmmmm!... looks like I missed that damn weed amongst the Sedum on the left hand side ... (trust me that will be gone as soon as I've posted this lol!)...

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...those pebbles in the middle of that garden bed makes it easy for us to weed those garden beds... I wanted it to sort of look like a kind of garden path type of thing...

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...those pebbles up against the front verandah sometimes are completely covered by water in rainy down pours... it actually looks like a real creek as was my intent when I built it all... I'm in the process of making a little wooden sign to put at the end of it that will say... 'shit creek'... lol!...

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...this is my centerpiece urn water feature... the reason for the rope being there is because that just under the surface of the water in the urn there is wire framing to prevent anything falling in and drowning in the urn... the rope allows birds to land safely and step onto the wire framing to bathe themselves in it... it's quite a sight to see them splashing in it at times...

...well there you have the front gardens... I'll post more of the rest of my yard in the next few posts... I hope that you enjoyed them Rose711... until next time... cheers.

Thanks for posting the pics, Mr S. Your garden looks beautiful and immaculate. I'm also a Pom, born in Wolverhampton, not too far from Birmingham, we came to Oz in 1970.
 
Mr. S.

How is your physio going? And the doctors ideas about your stroke?
I will put some pictures up this weekend. You will see that the country living in Virginia looks very different from your house.
In the meantime, I'm uploading an aerial shot of the Shenandoah valley. The valley is between two mountain ranges (not big mountains) the Allegheny and the Blue Ridge. A third mountain, the one my sister lives behind, called Massanutten Mountain is between those two. The Shenandoah River divides into the north fork and south fork in the valley. My sister has the south fork running at the back of her property.1365px-Shenandoah_River,_aerial.jpg
 
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