Sunday Selections # 797

 Long ago, Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, (who no longer blogs), dreamed up a meme called Sunday Selections. 

A place where those who were willing could put up photos they wanted to share, new, old, good, bad or indifferent, any photos you please. 

Nothing rude or vulgar though.

And we don't mind at all if other bloggers care to join us.

In memory of Elephant's Child, the meme is now continued by myself and a few others. Andrew is one.  Messymimi is another. Drop in to their blogs and have a look.

Wisewebwoman has also been joining us occasionally.

Beginning today with an abandonment:

the redheads have abandoned the back porch for the duration of winter

"We are plastic, so don't feel the cold" they said, "but we would rather be inside"

Their cardboard box rooms have been packed away for safety

the section where they were has plastic sheeting to help protect from rain but the rest is just shadecloth and bamboo blinds which were already in place when I moved in here.

the plastic sheeting helps, but there are gaps at the top between the framing and the upstairs balcony, so if the wind and rain are in the right direction, everything gets wet and even without actual rain, the cardboard box rooms absorb moisture from the air and become soft and soggy.

this section of garden and driveway is up towards the main road

and water has been leaking there for quite some time. I was pleased to see the orange netting appear and the digging up of pipes

I hope this short video plays, you can see the water swirling as the pipe still leaks

with water flowing over the path

down the gutter all the way towards the road

and pooling badly, spreading across the driveway, with nowhere to drain

because the old stormwater drains (all of them) are packed full of dirt and have been for years. They were like this when I moved in already, so clearly nobody in charge cares enough to get that sorted. 

on a recent longish walk, I saw this choko vine, I was quite surprised as I haven't seen one since we left Sydney in 1979

here are the fruits (vegetables?) and I don't even remember what they get used for.

in my own street is this beautiful bright orange Boston Ivy

with the fence next door to it having a yellow covering

this yellow hibiscus is in the same yard as the "Jasminus Polyanthus" the jasmine that I fear because I cannot walk outside while it is blooming as the very heavy heady scent hangs in the air for hours over several blocks. I go everywhere with a many-times-folded hanky pressed close to my nose to filter my air. 

further around another block nearby is this fence full of pyrostegia

the flower buds look like small thin balloons

and then open to look like this, they don't appear to have any scent, which is a hooray for me, and the bees love it. I had this growing along the back fence in my previous home.

What to do with a frozen solid chicken breast found buried in the freezer? Thaw it, slice it, marinate in a honey-soy-garlic mixture overnight, and then fry it up, drain on some paper towel

and eat, it was delicious hot and just as good cold.

this is just one of the many black swans on Adelaide's River Torrens 

These photos were taken around 2017 when my brother, a concrete construction engineer, lived in Adelaide for a few years while working on the "Northern Expressway", here he is helping his grandson put down food for the swans. It is available from a nearby cafe for a small charge and stops people from throwing other food that isn't good for them.

one swan was very appreciative and followed us as we walked up and down the riverbank.