THE REMEMBRANCE FIELD

Most visitors to my garden understand the significance of the red Flanders poppies growing in the Remembrance Field and the edging hedge of the herb rosemary. Rosemary is the token worn on ANZAC Day and the red poppy is worn on 11th November the date the Armistice Treaty was signed at Versailles to end World War One.

“But, what is the significance of the blue cornflowers?” they ask.

Cornflowers and poppies

My answer is of particular interest to the residents of Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, because the planting of blue cornflowers represents our remembrance of the crew, doctors and nurses of the Centaur an Australian Hospital ship sunk off our coast by a Japanese submarine. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Australia, Australian, blue cornflower, Centaur, Das Helwig Haus B&B, Glen Aplin, Japanese, Queensland, red flanders poppy, remembrance field, stanthorpe, the granite belt, Wildflowers wilderness and wine, World War One

DISASTROUS FROST

The sun rises now about 5.30am and I didn’t stir from my bed until 6.30am so I never witnessed the white sheet of frost that others say they saw this morning. Frost is always one of the big problems faced by gardeners who live in areas where sub-zero temperatures are experienced. Here in the cool mountain climate of the Granite Belt we can usually expect our winter frosts to begin by the end of April and finish by mid-September, but great variability is shown when comparing the seasons of different years. In 2008 we had our first frost on 30th March and our last frost in mid-August.

My photos will tell the story.

Hang down your head frosted poppy and cry.

It is a well known fact that many plants only become susceptible to frost damage as they begin to bloom and their hormones change from growth to flowering. Although all the Flanders poppies blooming in the field this morning were cut by the frost, and several leaves will show burnt tips, the field will quickly recover, as the poppies are a weed of the wheat fields of Europe and like all weeds are hardier than most garden flowering plants. They germinate in the freezing cold weather of winter and begin blooming by mid-spring. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Australia, Australian, cool mountain climate, Das Helwig Haus B&B, flanders poppy, frost, Glen Aplin, Queensland, remembrance field, the granite belt, Wildflowers wilderness and wine

THE RED STEER

Late yesterday afternoon the red steer was released into our dry grass land. The red steer is an Australian colloquial expression for fire. Just as cattle could slowly eat out grass land, a fire will clear the land quickly. Fire, used wisely, an excellent tool. The Aboriginal people of Australia didn’t have matches to start a fire, but they possessed the skill of rubbing two sticks rapidly together until the wood heated and began to smoke. Then a little dry grass was added  to smolder and burst into flame. The original inhabitants of Australia were nomadic people who never established permanent homes or cultivated the land. Instead they hunted for food. The men would regularly burn small areas of grass land when it was dry enough to burn. The heat would draw up moisture from the soil and green grass shoots would sprout. Meanwhile the women would follow after the men to find any scorched lizards or other small animals they could use for food. After a week or so when the country had greened the men would return to hunt and spear wallabies or kangaroos grazing on the fresh green grass. The eucalyptus trees evolved the ability to adapt to fire and will quickly recover from any burning of bark or leaves. Other Australian plant species need smoke to cause them to open their seed pods, enabling the seed to drop into the rich ash a day later. Fire is a natural part of the Australian ecology.

A cold fire

The definition of a cold fire is one that crawls along the ground. A hot fire races up the bark of a tree and sometimes ignites the eucalyptus leaves and then roars through the tree tops. Such wild bush fires are now common in Australia. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Australian, boulders, bush fires, Das Helwig Haus B&B, eucalyptus, Glen Aplin, red flanders poppy, remembrance field, Rural Fire Brigade, the granite belt, Wildflowers wilderness and wine, WWOOF

EUCALYPTUS TREES.

With this post I’m going to share an extract from my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine. The wilderness regions of the Granite Belt are comprised of large rock outcrops and an abundance of eucalyptus forest, but it was not always like this.

Granite rocks

When the explorers rode their horses through this country they had to avoid the rocks, but they did not encounter the dense eucalyptus forests that now cover the hills. One of my Grandfathers, Hugh Mulcahy, was born in Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt in 1876 and he was able to tell his children of remembering this country as open forest. What did he mean by open forest? Forest in which the trees grew sufficiently far apart to allow riders to pass between them, where grass grew and cattle grazed.

Aged eucalyptus trees

These two aged trees on our farm at the rear of Das Helwig Haus B&B show the spacing of open forest country.  But look, they are surrounded by sapling eucalyptus trees. What changed the country? Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Australian, australian wildflowers, book, Das Helwig Haus B&B, eucalyptus, Glen Aplin, granite belt, red flanders poppy, remembrance field, Wildflowers wilderness and wine, WWOOF

THE DARLING DOWNS

When I was a child I was taught that the Darling Downs possessed one of the best areas of agricultural soil of the world – the black color indicating the wealth of humus. But what is the Darling Downs? It is a region of country west of the Great Dividing Range of eastern Australia in south-eastern Queensland. Toowoomba, at the crest of the Great Dividing Range, is the city gateway to the west. This city has become notable not only for it annual floral ‘Carnival of Flowers’, but as a city of boarding schools plus a University to serve students from the south western portion of the State.  It is also a haven where the elderly retire because of large hospitals, other medical facilities and a cool mountain climate. Warwick is a smaller city at the southern end of the Darling Downs. Dalby is at the northern extremity and by the time you have reached Roma in the west you have left the Darling Downs and entered the grazing country of the Maranoa.

In my youth I lived north of  Dalby near the Bunya Mountains and attended boarding school in Warwick - another city of private schools which provide high school education for children from more isolated regions. When I married Stewart McIver I lived on farms at Bell prior to moving into Dalby. When that marriage ended I moved to Toowoomba where I met and married Eberhard Helwig and we later moved to Stanthorpe in the border highlands south of Warwick.

Map of the Darling Downs

Last weekend we left home on the Friday morning and drove via Warwick and Toowoomba to reach Dalby 3 hours later where I spent the afternoon signing books at the Dalby BOOK CITY store. The next day we caught up with family and friends at Bell where my 94 year old father was the guest of honour at a Campdraft. Sunday we spent another 3 hours driving home on the western route through Millmerran to Inglewood before turning east to our home just south of Stanthorpe. I sketched this map so you could follow our travels. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Australia, Bell, book, Dalby, Das Helwig Haus B&B, flanders poppy, Glen Aplin, granite belt, Great Dividing Range, Queensland, remembrance field, stanthorpe, Toowoomba, Warwick, Wildflowers wilderness and wine

BOOK LAUNCH 2

1. I wrote a manuscript
2. I found a mentor
3. He became my literary agent
4. He could not convince an Australian publishing firm to produce my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine
5. He edited my book and place it online with http://stores.lulu.com/strictlyliterary
6. It began to sell ‘Print on Demand’
7. 94% of readers gave it a positive review. Lulu gave it 5***** and placed it on the Amazon.com site
8. I arranged to have the book printed for distribution within Australia.
9. I launched the book
10. I must market the book

Border Post article

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Australian, Das Helwig Haus B&B, flanders poppy, France, Glen Aplin, granite belt, Queensland, remembrance field, stanthorpe, Wildflowers wilderness and wine, wines, World War One

DAS HELWIG HAUS B&B

It was in November of 1992 that we purchased these 32 acres at 113 Mt. Stirling Road, Glen Aplin on the Granite Belt - the cool mountain district of southern Queensland. Our aim was to establish a Bed and Breakfast business to provide us with a ‘way of life’ during our older years. Happily, we were successful. On the 3rd July this week my husband, Eberhard, reached 83 years of age. I am now in my 70th year. We have reached the reluctant decision that it is time to sell our business and retire. It is unlikely that I will ever truly retire, as once I no longer have the physical work associated with this business, I’ll be able to give more time to writing and sharing with my readers the knowledge I have gained. Nonetheless as Eberhard is 14 years older than me I am expecting that he will need more full time care in the years ahead.

Eberhard

The photo above of Eberhard was taken last December when his heart failed. He was airlifted to a Brisbane hospital by helicopter where a cardiologist inserted a pacemaker to keep his heart beating. He made an excellent recovery. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Australia, Brisbane, Christmas in July, cool mountain district, Das Helwig Haus B&B, Korean, Queensland, red flanders poppy, remembrance field, Sale, sell, Wildflowers wilderness and wine, WWOOF

HONG KONG 7

The Nan Lian Garden is situated at Diamond Hill in Kowloon. This garden was created in the style of the Tang dynasty (618AD to 906AD) and features unique timber structures, water ponds, various odd shaped rocks and lots of old and valuable trees. Carol and I followed its one way circular route watching its splendor unfold with every step. In this garden we encountered other tourists from around the world, but again it was a garden that didn’t appear to be used by the local Hong Kong population.

Odd shaped rocks

This was a garden that lacked shady areas and I quickly began to sunburn in a new blue top I had bought – it had no collar. This was our hottest day in Hong Kong and we quickly felt parched. The garden was kept moist by irrigation systems spraying a constant mist into the foliage of the trees and shrubs.

A hot day

The Nan Lian Garden is situated in a bowl surrounded by high rise buildings. Many Asian gardens are developed within a depression thus allowing for the construction of ponds in the lower portion. This garden possessed two large ponds – The Lotus Pond surrounding the golden pagoda and the The Blue Pond.

Bougainvillea

These shaped trees were a labeled as Bougainvillea Glabra Variegata. Obviously they had been cultivated and pruned for the decorative foliage, not flowers. At the time that we visited the garden there were no flowers to be seen, other than water lilies in The Lotus Pond.

Golden structure

There were red arched bridges across The Lotus Pond to this golden pagoda but they were closed to tourists. The team of gardeners wore yellow jackets and straw hats, but did not appear to be doing any serious work on the day that we were there other than keeping the shrubbery moist.

Garden workers

The Blue Pond was stocked with fish and would have been a beautiful sight in the early spring when weeping wisteria and cherry trees, green in this view, were flowering.

The Blue Pond

On the opposite side of The Blue Pond was The Pine Tree teahouse overlooking this lovely green oasis. It would have been a perfect spot to relax in the cool shade of the deck fronting the water, but cameras were not allowed and entry onto the deck overlooking the pond was denied unless one was willing to partake in a tea drinking ceremony within the teahouse. We wandered on.

Blue Pond rocks

Cascading water and waterfalls are frequently a feature of Asian gardens and the site of so much water splashing down this wall on a hot day drew our attention to the Long Men Lou restaurant hidden behind the glass window over which the water washed.

The Long Men Lou restaurant

Once more cameras were forbidden but Carol and I were given a table on the other side of this screen of water, which provides privacy for the large dining room discreetly hidden in this section of the garden. Once more only vegetarian cuisine was offered and we again chose a set menu. We are both adventurous eaters with few food dislikes so being presented with an assortment of new dishes is an opportunity we relish.

Rather reluctantly we left the cool interior of the restaurant to proceed towards The Nunnery.

Bright sunlight

This parapet, as we climbed steps towards The Nunnery provided a great overview of the garden and Carol took the opportunity to video the scene.

Carol

We discovered a series of formal water lily ponds situated immediately in front of The Nunnery.

Water lilies

The Nunnery

We walked across this courtyard admiring the topiary and the water lily ponds to the shade of the overhanging roofs, from which we could look down over the ponds.

Water lily ponds

Our day ended on a comical note when we arrived back at our hotel to find a film crew in the driveway. They were filming men in a Chinese lion suit leaping about on tall poles.

The Chinese lion

Prancing lion

Das Helwig Haus B&B owned by Eberhard and Fay Helwig is situated at Glen Aplin, near Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt of southern Queensland, Australia.

This is a region noted for summer stone-fruit, autumn apples, winter  Christmas in July dinners and a spring Remembrance Field of red Flanders poppies.

Fay has published a book called Wildflowers, wilderness and wine.

It is available on the Amazon.com website.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ACXQ0M/sr=8-1/qid=1244294755/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1244294755&sr=8-1&seller=

http://stores.lulu.com/strictlyliterary

http://books.google.co.uk/

Technorati Tags: apples, Australia, autumn, Chinese, Das Helwig Haus B&B, garden, Glen Aplin, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Queensland, remembrance field, spring, summer, the granite belt, Wildflowers wilderness and wine, winter

HONG KONG 6

It will be no surprise to you that I spent a day in Hong Kong walking through two gardens. I’m going to write two separate posts to describe these gardens to allow me to use sufficient photographs to adequately illustrate their differences.

The first garden we walked through was the Kowloon Walled City Park. This was once a lawless, high-rise slum which was transformed into an award winning park in 1995. It features a Qing dynasty almshouse, the Old South Gate, pavilions, sculptures, flower gardens and a playground for children.

Old stone walls

Drs. Jean Stone Willans and Rick Willans brought the message of Charismatic renewal to Hong Kong in 1968 and started the Society of Stephen. This movement of the Holy Spirit united many – Chinese and Westerners, Catholics and Protestants, from all walks of life – in the fullness of the New Testament faith. In 1973, Miss Pullinger brought a heroin-addicted Triad leader to the Willianses; he withdrew in their home without sickness or pain (with no medication) through repenting from his crimes, believing in Jesus and praying in tongues given by the Holy Spirit. The news spread – even to the Walled City drug dens – and soon the Willanses were pastoring several “House of Stephen”, where scores of addicts likewise began new lives with the help of volunteer workers.

This paved the way for the law to enter into this once dangerous area and by 1995 the slum was cleared and the area established as an inner city park. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: apples, Australia, Australian, autumn, China, Chinese, Christmas in July, Das Helwig Haus B&B, eucalyptus, Glen Aplin, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Queensland, remembrance field, spring, stanthorpe, summer, the granite belt, Wildflowers wilderness and wine, winter

HONG KONG 5

One of the interesting things about Hong Kong are the green hills, especially in the region known as the New Territories where Paul took us on a sightseeing drive on the Sunday of our holiday. It seemed that many other residents of Kowloon also relax in this region at the weekend. There are lots of sheltered coves for fishing boats or pleasure craft, golf courses and swimming beaches. And always, there are numerous vendors of food catering for the holiday and shopping atmosphere.

Dried seafood market

All along this waterfront front and jetty small open boats carried an assortment of dried foods on display. One person under the umbrella handled the sales, while another in the boat made up the packages.

Dried seafoods

There were a number of seafood restaurants at this cove spilling out under canvas awnings from the main building, so after a wander around we decided to have an early lunch as we wanted to take tea at The Peninsula Hotel later in the afternoon. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: apples, book, Christmas in July, Das Helwig Haus B&B, Glen Aplin, Kowloon, New Territories, Queensland, remembrance field, The Peninsula Hotel, Wildflowers wilderness and wine