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The Petite Chocolate Lily

Chocolate Lily (Arthropodium strictum) is a small native Australian plant that grows in grassland, woodland and forest regions of New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.

Why the common name “Chocolate Lily”?

Because the small purple flowers smells like chocolate. It is rumored children during the depression and scarcity of sweets during World War 2 would stop an smell Chocolate Lilies on the way home from school to remind them of chocolate.

Personally I think they smell more like Chocolate Eclair toffees that we get in Australia.

Chocolate Lilies use to grow proficiently in a certain patch back on the hobby farm that I grew up on. During spring when they were flowering; I use to be very careful in mowing around them on the ride on mower; leave huge patches of un-mown grass in our tree orchard much to Mum’s annoyance

The tubers of the Chocolate Lily is actually a bush tucker and can be eaten raw or roasted – but unfortunately the don’t taste like chocolate.

Growing

  • Flowers in spring and then dies down over Summer
  • Shoots out again with the Autumn rain
  • Can be kept in pots as long as the pots are at least 20cm deep; otherwise transplant to a full sun; or part shade area in a garden bed
November 20, 2024 by Gardening 0

The Mystery of Ker-Polik (Rough English Translation)

“The Mystery of Ker-Polik” is a French comic book 1952 by Frédéric-Antonin Breysse.

We had the Dutch version as kids and use to look over the comic; trying to work out what was going on in the story. Oma read a few pages to us; other than that the story itself was (like the title) a Mystery.

Today in my spare time; I used google translate to finally translate the comic into something comprehendible that I can read. The translation is rough and my next stage is to extract the text out and reword it to align better with the story.

Warning: Google did translate some words into swear words; so read at your own discretion

April 24, 2024 by Comics 0

Easter-lily Cacti – Beauty amongst the spines

Years ago – my sister gave me an Easter Lilly cactus (Echinopsis oxygona) in a pot.  It was one of the first cactus I owned.

Then I forgot about it and neglected it over winter.

A year later I had a closer look at it; and the little neglected cactus has grown and there were heaps of cacti pups growing off the original plant.

So with tongs, welding gloves and a towel; I divided the pups off the mother plant and gave them their own individual pots.

The rest is history and after 10 years of growing and dividing cacti – I have over hundred individual cacti plants.  It has become an prickly issue with my wife as she claims I have a hording issue.

But I think there are definitely worse things to to “hoard” than cacti.

Plus they have absolutely beautiful flowers; with a very subtle yet pleasant perfume.

The bees are also on team cacti and early in the morning when the lily type flowers open; they get in early.

Caring for Easter Lilly Cacti

These cacti is pretty forgiving and simple to care for in South Eastern Australia:

  • Place the pot in a warm sunny position that get about 6+ hours a day
  • For watering:
    • In the peak of summer; water once a week with a quick shower of water from the hose.
    • In the milder months – once every two to three weeks
    • In the winter; let the natural rain rain water them; unless it is a particularly dry winter
  • Once a year in the spring; give them a feed of slow release fertiliser.
  • When the cactus starts to outgrow its pot; transplant into a larger pot using well draining soil.  You can buy cacti potting mix from nurseries. 

 

 

October 23, 2023 by Gardening 0

Scam emails impersonating Church’s bulletin email

This is a page for my church to help them recognise scam emails.

I will update this with new information from feedback and new information

What has happened?

Scammers have obtained the distribution list of the church’s email bulletin.  This could be from scammers obtaining a previous email where the recipients were added to the TO list instead of the BCC list.

They are using this list to send scam and phishing emails impersonating the Church’s email address.

This is a targeted scam because:

  • The recipients are older and less tech savvy so they are easier targets
  • There is a trust from emails appearing to come from the church

Please note that the Church’s email account is not compromised and is safe; it is scammers impersonating the email address.

The Church’s email address is protected by a strong password and two factor authentication

How to recognise a Scam email

Computer security software such as Anti-virus, firewalls and spam filters always help – but the biggest protection and risk to your online security is YOU.

Here are some points to help you recognise a scam email.

The sender's address

The email will come through with a title that looks like the Church’s email title like “Bethlehem Church” – but if you expand up the details of the sender – the sender is not from the @lca.org.au address.

Timing of the email sent

Usually I send out the bulletin on either Thursday or Friday during business hours.

If you receive an email at an unusual time (like 5am in the morning) – this is out of characteristics and this email should be considered suspicious.

Email content

The Church bulletin’s email follows a consistent form and is personalised and specific to the congregation and Christian faith.

Any links or attachments in the bulletin will be explained what they are instead of a vague reference that usually used by scam:

For example:

Today delegates at the General Synod of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ), meeting in Melbourne, directed the church’s General Church Board and the College of Bishops to explore the theological, constitutional and governance issues involved in establishing ‘one church with two different practices of ordination’. 

Read more from Convention of General Synod

 

Is more focused to the church than a vague content like:

just forwarding a few pics (#5 and #9 in particular) http://www.scam_website.com

What do I do when I receive a Scam email?

Most email clients provide a “Mark as spam” function.  If you mark the email as spam; this will help the email servers identify and block future scam emails for you and other recipients.

If this feature is not available in your email client; just delete the email.

I'm still not sure...

If in doubt – don’t open the email.  Treat it as suspicious.

You can forward the email to the bulletin’s email address and I can help you out.

Or alternative see me after church.

March 6, 2023 by Random 0

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