TEA ROOM #42

Time for a move again. It gave me something to do as it is raining here but lovely at the Tea Room.
Been over to Hamilton. New microwave not in yet so we had a look around and I found a plant.
It's a lovely small Serrisa foetida, "tree of a thousand stars"
Sounds beautiful. There was a whole shelf of new bonsai in plus starter plants. As I like to play with doing a bit of bonsai, I bought this one .
I looked it up and it certainly is pretty if a bit temperamental. . My lovely new Billbergia, 'hallelujah' arrived . It is around 30cm tall so a welldeveloped plant. I will post a pic later as I have to wait until it stops raining . I also bought a few clivis seeds which should do well and hopefully turn out to be red . I have quite a few small seed grown clivias now. I am waiting for my mature yellow to decide to flower. .
Better go over and put up a sign to show where we are now. Happy gardening
Jean.

Don't like the sound of your new plant Jean, the name means it stinks so plant it away from windows and such.
Brian

Buderim website
http://www.buderimvillage.com.au/index.html

Qld Home Garden Expo 2009 this weekend.

I had been planning to go, but don't really have the time at the moment. :(

Apart from that we've already spent far too much money recently on boring things, like house paint. There's always next year.

Good morning all. The sun is shining after a misty day yesterday. I may get something done outside. Very cold though. Nearly a frost earlier.
I may have to rob a bank and move up to Qld. I like the look of your Buderim, Marlenann. Warmmmmmmmmm !!!
Hello Gardengal, I need paint too but I also need someone to paint. I cannot see myself on ladders these days. Besides, I think if I ever painted the house , it would fall down in shock.
I see the wine is going down again. Must be the mice ( or Shelly)
Helen , I do hope the wind has left you alone for a while .
Chrissy, are you having a good rest after all that running around ?
Hello Sue, Colleen, Mya, Leisa, Sammut, Cody,Brian , Kat and Steve.
Better get out and put some washing on before the sun decides to leave. I have so much weeding to do around the irises, I should get started on that too. I can't spray there but I have found some old carpet that I am going to cut up and use around the beds. Should save me a lot of work.
Hubby is going to get the carpet down. It has been sitting up in the roof of the old shed since before i came here so will be full of things I don't want to meet.
I just hope there are no European wasps in there as well.
I will wait well back and leave hubby to deal with anything that moves.
Have a great day and enjoy your work or gardens.
Have some Hazelnut Cake with your cuppa..
Jean

Hi Jean,hope you enjoy the rest of your day.Take care and stay warm.

Cody

Hi Jean, Cody and Pam (tea room guests today) nice Daylily Cody, I saw your long neck gosling pic the other day. Is she going to make it, do you think?
Jean, thanks for the yummies. Gobble, gobble, crunch, crunch. I hope there are no nasties awaiting your hubby in the carpet! Carpet is great for raising fern spores.
Pam, I've been painting too, and have spent an absolute fortune on paint and veranda oil this year! Of course, i have plans to get some painting done on thursday, and guess what the forecast is? Yeah......*sigh*.......rain!
Anyway, I'm off to play tumblebugs. I'm at level 11 and I'm gonna get the better of it!
Sue

Thanks for the hint Brian. I have learned that anything with foetid in the name will stink, but I am using this little plant for bonsai and it will be down in the fernery with all my others. I just liked the sound of the name' thousand stars' and the plant lady says it does look very pretty.
Jean.

Good morning all, very quiet in here at the moment. I see there is still a bit of leftover cake. It will make a nice trifle for later. There is even wine left so noone has been in overnight.
Hello to Sue, Chrissy, Helen, Mya, Colleen, Brian , Kat , Leisa , Sammut and Steve
Hello Cody, how is your little gosling ?. Has the neck become any stronger ?
It is freezing here this morning. There will be a frost down in the town and across the paddocks. Nearly every time , it avoids my garden and stays outside the fence.
The plants are all getting into Spring mode now so the garden is starting to look full and green. The wattles are all coming out which makes a beautiful display. Pity it is so shortlived and any rain spoils it too.
My self seded wallflowers are slowly budding with the odd flower already out.
The Angels are growing tall and I am hoping for a lot of flowers as it warms up. Going back to the warmer room now as my fingers are cold.
Have a great day everyone and enjoy these Walnut Brownies.
Jean

Good morning everyone. Well Jack Frost is in my front garden and boy is it cold. I dont think he will harm anything out there but let;shope he hasn't crept around the back. I will have to check after. It's school holidays here and I had 6 little ones here yesterday. We went for a short walk and collected bark, gum nuts, and flowers and brought them back and they had great fun for a couple of hours gluing them on to paper and making pictures. They even cleaned up with out being asked. They were all happy litle vegemites. Will post a pic of them being creative. Be back later.

Good morning all, another great day in paradise, and it is still much to nice to be indoors.
Sue what is a tumblebug I am intrigued lol.
Jean I hope your winter will hurry up and go away, and I am only taking one brownie yum.
Colleen the boys and girl look like they are have a wonderful time. I think you are a very clever vegemite to keep that many kids happy lol.
I may move over to the island this weekend, the v8's are here and I think that Townsville is a place to be avoided for the rest of the week lol. can you tell I am not really a fan lol.
Cody your babies are looking very healthy and they have grown very fast, as always I love your beautiful flowers, they are alway lovely and I never get tired of looking at them.
Have to go and do some work, have a great day all
smile and stay safe
shell

Shelly,don't bother coming over to the island to avoid the V8, cause we are packed to the rafters with the Townsville overflow!!!!!!!!!I mean bumper to bumper traffic at the ferry terminal,outrageous,even the whales have come to watch the V8,saw about 7 in the harbour yesterday............

Colleen your kids all look so content.........

Jean the weather here is paradise,so warm without the humidity ,overnight 18°C, today predicted 28°C...

Hi Mya, I don't think I have ever heard of bumper to bumper traffic anywhere at any time over there, so now I feel for you guys as well. Looks like I may as well stay here lol.
but on the other hand I am green with jealousy that you saw the whales, wow wow and wow, how wonderful is that, if you have not noticed I may dislike the v8's but I do love the whales lol. My daughter loves them so much she got a tatoo of a whale on her shoulder for her 21st.

Oh colleen ...it makes me homesick for the days when my grandchildren were littlies ...just look at those dear little people ...sigh it all goes away so quickly! enjoy every second!
Well it is cold and rainy here ...soup is on. been in and out all morning and now I am home ...I hate wet roads! (potholes and all).
jean don't you just love wallflowers ...so fragrant!
I don't know what you Northerners are talking about but it sounds busy and warm up your way ...V8's ?
sue ... tumblebugs?
sammut ... big wave!
Everyone else ...the fellas and the ladies ...I hope you are enjoying your day.

Whales, I like Whales! The kids look happy don't they. I remember the elderly lady next door, when I was a kid, giving us an ice cream container of sand, and we would pick flowers, moss and leaves to make miniature gardens. She would give us 5 cent coins to make stepping stones, and we got to keep the money afterwards.
OK, Tumblebugs is a really addictive computer game, and I've been at it for weeks! You don't want to know! But just in case.... http://www.spintop-games.com/puzzle_game_download/tumblebugs.html?gclid=CLruur-YxZsCFcItpAodknBgAQ

I was almost to level 4, then it "reset [my] graphics accelerator" and that was the end of that! :(

ha ha ha ...I don't do games but I understand the excitment ...I once furnished a home on sims (when it first came out) playing with the grandchildren but ...none of the others. I don't trust myself to get into like anything like that ...I need to get some sleep at night.
Funny you think things may slow down as you get older but it seems to me that someone pressed fast forward and I just don't have all the time you would think ...the day goes *poof* just like some of the threads ...^_^ grrrr ha ha ha

Good evening everyone!

Not much going on here. Had showers the last few days.
Just potting about the garden in between showers.

School holidays finish here tomorrow... but then there will be teachers strikes and more days at home. My grandson who is in grade two is happy...his mother is not.

Hope you are all well and don't have a bad flu.

I was driving towards home when I saw these kids chasing something near my place.I parked the car and walked towards the kids and saw them chasing this little fella.I told them to scoot, politely(...NOT) and saw this poor Koala clambering up this spindly little mangrove, to escape those little horrors.

Look at his glare!!!!!!!

Whales,Koala's, what will be next?

And if they'd caught it and it subsequently injured one, as would have happened, there would have been calls for a cull. The world has gone mad! Poor little fella.

Good morning everyone. An early day today. With the moon so large and bright at the moment, I keep waking and think it's daylight , time to get up. I got sick of lying there this morning so ended up out of bed early. Hubby wondered what I was doing . I have always been up at daylight and it seems that the older I get , the less sleep I need. Can't get out in the garden in the dark though. Shopping today and we are off to Mt Gambier. I expect to find at least one plant that needs me.
We had a bit of excitement here yesterday when the neighbors borrowed bull. got out. It has been bellowing for days , looking for cows. They got the darn thing in to mate with their cows but I am afraid , they know little about cattle. It is such a large creature and simply walked thriugh the pitiful bit of fence near their shed. Of course our gate is right near there so he marched in. Luckily hubby saw him and knowing about bulls was able to help the neighbor eventually get him out. At least he stayed along the fenceline looking for the cows and did little damage here. I would have been very angry if he had ruined anything. He is a very big Murray Grey which are not known for their gentleness, but this one has been well handled by the owners . Even so, he was getting a bit stroppy in the end. One does wonder at people who get animals in and don't know how to look after them properly.
He was heading for the road after going from here , which could have caused a nasty accident. He decided to try the farm across the road. I see him back in his paddock now but for how long. We are keeping our front gate shut now.
Hello Colleen, cute kids but you keep them there. I'm long past the small persons stage.
Shelly and Mya, I think it's mean of you to gloat about the warm weather when my toes and fingers are frozen.
I love whales. they come into the harbour down at Portland during the year.
Those little 'darlings' would have run home crying if the koala had defended itself. If they do things like that now, what will they do later as they grow up ?
Chrissy, keep warm there and have lots of that tasty soup.
Hello gardengal. I suppose you are hogging some of that lovely warm weather too.
Hello Sue, I don't do games either, I like to do my crosswords instead. Hubby will play games for ages on the computer though.
Hello to everyone else.
Keep well and enjoy your day.
Have some delicious Apple Tart
Jean.

Well Jean, I must admit, our days have been glorious. We have had to resort to the wood fire a few times at night though. Our loungeroom is so tiny that when we first came we figured we'd see how the winters were, with a view to removing the fireplace. The fireplace stays!

I must say, Shelley and Mya are in a place where the winters are absolutely spectacular. They don't really do cold up that way. The Summers are way too humid though.

Enjoy the plant hunting Jean. I 'm sure it will be very fruitful.

morning to all our happy tea room people ...I remember when I first moved here the awful shock of finding wild cattle roaming through my newly planted gardens (nothing but grass and a couple of acres of cabbages when I arrived here).They came after my Jersey cow ...bellowing and breaking anything in their way.
Feral cats, snakes and foxes ...I was in a bit of shock!
I do love Murray Greys (my first calf was a young Murray grey bull)
beautiful animals.These days it's only a couple of horses to keep the grass down in the back paddocks. Good fencing fixed the wild cattle coming in off crown land and wild dogs must have cleaned up the feral cats because I have not seen any since the Dobermans moved in up on the hill next door.I still can't keep chooks because of the foxes ...but it's ok I guess, I have my garden to keep me happy.
Well lets see if there is anything to take a picture of out there ...it's been raining all night again so no frost after all.
It's so nice not to have to deal with mozzies ^_^

Good morning to all, sorry Jean last night was very nice I did not even need a jumper and today is just another glorious day in the tropics, Pam is right though, our summers are pretty bad. That is when you can get even lol. I hope you find a plant or two that need a new home. I am glad that bull did not damage your lovely gardens.
Mya I am so glad you were in the right place at the right time to save that little beauty, I shudder to think what may have happen to him if not for you, I know what I would have like to do to the little &$#$@#^&%s but unfortunately it is not legal in this country. Jean you are right about what will happen when they grow up, cruelty in thier make up unfortunately stays with them for ever.
Mya I have never seen a koala in the wild, again I am jealous lol. The best creature I have ever seen in its native environment is a Platypus, when I lived in Woodenbong (northern NSW) I lived out on a property with a creek which was home to many of them it was one of the joys of my day to sneak down and watch them play.
Chrissy, what an assortment of creatures you had to deal with, that would be a shock to the system, I could handle all of them except the feral cats, as much as I love cats and that is a lot, is as much as I dislike ferals.
Chrissy I am looking forward to retirement so I can have all that extra time, please don't tell me it does not exist then either lol.
Speaking of which I had best be doing some work
Have a great day all
Smile and stay safe
shell

Good afternoon all!
I've been a lady of leisure today. Morning tea with friends, a spot of shopping, a coffee on the patio with hubby & now some thoughts of dinner.
It's glorius day, a bit windy, but still lovely. I've been busy working earlier in the week, but I enjoy the Thurs day "me" day when I get a chance.
Pam, yes our house had a fire place already when we moved in & I thought we'd never use it, but it's soooo lovely on a cold night, so relaxing! Getting wood isn't so easy, but well worth the cost for the treat of it.
Jean that apple tart was lovely & luscious - yumm - thank you!
Mya your koala pic is FANTASTIC - horrid little kids chasing it! And to see whales as well - what a wonderful place you live in!
There was a horrific story on the TV the other night about the death of about 3000 koalas in SE Qld in the past few years - many due to hunger. I feel I should be horse whipped for letting it happen. It's hypercritical of us to make a big deal about Japan killing the whales, when we continue to destroy the habitat of such wonderful creatures for housing development in our own country. Sorry about the rant folks, Im just astounded what is happening!
Colleen it's so lovely to see kids entertaining themselves that way & especially to see boys happy with such pursuits. I'm sure your boys will grow into very special men. And they'll value you so much!
Sue, what happened to the time when kids could be entertained with simple things & the little old ladies next door had time for this too ;-) Thanks for the link to yet another addiction ;-) Hope your eyes are not all bleary from playing it too much. Do you play it in your dreams?
Cody I've been afraid to ask how the gosling with the bad neck was going? Did it survive?
Anyway I'm off to pick up a few things for dinner. Here's a staghorn, that's starting to look good on a big palm. Hopefully I can remove the stocking later in the year.
Leisa.

Hi Jean,Shell and Leisa,thanks,yes the gosling is doing just fine.No her neck never got stronger.She has learn too use the way she can,she is growing and getting big.I will have to take a picture of her tomorrow and post it.Well enjoy your day and take care.


Myac,you done what was right by protecting that animal.I would have done the same thing.I think Koala's bears are so beautiful,i wish i could see one up close.I envy you all for having such pretty and neat animals their.Well enjoy your day and take care.

Cody

Hi All.
Mya, I love the Koala! I have only seen one in the wild, and that at the Easter Blues festival in Byron Bay in 08! They had fenced off its tree as it was at a junction where the paths met. It kept everyone entertained, and the occa's were telling the foriegn tourists that it was a 'Drop Bear' and to look out! he he.
Shelly, it must've been nice to see Platypus (or is that Platypi?) I've never seen one of those in the wild.
Leisa, your day sounded like mine! Its been raining on and off so I took the day off work. I made a pond this morning http://s708.photobucket.com/albums/ww87/brom_adorer/Pond%20creation/
Then went to town to do a few errands, bumped into a friend (said sorry) and had a cuppa, then went visiting with a neighbour and had another cuppa and some mini custard tarts! We talked broms for awhile, and did some research on the net too.
I've got the fire going too! I've also got the gas heater on to warm the big open plan house! then the fire will keep it at a comfortable level. I should have lit it around 3pm and it would have been toasty by now!
Jean, I'm glad the bull gave you no curry! It can be rather devastating when they run amok in a garden.
Pam, you must be the only one who doesn't mind having a go at games. Sorry it didn't work for you. i have it on disc, so have it installed.
Chrissy, the time flies for me already too, wether I'm working or not! Weekdays, weekends, work days, holidays, they all go zoom! But I know people who say "why get up early? It just makes the day longer!" *sigh* If only!
Marlene, how are you? Any garden visits on the agenda?
Cody, I'm glad the gosling is holding her own. Would it be possible to make her a neck splint?
Sue

Hi Sue,thanks,no their is no way i can put a splint on her neck.I have tried about everything i can think of.The crook is down by her shoulder so it makes it harder to try and fix.Once she is old enough to go out in the big pen i hope she will be able to get along with the big ones.With her and the male that is out their together we have a total of 13 geese.Well enjoy your day and take care.

Cody

Good morning everyone
Well who sent the wind back ? Shelly was it you ? I could have had more sun sent down here. The day looks like getting worse . rain is forecast but not much. Yesterday was quite nice after a freezing start. By the time we arrived in Mt Gambier it had warmed a bit. We had a lovely day. I bought a few small ornaments for the fernery . I managed to find orphans at Bunnings and we had a lovely lunch..
This morning we are off again as my new mcrowave is ready to pick up. Oh joy. I can play in the kitchen again. I hated walking past the empty space on the bench. I hope this one goes better than the previous one.
Gardengal, I love fireplaces too but not all the work involved. we are past the stage of chopping large chunks of wood now Its hard to get wood here anyway and is expensive. I'll stick to the wall system we now have and my lovely Sunbeam throw.
Chrissy, I don't mind the usual wildlife but hate ferals. I will not have any more chooks because of the foxes either.
Shelly we have had the odd koala come in and stay a day or two but no platypii (platypusses ??) here. I did see a few when living at Bright as they lived in the river there.
Leisa, sounds like you had a lovely day out.. You can rant all you want in here among friends. We all have a view on things and sometimes a small scream helps you relax.
Cody, glad your gosling is still mamging. Enjoy your day.
Sue, I love your pond. I am thinking of one similar when the back altering is done. It will not have any fish, just plants.
Yours looks like it has been there for years. Very pretty.
Better go and get some photos ready. I want to show you what I bought yesterday.
Try this Fruit Loaf.
Have a great day, Jean.

Sunrise this morning. It was a lot redder but as usual, fades quickly when you get the camera out.

Couldn;t resist these hens, reduced to $3 on shelf but at checkout reduced to $1 ea. The lizard was reduced in a gift shop. I always wanted one so grabbed him for $4 along with his little green friend.

Forgot to list the orphans I bought.
2 Bambino Bougs , both have variegated leaves 'Miski' is cream / orange and 'Jellibene' is scarlet. These were only $6 ea and there were more but I already have a pink and a mauve so left the others for someone else.
Buddleja 'Silver Anniversry' lovely smaller type with grey/green leaves and I think, creamy flowers.
Salvia gurantica, black and blue
Verberna with small fine leaves with bright purple flowers.
Rose, 'Blushing Pink Iceberg'
and a small compact Boston fern
All these for $24 total, a real bargain. Now I have to find places for them.
Jean.

Mmmm, Jean that cake just hit the spot! You did well with your purchases - the swirled hens are lovely!
Sue, your pond looks great & blends well with the existing garden - a lovely area all together. I hope it becomes a frog haven.
Cody I'm glad to hear the gosling is still doing ok. You have to give it full points for perseverence!
Well it;s a brilliant day here - a bit windy, but bright & sunny. Perfect day for washing! I might drag hubby out for a walk in the local wet lands this arvo. We tried to go there a couple of weeks ago & it was too wet!
I was given a native cordyline during the week, so I'll have to find a spot for it. It's a plain green one that gets red berries. My co-worker (in the next desk) is president of the local Palm & Cycad society, & I also work with the magazine editor of the Bris Brom Society - such distinguished cmpany ;-) Not really they're very ordinary guys & luckily for me quite generous!
Happy day all!

Hi Sue and everyone, Your pond looks great, loved the sunshower. Sounds cold down there!! Not that warm here either but better than your area, have you had much rain? Raining on and off here in Ballina today. We were going to the NRMA camping & motor show in Lismore, but a little wet.
Take care Hel

Hi Jean and Leisa,thanks,yes she is put on this earth for some reason.She is a fighter and not giving up that counts for something.Well enjoy your day and take care.

Here is some pictures of her.

Cody

Picture 2

This is how she lays down.

Picture 3.

This is her and a male gosling and 2 ducks.

That is some cute little friends you have there jean ...maybe those hens will be safe from the fox ...
re retiring ...I hate to tell you this but when you retire you get to look after everyone's children ...elderly relatives ...cook for lots of hungry friends and family. If a volunteer is need that's you ... learn the computer for the first time (took twenty years off my life!) In my case hubby is no longer driving so that is my job too ...most of the chores fall to me because my semi retired fella is busier than ever with customers day and night right here...so I have to help with that too, phones ring all day, doorbells chime ...sigh well, you get the picture.^_^
I don't mind ...it's just not what you think retirement is, ask any retired people they will tell you they are busier than ever!
Not complaining ...just explaining.
Awe poor little twisted neck, cody ...
hi to you all in our happy little tea room ...whew not much time lately but I love jean's tea! and the company.
Happy gardening ...it's friday once again, here comes the weekend ...buckle up and let's go!

G'Day
I have finaly woke up to why retirement means busy. First of course is you have to spend more time on health stuff, like a Doctors visit uses up a whole afternoon because you have to get cleaned up then get to the surgery then an hour wait or longer. Of course by the time that is all over it's not worth doing anything else because it's tea time almost.
Another reason is a bit more scientific. You were probably all taught at school about, 8 hrs sleep, 8hrs work and 8hrs play. So when you retire you are no longer working and the powers that be take away those 8hrs worked and you only get 16hr days. No darn wonder we run out of time to do things.
Brian

Hello all. I finally arrived . I have been thread wandering and it takes up a lot of time.
Brian, you forgot to mention that you also seem to no longer need the 8 hrs sleep so lay awake half the night . seems to be the time I remember all the things I forgot during the day but before I can write them down, I've dozed off again. Oh well. At least on doesn't have to get all dolled up for work every day.
I can potter around in any daggy comfortable thing I feel like.
I know what you mean with doctors. Tell me why one has to go to the surgery wasting half a day not to mention petrol etc just to give info they have anyway , before any procedure, then turn up days later for the procedure ?
I always ask if they want any info please take it now as I cannot be running back and fortth to surgery. I know doctors make money but we dont.
Hubby has to have an eye done in Mt Gambier soon and we are going to have to drive over and back 3 times . We can stay overnoght somewhere and then make only 2 trips. Still going to cost the same for a motel or petrol.
I have had to do it myself once but at least it was a lot closer. I sat for hours waiting and then was asked about 6 questions and went home. ( they already knew my details anyway ) Totally senseless. Hubby won't argue as he says you have to do what they want. Rubbish, I say. We are not all rich and able to spend on petrol willy nilly. and they could ask you the same questions on the day.
Better get back to getting things done here.
Hello Cody, your dear little gosling seems to be getting along .
Hello Leisa, those cordylines are so pretty but don't do too well here. I do have one outside that thives but not a pretty one just plain green.
Hello Hel, nice to see you popping in.
Hello Chrissy, sounds like you never retired when hubby did. Still, busy , busy, keeps you fit and on your toes.
Our weather today is awful. We have had strong winds all yesterday and last night. with a few showers
Not good for getting things done outside.
I have my new microwave home now. It is a lot better looking then the one it is replacing. Nice of the people to give me a new one but I think the other was beyond repair.
Hubby bought me a small electric clock radio too. I like a clock next to the bed that I can see in the dark. It has lovely green numbers , so I can now just look over and see the time.
Better get some cakes out then go and finish my washing. It will have to hang around inside as it would soon blow away outside. Can't have my smalls flying off to parts unknown.
Have a lovely weekend everyone and hello to all I have not mentioned.
Try this indulgence. Raspberry Cream cake.
Jean.