TEA ROOM #42

Good morning everyone. It has rained all night here.Wonderful soaking rain. Looks like we are going to have a proper winter. Yippee. I haven't been doing a lot in the garden. I have to get my roses pruned but they're still flowering. Think I will just have to bite the bullet and do it. I havent got much to say this morning [got a mental block] so will come back later. Have a good day this beautiful rainy Saturday, and will catch you all later.Colleen

Me either colleen ...Sat morning from 10 to 12 is a phone call to my blind brother ...he lives at Junee all alone (he is stubborn) ...so this is always a special time for us ...he has home care and meals on wheels but I worry about him all the time ...we are so lucky to have our sight. Enjoy your morning everyone see you all later ...

Me as well Colleen,
Every day is ISN'T raining, I go out and look at the roses, and there they are - a few more big fat buds. If they don't stop it I think I'll have to hit them with a stick, LOL! Seriously, if I get to the end of July, I'll HAVE to prune them, buds and all, no matter what.

It is nice to be having a real winter though - many of my "Spring flowering" bulbs are starting to bud already, and I have had some lovely 'Nanus' type gladioli flowers to go along with my usual "dead of winter" Lachenalia's.

Ciao, KK.

This is a new variety for me: Gladiolus x nanus 'Las Vegas' flowering about a week ago for the first time. I have about 4 more similar sized flower spikes coming on. Each floret is about 5cm across and the whole thing is probably a bit under a metre high from soil surface to the tip of the spike. It certainly brightens up my drab winter garden!

Hi Jean,yea,she is doing good.She has know trouble eating are drinking so that is good.Well enjoy your day and take care.


Cody

Wow KK that's really lovely and you're right about it brightening up the garden. Our Gladdies are supposed to flower in Summer but I reckon that is the wrong time as they get very burnt from our hot winds. Colleen

Wow KK love your gladdy ...
I have rain every day sometimes heavy sometimes light ...but it is always wet and has been for almost 2 years.
Oh how awful to have to hack blooming roses ...think of it as picking a bouquet for your home and shove them into a vase.
My wild gladdys bloom through the winter here ...

Evening all,
Well all the yummy looking Raspberry Cream cake is gone, so I've got a late batch of scones in the oven. grrrr I just looked at them in the oven & they're almost burnt on top but not cooked inside *sigh* I'm not much of a scone cook - most other things I can do, but somehow scones elude me!
Cody your gosling looks healthy & well grown despite the neck! And your little mate with the big eyes is sooo cute!
KK lovely gladdies!
Scones are ready! Anyone want to try them ;-{
Here's my vege patch - pity the fence looks so sad (hubbbies job to fix it)

Did I hear someone say "Scones"!

Hold everything ...I'm on my way.

Very pretty Gladdy KK

Hello Colleen, Chissy, Jean, Brian, Cody & Helen.

I'm just checking a few things on the puter then I am going to watch the Lions play Geeliong (AFL)

You all have a great night.

Hi Leisa,thanks,that is my Chihuahua Mocha laying on my Hubby.We just got her fix on the 9th.She is 6 months old and only weighs 2.2lbs.Their is no diaper small enough to fit her so i had to get her fix before she went into heat.Well enjoy your day and take care and have a bless weekend.



Hi Marleneann,hope you have a bless weekend too and enjoy.


Also everyone else have a bless weekend too and enjoy as well.


Cody

This message was edited Jul 11, 2009 2:12 PM

Good morning everyone. Colleen, so glad you had some rain at last. Your garden will love it. We had about 36 points overnight here. The wind is still with us.
Hello Chrissy, hope your brother is coping okay. Enjoy your weekend.
KK that is a gorgeous gladioli. Such a bright color combination. I have a few here . They pop up every now and then from old corms left behind .
Cody, such a sweet little dog. I hope she is feeling better now.
Hello Leisa. I am not the world greatest scone cooker either, but i havent burnt them yet. Perhaps your oven setting is not right. You need a hot oven . Contrary to some old tales that say a light touch is best , I used to watch my grandmother knead her scones well. She used a glass to cut them out. A dash of milk on top and mmmmmmmmm.
I learned a lot from my Nana as she used to teach cooking in her younger years.
Talking about her just brought to mind rice pudding and the smell of her knee liniment, wintergreen.
Funny how our memory works. A word or a smell can conjure a clear picture.
I am going to have to get out in the weather today as I have plants to go in. This weather is supposed to be here for a few more days so I'll be brave and put the coat on and get out there.
Hello to everyone popping in or lurking around. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend .
Keep warm and snug.
Enjoy these Scones . A few extra away in the cupboard for you Leisa.
Jean

Hi Jean,thanks,yes she is doing pretty good.She is back to her old self just a spoiled brat that's all.Well enjoy your day and take care.

Cody

Morning All,
Just a quick swing by for me - I gotta do tax again - grrrr!! I hope all politicians that agreed to businesses doing their tax quarterly also have to do it quarterly too - grrr!! I end up doing 15 lots of tax per year, as I have to do it for myself, my husband & our company, which is quarterly, plus end of year!! Grrr!
Jean my scones didn't look great - yes they were burnt on top, but they tasted fine with a bit of jam & cream - even Marleneann enjoyed them!!
Somehow I just can't find a recipe that isn't too rich (some use cream) or too dry (the WW recipe yesterday). My aunt used to make fabulous scones & sponges. I tried to collect some of her recipes before she died, but she really didn't know the recipe - she'd have to be making them to remember what went in & what quantities etc, so you had to be there while she made them. I probably just need 60 years experience like she had ;-)
Off to the tax!!

Have fun leisa ...I hate the @#$%* bookwork ...yes bookwork ...I used to do it for over twenty years by hand with all the ledgers, journals wage books (in those days you made up the pay pkts and got a signature) ...I am guessing it's all done on computers these days ...I think that can present plenty of problems because you can't explain some things to computers hmmmm, glad I don't have to do it any more. Good luck.
Hi everyone ...in case you missed my question
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1013678/
it's a Northerners question ^_^
except for the horseradish.
For you leisa and anyone in the mood for scones
great for arvo tea ...
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/10710/basic+scones

I'm just about done with the tax - yeehooo! It wasn't so bad for a change! Maybe it's because I didn't earn much money last qtr ;-(
Chrissy thanks for the scone recipe! I've always found to Woolies' Good Taste recipes to be pretty good - so I'll give it a try soon! I've got over-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl, so I can see a banana cake coming up tonight. Add a few walnuts & may be a few choc bits yummmm! I usually take my banana cakes to work, otherwise I eat it all myself :O
Sorry I have never heard of Brisbane greens (& I live here) & I don't like horseradish, so sorry I can't help you. I'd love to swap something for Boogie though ;-)
Here's my hare's foot fern - I think this one has been in my family for many years.

Do you all use Etax for income tax these days? We have used it since it was first introduced, and have found it saves soooo much time and headaches, and refunds come back in next to no time. Hubby's came back in something like 6 days last year.

Good morning all. Talk about weird weather. We have fog this morning. This after days of cold and wet . I hope it clears and lets the sun in today as I would like to get a few things planted. I managed to do my potting yesterday by sitting in the doorway of the shed. Out of the wind and even got a bit of sun for 10 minutes.
Leisa, don't you love those ferns ? I have one about the size of yours. It is around 6 years old, from a little piece I got as a gift. Mine loses its fronds every year but they soon grow back. I have one with much larger 'feet' branches and larger fronds that stays evergreen all year.
I synpathise with you all doing tax stuff. Its many years since I had to do any but I used to do my first husbands as well as mine. Wasn't so complicated back then though.
Hello Gardengal. Did you have an enjoyable weekend ?
Hello Chrissy. . I hope you are getting some sunshine now. Your jungle will be going mad.
Hello Cody, have a lovely day. I do hope you are getting a bit of sunshine too.
Hello to Kat, Sue, Colleen, Brian, Shelly and Steve.
I think Steve may be still on his roof.
Brian, Shelly has been in again and she drank quite a bit of the wine. I have a feeling that Marleneann may have been with her.
I'd better put out some cake as there is nothing left in the kitchen but crumbs.
I hope you all had a great weekend.
Try this indulgence. Chocolate Layered Cake.
Jean.

Very enjoyable weekend thanks Jean. We're still housepainting! lol

We're on the home stretch now, thankfully, one more wall to topcoat and that will at least be the high parts done, just a few fiddly bits left.

My garden will be extremely thankful when it's finished. I haven't given it a decent watering in nearly a month - if I've noticed anything droopy I gave it a drink. At least we've used decent quality paint, so it won't need doing again any time soon, thankfully, and I think I'll just tackle it a wall a year when it does need to be done.

The next big job that will need to be done is a retaining wall that badly needs replacing. It's probably about 20metres long by a metre and a half high. We're looking at perhaps making our own cement blocks to do it - it makes it about a third of the cost. It would be slow, but as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day.

It was always badly built, and it was inevitable that it would come to grief as a result. It's currently timber, with the posts about three times as far apart as they should be. I'm told that about 18 months before we came there was a downpour of about 20 inches in a single afternoon, and that's when it collapsed - little wonder.

The white winged choughs are currently building a mud nest in one of the trees beside the dam, so they're spending most of the day fetching mud and 'straw' (grass stalks) for it. Layer of mud, layer of straw, bit more mud and then dance around the outside to pad it all in. And the teenagers (previous seasons' hatchlings) who are supposed to be helping, simply watch on. lol





This message was edited Jul 12, 2009 6:33 PM

Feels like spring a bit today ...I have noticed the plants have noticed.
I hold off most of the hacking jobs until I am sure of no more frosts ...the overgrown things shelter the tender tropicals and keep them safe. The ground is drying up a little and you can walk around freely in some places.New shoots are coming out on the Iochromas jean ...they are outside so I hope we don't get too much frost.
I thought I heard a Bell Bird yesterday ...I know they live ten minutes from here ...up the mountain rd, they like waterways don't they? we have had so much rain that they may be checking out the full dams here ...beautiful sound but they kill the other birds don't they? perhaps it was just passing through.
GHA is opening up lots of green blooms ...and so are the others ...
come on spring! (frosty Pink in the hedge) has topped 12ft!)
enjoy your day everyone.

Our little native bees certainly think it's Spring, Chrissy. They're out in their droves.

Hi Jean,i hope you had a lovely weekend.Yes,i had a lot of sun today thanks,to much if you ask me.Todays high was a 100 and it was HOT HOT HOT.Well enjoy your day and take care.


Cody

Good afternoon all, Jean it was not I who sent down the wind, we still have some here although not so bad, and I am actually innocent in the wine stealing, I had a wisdom tooth cut out on friday, and lots of pain, but alas no alcohol allowed until it has started healing, doctors orders something about thinning blood, to be honest I was pretty out of it and did not take a lot of notice. I can only eat mush at the moment, so that chocolate layer cake is a gonner lol.
I had a not very productive weekend, due to the drugs they have me on, who would think one little tooth could be such a pain.
Chrissy I miss the sound of the bellbirds I always think of my grandmother, when I hear them it reminds me of my visits with her when I was little sigh!!!
Pam I do not envy you all that renovating you are currently doing, we started to paint the inside of the house last year, and alas still have the laundry to go but at least the rest is finished, unfortunately ran out of enthusiasm and interest, I will get around to the laundry eventually lol.
Sue love the pond it looks great, another thing I have to redo eventually sigh!!!
Jean love the critters you aquired especially the lizard, they were a good bargain.
The v8's are done and dusted, nothing left but the polly's all patting themselves on the back for the success lol and a few lingering tourists, by next week we will never know that they were all here, I did not even go over to that side of town as I knew it would be a pain with all the road closures, I am glad the event is over, for a year anyway.
best get some work done
have a great afternoon all
smile and stay safe
shell

Shell,let me know when our dmails are getting to long for you and either me or you can start a new one.

Hello all. A productive afternoon here. The weather improved slightly. Cold but no rain and I can sit in the shed in shelter. I potted a heap of new zygo pieces plus a purple flowering hoya cutting. I even managed to pot up the 2 new bambino bougs.
I have been out numbering all the zygos so I know whats what.. I like to keep files both on the computer and in a notebook, of all my Angels, iris, epis and zygos.
You sound like you have all been busy too. Its time I had a cuppa.
Shelly, I know you would never have scoffed all the wine but with that tooth, I bet you wish you had.
Love Bellbirds Chrissy, but wnen I was travelling around the counrty years back, I longed for the sound of the currawongs. They always make me feel homesick for the mountains around Bright.
Going to check out the kitchen now in case someone gets hungry later. I think there is cake left.
This is my latest zygo out, Sleigh Bells.
Jean.

Better put some more wine in the Tea Room.
While not new there is not a lot of Barbera around so you might like to try that for a change. Very popular Red in Italy where there is 50000 ha planted, it retains its acidity even in high temps. Chrissy you might like to ask your husband for his opinion and the rest of us will have to try some from the Tea Room. For you who prefer White try this new one Azal a late ripening white from Portugal.
Shelly61 you need a new Doctor/Dentist because it is well know that alcohol is a very potent disinfectant in fact some of the mouth washes are almost pure alcohol so you could have had some drinks to kill the germs and the pain.
Brian.

Ahhh, thanks Stake that Barbera really hits the spot! Oops I'd better leave a few drops for everyone else.
Well it was work today for me, but I spent my morning visiting a hand surgeon to arrange to get a 3mm remnant from a dwarf date palm spike out of my left thumb! As it's 5mm under the surface & impacting the tendon, the GP wouldn't touch it. So it's a GA next Monday to get it out!!
Sue, how is your leg after getting spiked - hope you've got nothing remaining inside?
Jean, yummy cake - even the few crumbs that are left at this late hour! Thanks for the info about the hare's foot dropping it's fronds. It happened to mine last summer while we were away & I wondered whether my friend who was looking after the place had done something to it (the rest of the garden was ok?), or whether we'd had some really fierce weather. I now know the truth & can expect it again this year I guess ;-)
Pam that sounds like one serious retaining wall - take it easy!
Chrissy, yes it was lovely & warm this morning & is almost balmy this evening - not winter weather at all & yes it feels like spring is on the way!!
Shelly you must be glad of the silence now the V8s are all over!
Pretty flowers Cody!
Here's one of my crucifix starting to come into flower - the unopened flowers are quite a pretty pink/red, but open yellow/orange.

Hello everyone...just setting up my new computer.
22inch monitor...everything is so BIG!
This will take some getting used to.

Hi Leisa,thanks,well have a lovely day and enjoy and take care.

Cody

Good morning everyone. Tthe sky is clear at the moment. Famous last words. We are forecast rain and maybe hail. I'm doing washing so it's sure to rain later. I need to weed. It's so wet and cold but the weeds are growing really well. I can't see my irises. Oh well. I'll have to wait until they grow bigger than the weeds and by then it will be dry enough to get the weeds. One cant do much with them in the wet as being a clay soil. it is so icky, you pull out lumps of it with the weeds. I will get to pruning the roses soon too. They are all shooting now but can wait another week or so.
Brian, thanks for the wine for the Tea Room wine bar. The ladies will soon make it disappear. I was over admiring all your cacti pics again. I am getting a real cacti collection here now .
Leisa, I do hope you are feeling better today. It's no fun having tooth problems. I was so glad when all mine had to come out because of a bone problem. It was no fun for the first few weeks but once one gets used to the false ones, it's great.
I thought my Haresfoot fern was dying when it lost its fronds the first time too. It does it every year and at the moment is a mass of new fronds opening slowly. funny that the other one doesn't. I must look them up and see exactly which they both are.
I have a couple of crucifix orchids but as yet they are a bit small to flower. Supposed to be a red. a yellow and an orange. I have seen a white in photos. Mine are down in the shadehouse with the epis as they didn't like being outside much. Too cold I think.
Marleneann, you will be so happy with your new computer. I remember when we changed from a really old screen to the new larger lcd one. It's great.
Hello Cody. as always, lovely flowers. Hope your babies are doing well. You will have good watchdogs with the geese.
Hello to everyone else. Have a great day.
I think Steve is still sitting on that roof communing with possums. Kat must have been carried off by the turkeys. Sue will be under a mountain of broms and Chrissy will be wandering the jungle looking for intimate flower parts to tackle with her paintbrush.
Enjoy this Cream Cake with Peaches.
Jean.

Hi Jean,thanks,yea they are still doing good.They are just getting were they will go a little futher and rome during the day.They are only about 4 months old so they are taking their time.Well have a lovely day and enjoy and take care.

Cody

A question ... I need suggestions as to what I can plant under the benches in my last epi shadehouse. It gets good light all year and no direct hot sun. I was going to underplant with broms but as the benches are treated pine, I hesitate . I have a fern, a small bushy begonia and a piece of rhoe already there.. The area is large and in 2 pieces. One around 12' x 4' and the other about 10' x 7' after allowing for walk space which I will pinebark.. I just know there are lots of suggestions out there. Whatever goes there will get cold and wet in winter and dry in summer. There will be runoff from watering the pots above and any dripping from the treated pine slats.
Jean.
zygo Santa Cruz.

Cyclamen!

Jean... Begonias and ferns will take the conditions you describe. They make a nice combination. Areas not under benches you could try Anthuriums.

I like kks idea of the Cyclamen, and Marlenes idea of begonias is also good. You can get some really colourful begonias now.
Leisa, good luck with having that splinter (for want of a better word) removed. I think my leg will be ok. I'm not limping anymore, which is absolutely wonderful.
Jean, I will be under a mountain of broms soon, if i don't stop buying them.
Marlene, how are you going with the new computer?
Hi Cody, thanks for sharing all the wonderfull pictures from your garden. I hope its not too hot there for you.
Thanks everyone for the kind comments about my pond. I can't help turning it on and watching the water run. I also don't want to hang my washing in the gazebo anymore, because it spoils the view.
Supposed to be more rain tomorrow. i hope not! I've been enjoying the warm sun on my back while i am working.
Have a good gardening week all.
Sue

Hi sue,thanks,your are very welcome.I love your garden it is really nice.It is hot here,here lately it has been over 100 for the high.To me i wish it would stay in the 70's all years around,that is my kind of weather,but people can dream.Well girl enjoy your day and take care.



Cody

Hello everyone. Thanks for the suggestions. I have the one bush begonia under the bench but they don't like the cold much and tend to lose leaves or rot away. . I did have one of the rex begonias in a basket but it died in the cold before I could put it down there. Cyclamens will do well as I have several in the fern house . I did think Violets too but they tend to take over. I may try to get some of the pink as I have read they are not so invasive. I do have some polyanthus in pots. I wonder how they would go ? They usually like being out in the sun here.
It is another cold and misty morning. Yesterday turned out to be not so bad once the sun was up . I even managed to get the shheets dry on the line. I cut all my Chrysanthemums back and will pot up some of the cuttings to sell at the market later in spring. Just about time to start on the roses. Maybe another week or two. until things dry a bit.
The poor Angels are looking the worse for wear due to the winds. They are still growing at the top but all the large leaves are torn and shabby. They will come back when the warm gets here.
Cody, I'll have the heat over the cold any day even though I don't like it over hot. I feel the cold so much more these days. I think they call it getting older.
Sue, I love your garden. You can never have too many plants can you ? I wonder sometimes as i look around . How many is too many ? Ha ha.
Hello everyone else. I have to move as hubby has another doctors appointment this morning.
Enjoy your day and this Hazelnut Chocolate Cheesecake.
Jean

Hi Jean,i don't know how the weather works their,but here you can't even go outside during the day it is so hot.One reason why it is so hot is because it has not rain here but only twice in going on 3 months.I don't like the cold either,but it would be nice if you were able to go outside during the day.Well enjoy your day and stay warm and take care.

Cody

Hello Everyone,
Just popped in to say, it was me that sent the wind North. Sorry, we'd had enough! Still cold here with frost in the mornings.
Leisa, I love your yellow/orange Crucifix Orchid. I only have red, dark pink & a little bit of an orange one.
Cody, lovely pics as always, I hope you are getting some relief from the heat?
Hi Jean, thanks for the yummy cake.
Shelly61, I can relate to the tooth pain. I had my 4 wisdoms dug out years ago, in the one day! Hope it is settling for you?
Hi Marleneann, chrissy, sue, Kat, Sammut, KK & everyone else.
Brian & Steve please leave some wine for me, I need to warm up.
The pic is my lonesome zygo flower. I can't find what it's called? Different to all the others, in that, it is Red, with slender petals.
Take Care,
Helen

Good morning all, sorry it is yet another perfect day here, it is windy but warm, so I won't complain lol.
My mouth is finally starting to feel better thank goodness, I am sick of it waking me up in the middle of the night throbbing. I am a big baby when it comes to pain lol.
Sue your garden is lovely, I would not want to ruin that view either.
Brian the dentist reckons the only reason I could not have alcohol, is it is supposed to thin your blood and he did not want that, he also informed me it does not mix with the pain killers he prescribed for me blah!!! I personally reckon they would work well together lol.
Nice cake Jean how can anyone go wrong with chocolate, I hope all goes well with hubby at doctors.
Cody beautiful flowers as always, and your babies are growing so fast.
Leisa I have never seen a crucifix in flower before, it is lovely, I was given one ages ago it is very small and I have no idea what the colour is but now I can't wait for it to flower, I know very little about them, do they grow very big or have any special needs, sorry to be a pain.
I had better go and do some work, have a great day all
smile and stay safe
shell

Helen, your 'odd zygo' is a rhipsaldopsis or as sometimes called, Easter cactus. You will notice the difference in the segments that have 'hairy' joints and the open flower. So far in Australia, we can only get the red and a pinky mauve that I know of. .
They usuall bloom around spring / summer, instead of now when the usual zygos flower. I have the 2 colors . Pic of the pinky one from last year. .
Jean.

Is that the one I have jean?