TEA ROOM # 43

Here we are past the middle of the year, nearly Christmas. Ha ha.
Who stole the start of the year, it surely doesn't seem that long since New Year.
I was getting tired with the long walk again so thought I'd better move us.
It's still a bit dark outside. I don't know where the sun has gone. It was there earlier, peeping over the hill. Must have decided to have a lie in.
I did nothing outside yesterday as it was freezing all day, mainly the wind which makes it uncomfortable to work. There is such a lovely lot of green in the garden now. Thankfully very few weeds in the garden. They come up along the edges and non garden areas. I have lots of sunny daffodils. Don't they brighten the place on dull days along with the wattle ?
I am puting up a photo of part of the garden in spring , hoping it will look even better this year.
I have so many self sown wallflowers Californian poppies and opium poppies eveywhere. I moved handfuls of them around earlier and now they are everywhere. Beautiful.
They will all grow right through until next winter with hardly a drop of water unless it rains on them. Love 'em.
Better go and put up the signs so people know where we are.
Have a happy day all.
Jean.

Good morning everyone. It was great not to have to walk so far this morning. Lovely garden to greet us too. Thanks Jean. Great pics of the little zoo Cody. We have a little zoo here and the boys love to go there. But boy is it expensive. The big zoo in Adelaide is even more so but I suppose they have to keep the animals some how. The Pandas are coming soon so that will be great. Haven't got much planned for today but am going to see if I can get some cuttings of succulents down the road. Well had better get the boys organised and myself. be back later. My Arum . Colleen

Ooops I didn't notice the tea room switch!
Here's a pic of two common crucifix orchids - purple & orange.

Gee lovely cruxifix orchids you have there ...leisa!
more succulents colleen? ha ha ha we are certainly a weird mob ...always room for more right?
I think everyone must be having a very busy saturday, mine was ...how about everyone else ...
sue how did your sale go?
jean I have poppies coming up from you and wayne ...also many other lovely things ...really strange when you consider it was very frosty here in the last few days ...except one night that stayed about 18C all night ...huh?
Well my happy surprise today was finding "Birthday" noid has opened in bright yellow instead of white as it did in the heatwave ...wow! I love it ^_^ ...boy oh boy do the temps make a difference.
Here it is ...my little darling with lovely tendrils ...you can see the frost thawing out on it ...the sun does not hit it until the frost is gone so it ok much to my surprise.
Enjoy your evening everyone.

Hello everyone. A grey morning here. Nothing was done yesterday because of the cold wind. I am still waiting for a day without wind to spray the weeds. They will be 3' high before I can get them. From the look of things now, it will be an excellent year for capeweed. It's everywhere.
Hello Leisa, I hope my few crucifix orchids start growing so I can get some lovely flowers like yours. They are so slow here, probably too cold.
Chrissy, that Angel is so beautiful. I can't wait for summer when I hope to see some Ys and flowers on my crosses.
We are going to have some fun with them.
Colleen, how lucky you will be to see the pandas. How many cuttings did you end up bringing home ?
I didn't mention the other day, that I picked up a small piece of a pretty succulent that had fallen on the shelf in the shop.
Really... It was looking so pitiful all alone . Some of the plants there need to be cared for a bit more. They are so potbound and a few looked half dead.
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. It is quiet now but once spring arrives, there will be lots of news about our gardens.
Still haven't seen Sreve. He must be very busy. I'd like to see his progress on some of his projects.
Kat, are you still with us ? I fear the fenceman may have fenced her in with the turkeys.
Hello to everyone else. Have a great day and enjoy a nibble with Brians wine.
Chocolate Mousse Cake
Jean.

Good afternoon everyone!

The day started off bright and sunny and Fred and I went to church. Had lunch and now it is overcast and looks like rain.

I was going to do some gardening but the weather has made me feel lazy. Oh well ...there's always tomorrow.

Off to the tea room to see what Jean has left to nibble on.

Hi Everyone,hope you had a great weekend.Well i'm going to stay on Daves after all.So have a bless day and enjoy.

I had a great day out with the dog, freezing to start with - literally, the water bowl was iced over!
Once it warmed up we had blue skies & sunshine.
Spotted a few flowers coming up... my daffs are on their way and bluebells are slowly emerging.
But the treasure today was my hellebore.

so cute ...the dear little thing.
I have tried to enter the tea room three times today and been locked out ...lost a couple of long posts so ...I have crept in after the rush.
It's so very cold out there even I can't handle it ...so no pics.
Did anyone see the ABC gardening australia? if so could someone please tell me what sweet leaf is? they said the shoots taste just like sweet peas.The other one was something that tasted like asparagus (the shoots I mean).
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2634379.htm
Looks like QLD has all of these wonderful things ...
Just asking ...someone may know the names.
I hope you are loving your sunday.

Sauropus androgynus F. Euphorbiaceae
http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au/free-herb-information/sweet-leaf.html
I think thats your plant Chrissy. I saw that segment too, and it appealed to me.
My car boot sale was great. I has a good time and made a bit of holiday money (no, not for broms)
The weather turned cold and gloomy today, so I cleaned house, watched merlin and GA, then lit the fire. I din't do anything in the garden except walk around in it, which was nice.
Remember how I got spiked by a Date palm? Well, I was thinking of going to the quacks, because it was still sore after 3 weeks, but last night, I broke the skin, and in the shower, i gave it a squeeze. Boy did i get a surprise! It just popped right out!
See pic. Pretty impressive I thought. Anyway, the pain has gone for the first time (not surprising really) and I have a souveneir.
Sue

Chrissy, The Sweet leaf is also called Tropical Asparagus, Chang Kok, Manis, and Katuk. It grows in a bush 1-21/2 metres with oval shaped leaves. It is 49% protein so is great for vegans. It will grow from seed or cuttings. You have to water well to start with otherwise it won't be sweet. Colleen

Gee Sue no wonder it was still sore. You could have started your fire with it. Glad your boot sale went well. Colleen

Tee hee Colleen! Yes, it would make good kindling!
I forgot to post the pic of the culprit who is stealing my coconut fibre. Jean, I think he's one of yours!

This message was edited Jul 26, 2009 7:18 PM

The Wattle Birds and Willie Wag Tails are having a field day here collecting the cat hair. Their nests will be beautiful and warm and cosy for their babies. I have a one footed Butcher bird coming in for a feed everyday as well. I've called him Joe. There's also a mother and two young ones hanging around too. You should hear their song. When I whistle to them they answer me with their "opera". Colleen

Hi every body,i was just going to let you know that i had my user name changed.I'm not therosegirl any more.Now i an TheAngelGirl.

Cody

Good morning everyone. It sounds as if you all had a good weekend. The day turned out fairly well yesterday here.
The breeze died down for a while and I was at last able to spray my Roundup on the worst areas of weeds. We had a very heavy shower of rain around 6pm ( 16 points in 2 mins) Thank goodness it waited until late and not just after I sprayed. The garden is full of green and I am really looking forward to spring.
Dalfyre, I love hellebores. Mine are all blooming beautifully and I just bought 2 more.
I took seeds last year which are coming up now.
Chrissy, I keep getting thrown out of the Tea Room too. Firefox has taken to throwing me out 2 or 3 times before it settles down. It used to do it on eBay but stopped. I have tried everything to find out how to fix it but I guess it doesn't like our virus protection software. They just won't agree to live together. The problems started when we put the new versions of Firefox and Trend in . Funny they got along okay before that. Oh well , we'll see what happens later in the year when we put the next version in.
Sue, keep an eye on those spikes in future. That looks like it was very painful. Roses can sometimes do the same thing.
That cute thief of yours is not one of our babies. Ours are nearly all white backs down here. Funny how the birds in some areas have different color patterns.
Ours like the coconut fibre too and I usually hang a piece on the clothesline. We have another magpie ( we think, as we haven't caught her at it yet ) that is stealing more copper wire. It's not our Mrs Bird as she has started sitting. This thief has been coming into the sheds and taking rolls of copper wire from the boxes and buckets hubby keeps it in. These are loose rolls about as big as your palm. We are forever picking up the rolls as they are too much for the bird to take. I found one hanging over the clothes line where the bird must have perched with it then dropped it and picked it up a few times. It was wound around the line. I will put them all away as we don't want to find a bird hanging in a tree by some wire.
I'd really like to see the nests.
Hello Colleen. I love the butcher bird song but we don't get them here at all. I used to enjoy them when I lived at Bright , when they would come down and serenade me for food.
Better get to it and put out something nice for everyone. Luckliy I have not been thrown out yet so I will hurry.
Have a great week everyone and keep warm.
Try some of this warm Apple Cake with a bit of custard.
Jean.

Dalfyre, this is one of my older hellebores. Its a single white spotted with tiny burgundy spots.

Good morning all well I dont know if good is exactly the right word, being a monday and all. But it is a glorious day and it only got down to about 19 last night so even for a monday thats pretty nice.
I had a very slack weekend in the garden, I just could not manage to stay home long enough to get anything accomplished, oh well maybe next weekend. I did however catch some fish on sunday, and saw 2 different types of sea eagles, they were magnificent, I will show some pics when I get them of my camera.
Sue, that thorn is massive, you must have been is loads of pain with that sucker, I am pleased it come out with out you having to get the rotten thing cut out. Oh and you have a very cute thief lol.
Jean the cake looks devine, but alas I am to late to get some, only crumbs left lol.
I have never tried hellebores before, they are lovely, I think I will have to give them a go, if it is not to hot up here for them.
Chrissy your angel is lovely, the 2 seeds I planted from your mystery packet are about 4 inches high now and doing very well Yaaaaaaay.
Leisa the orchids are beautiful, speaking of which Helen I received the cuttings of your crucifix orchids on friday, they turned up in perfect condition, thank you thank you thank you, I hope I can do justice to them and get them to take.
Cody very glad you are staying.
Have to go and do some work, have a great day all
Shell

Gosh sue those nasty barbs can give you blood poisoning ...I am glad it came out ok but you were very lucky it did you no real harm.
Sorry you have to work shell, but these days every job is good, I know so many even in the banks,hospitals etc who no longer have one to go to ...so count your blessings ^_^ even on a monday ...I am very happy your seeds are up for you, they grow roots very quickly so don't be nervous about potting them on as soon as they start to fill the little pot.Once the warm weather hits they will be like jack's beanstork!
jean my hellebores don't bloom until Sept /Oct here ...I have them in heavy shade perhaps that's why ...aren't they lovely.
I think I love the Butcher Bird call most of all ...The birds still come in to sit in the high branches here and they all nick my spanish moss for their nests ...I used to have a huge curtain of it but they have gradually ripped it to bits ...that's ok it's all up in the high branches now where they drop bits.
I like your new name cody ...love angel anythings don't you?
colleen thanks for the info on sweetleaf ...still trying to find someone that sells it anyone know a place or site?
Well better go make some lunch it's been a busy morning ...
see you later everyone ...enjoy your afternoon.

Hi Shell,thanks,hope your day is going good at work today.Well enjoy your day and take care.

Hi Chrissy,thanks,yes i do.Well enjoy your day and take care.

Cody

Wow Sue you were lucky you didn't get real sick from that barb.
I had it happen to me and I got the barb out but it was still sore for a week.

Chrissy I am going to plant those Angel seeds you gave tomorrow.


Hope you all have a great evening

Hello Everyone,
It seems I only get to sit quietly, to write, once a week lately...
I've been busy helping my daughter prepare for her trip. She will be OS for 5 months, studying, mostly. I have all her stuff jammed in here everywhere, will get to sorting it one day? Going to Melbourne tomorrow to wave Goodbye, at 12 midnight!!!
Chrissy I'm pleased you are enjoying your Parrots, great pic, mine are waving back!
Shell I'm glad yours arrived safely..
Jean, Puleese don't mention Christmas...I have a stack of Birthdays to deal with, before then...It's freezing here still, but you are welcome anytime, you feel like a drive south.
Colleen, the Pandas are fantastic, I took my eldest to see them at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, back in the 80's, you will love them!
Leisa I love your orchids, I have a little piece of the orange, with one lonely flower.
Marleneann I hope you are recovering Ok? & Sue, best thing for you, to get that spike out. I'm a magnet for thorns & such. Often find bits to dig out, of my fingers, mostly. Yes, I should wear gloves more...
Hi Elaine, any more mosaics to show?
Hi to Dalfyre & Cody, I'm sure Angelgirl suits you just perfect!!
Sorry to anyone I've missed. I hope you all have a great week.
Here is a pic of a Bargain I got yesterday. Halfprice, only $30!! It's almost 30cms high & weighs a tonne. It's made of White Limestone, so it's hard to take a good pic? I was going to put him out, but he likes it at my front door!!
Bye for now,
Helen

Hi Helen,thanks,well i hope you have a bless day and enjoy and take care.

Cody

Hello everyone. Another grey morning here. A bit of misty rain during the night but nothing much. The cold wind is back so nothing much will be done outside. I will be looking around to see what new heads are popping through the ground. It seems every day there is another face looking up. I have new iris seedlings getting bigger and plenty of bluebells starting to spring up. TheAsiatic lilies are getting bigger by the day. I hope they do as well as last year.
Hello Shelly, aren't the sea eagles magnificent to watch ? Sorry you missed out on the cake, you have to be quick around here. I'll leave an extra piece in the cupboard for you.
Chrissy, my hellebores are out in the weather. They get all the "sun" while the roses are cut back. They mostly die down here in the summer so are not bothered being in the open. I think they flower better with the light rather than too shady.
Hello Cody, have a great day.
Helen, you are too far away from here. I would have to swim across the bay.
I do like your Mr Frog. If he's so heavy, no wonder he wants to stay where he is.
Hello to everyone else around.
I'm off to do a bit of washing . It may dry in the wind as long as the rain stays away.
Have a great day all and keep warm.
Try one of these delicious Swan Cakes with cream with your morning tea.
Jean.

Hi Jean and everyone,i'm doing the happy dance.It rained here today and i'm happy.Well enjoy your day and take care.

Cody

I must try moving some into a bit more light but I am worried they may cook ...it wasn't mean't to be that shady there ...just dappled but you know what happens in jungles *giggles* Triffid jungles ^_^
the shade becomes ...shadier!
It's still very brisk here too but beautiful in reflected sunshine near the brick walls and fences.
I must start planting up seeds ... a few every day. I am looking forward to new greens and a few different veggies this year.Love growing new edibles.
That is some statue you have there helen ...it might scare the mozzies away! with a bit of luck.Yes I love the parrots ...they make me smile and look so Rio!
I hope everyone has a great day ...stay warm.
Here is Butter Bomb Brugmansia brightening a winter garden (jean I haven't forgotten )

such nice flowers everyone has - and Mr Frog is magnificent!
I hope my hellebores increase - I have 3 that my boss gave me, she was surprised I have a flower already from one of her 'babies'.
I also bought myself 3 plants & they look healthy enough but I have no idea when they will flower.
I am having to watch out for honesty seedlings - they are everywhere in my woodland corner.
I foolishly tossed seed in there my first year here, after that they took over.
I am sure they were better behaved in Mum's garden when I was a child.
I did a major spray of roundup last spring but I suspect new seedlings will be coming up forever more.

Hello everyone. Another misty winter morning here but no wind as yet.
Chissy, Butter Bomb is so lovely. When we get all our babies going we are going to have golden gardens.
I am hoping for some deeper pinks to breed with Ecuador Pink later.
Hello Dalfyre. You will love the way your hellebores increase quickly. Someone called them promiscuous on one of the threads. I always seem to get seeds and have some new ones popping up from last year.
I did the same as you with the Honesty seeds. I saw them growing in the Botanic Gardens and thought what a lovely show. Ha ha. Now I have millions, but I still love them. I just pull ou t the extras and leave the rest to do what they want. They certainly fill a bare place quickly.
My nasturtiums are a bit the same. They wander all over the place but do make a gorgeous summer show. When they die, I leave them where they are so more millions come up the following year. I keep them out of the main garden but in the paddock area they are wonderful. I see that the Honesty has wandered down there to visit too along with the Californian poppies.
I pulled out an old tired winter wallflower a while ago and now I see there are babies coming up. That will save me doing cuttings.
I also have a green lavender that likes to have babies.
I am waiting for the weeds to yellow off so I can see all the places I missed with the Roundup. The grass is much furhter along than the same time last year and I heard on the news that the fire season may be worse than last season. I sincerely hope not but with the rain we are still getting and the milder weather it looks like it could be..
Better go and see what's left in the kitchen.
Try some of this Blackberry Upside Down Cake.
Hello to everyone out there and I hope you all have a wonderful day.
Jean.

Good morning everyone. Grey overcast today. The flowers dont seem to mind the cold and are growing nicely. I didn't get much from that place on the weekend. I did get a beautiful little succulent called Echeveria pulvinata "Ruby Blush" Will post a pic later. I also got some more pieces of stapelia but wont know til it flowers if I already have it. They all look the same to me. The Epis are all looking great with new growth everywhere. Jean how long before I can expect flowers on those pieces that you sent me? Helen I have succeeded to keep 1 begonia that you sent me alive. I dont know whether all the pieces were parrots but if they were then I have 1 parrot that should flower soon. I have the piece of garden where the boys sandpit used to be all done now. Will take a pic when everything starts to grow and looks better. I have Nastursums, geraniums, orange pigface, canterbury bells, delphiniums, foxgloves, and a couple of little plants that I dont know. Someone also gave me a bag of ordinary violets too. I'll see if they go better out the back. Well had better go. All have a great day will be back later. Colleen

Wow you will be busy with all of those plants colleen ...have fun.
I have planted your seeds and they are all up everywhere jean ...I am really looking forward to all those pretty "fillers".I love free seeding plants.
It's been very frosty this morning but it is actually hot in some micro climate parts of my garden (after the sun comes up) ...I had to take a top off yesterday while working outside.
Watch out for grubs the cabbage butterflies are starting up ...those little green grubs will hide so you really need to watch carefully.
Have a beaut day everyone.

Colleen, it all depends on the individual plant and the climate as to when you will get your epis flowering. I have had buds on cuttings but I usually remove them and allow the plant to grow. On the other hand I have plants that are full grown and over 2 years old that haven't flowered. It's all a great surprise as it happens.
Have a look at any in your area and see how they do. My cuttings are always slow down here, so I see people with my cuttings in warmer places getting faster growth and flowers long before mine .
Jean.

Jean It is pretty cool here too. I dont think it got above 14 the other day and still cool. The cutting are growing like mad and sending out new shoots so just thought that I might see some flowers this year. As you said it will be a nice surprise. I just got given an apricot Crucifix orchid and some other bits and pieces. I spent a while going around her garden just looking. Everything was just so neat and orderly it makes my garden look like a jungle. Ah well everyone to their own I say. back later. Colleen

I agree with jean ...for me it is so very interesting to watch what happens in different parts of the country and NZ ...sometimes it is quite surprising ...not to mention how we can create micro climates here and there, here I can have many cooler climate things as well as tropicals, I feel blessed with that.
colleen I personally love a jungle ...it keeps the home and gardener cooler in summer and protects more delicate things in winter. I also appreciate other folks gardens formal and informal.
You can find joy in one little plant if that is the only one you have room for ...remember Cactus Flower with Goldie Horne ...she took her little cactus where ever she went.
Love my jungle!
off to do the messages back later.
a big wave to all.

Hi to all, my internet and server have been down for a couple of days, so I have no idea how long this will last
I have been playing with the new camera so photos are not great, but not bad either considering I was pretty far away from them, so just wait till I get used to this sucker lol.

here are my sea eagle pics from the weekend

this is a different breed a lot smaller

the larger one flying with his catch

oops wrong photo

last one is the smaller one with his dinner

Hi Shell,love the photos.Well enjoy your day and take care.

Cody

Good morning everyone.
Misyt rain this morning or a very low wet cloud. Yesterday was a mixed bag with a few sprinkles between sunny patches. I did manage to get half the iris bed weeded. (sort of anyway) it was very wet and gluggy so pulling out weeds was also pulling out wet clods. The iris are all growing well now. They are funny things here as they tend to die down during late summer early autumn then put on new growth which then dies off in the cold wet winter. Now the new spring growth will hopefully go on from here .
Ther isn't much else to do out there but watch for all the lovely spring surprises. .
I have some baby hellebores coming up and a lily that I put in a pot last year and have no idea of what it is. My balck arums are going well now and the zantedeschias are all done. I have 2 seed pods from the zantes but I never did it . As they are in the enclosed shade house, I have no idea what did the job or whether they are just self pollinating.
I will leave the seed pods sitting on a pot and see if anything happens.
Hello Cody, as always a beautiful flower, enjoy your day.
Shelly, what great photos. I wish I could figure out half of what my camera does.
Hello Colleen, like Chrissy, I love jungles. So much more intersting than that tailored look. I have seen some wonderful 'tidy' gardens but prefer mine to be 'organised chaos'.
You are going to have such fun planting all those goodies.
I think this is why I buy the odd plant because of the planting and watching something new.
Hello to everyone else.
I see Steve has found his way down from the roof or was he, as someone suggested, hiding under a table in the Tea Room ?
Brian, I think we know where the missing wine has been going.
I will leave something tasty out for you all. An old favorite, Lemon Slice
Enjoy the day and remember workers, it's Friday tomorrow, then 2 whole days for you to go mad in the garden.
Jean.