TEA ROOM # 77

Good morning everyone. Lovely clivia, Marlene.
I'm hoping for some beauties in a year or two with my seed grown ones. My adults do well so the youngsters should grow quickly .
I'm off today again so just running in to leave some nibbles.
Hello to Colleen, Kat, Teresa, Sue, Elaine, Anthony and others popping in.
Louise, I hope you are relaxing in the sun with the girls and enjoying your Florida garden.
The sun is shining here but it quite cold. Should be a lovely day.
Happy gardening all and enjoy this Chocolate CheeseCake.
Jean.

Good morning Australia and overseas as well if you pop in.

Colleen, it is lovely to see those gorgeous cactus flowers. They really are stunning, aren't they!

Love the Clivia, Marlene. Never seen a bi-coloured one.

My plans for today could be messed up as my daughter needs a helping hand instead. Once a mum, always a mum, even 40 years later.

Karen

Afternoon, everyone..
Beautiful day out there, but I am still as miserable as a wet cat with this cold.
Concert went beautifully last night.....I didn't cough at all so the population hasn't been infected.
Tonight is Steph's presentation so I am armed with cough lollies and tissues...It's a lovely venue down by the waterfront...Costa hall, part of Deakin uni campus.....She hopes to go to Deakin one day....fingers crossed.

Jean, Persian Flyer arrived...thanks very much...I will send yours as soon as it stops flowering...

Ditto on the Cactus and Clivia, both beautiful....
Karen, hope your task is a pleasant one.....

I am going back to the couch.....with the tissues....what a waste of a gorgeous day.
I couldn't even eat virtual cheesecake.

Hello all.

We are supposed to get a storm but it hasn't happened yet, but looking at the sky, I'd say there's a fair chance. The radar shows storm activity on the Downs but I am sure we will get something.

It is so nice being able to garden out the back again. The epies seem to like having the afternoon sun blocked and the rails of the wire fence are great for hanging pots. I am going to buy some sheets of stiff wire mesh to stand there so I can hang more things. I have bought some very big square self-watering pots as I have more gingers and heliconias and don't want to lose them to either something deadly still lurking in the soil or have them become turkey lunch. I would love to reclaim the section up the side of the house but feel it may be better to abandon that for now and let sleeping dogs lie. As soon as I touch anything there, he will want some type of expensive infrastructure, like a retaining wall or fancy fence and I don't want to contribute any more funds to his whims. This place and the garden layout have been like they are for over 120 years, so the fact that there is a slope on our side of the fenceline is not going to mean his land is going to slip in here. It would have happened 100 years ago! The fence used to just run along the top but he took it down.

The front garden is extremely overgrown as well but I notice a cream clivia is flowering, and there are very strong smells from the night jessamine. I missed seeing Epi Letty May bloom..I leave for work early so have to find time to go around with the camera. I have a large bloom out now on an unk..it looks like Crenatum. The poor epies were abandoned for so long that I am hoping the show of blooms will be much better next year now I can make them better hanging places. I still have so many started cuttings that will turn into plants.

I saw a very very baby turkey yesterday. As I have said before, they are almost cute. If they just stayed like little black fluffballs scooting through tha air and didn't develop legs and beaks and the rest, I would probably be praising them and you would all be envious!!! I know some of you are anyway and I really am happy to share! Four more weeks till holidays. Wrong time of the year as Christmas and preparations always take up half of it. Happy gardening. I may not post very often, but when I have time, I usually read all the posts. :)

Good morning everyone. Its a misty morning here. Not fog mist but fine misty rain.
Nothing will be done out in the open today. I can get down in the back epi house which has a roof, so its nice and dry. I cantalk to the broms and orchids there as I water.
I was planning on moving some of the broms to their new space but not today in the wet.
I see that I have a large seed pod on one of the iris I pollinated earlier. I am hoping for a few more to take. Lots of little insects get right into the flowers so there may well be a few other pods come on .
Hello Kat, nice to see you popping in for a cuppa. My epis are still not open here. Yours must be looking lovely. Once you get them up on the fence, it will be a lovely living wall.
Hello Dianne, I do hope you are feeling better today. No fun being ill .
Hello Karen, hope all is well with your daughter there.
Hello Elaine, Sue, Leisa, Colleen , Anthony , Chrissy and Teresa.
Louise, , hello to the darling girls there.
I am going out to see what is happening down in the epi house now. Its not cold so as long as I am out of the rain, it will be pleasant outside.
Have a great day and enjoy the quiet before the Christmas hustle and bustle.
Happy gardening Try some of this Orange & Poppyseed Cake with your cuppa.
Jean.

Good morning, Jean, and everyone. Just got back from the airport. My daughter is off to Newcastle on a work training spree for a couple of days, and it was a 4 am start for us to get her to the plane on time. No matter how careful I plan things, she manages to mess it up. However, we were only 2 minutes late this morning arriving at the airport, so next time I'll give it 2 hours instead of one, and we may make it in time.

Now, I'm exhausted. Had a MacDonalds breakfast on the way back, so are fed and watered and ready for bed again.

Hope everyone has a good day ahead.

Karen

Hello everyone. A bit late today but I'm here now. It's overcast today and quite a cool breeze blowing. Hope it fines up for tomorrow as the boys have their school break-up party at the pool. Still kids don't really care what the weather's like do they? Is it going to rain again for the week-end. I hope not as we have to go and visit my very sick Nephew on Saturday. We don't usually stay for very long as it tires him out pretty quickly. We're taking some Christmas trinkets over for his Christmas tree and we're taking him a home-made banana custard. He loves banana custard. Hope he's well enough to enjoy it. Karen I hope that you're awake again by now. 4am is a little early to be getting up. 4.30 is okay. I sometimes wake at that time and get up and potter around in the quietness. I sometimes go out to the shadehouse and have a look around. I have fairylights in there so it's seems surreal sometimes. I have lots of hippies flowering in there and soon there should be a lot of brugs. The perfume is wonderful at that time of the morning. Well I'd better go and see what the boys are up to. be back later. Colleen

very busy,working,after work at my daughters new house,.,.b4 they move in,.,.i've got cocky there to help me,and we are going to be pushed for time,.,.so dont think im rude if i dont reply a lot--anthony

Good morning. A wet one - what a surprise! Should be used to it now. Should have a lovely lot of plants after all this watering.

Off to the airport this afternoon to pick up my daughter. The rest of the day should be restful. Hope everyone has a nice, restful day today too.

Karen

Good morning everyone. The sun is shining but I won't speak too loud or it may disappear again. I hope to do a bit more outside today as it is not so cold .
Hello Anthony. I bey cocky is enjoying himself , being out there with you. We'll see you when you can pop back in again. my liliums are nearly out. Can't wait.
Hello Karen. You have been busy with your daughter. Hope all went well with her training. How is the garden going after the rain up there ?
Hello Colleen. Good luck with the weathe on the weekend, when you do your visiting. I see more rain for here so I hope you don't get much .
I finally have some flowers out on one of my epis. When there are a few more, I will post them on a thread. I am going to have be very agile to get in among them for photographs as they have grown all over each other.
I tidied up in the fern house yesterday as there were a few old pots where things had died. Now I can walk around in there a bit more.
As I said to hubby, more room for more plants. Ha ha.
Hello Chrissy. Hope all is well with your brother there. I see signs of new leaves on my brugs.
Elaine, are you getting decorations up yet for Christmas ?
Hello Sue, Leisa, Marlene,and Dianne. Teresa, I hope the shaking has stopped there.
Charleen, give those furry boys of yours an extra biscuit from the Tea Room.
Hello Louise. I hope you and Hank are having a great time relaxing there. I expect you will be having lots of visitors during the holidays. Pat those girls for me.
I am going out to enjoy the sun as it may not last long.
I definitely want to get on with moving my broms, so will make a start on that.
Have a great day...Its FRIDAY....
Enjoy some of these lovely Apricot Bars.
( check out the joyofbaking website for the recipes that go with the yummy pictures )
Jean.

Furry they are, they send you all soft warm nuzzles. Especially with all the treats you give them.
Need to go get a pic of my little gh for you. I have blooms in there.
Charleen

Good morning Jean no decorations to share this year having a very low key one this year was going away but cancelled and its decided only close family lunch .----------elaine

Good morning everyone. Fine and cool with expected temp. of 25 for the boys Xmas party. Sounds just about right to me. Can't believe that it's here again. Don't know what I'm doing yet. Would rather just stay home but have to think of the boys. To tell the truth I'd rather just forget about it. It has become so commercial these days and all it does is create debt. I thought that I might get the boys a digital camera each. I think that they would have fun with that and learn at the same time. They could have their own album to put their pics into and it would be something special that they could keep. What do you all think? Must go have lots to do. will be back later. Colleen

Left hand side of Green House.

right hand side ,I wish you could smell it. Heavenly.

Charleen, your little greenhouse looks great. Must smell heavenly. Always treats here for the furry ones.
Elaine, sounds like you are being very sensible for Christmas. A lovely family lunch will be just the thing for you. You can then relax in your pretty garden.
Colleen. I'm the same with the holiday season. It is all so commercial. I used to like putting up the decorations etc when the kids were all young and at home. These days we usually go for a nice quiet drive somewhere on our own.
Beautiful day here today and I have been busy outside. Just have to convince hubby now, to help me get the plastic and shadecloth up on the roof of the of the old shadehouse.
Enjoy the rest of the day.
Jean.

Good morning everyone. A beautiful sunny morning. We are supposed to have lovely summer weather for the rest of the week. Lots to get done outside now. I must get busy and spray all the weeds that have been lurking in spaces I missed last time.
Washing to be done and lots of sitting around in the sun.
You will all be busy now with gardens and Christmas plans. I will leave nibbles out as someone is sure to be wanting a cuppa later.
Enjoy the weekend and I hope you all have lovely warm weather as I do at the moment.
These delicious ShortBread Cream Tarts should go nicely with your cuppa.

Jean.

Good morning. Jean, those tarts look great. Cloudy, no rain, but a cool strong breeze about this morning. I need to start poisoning the weeds now too. Just hasn't been time. But the wind could make it difficult. Need to get to the shops too, but under my own steam today.

Hope everyone has a great weekend ahead.
Karen

Thanks, Jean..those tarts look delish.
Beautiful day now....I haven't even thought about Christmas yet...December will be here soon enough and we don't have a big Christmas party these days.....Thank goodness they all love playing cards and Bocce.

I know someone who will have a great time this year..Anthony....he will be able to see little Molly, first thing Christmas morning...
That's what you miss about Christmas, the kids....my grandaughters will come for the day, but they aren't little anymore.
I wonder if there is a place that you can hire little kids for the day...Surely there must be...lol

Starting to get cold for Charleen now, her boys will be putting on their Winter coats...The Greenhouse will be packed with your Brugs and other favourites Charleen, it's quite a big job for you moving them all, isn't it.
Louise will be settling in now and the pups will be playing in the garden...I will be making the Mango cake with fresh Mangoes this time, Louise...they are everywhere at the moment.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Dianne

Good afternoon Jean and everyone!

Miserable day here on the Sunshine Coast. Light showers all morning.

Good weather for taking an afternoon nap. *G*

Yes, moving them in is bad but so worth it when they bloom. I'm getting brugs from friends who are taking cuttings, so will have more next year. I'm sharing mine too. that is the beauty of gardening and having friends.
Yes, the longears are getting their fur. Here is the Donkeys. This hay is about gone now! They munch all the time.

Good morning everyone. Another lovely day here by the look of things. Quite chilly now but it will be warm like yesterday.
I must remember not to complain when it gets hot as I would rather be hot than cold.
Hubby helped me get the shadecloth up on the roof of the shadehouse and I started moving the bromeliads in. I didn't realise how many I had until I had to move them. I will do more today but it will take a day or two to organise them. I have to decide which will get more sun than others. The shadehouse is in full sun all day but now has 2 layers of shadecloth on the roof.
The iris are still flowering but nearly done. I am waiting on the epis and from the look of the fat buds, lots are going to open together with the warm weather.
The dracunculus is being shy and openly very slowly. It lives in the shadehouse where the broms are going. I hope the smell doesn't upset the poor broms.
Today I am also going to put up the archway for one of the climbing roses, Gold Bunny. . Just a simple two sides and top of trellis. Its a cheap way to make a nice arch. In a week or so I will do the other one for Bantry Bay. Both lovely roses.
Hello Charleen. Love the donkeys. I saw some last time we went for a drive. Cute faces.
Hello Dianne. Lovely roses there. I have 4 of the cuttings from you out in the garden looking good and 4 more in pots that I will plant out later.
Marlene, hope you enjoyed your nap yesterday. Its not often we have better weather than you.
Hello to Colleen, Sue, Teresa, Chrissy and Anthony.
Louise , how are things in the sunny South ? I hope the girls are behaving like proper southern ladies.
Hello to anyone else popping in . I am off to the kitchen to see what I can give you all for your cuppa.
Have a great day and happy gardening.
Here we are, try some Cinnamon Rolls.
Jean.

Good morning all. Having trouble with this silly thing this morning. Tried to pay my subs but paypal wouldn't let me in. I went to check out my password and [ I thought maybe I was putting the wrong one in, didn't think so though] they told me that I couldn't use the same password. How do you like that They wouldn't let me in with that password but when I went to change my details they said that it was already used. Bit queer. I also typed a post before and it just disappeared. Hope that's not the way the day is going to go. Anyway I hope everyone is well and I'll be back later. Colleen

How about a mudball name Charley??
Look at that face, isn't he priceless????

I love getting up in the morning and reading all the posts. Nice way to start the day with titbits from the outside world. Very quiet here this Sunday morning.

Love the animal pics. They all look healthy and happy.

Saw this flower in a pool at the Botanical Gardens at Mt. Cootha. The flower is huge.

Have a great day everyone.

Karen

Marlene, It needs room as the leaves are very large too. But if I had a pond I would love to have it. Absolutley stunning.

I've done a search on the web, and the nearest I could find was "Nelumbo Alba Grandiflora Lotus". Several varieties, but not a lot on it at all. This flower was large, perhaps 25cm across. The leaves were very large too.

Karen

This message was edited Nov 20, 2010 11:26 PM

Karen I don't have much luck with water lily as my pond doesn't get enough sunlight.

As you say ...those big leaves really need a large pond or a dam.
Ah well...we can dream.

Yes, nice to dream. I've not seen it around very much at all. One or two parks I've been in have it growing. It is quite stunning, the sheer size of it.

Karen

Good morning everyone. Beautiful morning here. Yesterday was lovely , not overly warm and a pleasure to be out side.
I managed to move most of my bromeliads to their new house. Now I have to sort and hang or make stands for them all. I will probably have to do a bit of moving around as I see how different ones take to the brightness or more shady areas.
Lots to do around the place but I don't knock myself out by trying to do everything at once. Now we have the new shadehouse at the back veranda, we can sit and contemplate while enjoying the sweet jasmine perfume.
I found a small maple tree growing yesterday . I never go around the back of the house now because as the split system is on that wall in the lounge, the motor etc sits on the ground outside.
I have let the shrubs in the cottage garden grow over the path to hide it . Its a narrow area, only about 5 foot wide
I was looking at a couple of old pots there and saw the little tree . I vaguely remember planting a couple but forgot all about this one. It is only small but looks strong so I left it to do as it likes.
Nothing much grows there, even the weeds give it a miss.
Hello Karen and Marlene. Those flowers are so pretty Waterlilies look great in a large water area.
Charleen, Charlie looks like he has been caught out doing some mischief.
Colleen. I have Dracunculus out at last. It is a larger flower this year , about 16"long. Very strong smell to as the weather is warm.
Poor hubby has a problem smelling scents and stuck his nose right up close. He said he nearly lost his lunch. I could smell it long before I got to the shadehouse.
Hello to Dianne, Chrissy, Sue, Leisa , Elaine and Anthony.
I am off out to the yard to move the last of the broms and check if any epis opened overnight.
Enjoy the day and happy gardening.
Try these Raisin ShortBreads.
Jean.

Good morning everyone. It's going to be hot here today. It was 33C yesterday and I think 35C today. Must get out and water the brugs before it gets too hot. The cactus love this weather and have lots of buds everywhere. Jean those lilies do smell don't they? The warmer the weather the worse they smell but they are magnificent aren't they? I have a couple of the smaller waterlilies in the SH pond but someone told me that they need lots of sun to flower. Is this right? I was given a heap of used pots so am busy packing them into their sizes and putting them away tidily. Don't know if they'll stay tidy with the boys around but I can try. The front garden is looking better now that all the weeds are gone. Have lots of little spaces that I can fill out there. I thought that I might try a brug out there. I know it will get frosted but I think that the R. Frosty Pink is strong enough to bounce back. We'll see how it goes. Clementine is a lot darker this time around. The boys reckon it smells like lemons. I can't smell that I just think it smells wonderful. Ecuador Pink is out about 6" but no colour yet. Lots of Buds on RFP., so by the end of the week it should smell wonderful around here. I hope everyone is well and are ready to begin a new week. Be back later. Colleen

Good morning everyone. I am rushing about ( well , not literally, as its too hot ) I want to get out and finish off the bromeliads before it gets too hot. We had our first really hot day yesterday. Got up to 31C which was a shock to the system after the long cold.
Hubby and I sat under the shadehouse during the day where there was a slight breeze. I managed to get all the broms moved in the morning and put up some shelves for them in the evening.
I always say I'd rather be hot than cold , but yesterday was very humid, so a bit uncomfortable . We are forecast some storms this week so will see if they get here.
Hello to Dianne, Chrissy, Elaine, Marlene , Teresa , Colleen and Anthony.
Pop in and have a cuppa while you relax on the Tea Room patio.
I have put out some very tasty Peppermint Snowballs.
Have a lovely day.
Jean.

Hello everyone,
Have not been around for a while......

Ymmo...thanks for those snowballs 77sunset.....doesn't do much for waistline tho'

I have had a fine time this a.m. catching up with the new pics. They are all beautiful and I especially like the echidna......what a lovely little thing. "Handle with care". Spring blooms are simply wonderful.

When I learn how to post a pic I will be able to show off my 'gifts' Those cutting that Colleen and Jean sent. Another 'thank you' to you both.
About to go shopping. Not my favourite thing but necessary.
Cheers
Anna :-)

Hello Anna, Colleen, and Jean, and everyone who pops in, hope you had a great start to the week.

I've got a very noisy place here with 2 baby lorikeets being brought in by the parents to find treats, and to meet my two birds. They are so young yet, and so noisy. They are also so clumsy and funny. Could only get this one though I had many attempts to get the two.

Karen

cute little fella - there is a wild population of cockatoos on Banks Peninsula & apparently some lorikeets in the North Island too...
escapees or blow ins from Oz - nobody knows for sure.
they think a few of our birds originated in OZ but over thousands of years have changed & are now considered natives.

It's Beautiful, Like a Rainbow with wings.
We have nothing like that...

Charleen you have a wonderful way with words. A rainbow with wings. That's beautiful. Colleen

It's a Rainbow Lorikeet, Charleen. The babies are so cute and funny, but they are also very noisy. I love the birds that come in here, pale head rosellas, galahs, greenies, and the odd cockatoo or king parrot, but none are as friendly as the lorikeets.

Karen

Karen, maybe you can tame them a little. they sure are cute. Closest thing we have is a Bunting with lots of color like that.We don't have them here but we do have a turqoise one that pops in in early Spring. You are so lucky to have such Beauties.
thank you, Karen.

Charleen, I've seen pictures of the Bunting, and it is amazing how close the colours are to our rainbow lorikeet. A very beautiful bird.

The lorikeets are well known here for their opportunism around humans. They are fed regularly in some places and visitors have the birds landing on them to get at the food. I don't encourage the ones here to get too close as they fall prey to cats if they feel too safe. I don't have a cat myself, but the neighbourhood cats have learned that the birds come in and so many have been attacked, usually the pigeons. They tame readily, and I have two of my own that think they own me. If hand raised, they are like part of the family.

Karen