TEA ROOM # 105

Here we are moved again. I thought we might sit out and enjoy the Autumn color as the seasons change on us.
I'm running off again this morning a sits hubbys turn for blood tests today.
We will pop over to Hamilton again and have a bit of lunch.
The weather is lovely after a windy and cold day yesterday.
I will be bringing home more potting mix to pot up a few more seedlings. I have quite a few bromeliad pups to pot up as well. Better move myself .
Have a lovely day everyone
Jean.

Did it again, forgot the signpost..
We came from here...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1241780/

Jean

Good morning everyone. Still cool here. We haven't had anymore rain but the whole garden is lovely and wet. I had to go around yesterday and empty the saucers under a lot of pots. The whole pots were full of water and just sitting there. My tanks are half full now so that's great. March already, but hopefully some nicer weather for a lot of people. At least if we get rain the threat of fires is less. The fruit blockies didn't want the rain yet as they're mid way through the grape harvest, if the weather stays cool they will be okay, no mould. John won't be here this weekend now, he has decided to wait for the next weekend , which is a long weekend here, and then he can have 3 days with us. The markets are on again this weekend . I hope the weather stays fine for them. Be back later. Colleen

Lovely autumn colors Jean. Have a nice lunch and day out.

So nice to hear you are having cooler temps and getting some much needed rain, Colleen...bravo for the tanks....Have a good time at the markets.

Hope you all have a pleasant productive weekend with nice, cool sunny weather.

A pretty to celebrate the day..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-dYNttdgl0

Good morning. Just popped in to check out the new Thread and say hello. But can't stay and chat this morning as I have another hospital appointment. This one generally runs about on time so shouldn't be too long a day.

Hope everyone has a lovely day.
Karen

The flowers of the Norfolk Is. Hibiscus are finished now, but one or two seeds have taken. I need to get them out before they get too good a hold.

What beautiful autumn colours in the tea garden.....it will be a pleasure to have a cuppa there on a beautiful day....
It's terribly windy here, not like autumn at all....phooey.

Karen, thanks for your birthday wishes for my mother, she had a nice day.....
Pretty when they are in flower, those Norfolk is. hibiscus....and so tough.....

Glad to hear that your tanks are filling up, Colleen....hope the rain stays away for your "Blockies" 'till the harvest is all in.....the grapes on my mother's vine are very sweet this year.
Good year for my wine collecting...I am so slow drinking it now, that it will probably be in my will.

I don't remember it chookie, but I will have seen it on the catalogue.....I will make sure that I see your work next Feb.

Hopefully it will be a windless day tomorrow...
Have a great weekend wherever you are.
Dianne.

Hello all, a very busy[work] week for me and im ''stuffed''-Anthony

Hello all. Still too early to see what kind of day it will be, but there are a few showers but nothing like the poor folk down south are getting. Hope everyone is okay.

Birds are chorusing outside..no matter what time I go to bed, I'm up early. I seem to get by on about five hours sleep. Must be all those nanosecond cat naps! The turkeys are already up and about as well. This is such a wonderful time of day and I would feel really deprived if I missed it. Lovely fresh cool(ish) breeze..so much happening with the birds. I can hear a flock of some type of parrot in the tree tops.

Morning everyone.
Looks like the same as yesterday here, only we might get rain as well.
I usually listen to The Garden Clinic which is a Sydney gardening program relayed thru MTR, but this morning no MTR......it was rating very poorly and it only lasted just over a year.
So I had to turn on the computer and get it thru 2GB....

No bird song here this morning, Kat....they are all hanging on for dear life or they will end up in the bay.
It's a very blustery wind from the south.

Put your feet up, Anthony...the plants can look after themselves this weekend.
I'll be lucky if I've got a leaf left......after the wind shreds everything.
One of my Liliums has produced seeds, so I have planted those, boy, don't they have lots of seeds.

Have a good day everyone.
Dianne

Good morning everyone. Still overcast here and we did have about half a cup of sprinkles last night. Not enough to wet the path.
Still a bit windy and most likely will get windier as the morning goes on.
Not too cold yet, but I havent been right outside in the wind yet.

My poor brugs are so tired after the wind bashing them around. A couple tipped over but as they have a few roots in the ground, most stood upright.
Lots of leaves & twigs everywhere from the b** gum trees.
Hubby had them before I came so we are stuck with them..

Anthony, have a nice relaxed weekend . You need the rest to be ready for your shows.

yes Dianne, I would love to have a yard full of those lovely autumn trees. Very pretty .

Karen, I hope your hospital trip goes well for you. Annoying when you have to do things twice.
Love the hibiscus.

Moon, how are things over your way ? I see more tornado damage. terrible things they are.
keep safe.

Charleen, no tornados anywhere in your area either, I hope. Mother Nature is testing us all with her savage weather.
No cookies for Charley today. he is looking fat, carrots instead.

Teresa, I bet you are enjoying all the fun with Sugar. How is Copper getting on with her ?
Hes probably feeling like you after having her run around him all the time. ...lol

Kat, lovely to wake up to birdsong in the morning. Hope you are keeping dry.

Chrissy, hope you are not washed away.
I feel for all those getting so much water and I hope they all get a respite soon. Its heartbreaking to see homes so damaged.

Colleen, lucky you getting so much rain for those tanks . Hope you havent had too much of the wind.

Chookie, enjoy that lovely soil. Mine is clay with rocks.
at the moment the soil is like a rock. If I wanted to dig, I may break the shovel.

I'm off to check all the plants after the wind and see what I can move around before the next lot of wind.

Enjoy the weekend. Stay dry & safe.
Heres something nice for morning tea. ..One of my favorites.... Chocolate Mud Cake..
Happy day
Jean.

Good morning. A bit grey here, but we had some nice rain overnight. Plants look very happy this morning.

Kat, I love the dawn chorus with all the birds making their way out to face the day. Later in the day all I hear is the crows, and sometimes the mickey birds. But mornings are great. Parrots that go over are corellas, white cockatoos, rainbow lories, speckled lories, pale head rosellas, and galahs.

Jean, yesterdays appointment was a different one. Next Friday is the replacement one with the bone doctor. I've decided I'm only going for a second opinion and management advice, as I have no intention of having surgery, and its too late for cortisone treatment.

Twisted my knee on the bus, it popped out then straight back in, but if I hadn't already been over the seat I'd have fallen. Really hurt. Swollen this morning but not too bad.

Dianne, nice petunias there. Hope the wind doesn't play havoc with your gardens. With the big trees around here we get a lot of twigs blown down so its always a bit of a clean up after winds and storms. Glad your mum had a nice day.

Anthony, hope work eases up some next week. I don't know where I ever found time to work. I guess when you are younger you can fit more in a day. And with 2 kids too. Was I ever that energetic?

Speaking of birds, we have a few kookaburras around, but the mickey birds give them a dreadful time. They seem to take it all in their stride though.

Hello across the ocean there. I hope the season is treating you gently. I hear on the news there have been really bad tornados and damages, even deaths, have occurred. Hope none of you are in their path.

Have a great day today, everyone. Be safe, where ever you are.

This message was edited Mar 2, 2012 4:56 PM

See what doing naked rain dances can do ??????

ITS RAINING......

Well not as much yet as I want, but enough to make the plants sing... Oh Happy Day....

Now if it will only keep going , the plants will all grow tall & green again.

I have buckets and plastic bins all over the place to catch some for the plants in greenhouses and on the veranda.

I think I may just go out and enjoy it .
Jean

(ps, I wasnt really naked as I didnt want to scare the plants )

Those Cannas are beautiful, Jean,
Don't tell fibs, we know that it was you out there dancing...
Thank goodness you did....it's lovely rain and the wind has gone....

Anything in my garden with large leaves is now leafless, the Brugs are shredded.
The little petunias are fine, thanks Karen...anything low growing wasn't affected...
Sorry about your poor knee....they can be very troublesome...my husband is having a replacement in
April....
It feels like winter, so I think I will buy a roasted chicken for tonight...nice and easy...
It's pouring now....
Dianne.

Still
raining....
raining....
raining...
raining...


Oh joy... ☂ ☂ ☂




Jean

lol - wish I could send you ours... been windy & wet all day.
Good thing I was warm & dry in the shop...
not to mention working for time & a half!
I love my job :)
Dogs are disgruntled as no walkies for them, they don't want to go out in it any more than I do but a day cooped up makes them stir crazy.
fingers crossed that it is ok in the morning for training, will give the devious duo a good run there.

Goodness knows when the garden will get any attention, maybe next Sat. when I am rostered off.

Aw, Teresa, I love the babies, so beautiful. Hope they are settled and sleeping like that when they should be. They look so sweet and innocent.

I see the death toll from the tornadoes in the US has increased. Must have been horrifying for those people involved
We had a bit of rain here on and off all day. Barry and I went to Mt. Cotton park for a relaxing walk, which did my knee so much good. Also saw an open garden, but not much to rave about. We went to this one last year and it hasn't changed much, but the man of the house does his own form of sculpture, and this is his latest. Not sure what its made of as I didn't read the brochure on it.

Karen

NO rest for the wicked[as my gramma used to say]. grocery shopped,.,.Finished cleaning and refitting the heater [much to sootys love,] as it is now burning and very cosy.,.,.,.sewed another 100 or so seed liliums[hopefully they are like nothing ever seen in australia].,,Fixed a troublesome wheel on one of the galah cages,.,.Travelled out to Glenbrook and had a yack to Rod,.picked up cocky,.,.had a beer,.,,had another beer-Anthony
And it has just started raining here!!!!!- you beauty !!!!!

This message was edited Mar 3, 2012 5:59 PM

So happy you all are getting some rain.

Here is a little oddity I ran across

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-02/warning-issued-over-giant-pine-cones/3864430

Good morning everyone. Still some light rain here. The garden looks so much greener even after such a small lot. All the dust washed off makes a difference.
The plants are all standing up straight and looking to the sky.
I did nothing yesterday except water the orchids in the covered shadehouse. I save rainwater for them from the gutters on the old shed down the back. They like a change from tap water.
Not so cold this morning . Hubby says more hot weather maybe next week .
I can hear the weeds starting to rumble underground.

Its not a nice thing to have , but with all the dry weather, there is a huge amount of native bush rats and common grey rats.
Apparently they are all over the whole district. Now I know what was eating all the snail pellets. We have plenty of rat bait blocks out now .
The shops were running out with so many people wanting the stuff. .
The darn little b*** can eat whole blocks in an hour or so..
They have to be controlled with baits or we would be over run . Luckily they seem to stay outside in the sheds and shadehouses.
ugh...

Anthony, sounds like you are enjoying the weekend. With all those liliums you will need a map to find yourself. I moved mine just inside the shed and sad to say, some have been nibbled by the darn rats.
Hopefully most will still grow.

Teresa, those babies are so cute and couldnt you just hug them to bits .. Sounds like Copper & Sugar have you well trained to take them out when they want..

Moon, that was an interesting little link. When I used to live in the town of Bright, up in our mountains in the north of the state, those trees were planted along one of the avenues in the middle of town. I have seen car roofs with large dents from them falling. The council used to remove the cones where possible or cordon off the area.

Karen, nice to see you getting about much better now. A nice walk does noone any harm , does it ?
Like the sculpture.

Dianne, hubby said if I danced naked outside, I'd scare everything for miles. He thought it very funny, to picture me + wrinkles , jumping about madly .
I hope your plants a re enjoying the rain. My brugs have shredded leaves too but most of them had smaller growth after the episode of mites, so dont look as bad.

Colleen, you must have full water tanks by now. Hope your garden is enjoying it all too.

Hello to everyone else popping in for a cuppa.
I ma off to see what I can do outside. Maybe do some potting up of the bromeliad pups I want to sell at the market . I can do that in the greenhouse so wont stop any rain from getting on the garden..lol

Try this for morning tea....a very decadent Chocolate Cake..

Have a happy day whether you are wet or dry.
Jean.

Good morning everyone. We have had more RAIN. Boy what a shower we had at about 11pm last night. The garden is lapping it up [so are the weeds, mind you] The tanks are getting fuller, not full yet though Jean. I have a lovely Suavelons X Aztec Gold out of Brian's. It's shorter than AG but a beautiful yellow. Will take a pic later if it hasn't been ruined by last night's rain. Haven't been outside this morning as yet. Teresa those little babes are so beautiful. Karen I'm pleased that you could enjoy your walk and that your knee feels much better. Say G'Day to my sister for me and let her know that Wendy is planning another sale next weekend. She will be amazed at the variety of broms if she gets to see them. We're going to the markets now so will get going. Colleen

Charley got his feet trimmed. Here is John his farrier. Charley had a tangle in a beautiful tail. got it out and Braided. He was such a good boy and held still while I combed it out. Looked like a piece of hay had gotten into the tail.
Everyone got their manes cropped and Fabric sheets to chanse off bugs. After the rain last night, Look all muddy this afternoon. But they looked and smelled good for a while. they love to get groomed.....
The Twins are so beautiful.
sorry I don't know how I did that , Wonder how I delete one. First one was supposed to be Charley and John.

This message was edited Mar 3, 2012 5:33 PM

Charleen, I can just hear him saying.."oh well a guy has to look good for the boss"...lol

I bet he felt much better after a mud roll though.

Sun is out here now. I can hear the weeds getting ready to jump up out of the ground at me ..
Jean.

Talking of watermelon's....here's mine...
I was so chuffed when I tapped it the other day and heard that hollow sound...
We cut it before I took the pic so we had to put it back together....
It's really sweet, so my first watermelon to grow is a success...yippee.
I only had three, I stopped the vine because I thought that any more mightn't ripen in time.
Next year, I will buy the seed in November...these were growing plants that were being thrown out.

Like the sound of the new yellow Brug, Colleen...looking forward to pics.
Those babies are gorgeous, Teresa...what a lovely pic.

I've got a bad feeling that 2012 isn't going to be very different from 2011.....
Floods here again and terrible damage and deaths in the US from the cyclones...
Not looking good.

Though I just found a teddy bear bee, the blue banded one, in my garden...getting in amongst the blue salvia.
Lovely to see him.
Jean, can I send you some cuttings of Salvias?

Keep well everyone....
Dianne

Dianne, that looks yummy! Congrats on your first watermelon success.

Colleen, you didn't tell me your sister's name is the same as mine, and her husband's name is the same as my partners. Surreal. Lovely people. Your mum is knitting a beautiful child's cardigan at the moment. Gorgeous. So many birds there too. Lovely place.

We got the magazines and books delivered, I think there were 9 beer cartons full. Added a box of laces, and another of fabric. Still have 3 more shelves of fabric to go through yet. What stumps me is that it has barely made a dent in the back room. How did I ever get so much stuff?

Went over to Bunnings and got some weed killer and some gravel. Now I can move on with my project, even if just one more step. It all counts. Once the weeds are gone I can do the small area of paving for the bins, and fill in a small area with pebbles, and it should all look good. I think. Can't believe what I've spent on such a tiny area so far, and still need to spend to get it done.

Since the bull dozers went through (must be nearly 2 years ago now) and then me getting sick, I didn't have the heart to redo anything. All those years of work destroyed, it really blew me away. But slowly I am starting to tackle the problems left and with Barry's help, the yard is starting to look better already. Who knows, I might end up with something really nice in time.

Karen

well Sugar out did herself this morning, the phone rang for Baz & the sound got her all excited.
She has learned that most doors here open if she jumps at them & hits with her front paws just below the handle.
So she ran at the laundry door & did just that...
except the laundry door is a slider - and she knocked it completely off the rail!
Luckily Baz was able to get it back in place.
Right now Copper is monstering her for a change, normally she tries to get him to play & he isn't interested but he must be feeling frisky.
Sugar of course is loving it & I can see her being up for 10 rounds more after he is ready to throw in the towel.
Oh well that's 5 minutes I don't have to watch her like a hawk...

Send me a piece of that watermelon please, Dianne. It looks yummy.
I remember growing my first one too.

Karen, you wont know yourself when you finish your clearing out. Think of all the room you will have to fill up again.....lol

Teresa, puppies are worse than little kids when they get up to mischief. Lucky the door didnt break .

Been sunny here all afternoon so I was able to get a bit of potting done. Going to pack things away now and rest.
Jean.

Hi everyone. Karen, The lady knitting was my sister Pat, and Karren is my niece and Barry my nephew. I rang her the afternoon and she was so excited to get given all those things. Thank you very much. One man's rubbish is another man's treasures. She was sitting at the table rolling lace onto bits of cardboard. She reckons she's a collector. lol Thank you again Karen. Colleen

Good morning everyone. Quite mild here at the moment. No wind and a few light showers in the night.

I was able to sit out in the greenhouse yesterday and pot up the large brom pups . Today I will have a bit of a cleanup of old leaves on the other broms.
Nice to see so many new leaves coming so quickly on my brugs too.
A drop of rain makes a lot of difference.

Karen, lovely to see you getting around so much easier.
You were lucky to find a home for all your old things with Colleens sister.
Nice to meet new people too.

Anthony, I hope you are well rested after the weekend and ready to tackle anything.
Hope the cats and Cocky are doing okay too.

Dianne, I see visions of a yard of watermelons climbing around brugs in your future...lol.
They are tasty little things and nicer than the large ones , I think.

Teresa, I hope no more doors have gone flying off their tracks there.
Sugar will be using the door handle in no time .
They certainly keep you on your toes..

Colleen, nice to see that Brians brugs are blooming for you. You must have fun getting around the brugs and the cacti.

Chrissy, I hope you finally get some dry weather soon or we will lose you in the swamp. You may have to sit up in a brug so we can see you.

Charleen & Moon, our sympathies for all those families who have lost loved ones in the tornadoes over there. It is devastating for communities to lose so many .
I do hope you both are not in harms way.

I am off to see what needs to be done around the place today.
I have things to get packed for posting so will see what I have in the kitchen for you all before I go.

Try a slice of this Chocolate and Cream Cake.

Happy day
Jean.




.

Goodness Jean I came straight in after you and half the CREAM cake is gone already. Good morning everyone. It looks like rain out there again. We can still take a lot more here so keep sending it HUGHY. I have lots of new brom pups coming too Jean but will leave them to get well established before I take them off. It's a real thrill when a new brug flowers. I have a Bruce's Pink that is nearly out. I haven't seen him in the flesh as yet. Clementine is flowering again but she did loose a lot of buds in the heat so not many flowers this time. I look at those tall sticks everyday and think that I'll lop them off but haven't taken the plunge like Dianne yet. Still looking though. My paint brush lily is poking it's tongue out and the winter hippies are growing nicely. Must get a Plumbago that has died out and I'm going to plant sweet peas along the fence where it was. That should be a nice show if I can get them to grow. Time to get the boys ready. Colleen

Hi all. Oh wet wet wet, and look what's coming. Would hate to be around Maleny today, looking at the radar. I hope it drizzles out of existence before it reaches Brisbane. We don't need that much rain.

Colleen, sorry about mixing up the relationships there. Pat did say Karen was her daughter. My head doesn't get round things at times. Too many senior moments these days. I am so pleased Pat was glad to get the books and things. Yes, she was excited about the lace. There are some really gorgeous laces in that box, some modern, some that look antique and vintage. I feel sad that I can't do the sewing I used to do, but my eyes wouldn't take it. Better its gone to a good home.

Don't think we'll be doing much in this weather. I may do a bit of potting later, but if more rains are coming, maybe not.

Hope everyone is having better weather.
Karen

Good morning everyone, well we have sun, but it's still boggy and wet out there.
I hope everyone survived their weekend ok.

I am going to try and get out there today, venture through the long grass and mud to see what's what.
Back later, if you don't hear from me send a dingy will you ^_^
Enjoy the day everyone.

chrissy (from the swamp)

Things are fine here Jean, But I know some nasty storms swept through around Charleen...haven't seen her around today...a bit worried for her.

Hope you all have a fine Monday

Moon

Moon, glad you are okay there.

Charleen, if you are looking in , hang onto Charley in any storm. Nothing will move him .

Chrissy, be very careful out there, you know crocs and giant snakes live in swamps..

Colleen, maybe Brian heard us mention his name, so came for the cream cake.

keep safe everyone..
Jean.

Dreadful flood scenes on the news....sunshine coast is really copping it now....
Charleen, our thoughts are with you, hopefully it's just your internet connection that's keeping you away.
Good thing that the storms have missed you, Moon....keep safe.

Karen, that was so nice of you to give away all of those things...it's great when you know that they have found a good home.....

Believe me Colleen, once you see how quickly they respond to a good chop, you won't hesitate...and you'll have big bushy Brugs...
Very glad to know Ivoire is doing well.

Computers are a blessing and a pain.
We got the sun shinning and the wind is howling. We got rain the other day but no tonadoe here but went north of us. There was several lives taken. Not like the Mid-west , my heart and prayers go to all those poor folks. It is heart-breaking.
Charley got his feet trimmed last Friday. I always have them tied and waiting for my farrier. I learned a long time ago to quit chasing. Now there is no problems to get them to come to the fence. Cookies, Jean are my secret weapon. I tried to write last night but it went into cyber space.
Here is my Farrier, John , he trims for natural balance, no shoes on these babies and if you look you will see the tangle in Charleys tail. John told me how to get it out. So while he was working on the donkey kids, I got the tangle out and braided Charley's tail.
Charley is such a good boy, he loves being pampered. I curried the four of them and also put the fabric sofener strips on to keep bugs away.
Gave them a haircut too...

So glad you are safe Charleen...radar just doesn't give a good picture of where things are actually. Charlie and the long ears look smart and sassy for the start of Spring....you are such a good Mule Mama....

Good morning everyone. Still overcast here but no further rain. Yesterday was not too cold at all, so I managed to get a bit done around the place.

Charleen, great to know you are not in harms way at all.
Dont those furry friends of yours look so cute ? Very well behaved.

Moon , I hope you are enjoying some nice spring weather for your garden.

Dianne, my brug babies are enjoying the cool an dthey loved the rain.
I see no sign of mites , but they may return when the heat does.

Karen hope all is well with you up there.

Teresa, hopefully no more doors jumping off their tracks .

Anthony, how are things down there ?
I see you knee deep in seeds. & bulbs

Chrissy. hope your mud is starting to dry a bit so you can see your plants. I see more rain is forecast. You may have to get a boat to get around your garden.

Hello to anyone else popping in for a cuppa.

I am off to chop a few things back while its cool .
Heres something tasty for morning tea.... Banana Muffins
Happy day and stay safe.
Jean.

Charleen, you have my farrier's twin brother.....I almost burst out laughing when I saw the pic...
I must get a pic of Steve, next time Mick's feet get trimmed......

Jean, you aren't kidding about those Iochromas....mine was about a foot tall last year, now it's 6' x 6'.
My "Eyes for you" rose has a bud about to open...can't wait..I thought that they wouldn't send it until winter, but it arrived last week, good size bush.

Back later....have a good day all.

Ha Ha ..Dianne, wait until it gets 10'x 10' and you get lost under it.
.Not sure when you cut them back, but I just chop it anytime it hangs over my head.
It tends to want to grow across the path.
I think , by looking at mine, most of the flowering seems to be at the tips of the growth so you may lose a few flowers but gain more as it grows. The red is not so bad, A lot slower growing.
Just been out to check the garden and all the white I. australe alba and the hybrid seedlings are only around 5' at the moment. No rain until now which slowed them down as they never get watered.
pic 1 is the orphan I cyanea I bought a while back. It is much narrower and darker than my giant purple I grandiflora ( pic 2 , taken this time last year after some chopping )
Jean.

I leave mine fall over because it is full of fruit, I wonder how that works, the coral one is slower and the critters love the leaves but perhaps it's the critters that spread the pollen around unless they self pollinate.
Mine turns a deeper more smoky purple in the warmer weather and the Coral colour deepens also.
I know it's awful of me, but to see them popping up in the shops where every gardener can afford them, makes me so happy, I don't forget being told it would cost me over 200.00 for four tiny plants plus about 70.00 for freight, not only that, but they were very rude in their response to my enquiry, sooooooooo ^_^ (some joint down Melbourne way) politeness costs nothing.

Our dear ladies from over the pond ...please stay safe. I am so glad you find such happiness with your gardens and long ears.
I am afraid a large portion of the eastern part of Australia is in a fair bit of trouble. Going under the water again. :( at least there will be fewer people lose their lives (plenty of warning this time) but so many homes will be ruined, someone I care for very much has lost their garden twice already and looks like it will happen again.

Teresa puppies are just adorable but they can be very exhausting, you know like ripping up your shoes and tearing new clothes off the line. I hope Sugar is being well behaved *wink* :)

Karen what a lovely thing to do, I hope karma gives you heaps of all things great in return for your generosity. ^_^

off to the shower ...been out in waist high grass, mud and spider webs.



This message was edited Mar 6, 2012 12:59 PM