TEA ROOM # 107

that cheesecake looks yummy!
Had a lovely morning here, coolish at 6am when I was out with the dogs...
Sugar had a lovely time playing fetch in the dark.
By the time we were at training the sun was singing, birds were shining & Copper was acting like a teenager.
Sugar was her usual full on self so I had my hands full.
After club was done for the day I stayed on & let the dogs have a good run, couldn't believe how energetic Copper was, he was even chasing Sugar around - she thought it was Xmas:)
The two of them are conked out now, just hope Copper isn't sore later.
Weather is changing as predicted, amazing they get it right some days.
I made sure to vacuum before coming online, I have a funny feeling that I may end up having a nanna nap at my keyboard & at least the house looks half way decent first.
Last Sunday I was going to do heaps of things but fell asleep & didn't get time.

A nap sounds good, this arvo... My secretary[me] has been trying to decipher 'quickly written' verbal orders[in my little book] from the lily show-and then phone the named person and see if it all marries up.,.,''so far-so good''

Glad to see that your bulbs are selling well, Anthony...you can have a nap after the footy..
The dogs are keeping you fit too, Teresa..
Didn't get to Bunnings, Jean....the phone rang and that was the end of that, we'll go over during the week...
Mitre 10 is only 10 mins away but I love Bunnings.
Did you see the kit homes that they are selling advertised on TV...we had a look at them last time we went...good designs.
I have some little plants to feed up, so I'll be back later.
Dianne

Well, Barry fixed the monitor - just went out and bought a new one. How the other half lives!
I'm grateful and glad to be back in action again.

Charleen, Charley must have a magic touch - that rose bush is gorgeous.

Went to the markets this morning. Only thing I saw was a succulent, but figured I had enough
succulents and left it there. Went into the mall and found a very specific blanket I'd been looking for.
So had to get it and am pleased as I was starting to think I'd never get one.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Yesterday was so very wet. Today we passed
a bad accident on the road with police blocking the road and ambulance in attendance.

Karen

I picked Sydney -Dianne,..,[on my tipping forms],you beauty

My Chinese Hat plant is in flower. I love the flower but the plant is straggly even with heavy pruning.

"Holmskioldia sanguinea is native to the Himalayan lowlands and is an erect scandent (climbing) shrub that bears narrowly trumpet-shaped flowers with crimson petals and orange-red calyces from summer to autumn."

Karen

Good morning everyone. Looks like another lovely day ahead. Have lots to do. Have been in the SH again moving plants around and cleaning and repotting. The boys had a great day playing in the dirt with their trucks and cars and dinosaurs and helping me if I asked them. They brought some of the palm stumps around to put in the SH for me. One was even straightening out coat hangers for me so that I could put them onto pots and hang them. It was a lovely day and at the end we went and bought fish and chips and they had a play at the lake while we were waiting. I hope everyone has a great day and I'll pop back later. Colleen

Good morning everyone. Very nippy here this morning. Yesterday was an odd day, being freezing cold in the morning then I was out after lunch in the sun without a jumper.

I finally potted up all the brug teenagers and now just have to wait on the little kids to grow a bit more before I do them too.
I also put out another buddlea and a very pretty red abutilon in the front.
I have some Himalayan abutilons to move around later as they grow. ( agapetes serpens)
Very unusual abutilons as they grow a large root system .

Hello Anthony, my 'secretary' has the same problem with trying to read something I scribbled in a hurry.
Lots of daffies coming through now.

Karen, glad you are back in action with your monitor. Be nice if we could fix everything like that wouldnt it ?
Love that 'Chinese Hat '.

Dianne, I hope you are warmer than I am. I like Bunnings too , but the only one avaiable is in Mt Gambier...Its not one of the best I have been in.
I used to go to a large one in Melbourne along the Nepean Hwy. Maybe Cheltenham. Lots of cheap plants , but back then I had nowhere to put them.

Teresa, I had to laugh at the picture of you chasing around after 2 very exhuberant dogs. Nice to see that Copper is still young at heart.

Hello Colleen, Chrissy, Sue and anyone else popping in

Charleen and Moon , hope you are getting lovely warm weather now.
Your gardens will be looking lovely.

Huga for Charley, cookies on the table out the back.

Louise. How are you doing there ?
Not overdoing the gardening I hope ?
You and Hank should be sitting back min those lovely chairs watching the girls play. Keepw ell.

I am not going outside just yet as it is quite cold but I will make a move soon and maybe sit in the greenhouse sorting seeds, when the sun gets out from behind the clouds.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

heres something nice for morning tea.....Cinnamon Rolls
Happy day
Jean.

Charley says "all cookies are loved" they got their hay this weekend so they have their noses bured in it. They think they are in Longear heaven.
Beautiful pictures girls.
Got warm today 84 degrees, may have been warmer but I thought this was enough. Plants are trying to grow, seems like I put mulch down and my chickens scratch it up so in the morning, I'll put more down and carefully lay a few rocks around it....
Hugs and nuzzles to you all.....

Good luck with the mulch and your chickens, Charleen.....too many interesting things underneath..lol

Jean, when that Agapetes flowers would you post a pic?
That Chinese hat is pretty Karen..I've never seen one before....

Anthony, I had Sydney but I chose Freo over the Saints......

Jean - I don't chase the dogs...
I know I'd never catch them ;)
My trick is to stand still & let them do all the running & call them back every so often for a treat.

Copper used to be a devil for running off with socks & undies if he found them, I learned then not to chase but to praise him & offer a treat to swap for whatever he had.
Still working on that with Sugar but she is much better than she was.
I have an ulterior motive for not wanting her to stop picking up all kinds of things as in Test C the retrieve article can be metal, plastic, wood, fabric... anything safe for a dog to pick up the judge can supply.
And Sugar is my first dog that is happy to hold a metal object - need to keep her doing it for that day we reach the top test.
Nothing like being ambitious :)

Good morning everyone.
Another cold autumn morning but the sun is shining. I will warm myself up later by doing some trimming along the paths.

Teresa, it sounds like you could have really good obedience dog in Sugar.

Charleen, how is your dear little Kaitlin going ?
I see Charley cleaned up all the cookies.
Hope you are having lovely weather there now.

Dianne, it will be a while before that pretty plant flowers as the ones I bought are quite small.
A lot smaller than any plants I would send through the post.
I bought them along with some buddleas and lost all because of smallness and poor packaging,so had to ask for a replacement. .
So far so good with most of the second lot.

Hello Anthony, I have bulbs popping up everywhere now and the little daffies are getting bigger.
I have to cover them with mesh because of Mrs Blackbird.
I really should say Mr Blackbird because you dont see the wives out much.
They are much shyer than the cheeky males who line up with the magpies for a feed .

Hello to everyone else.
I am going to venture outside and see what all the plants are doing.

Enjoy this ..Lamington Cake..

Happy day
Jean.

Good morning world. Its a beautiful morning, so far. Not too cool, and nice to see the sun shinging too.

My yard is looking so messy with the debris from leaves, sticks, and small branches after the rain, and
the wind is adding to the mess every minute. My pot plants look like rubbish bins with dead sticks
poking out everywhere. Oh well, guess the winds that brought it in will eventually also blow it away.

The days seem to be passing very quickly lately. We went for a short drive yesterday, and Barry caught
this duck in action. He wouldn't flap for me though.

Karen

Great pics Karen....love them all.....
Hope the junk blows away as quickly as it blew in...
It was 20c here this afternoon, great clean up day, which I did a bit of...
it looks much neater now.
Hope everyone has enjoyed their day.

Karen, I'll send cocky over to you for a 'couple of years visit'- guarenteed youll get pics of flapping, and a headache, and your leg talked off!!!

Happy May Day to everyone on 1st of May. No Maypole to dance around but I don't want a husband anyway ! LOL
Dianne,I do take blood pressure tabs but it is mainly for marmalade so won't affect me too much. The Brug is planted between two walls so is pretty well protected I will move it if it doesn't grow well there.

Colleeen love that image looks like a Hobbit home.
Yes Jean my food forest is coming along nicely. Today I planted a Pistachio, I put water in the smaller of the ponds yesterday and planted some ferns around it so now I feel like my water feature might actually happen.Will put some water-chestnut in there too when I can get some.
This grotto is my dream garden feature...dream on huh?

For the past two days I have had plumbers and electricians here full time, finally have my pump connected to the bore,(yippee now I can water all I like whenever it is needed) power to the shed and garage,external powerpoints, new taps in Bathroom and outside for waterfall, and studio switches fixed.Only downside is that plumber noticed my hot water service leaking and says it needs replacing ...sigh...always something.

Now Anthony, you know you would miss Cocky so much....
Beautiful waterfall, I love water features and ponds. got my goldfish in a small (not too small) pot while I am patching their pond. It has a crack in it on both sides but hopefully it is fixed. Now I need rain.
Didn't get a picture of Kaitlin but got one of his Mom Abigail and Jake this morning. they were getting a drink while I was watering the plants. I moved them all closer together so I don't have to carry the hose thru one door and then drag it back and go thru other gate. Getting too old to be dragging hoses everywhere. All the while I'm watering, dogs and chickens running around enjoying themselves.....

Good morning everyone.
Its cold outside but I am usually nice & warm after my hot shower each morning. This morning it was a cold shower. Our hot water service has died..
It has been playing up for a few weeks with the temps going up & down.
Our local electrician replaced the element but the whole thing has died and is leaking badly.
Luckily he was able to find us a smaller one that is in excellent condition.
Hopefully this morning will see the replacement done and I can have my hot water again.
We dont know why the previous owners had such a large hot water service as there were only two of them.
The replacement is smaller and more suitable for us, as hot water is only needed for showers & dish washing.
It may save us a bit on electricity now too.

Hope you get all your work done too, Sue.

Anthony, you would never let Cocky go away, you would miss him too much.

I had a nice surprise yesterday. The little blue wrens are back.
After the b** neighbors cat was killing birds, we didnt see any wrens left ,but it looks like they are returning now.
There was also a new little bird which I must look up in the bird book.
Looks just like a sparrow but longer tail and grey/olive green in color. Very quiet little fellow . He sat on the bird bath watching me yesterday.

Hello Dianne, Colleen , Karen, Teresa and Moon.

Charleen, I love your little chooks, . Can t keep any here as they end up as fox food.

Louise, how are things with you ?
Hope the girls are enjoying the larger space.

Better get moving as we have a trailer load of cardboard & papers etc. to take to the tip.

A nice lot of rain again yesterday but I hope it fines up for the trash & treasure on Sunday.

Keep warm & dry
Here your nibbles for morning tea........nice warm Apple Cake..

Happy gardening
Jean.

Jean it seems we both have hot water troubles, maybe the time of year for them to go. My plumber has talked me into replacing my electric one with gas. If you change to a smaller one there is a Govt rebate available so maybe worth checking into for you.
Here is the website for the brochures or get them from your water company.
http://www.water.vic.gov.au/saving/home/watersmart

Charleen we have a lot in common, I love my hens too, and water features in the garden. Already with the small pool full I have a Wagtail using it for a bathing and feeding station , he is getting a few grasshoppers off it and some aphids I think. I need to find a nice branch to lean out over the water so the birds can safely bathe. The smaller pond is for frogs and wildlife and bigger one for my fish and plants..I have had to divide it in two because my liner wasn't big enough for the hole ! LOL

This is the pond being dug by the plumber---love that digger!

I will take a picture of my ponds, I don't want to bore you all.
I would love that Digger too. The ponds I have in the ground need resurfacing and I just got to do it. Getting too old to be digging but I can still sling a little concrete. Just got to do it in smaller batches....
It is very easy to spoil chickens, they love it too...
I found a toad when I was watering my plants. He looked so disgusted. I know he is same one I had in a flowerpot. I put the pot in a big container of water, I saw the soil moving, Durn it was a toad. He jumped into the little container of water and I rescued it out. Sure didn't want my hen to see it. She would have Grabbed it and run...
got to be on our toes with chickens about!!!

Anything to do with our homes and gardens, is never boring, Charleen, so post away..
Besides I love hearing about chooks and all other animal and toad adventures.....

Things are happening at your place now Sue, just imagine how lovely it will all look in 12 months.

Jean, I didn't know about the rebate Sue mentioned until about a month ago, when I heard it on the radio and they were discussing the fact that the government doesn't promote these savings, so most of us go ahead and pay full price....typical....hope that you can make a saving there.

Pouring rain here....my Telstra modem has arrived and I'm supposed to switch over on Friday...so if I'm off the forum for a couple of days, you will know why...I've always been with the same company since I bought my first computer in 2005.....
Dianne.

Hi everyone. Great excitement here today. My first Great-grand child has arrived. Kaiden Joseph was born at 1.01pm weighing 6lb 13ozs. All's well, Mum and Dad ecstatic. So is Gran-Nanny. Colleen

Congratulations Colleen. What a fine May Day gift that one is.

Hope everyone is well and reasonably happy.

I have Daylilies popping out all over.

Congratulations Colleen, what a fine mop of hair, Kaiden Joseph has.....
How does it feel to be a great grandmother.....lol

My goodness Dianne...you are a real nightowl ....I would say good morning...but should say good evening. grin

Colleen, almost had the baby on Mother's Day, if she had waited. Beautiful baby.. OH!!!He is so cute!!!!
Whatever time of day, we love hearing from our friends...

Good morning everyone.
Still rain showers here. Its lovely to see the ground soaking it up and the plants all showing pretty bright green dresses.
The weeds are growing faster as usual.
I have carpets of self seeded wallflowers & nasturtiums everywhere. Have to keep on them or they will be staging a takeover bid for the garden.
We have our hot water all fixed and its so lovely to be back to real hot water instead of lukewarm.

Colleen, Congratulations on becoming a gt grandma. Very cute baby pic.

Dianne, I should have popped in to see you last night. I was up later than usual as hubby had to go out to a meeting which didnt finish until late.

Moon . hello . What is going on in your garden now ?

Charleen, you should not have shown Abigail the Tea Room. I saw little chook tracks around the door this morning.
I think they are coming for Charleys cookies. ...lol

Hello Teresa, hope things are progressing with your repairs before winter.
Pat those two spotties for me.

Hello Karen, hope you are coming along so much better now and takings things easy.

Sue, you will have your hands full with all your garden when its done.
I'm sure the birds will love your ponds.

Anthony, how are things down in the lilium yard ?
Have you been planning more areas for them or are you going to get more dahlias ?

Hello Louise, hope all is well over your way. Hugs for the girls.

I am going to enjoy another cuppa. Its quite chilly here and I wont be going outside until the sun comes out.

Keep warm and well
Enjoy this ....Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Jean.

Good morning. Lovely and sunny here, but cloulds are expected, so they say. Somewhere, anyway.

Anthony, Cocky would love it here with all the wild birds visiting. The neighbours might object to the noise
though. They aren't real bird lovers next door. Me, I love to wake up to the cacophony of the many noisey
birds in our area.

Colleen, that home is so unusual. I love it. Are there any details about it at all? Congratulations and a big
warm welcome to Kaiden Joseph.

Sue, it would be so great to have a very special water feature like that. I'd love a cave with water running
through part of it. Somewhere dry to sit and contemplate in it. Plants growing up, hanging down, every
which way. Heaven! Hope the plumbers and electricians are finished now, the hot water fixed, and may
peace rule.

Oh, Jean, not your hot water too? So glad it is fixed for you. Speaking of nasturtiums, I have a bunch of
seedlings that fell from the barrow, and are now sprouting in the yard itself. Barry keeps running the mower
over them but they keep coming back. I rather like them, especially since it is so hard to get anything to
grow in the ground, but the long grasses grow between them so the mower takes the lot.

Moon, I used to be a day lily addict, and had some real beauties here, but the extra long drought killed them off.
Yours are lovely.

Charleen, between Charley and the chooks, life is never dull there. I'd love some egg layers, but fear I
wouldn't be able to look after them properly anymore.

Hello Di, Louise, and everyone else.

Karen

Water, water everywhere, here......I just went to feed Mick and my gum boots kept sinking in the sandy soil...
he hadn't moved out of his shed, so he was bone dry....big sook.......
It hasn't stopped since early this morning and it rained most of yesterday as well....so our tank is full and the garden has had a good soak...that's enough now thank you, Huey....

Just missed you Moon, you know how it is, some nights you just can't sleep....
How is the g,grandmother today...still thrilled to bits I bet.

I will have a bit of that cake, thanks Jean and a cuppa...

''The Rains''- I knocked off at 10-30,.,.,.,.Jean, its all sell here/ and planting existing duplicate bulbs of lilies,.!st[mini] daffodil out today,-Nylon!!!! and many others following ,..There is just so much stuff here, when you take a good look,.,.,.A growers paradise.,.,.,,and still many in the making!!!!!

getting very chilly here in the mornings, glad I know where to get discount priced merino ;)

Colleen - congrats on the Great Grand Baby, very cute little one

Moon - those are lovely day lilies, pretty colours.

Sugar just did something new...
she was after hubby's hat which is up on top of a stack of books & magazines on the dining table.
One moment she was stretching to reach it - next she had taken a vertical leap & landed on the table.
She grabbed the hat & leapt down again.
Gobsmacked is the word that comes to mind...


Take care everyone, hope the weather treats you kindly :)

Thanks. My MIL decided to get rid of her many years in the making collection of daylilies. Hubby came home one day with two large trash bags filled with them...no names, no idea of color....it is like a lottery...who opens today and what color is it gonna be?...grin

Sounds like Miss Sugar is springloaded...grin. We had a half German shepherd/half Border Collie, Abbey, who loved sitting on top of the car...certainly surprised the door to door folks...

We had a major rain Wednesday evening...7 inches of rain in about 4 hours....I can hear the weeds laughing and growing....grin

Hope you all have a lovely day.

I'm still waiting for Rain. Send it on up Girls. We are ready.
Love the day lilies, Beautiful day here....
Yep, Abigail is sneaky like that. she has to be fast or Charley will get her. ☺

Hello back to everyone! We're having rain here for a couple days too. Blessed, Blessed Heavenly Watercan! We got our walk in around noon between raindrops. I took lots of shots of the various bark of oak, beech, maple, white pine and birch trees up close to help us in painting landscapes of the natural beauty around us here. We have to wait a bit for the temps to warm up some since our makeshift art area on our back screened porch.

Moon, those are gorgeous daylilies. Are they blooming now? I've wanted to plant some down in Florida, but I thought we'd not be there when they bloom.

Teresa, love Sugar's antics! Adorable!

Karen, what a great idea about the cave and water feature in it. One of my favorite feelings is standing on the porch - nice and dry and warm - while the rain is pouring hard just a foot away. I love rain! We have several caves here, but I'd have to share them with bears.

Jean, I'm quite envious of your carpets of self-sewn nasturtiums. I brought some seeds up with me to get some going here. My friend here has terrific luck with the plants getting really big. Mine in Florida were very wimpy.

Hi Louise. Are ya about settled in now? I am sure the weather is quite different than what you left behind....grin.

Yes, those daylilies are in bloom now...so are the gladiolas and asters( started over a month ago)...but then we are in the high 80's already, so expect the whole garden to be a bit early.

This message was edited May 3, 2012 3:55 PM

Good morning everyone.
Still showery here as was yesterday. Its lovely for the garden but I have to watch the weeds happily growing and laughing at me .
I will get at them soon, they had better start running.
Lots of bulb leaves coming through. Marvellous how they can push up through the very hard clay we have here.
I will be putting all the plants on the trailer today ( hopefully not in the rain )

Moon , I have a dayliliy out here. Poor confused thing.
Most of mine die back after flowering and look a real urky mess through winter. They are already starting to get new growth this year.
Perhaps the long dry made them think it is summer again.
The yellow on that is out seems to want to have a flower most of the year,
Its not one of the larger ones, just a nice small one with lots of flowers on each stem.

Teresa, you will have to watch that girl now with her spring loaded legs. She will be wanting to jump on everything for fun now.

Charleen, I cant send you my rain as I need it but sounds like Dianne can spare some for you.
Didnt see Charley this morning, just a whisk of a tail going around the corner.

Dianne, your garden will be loving the rain, but its no fun getting around in the mud.

Colleen, hope all is well with you there. You havent been taken over by triffid broms yet ?
I can see them all marching up the road looking for even more space...lol

Anthony, good luck with your selling and planting out. I hope the weather is kind to you .

Louise. lovely to see your smiling face back again.
You must show us more of your wonderful paintings when you do them. I love autumn colors, but your spring forest will have so many shades of green.
Isnt there some lovely bark on trees ?
We often look at the different ones when driving .
You would not be so envious of the nasturtiums once they get going. They are very clever at sneaking up into trees & shrubs when I am not looking. Suddenly one day you see bright orange & yellow flowers up high where they shouldnt be.
I am going to be mean this year and rip out any that dare to climb.
I love them as a colored carpet over the ground under the trees where nothing much grows.

Better go and see what I have in the kitchen for you all then get hubby to help me put the tables on the trailer before I start loading the plants.
We made two tables that sit together in the trailer and are pine , so easily lifted out for use at the trash & treasure.
The plants in trays fir nicely under them in the trailer .
We will put the tarps on and they will sit in the yard until very early Sunday when we leave.

Here we are... something tasty for morning tea..One of my favorites..... Blueberry Muffins.

Happy day
Jean.

He has a hidden treasure. the last two bales of hay must be very good. sometimes I look and all I see is Donkeys and a mule butts, no head. That is some good stuff.
sorta like this!!!! right now that hay bale looks like a cave....
When he isn't eating he is standing at the gate ready for a treat.
Then there is feeding time. His eating partner is Annabelle.
AT and His Mom Isabelle eat at other trough. Did not get picture of them
but here is Mr. Super mule telling them to get back...

Congratulations on the new arrival Colleen, Having grandbabies is the best!

The painter has just arrived to finish up the last bedroom and the man to put in the kitchen splashback will be here in the next few days.Just carpet in the bedroom after that and then I can move back in --- can't wait. It is all coming together now,happy days.

Jean what market are you doing? I am going plant hunting at Terang and Camperdown markets this weekend & next week to Warrnambool.
The small pond begins to fill and be planted out...long way to go yet!

Hamilton Trash & Treasure on Sunday , Sue,
The Lions have 2 each year. One about now and one in spring.
Hopefully I will sell all my plants.

Charleen, love the pics of cheeky Charley & friends.

I am going to have nice sit down now with a cuppa. The plants are all loaded on the trailer.

takes a bit of rearranging so they dont slide around, but I have plenty of trays that were free from a garden centre a few years ago.

Enjoy the weekend.
Jean.

Well, I am connected to Telstra now, it only took 30 mins as they said, after 6 phone calls to get the right date for connection during the week...talk about the left hand not knowing what the right is doing....that's Telstra......
My former server had the cheek to phone and offer a better deal...I asked them why they hadn't offered before..
Oh, she said...hasn't anyone contacted you....baloney....

It's so fast, I love YouTube now.....Ray would never watch because it was so slow...different now..
I have 25GB, that I wouldn't use in 12months...let alone in a month....

I've spent the afternoon, changing email addresses on important sites and to friends...then I got a bit weary and started sending them out without my name on them, so if they didn't know the email address, then they would be wondering who sent it...I think that I fixed all of those.
When my grandaughter got her new iPhone, she sent out her number without a name.....I told her that she was a duffer, who is the duffer now....lol

Jean, I hope that you make a packet on Sunday and come home with an empty trailer...sounds as though you have the set up working well in the trailer...try to resist other people's plants though.....
Charleen, love those pics.....
Chookie enjoy the markets...
Everyone have a great weekend..
Dianne.