TEA ROOM #113

Hello everyone..Hope you are all well.Im going through a tough one at the moment[shock], but hope to be back on track soon-Anthony[worlds best lily grower]

Hurricane Sandy is coming up the east coast, tracking is another 2 or 3 days for us. Hope Charleen and Moon are doing okay, they're a lot closer to it than us right now. We'll probably see the classic Nor'easter by tuesday or wednesday, they can be nasty but not unusual this time of year. Temps are noticably cooler and rainy but we've been shopping in th city this weekend.

Went to the big Ringling Circus with Olivia, had a great time with all the animals and acts.

Al

Have a safe trip Robyn and do hope you have fun.

Anthony? I do hope things are okay there....and yes, you are the Lily growing King...Grin

Jean, with winter coming here soon, I am going to have to stay away from Morning Tea....too many good yummies and not enough outside activity...GRIN Has anyone herad from Marleneanne lately? She and Chookie and Elaine are all MIA.

Hope everyone has a pleasant Sunday.

Moon

Hi Al, fingers crossed that H Sandy does a hard right away from the coast. Charleen and I should see little to nothing from Sandy as we are well away from the eastern coast. Thanks for the good thoughts...the same to you and yours....I have friends in Jacksonville, FL area, Buffalo, NY and Southwick, Mass...they are all on alert also.

I know Olivia must have had a grand time .....somehow we never get too old for circus magic....grin

I love the circus. I know Olivia did too. Only thing is, with 3 rings, there's too much going on to see everything. I loved it.
I hope we get some much needed rain but our weathermen are not excited like when it snows, so Moon is right. Probably nothing.
You have a great weekend.

Oh, he heard something in the woods and looked so beautiful, had to take a picture....
Then he came up to fence to see if I had anything to give him.
Al, Charley says
"Hello" and Jean he says "thanks for the cookies"

Good morning everyone.
Its very nippy here this morning but a clear sky and the sun is trying to look warm.
I will be out & about later getting caught up with all I couldnt do in the rain.
I am going to replace the sprays in the overhead misting system I have in the fernery. It is great for the ferns etc in the shadehouse during any hot weather.

Al, so glad you are out of harms way with that enormous hurricane coming.
Nice to see that you & Olivia enjoyed the circus. I havent seen one since I was around 8 years old.

Moon , nice to see that you are also out of the way of the hurricane too.

Charleen, I am glad you are not likely to be in any bad weather from that hurricane also.
I see Charley is looking very good there. I think he needs a run around the block. Too many cookies.
I will give any extra ones to Abigail and cut Charley down to just 2 per day.

Anthony, whatever is going on in your life , I hope it soon rights itself and we have your smiling face back .
looking forward to all those lovely blooms of yours when they start.

Dianne, I have a few new seeds popping up here so hopefully yours will be the same.
Give Tilly a pat and one of Charleys cookies.

Teresa, how is work going ? You should be seeing some lovely weather too. I did send it over, but maybe it got lost over the ocean.
Pat the spotty ones for me.

Hello Chrissy, Karen , Colleen and everyone else looking in.

Heres something very yummy for morning tea.....Coffee Cake ( with cream of course )

Have a great day and enjoy the sun if you have it.

Happy day.
Jean.

pink parasol-asiatic

Hi, all.....Jean, I thought that Charley looked a bit that way and no wonder..all those cookies.
none for Tilly thanks, she is a little barrel, who finds it hard to jump up on the bed these days and she gets furious when I start laughing after 3 or 4 tries.
Nice pic of him though, Charleen.....
You've been putting some very funny emails thru lately...thanks for those as I always send them on...

Glad that you had a lovely time at the circus, Al...I haven't been to one since the kids were little..my son is 42 today so it must be about 30 yrs...wow.

Hey, world's best lily grower, keep your chin up.....everything passes good or bad...
My Nepalense seems to be making good growth...it seems to have spread underground in the pot, the Duchartrii looks ok too.....it didn't grow downwards thru the bottom of the pot this year, thank goodness....
everything else is growing well....
Have a great time Robyn, see you when you get back..take pics when you can.

Hi moon, we seem to have a few friends that are keeping very busy lately....I hope Chookie comes back, I like hearing about her chooks and garden, she must still be with family.
I hope that Hurricane does turn right for all in it's path...very scary time...

I'm spreading pea straw today, so better hop too it.....
Dianne.

Couldn't find a pic of it, Anthony...don't forget to post when it flowers...it looks lovely and strong....

Good afternoon everyone. Lovely mild sunny day here today. Have been out and watered all the pots and checked everything out. Lots of excitement going on with all the brugs and broms and epis and cactus and lilies. Lots of lovely pics this time of the year. Here are some of the Epis. Have a great day everyone. Colleen

thanks for sending the nice weather Jean...
it did arrive I made for a lovely day at training.
The weasel played with her mates & then put in some good work in the rally-o ring.
I need to keep pushing myself so that I can get out & compete with her.
She has some breed shows coming up so I am hoping she can do well there but apart from teaching her to gait smoothly & stand nicely for the judge there isn't much I can do to influence our chances.
Either the judge likes her or not.

I think a couple of my irises copped a bit of round up spray drift.
I am impressed with how they survive a dose of poison but the flowers look a bit odd.
I was happy to see a pink aquilegia in the garden, I have only had blues & white so far but Mum gave me seed that included pink parents & I scattered it in several places.
It might have come from across the road as well, there are some clumps of really nice ones & between the birds & our wandering cat I end up with new plants.

Its one of 'Camdales' unregistered newies, Dianne!-and definately, we will all get a look at it..,.,and many other brand spankin newie crosses that will flower this year,.,I'm climbing a mountain at the moment, and unfortunately I was delivered with an horrendous scene of animal cruelty on Wednesday, which I consider the person responsible, would have to be mentally very sick, but It will stay with me every day for the rest of my life................Teresa, Ive only just realised the beauty of Aquilegras, All the ones I Inherited are absolutely beautiful-Anthony

Oh Anthony how horrible. So sorry that happened to a poor animal. Just remember, mountain climbs are easier with friends. Hugs and good thoughts to you.

Beautiful flowers Dianne, Teresa and Colleen.

My daughter in Brisbane has started writing for a site called WeekendNotes. It costs nothing to subscribe to her articles, but helps her a great deal to have subscribers....you get an e-mail whenever she has a new item to read. I would appreciate it if you all would give it a look. (It is accessible to us in the US also)

http://www.weekendnotes.com/northside-boxing-gym/

Hope you all have a lovely Monday.

Moon

Beautiful flowers everyone, I'd love to be there in the Spring. Maybe I'll make some travel plans when I win the lottery, but unfortunately not right now....

Weather here is still quite calm and very foggy and cold. We're expecting a backlash from Sandy around Tuesday, but don't know what it'll bring. Posssibly even an early snow but we're prepared for the worst. We learn to live with power outages and such, it's just the way it is here. Enjoy your Spring blooms!

Al



This message was edited Oct 28, 2012 11:12 AM

Our thoughts are with all of you over the pond and in the path of Sandy, we hope you will all be safe.

Anthony go outside and look at your pretty bulbs and take some comfort in your special place, so sorry you feel so awful.

Moon I have to get hubby ready for a day of tests with Specialists today so I am up early.
When I get back home I will check out your daughter's weekend notes ^_^ ...how exciting.

I hope everyone has a gentle day.

chrissy

Good morning everyone.
Another cold morning but the sun is shining so hopefully a warm day later.
Off to see the hearing people again today and I did remember to put the hearing aids in my bag this time. It was embarrassing to turn up last time without them.
I was out in the sun yesterday once it warmed a bit. Lots of watering to do on the brugs. Being under trees , they seem to miss a lot of the rain.

Anthony, spend some time each day just contemplating your lovely plants. It will ease those awful feelings.
Cruelty of any sort is terrible and I often wonder if those that do the things are really quite human.
Its lovely to see that you have new bulbs coming up.
I have given up competing with the blackbirds and just keep all the bulbs in the ground now.
I like the birds around so a compromise had to be reached. One cant have netting strung everywhere.

Al, Moon and Charleen and all our other US friends, heres hoping nothing bad comes your way in the wake of the hurricane. You dont want snow yet.
I see that Hawaii had a tsunami . Hope all is well there too.
Mother Nature does like to try us out, but we just have to live with her moods.

Teresa, that is damage from Roundup spray drift.
I do see it from time to time. The good thing is the plants will be normal next year.
I got a bit close to the roses this year and had a lot of leaf damage on one side.
Usually I paint the stuff on close to the plants but thought I was okay this time. I have an iris with just one stem of funny flowers while the rest of the stems are quite normal. I cut them off as they are ugly..
Nice to hear that Sugar is coming along so well .
I love the aquilegias too. They grow well here so I have several. There is a tall one with small double burgundy flowers and a larger yellow and white.

Colleen, lovely epis. Mine are quite a way from flowering yet. They are usually starting by now but with the extra long spell of cold weather they wont be out until late next month.
I see some of mine that have not flowered before have buds. Be nice to see new ones.

Dianne, hope you got all your pea straw down. I used to use lots of it here too but its become so hard to find and expensive anyway. I am glad the plants cover most of the ground now so I just have to pull a few odd weeds between them.
I have a surprise in the garden too. Your little girl is open . Must get a new pic and put her over on the brug thread.

Hello to everyone else. Better move myself as we are going over to Hamilton early to do a bit of shopping and have lunch before my appointment .

Heres a lovely treat for morning tea.....Chocolate Cake.
(always a favorite)

keep safe and dry
Jean.

Why ever would they call that monster "Sandy".....say Sandy and people think of ONJ and Grease.
I feel so sorry for all the people that will be affected by it....the predictions are very scary....

Moon, I have become a subscriber...nice little article on the gym....
Jean, that is one of the few good things about a small garden, it doesn't cost much to mulch it...
The Ivoire pics are lovely,

Those colour of those Epis must look wonderful all grouped together, Colleen....

Those cheeky Blue Wrens have become so accustomed to us being in the garden, that now they are demanding we don't walk near where their babies are and the babies are just as bold...they love hopping around in the bushes and the other day, the dominant male saw me coming up the couple of steps to the garden and stood in front of me hopping up and down and screeching in his high pitched little voice, then one of his babies flew onto the handrail and started chastising me too.

What a cheek, they are so tiny and yet so bossy....I backed off, but I couldn't stop laughing at these tiny birds.....that didn't discourage them either...
They've since bailed Ray up and he doesn't stay near them either..Tilly is the only one they let into their
area, she takes no notice of them hopping around.

Dianne

I could hear them, while I was posting...so I thought that I might take some pics....
They were eating the aphids in the curly leaf on the peach tree.....
The brown ones are the females and the young.....
Dianne

I bought myself a couple of planter bags today, they are just the right size to have on the terrace & I will put my tomatoes, lettuce & some herbs in.
Might even get adventurous & try carrots & a few other vegies.
Had potted capsicum one year that did very well on the terrace so might give them another go.

take care everyone

very cute,Dianne,.,They nest here every year too.. and now they know Sooty is too old and slow, I think they feel safe,.,.

Good Morning.

Thanks Chrissy. Good thoughts go with you and Hubby.

Yes Jean, our weather has become quite contentious of late. Guess Mother Nature is doing her part to warn us that we are not in control...but merely caretakers and we seem to be slipping at doing our job. Have a lovely day in Hamilton.

They are very much like our house wrens here Dianne...bossy and feisty. They are used to the cats also....they wait til the cats have finished eating and swarm in to clean the bowl. Fortunately they are off the cats' radar...and "beneath" their interest. Grin Thank you so much for giving Jan's article a look and subscribing....we both do appreciate it.

Hi Anthony. Hope you are feeling better and brighter today.

Fall is here...our daytime temp has been reaching 28C but last night it dropped to 6C....almost 40 degree difference....BRRR. Told Hubby we need to stop being grasshoppers and get busy finishing up outside before it gets really cold.

Colleen, I do hope the Council gets things rolling on Brian's Garden. He was a delightful man and deserves the memorial.

Good thoughts and sunny days to you all.

Moon

Weather hasn't been too bad here, just ordinary cold, wet and nasty. We may get worse by tonight.. can't tell yet.
The stations are predicting a whopper is on the way, but who knows for sure. We're as ready as we're going to get.

Al

Good morning everyone.
The sun is shining so another lovely Spring day as was yesterday.
We had a nice day out in Hamilton and I have my hearing aids properly adjusted now.
I mainly use them for the TV and can now hear without all the noise I was getting.

I moved a few large pots yesterday. Brug cuttings that have been growing since Autumn. I will pot individually today.
I will also get out my tomato grow bags and get them filled with mix ready for the plants as the weather gets warmer.

Have to get the clippers out along the paths too. Doesnt take things long to overhang and make you wet when it rains.

Hello Al, Charleen and Moon. We are thinking of you and all those in the path of the storm.
I hope it all comes down to just rain and not too much damage.

Hello Dianne, Colleen, Robyn, Chrissy, Teresa, Anthony and anyone else looking in.
I am off outside to enjoy the sun .

Heres a treat for morning tea.....Lamington Cake..

Keep safe
Jean

The storm went east and along the coast. All we have is wind. Cold weather which I can't stand. I am not looking forward to winter at all. They even have snow in parts of the Carolinas.
The long ears have their fur coats on and I know they are glad...
Just praying for rain. got my Brugs dragged into little greenhouse. Had to cut some back, they were just too tall.
Hugs and nuzzles to all....

The pictures we are seeing are just awful ...please take all precautions needed to be safe as possible.
hugs and love from all of us to you friends over the pond.
Looks like Mother Nature isn't finished with the World yet.

chrissy

Yes!!!!!!do take care over there,.

Too hot, too soon as usual......the roses hate it.
Bought our apple cucumber, tomato and watermelon plants today, we'll save them for a cooler day though...
Couldn't resist they were on special...1.25 per punnet.

All our thoughts are with our US friends and their families....

Dianne.

ridesredmule- T Bo is sooooooooo cute!

Very [too] hot here too,.,.I was forced to sit outside in the shade and consume thirst quenching 4xxxx beer until 8 pm,.reorganize my woodstack and sort out the seed box positions ,.,.,.as MORE... are coming next week-Anthony

Poor Anthony, the sacrifices you make for your lilies are boggling GRIN

I hear ya on the cold Charleen....don't like it at all either.

Al is in an area that could sustain damage. Good thoughts to him and his family. After so many storms down here over the past few years, you heave a sigh of relief that this one went away from you, then immediately start praying that everyone else is okay.

That was a deal too good to pass up Dianne. Savvy shopping....grin

Good Day and Good Thoughts to you all.

Moon

We're okay so far, just cold, wet rain and a bit windy.. The major part of the storm missed us but hit NY City and Atlantic Shore in New Jersey. That's what you're seeing on the Internet and TV. They had a tide rise of over 12' (4m) above normal in Manhatten which is the main financial district of NYC. Some 3 million people are without electric power down there, major stock markets are all closed for a few days. The City is a virtual shut down, no subway, no bus service, no cars allowed. Most of the people don't actually live there, but commute in and out so are told to "just stay home".

We live further inland far away from NYC, closer to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Here it's nothing more than a little nasty weather, minor flooding in some areas.

Alive and well,
Al

Poor Anthony suffers so much!!!!
Al, glad you are on the safer side of NY.

Good morning everyone. Our first taste of summer yesterday with 32C.
a shock to the system after all the cold weather.
Not very nice of Mother Nature to be experimenting on all of us.

Al, glad to hear that you are not in the main storm area. Watch out for that Canadian snow though. It may end up in your backyard.

I never cease to be amazed at the idiots who actually think its fun to go out in the teeth of any storm.
Did you all see those fools surfing and sightseers standing right next to large waves?

Charleen, how is your garden doing now ?
Plants will be starting to prepare for winter sleep.
Now if you could get Charley and friends to hibernate you wouldnt have to feed them all winter...lol

Dianne, great buy on the seedlings.
I have my grow bags ready to fill and plant too.
My tomatoes are a mix of small ones and the lovely brownish ones that I love.

Anthony, you poor thing , having to sit and have a beer all day...lol
Such suffering......
Good luck with the new bulbs too.

Teresa, I am sending the heat over to you as I do believe in sharing...Hope the spotty ones are doing well . Your garden will be looking very pretty now.
Have you found any further lost treasures while the garden is recovering from the workmen ?

Hello Moon, Colleen, Chrissy and anyone else looking in.
I am off to enjoy the day while its still cool.
A few little seedlings to be potted up and a few more pots to move into the shade.

Heres a morning tea treat....Raspberry Cream Cake.

Happy gardening and stay safe .
Jean.

Good morning everyone. The heat has started here. I hope we don't get too many days of it. It's a beautiful 22C at the moment so it looks like we're going to be well into the 30"s by afternoon. So glad to hear from our friends over the pond telling us that they're okay. We do worry about you. I have some vegies going at the moment too. Tomatoes, cucumbers. snow peas, corn and I planted a clump of silver beet for the galahs and chooks. The boys don't think much of silver beet, so I sneak it into their mash and stews cut really finely. We have a frog in the SH. whooppee. Plenty for them to eat in there. Cameren has been saying that he saw one but I hadn't heard any so I thought that he must have been telling stories or maybe wishful thinking. This weather has knocked the flowers on the Epis but there are still lots of buds if they don't get too burnt. The brugs are loving it but I must move all the coldies into the shade now or I will loose the few buds that I have on them. I have already lost one bud from Pod 2# but he has another couple so had better protect them as much as I can. Well must go. I have washing to hang out and housework to do. Stay safe everyone. Colleen

They are so pretty Colleen, such a lovely pink.
Yes, I agree take good care of those coldies...I hope the boys locate the frog.....it may be a son of the other one that you had there...

Did you plant your tomatoes Jean, it turned much cooler here in the afternoon....so we planted ours and the watermelons...these ones are much larger than the little ones from last year...I hope that they grow as well.

Have a nice evening all.
Dianne.

lovely day today, supposed to be 26 tomorrow :)
I do like warmer weather.
Gave the lilies a drink tonight they are looking very promising.
The azaleas I moved got a drink as they are in a much sunnier spot, I should mulch them to keep their roots cool.
Hoping to get my planter bags filled at the weekend so I can put the the tomatoes in.
Weather is predicted to be wet by then... hope it isn't too bad but even if it pours I won't complain,
seeing pictures from the US puts it in perspective.

Good Morning.

And now the fun starts....as so many of you know, cyclones create havoc and Sandy was no exception. It didn't help the the storm hit the most heavily populated part of the US, and the least prepared to deal with it. It is gonna be a long hard winter for folks in the Northeast.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-damage-photos-superstorm-unthinkable-aftermath_n_2044099.html

Good morning all.
A pinch and a punch for the 1st of the month.
Kettle is on, where's the milk?.....Jean must be bringing it....

Moon thanks for the link, unfortunately the first video told me that I was in the wrong country, but I saw the pics and the other videos....some amazing scenes.

Birthday gift shopping today, our daughter turns 45 in a couple of days, our son was 42 the other day....
My question is...How can I have kids that are older than me?........lol.

This little Montana clematis is such a beauty..
Have a good day everyone.
Dianne.







This message was edited Nov 1, 2012 12:24 PM

Forgot to say as well.

Ray and I are gradually warming to Halloween.....for our US friends, I say gradually, because when our kids were little, it was known as an American tradition, that only seemed like a money maker to introduce it here....so for the most part it was ignored.....

Now as a grandmother and quite a few years later, watching the kids who come to the door and the fun they get out of dressing up, as I said, we are warming...no Ray is warming, he would only buy cheap lollies for the kids, but I love it...

We had Spiderman, a few ghouls, a boy dressed in a girl's dress, who Ray told not to wear that to school...various other costumes and even the parents got in on the dressing up...so it was fun.
Tilly barked at everyone as usual, until she realised that those kids were getting lollies so she became more interested in the bowl that went to the door each time the bell rang...
Next year I will get her a little costume....
Dianne

Good morning everyone.
Well, back to winter here again.
Its cold and raining.
Supposed to get back to around 30C again next week.
After watching all the footage of the storm damage in the US, I am ashamed of making even a tiny complaint.
Those affected with be months even years , getting back to some semblance of normal.
We all have a bit of a whinge about the weather , but here is an example of what can happen when Mother Nature unleashes her full fury.
Our little weather changes are remarkably mild compared to this .
I wish all the best for the millions affected over there.

Back to the mundane and I was able to get all the final drippers done yesterday so now I can just turn taps & timers on whenever I need to water.
I have made a nice place on the veranda for all the azaleas , camellias and fuchsias.
They will face the morning sun and be sheltered from the worst of any summer heat or winter cold.

Hello Teresa.
I hope your tomatoes do well for you. I am looking forward to growing mine in the bags having not tried them before.

Dianne, My seedling tomatoes are still a bit small to venture outside yet but I may buy a couple of plants for one of the grow bags. The seedlings will go in the other and the leftovers into the garden.
Nice to hear that you are having a good time with Halloween. It doesnt happen here.
I'm like you, how do I have kids all older than me.
My son just turned 50 a few weeks ago. . Fancy being that old...LOL

Moon, everyone here wishes all the best for our US friends.

Al, glad you are safe where you are, but I see on the news that there is lots of snow around.
Not the best time to have a huge storm when winter is dumping snow on people.

Anthony, are you still out under your shady tree ?
I think not, with the change now here. You will be back to the fire for a day or so.

Charleen, Hope the weather is kind to your area, but I expect most of the US will be affected in some way with such an enormous weather occurrence .
Pat the furry ones for me. Hope they have their coats on .

Hello Colleen, Chrissy, Robyn, Karen, and everyone else popping in for a cuppa.

Heres a treat for you all....Blueberry Bran Muffins

Happy gardening and stay safe

Jean.