TEA ROOM # 117

Thanks Jean....grin the Lamingtons are safe..... I am more a fruit and crust kinda girl....and brownies. Grin

Happy Australian Day!

Roast Lamb, after 2 years[too dear]+ spuds/pumpkin/gravy.,.Must be Australia Day.......

It was a great Australia Day !

Hope everyone enjoyed it ^_^

waving to our friends over the pond !


chrissy

I just saw Charley out there with some white powdered sugar all over his whiskers. I know he must have found the cakes...
Made some Morning Glory ornaments and got a pic of Charley. Coarse TBo is so easy to get pictures of. This is blue Jay tail feather hubby found and brought in for me.
I have a pair of hawks i want to get a picture of roaming around in The long ears pasture....

That looks like great fun, Chrissy! Tap me off another beer, please Anthony. Hope everyone made it back home alive. Sort of like our July 4th Independence Day here.

Al

I agree Al. Australia Day seems to have the same flavor as Independence Day here.

Hope you all had a lovely celebration and the fires showed the proper respect. The pups are adorable Chrissy, but the beach looked to be standing room only...grin

Anthony, I know you enjoyed your feast....shame when favorite foods get to dear to eat. Glad you treated yourself.

The MG ornaments turned out well, Charleen. Maybe Charley is the one who finished the cobbler...grin

Enjoy your long weekend

Moon

Good morning everyone.
The sun is shining in the window so going to get warmer today.

Anthony, glad to see you enjoyed your roast lamb. I'm like you in finding it way too dear to eat on a regular basis. Its a shame to see such nice meat out of the reach of many of us when it was considered a part of the weekly menu for so long.
Remember when families all sat down to the Sunday roast lamb dinner.
I still recall when steak was a luxury, now we eat more of it than anything else.


Moon, Charley would never nick any food from the kitchen...unless he knew I wasnt there watching ...lol


Charleen, your morning glory flowers are so pretty. You are getting very good at all those ornaments.
Give Charley a pat and tell him I know hes just an innocent party.
It was Moon all the time who nicked the last of the cherry cobbler.
Hope you can get a pic of your hawks. I love the raptors. We often see eagles circling around here .
They are such beautiful birds to watch.

Teresa, how are things over your way ? Is the young Miss behaving herself ?
Hope you are getting any repairs finished up quickly.
Its certainly been a while, but thats insurance companies for you.

Chrissy, great pics. I watch on the news but we dont go out anywhere . I would rather just enjoy a quiet Australia Day at home.

Hello Al, how are you doing in the snow there ?
I hope the weather is being kind to you.
Have you worked out all the garden plans for Spring ?

Dianne, where did you disappear to?
I hope you didnt wear the teeny weeny bikini to the beach for the Aust. Day celebration .
Give Tilly a pat for me and hug a brug too.

Better move myself and see what needs doing outside. I have been going to trim along all the paths where the plants overhang, but I keep seeing other things and get sidetracked.

Heres your morning tea treat ......Black Forest Gateau..

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and stay safe
Jean.

Oh Crikey , no I don't go into Sydney any more, I borrowed these pics from a tourism site. Can't do crowds any more,or burning Sun and standing in long lines waiting for a visit to the loo.
Glad you enjoyed the pics, I do love watching everything on the tv though.

Moon and friends across the pond, Australia Day is just really a Celebration of Australia.It isn't like your Independence Day because we are still a Monarchy here. It's just one big Party to Salute our Country and what it means to be an Aussie. A bit more like the way you Celebrate Thanksgiving probably. A day to be Grateful.

http://www.australiaday.org.au/australia-day/history.aspx

I hope everyone enjoyed their day !
off to the garden now ...it rained whoo hoo -we needed it.

Hope all of our friends up North are ok ...you certainly are copping it big time !
Have a good one !
chrissy

Glad to hear that Australia Day went well, It's the right time of year for beach & bbq!
Lamb is a bit pricey here in NZ too - my favourite is hogget - more flavour than lamb.
We try not to pay more than $14.99 a kg for our meat but you can't get steak for less than $19.99 - decent steak that is.
We love the t bone at that price.
Used to love doing lamb shanks in the slow cooker but they became trendy & you just can't get them cheap now.

Been a lovely day here - sunny but not too hot, about 22C.
Went out to dog training with Sugar & she was good girl so we took her to the dog park for a good run afterwards & now she is flat out sleeping :)

Since it's my turn to cook, I'm making a big winter stew today mostly to rid the root cellar of leftover carrots, onions, potatoes, a parsnip, one lone beet, and a bag of frozen tomatoes. Maybe some corn and beans too if I can find them. All going into the slow cooker with a couple of braized beef ribs and broth for a long simmer in the stew pot. Just a touch of seasoning salt and basil to top it off. Might add a little macaroni later if it's not stiff enough. Smells good already - I've got 5 hours to go.

Al

Teresa, I just discovered the meaning of hogget....I had no idea what sort of lamb it was...good old Wiki....
I sort of knew it was a type of sheep cut, but the HOG part of the word made me think of piggy...
Since we have had Aldi in our shopping centre, the price of a leg of lamb is always $8.99 per kg...Jean check out your Aldi...now the local Woolworths drops it's price quite a bit too...

Went to Bunnings this morning and they were giving Aussie flags to all the kids over this weekend....a nice touch I thought..
All the little kids who had trolleys, had the flags on their trolley....and of course they had the usual sausage sizzle which Ray can never go past...
The "Festival of Sail" is in full swing now and there are yachts everywhere on the bay and the ocean as well...I like looking at them but the ferry is more my speed...

I didn't disappear, Jean...I was painting those old chairs that I found with Decking oil, I had some left over, so it will protect them....
They are so small and yet they are not children's chairs....
Love your new Brug enclosure.

Moon, you know that it wasn't Charley....lol

Al, I can smell what you're cooking from here and my taste buds are tingling, enjoy.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone...
Dianne..


This message was edited Jan 27, 2013 2:50 PM

By Gee Al..that does sound good..and although Im full as a goog,I reckon I could go a small bowl,.......If I was in close proximity and maybe bring you a fresh 'Roma or 2' as a contribution-!!..I cant get over the flavour in that shank I ate last night!!-Dianne, I got my lamb at woolies,$10 off..17 bucks for a big fat leg isnt bad- otherwise, I just go without-Anthony

Good morning everyone.
Its quite cool here this morning. Yesterday was warm but not over hot. We managed to get rid of an old shrub that had grown too large and eventually died. Hubby got the large branches out then I jumped on all the rest to flatten then for moving out of the way. It was easy because the whole plant was dry and snapped easily.
Now I need a new plant to fill the space. Maybe a photinia as they are very hardy and do look nice when kept at a reasonable height.
There is a lovely polygala next to the empty space, so maybe another of those.

Anthony, your lamb leg was a great bargain. We eat more steak now than I would ever have imagined considering it was a luxury many years ago. I can buy lovely oyster blade or porterhouse steak for only $5 or $6 a piece in our Woolies.
The average leg of lamb would be around $25 or more.

Dianne, your small chairs sound like dolls chairs. I dont mean for a dolls house or just any doll . They were used years ago for showing off a prized display doll .
Maybe Tilly will sit on one in the garden.

Al, I didnt get to taste any of your cooking. The pot was empty when I looked.
I bet Dianne beat me to it...lol
Hubby doesnt cook here. I wouldnt let him. He has different ideas on how things should be done . He does the dishes ( and likes doing them )

Moon, I know you didnt really eat everything in the kitchen. It was definitely Charley. I found a hoof print near the door.
Hope your weather is improving. Its only a few more weeks until Spring for you.

Teresa, how is your weather going there ? You will be seeing snow on the mountains soon .
I like T bone too but it always seems to be double the price of other steak.
Most of the money you pay for it is wasted on the large bone.
I used to love shanks too, but as you say, they are now trendy, so have become expensive. Once you would get them for practically nothing along with lamb flaps, which are also tasty when rolled & seasoned. Alas all those tasty treats are too dear now. Who would have guessed all those years ago.
Pat the spotty ones for me.

Charleen, you also will be looking forward to Spring.
I have seen some pictures of your state in Spring. Its beautiful.
Charley is not getting cookies today. TBo came over and ate them.

Hello to everyone else looking in.

I am going to do a bit of watering as its nice and cool .
I finally got to trim along all the paths yesterday so today will be a lazy day.

Heres something yummy for morning tea. ....Orange & Date Muffins..


Stay safe and I hope our Qld friends are all safe and dry .

Jean.

Hope everyone is dry and safe..bad weather coming your way, Chrissy. Just feel like we've been through a big industrial washing machine..violent squalls and wind all night. Don't remember it being this bad in previous cyclones..had a huge old leopard tree fall over..luckily it fell on the palms and roof over kitchen. Haven't been able to check damage..no internet or phone so am down at hubby's practice building using internet there. Still have 3/4G and iPhone..different telco!..and I was complaining that he changed it just recently as the other group had everything prior to that. Don't know how to post pics here from iPhone..and haven't uploaded them to PC.. Fenceman will be happy..he is away..I bet he starts asking us to cut other trees down as this one was not close to house like the gums are..

Karen, are you okay?? Luckily house is okay and everyone is safe so that is all that matters. The Banana plants were flattened yesterday..right on top of epies and Dunlayin castle..I left them there as I thought they'd give a little protection if anything else fell. Lots of big branches. river is a swirling torrent of eddies and swirling rafts of assorted junk and flotsam. Stay safe. Have a good week.

Please stay safe, everyone in the "top end'-Anthony

Glad you and yours are okay Katciao. What a scary thing when trees start falling. My DD is in Northgate. Tried to call her, but kept getting an All Circuits busy recording. From what we are able to glean from news/online info, seems majority of flooding and damage is in S Brisbane/SQld and N NSW. She thought moving to AU she would not have "hurricane" worries.....she didn't realize cyclones were the same thing and could reach that far inland. Fingers crossed this blows through quickly. Be safe.

Oh, My goodness!!! You all be careful....

Good morning everyone.
Kat, nice to hear you are safe. Trees & houses can be replaced, people cant.
I hope all our other Qld friends are safe too. .Its not a nice thing to be in and with debris flying around, can be so dangerous.
I never cease to be astounded at the fools you see in any dangerous situations.
I saw a boy running in and out of the sea . Not too bad running around in the foam on land,but the ocean, in that weather ????
Did you see the car zoom up out of the foam. A close call for those standing around.
Kat, maybe the FM has floated away to annoy people somewhere else..

Hello Moon , I hope your DD is okay and that you are able to reach her soon. Its very hard to be somewhere else when family are in danger zones.
We do have some savage weather here even if under a different name.


Charleen, give Charley a pat for me. Hope little Abigail & Kaitlin are doing well. I havent seen them for a while.

Dianne, how are things down your way ?
Last night it got quite cold. here .

Teresa, I see the darn thing has decided to move south. I do hope it misses NZ or dies out before it gets anywhere else on land.

Anthony, you may be down the lower end of the country, but at the moment it seems a good place to be.
Cocky would not like a cyclone ruffling his feathers.

Hello to anyone else looking in.
I hope everyone comes through the weather okay.

Heres a tasty nibble for morning tea. .....Rocky Road Brownies... ( Moon , dont eat them all..lol)

Stay safe and dry .
Jean.

MUMMMFFFRPH....just one this morning Jean...gotta a lot of errands to run....GRIN

Yes Jean, it was cold here too....
That car coming out of the foam was amazing...
Moon, hope that your family isn't too badly affected....I had to look up Northgate.....

I had to take lots of bulbs out of their pots this morning and get them ready for replanting in the following months..
Tomorrow I'll wash the pots...

I put a couple of pics of those chairs that I keep talking about, alongside a modern chair....the are about 3ins shorter and 3ins less in the seat....
That means we are taller and have bigger bums...which is probably true...
The more that I look at them the more I marvel at the workmanship in them...
The way that the cane is inset into the seat and after goodness knows how many years, it only has one break in the cane...lots of woodworm holes, it probably sat in a shed for years....
The darker chair is stuffed with some kind of straw, even that has only one worn part where the stuffing is coming out, the seat is made from the same straw but it's been twisted into a twine, so clever, and those lovely turned legs on both of them...

Just thought that I would share these little gems from a bygone era.....we'll never see their like again....
Dianne.

It's very wet but the rain has stopped and we have been spared the terrible wind this time.

Love antique furniture and antique books too. Guess it won't be long before I am an antique too lol.

Kat Wow you poor thing ...I have family in Bundy ...it has been scary !
Hopefully the worst is over for you all up there,
take care !

It's all mud and puddles here, but it's a lot better than expected, for which I am very grateful, but feel guilty when I see what others are going through.Living higher up has both problems and advantages. Lots of flooded roads in the lower parts around here though, nothing like further North though.

Take care everyone.
chrissy

Ahhh, now I see the chairs, Dianne. I was thinking of smaller ones when you said they were smaller than the usual chairs. I was thinking quite small, so no, they are not the dolls chairs I mentioned, but are people chairs.
I think if you look at a lot of antique chairs, they are definitely smaller than modern ones. People were smaller than we are .
Yours look to be really nice ones.
I remember my gran having chairs with stuffing in them . I think it was horse hair used a lot back then.
Just imagine, all the ladies didnt have big bums ...lol
Jean.

Dianne those side chairs are really cool. The darker chair on the left is called a Rush seat side chair...the material the seat is made from was usually bulrush fiber or in some cases long strips of twisted brown paper/cord rather like raffia. They were often stuffed with horsehair or the Fluff left over from ginning cotton, or from shredded bulrush. And as you guessed, the other is a cane seated side chair. In Victorian times a slightly lower smaller chair was used at the dining table. The End Chairs, for the Lord and Lady of the manor were slightly taller as was "befitting of their rank"....these chairs were also used in the Salons as occasional seating for ladies for concerts and balls....smaller chairs that could be stacked away when not in use......Folklore refers to them a ladies' chairs owing to the fact that women were shorter than men thus requiring a shorter chair...hmmm.

Spoke with my Daughter last night. They were in Noosa for Australia Day during the worst part of the rain and she said they had no trouble getting home and all was well at their house....no water standing near them. Northgate is north of Brisbane Airport a fair distance from the river. They had some water in their back yard (12-14 inches) during cyclone Yasi but none in the main house as it sits about 7 feet above the yard.

Continued good thoughts to all facing yet another round of flooding.

I went outside a little while ago. gardening is going to be interesting with Tbo. I pick something up and he wants it.
I was moving some rocks, one of my favorite things to do, found a couple of grubs so I called Abigail over for a few snacks. she loves it when I'm outside moving things....
Saw Charley laying down in pasture. Didn't know an electric fence could be so soothing. He stay mostly in center of pasture, no fences for my big boy. I don't blame him tho. That fence gives off quite a Buzz when you touch it.
Beautiful here, no rain. Just enough to make you want the warm weather here....

Good morning everyone.
Its cool here but will be a lovely day.
I was busy yesterday doing a few things I have been going to do for ages, but just never got around to them.
I have some large tyre halves here that were made into planters. They have just been sitting so I decided to move them to the back shadehouse where my largest clivias grow.
The clivias were outgrowing the pots so I filled the tyres with potting mix and put the clivias in them. Should do them for quite a few years now.
The clivias had so many roots coiled around in the pots so I just cut half off. They will be perfectly happy with whats left. All my clivias are doing very well. I have lots of yellow, variegated and broad leaf chinese ones, all seed grown.
My poor old greenhouse needs sewing up, so I will do that today. The thread where the zipper door is just rots away after a few years. I get out the large darning needle and fishing line to sew it all up again. The three greenhouse are all in different stages of condition. The first is the best as it is s till going with only a few minor places of wear. Its 8 years old . The next one ,6 years old, has just disintegrated and is just a shadehouse now with shadecloth over the frame. The last one is only 3 years old and still looking good except for the zip which I may have to replace next year.
Considering they are all just cheapies from eBay and not meant as permanent structures, I am pleased with them.
Makes my plant growing easier.

Hello Moon , so nice to hear your daughter is okay where she is.
So much heartbreak in these disasters.

Charleen, Charley is no fool . He knows to keep away form that electric fence.
I bet Abigail enjoyed her bugs. Our magpies here are the same. They will stand right next to you when you move a rock or log

Hello Dianne, Chrissy and Teresa.
Teresa, hope you arent getting any bad weather from that cyclone .
Anthony has the rain reached down your way at all. We have had nothing at all here but some quite cold days.

I will see what I can find in the kitchen for morning tea.....Chocolate Cheesecake

I am off to water and fertilise.
Happy day and stay safe everyone.
Jean. .

Those Clivias sound very happy Jean, they are so expensive to buy still...

moon, you lovely lady..thank you very much for the info on the chairs....now that I know what they are, I might be able to research them a bit..
Your family live in the next suburb to one of our Brugmansia growers....we haven't heard from him but if yours are ok, he must be too...

Charleen, especially when those electric fences touch your head when you bend down to check something, even the lowest voltage gives you a headache for ages...keep away from those nasties, Charley...

There isn't a blade of grass in Mick's paddock, but now the rabbits are ringbarking all the lucerne trees around his fenceline...they act as a windbreak for the taller trees and Mick loves them...in 10 yrs I have never seen rabbits touch them before, I hope that they can shoot below the ringbarking and grow back...

No second cut for the hay this year, so I bought some more just in case.
Dianne.

Hi Iknow so much happens at my house - storm damage a nother tile smashed by falling branch from next doors gum tree rain poured into house on monday night was away over the week end so found when I arrived home yesterday - the tile has been replaced it is all coved by my insurance this room has the most damage now waiting for the water above the ceiling to dry up tomorrow they are bring drying machine they have punched holes so water is dripping down half the house 13 buckets spread around the house so any thing thate could be moved out has been so unpluging till all the work is done. elaine.

weather's been great here but the down side is that some areas have had just 5% of their average monthly rainfall.
The tail end of the cyclone will flick across the lower South Island bringing them some rain but there is still a high sitting over the upper half so we are in for more heat.