TEA ROOM # 126

Good morning everyone. Very very hot here. Not nice. Beautiful lilies Anthony. How are you? Not much going on here except watering and sprinkler duty on the chooks and galahs and for the ducks and goose. Looks as though I will be out there running around again today. I had a lovely surprise this morning. RFP is in full bloom again and I found 2 six pointers. I have some pics but I haven't down loaded them yet. The flowers on the whole bush/tree are waxy. It must be the weather. Well I'm going to get a cuppa and I'll see you all later. Colleen

Wifey Ellen has a break in her music occupation, so we're headed to the southlands for a couple of weeks. We have a conference meeting in Pennsylvania, but will then travel to the southern tip of Florida to Key Largo on the coastal islands. Certainly a lot warmer than here, somewhat tropical weather if all goes well. Likely pass by Miami on the way.

I'll have my small computer, so I'll try to send a few pix while we're there.

All your flowers look beautiful! Everything is really wintered out here in NY.

Al

Have a great trip Al. I wish I was going along , but it warm enough here at the moment with 43C
We would love to see pics if you take any. Love seeing the US via the pics.

Colleen, I had a flower on RFP and there are more buds if they stay on with the heat.
Jean.

Jean RFP is fairly tough and I find if I put the sprinklers on for a while each day they're okay. Al enjoy your trip. Colleen

gorgeous lilies Anthony!

the weasel really does love her trips to the dog park, it is such a big area that just walking around it is good exercise.
All her running about playing with the other dogs is a bonus:)

I am a member of a Dalmatian group on FaceBook, some Aussie cities have really nice dog parks too.
Wonderful to have safely fenced areas for the dogs to get a good off lead run.

we've had a funny summer, not all that wet but cloudy & cool.
Last night's low was 8C!
My tomatoes are sulking, only have one small green tomato on an Arctic Plenty.
Early Girl is not happy & my self sown pair are flowering but no sign of fruit.

I can't get over how many people walk into the shop where I work & comment that it is the wrong time of the year to sell merino clothing...
umm - hellooo 8C is not tropical!

I was wearing 3 layers of merino this morning & didn't take any off until well after lunch when it finally warmed up.

Hello everyone. I have been absent for some time but its been a time of healing and getting used to the new me. Sickness is not something I tolerate easily and I cut back on a lot of my activities on the web to keep things easy for myself. I've kept up with some of you on FB.

I have a poser here that I would love to share, and get comments, advice, anything really. I have a rather wild crepe myrtle tree that is around 35 years old now, and sending suckers out which I'm constantly cutting off but not actually removing the source. One of the repeat offenders which grew normal green leaves like the mother plant has suddenly sprouted a variegated leaf. I've searched the web for variegated crepe myrtle, to no avail. Has anyone got one, heard of one, have any info at all on var. crepe myrtle leaves?

Pics 1 & 3 are the rogue mystery leaf plant. 2 and 4 are the mother tree which is in flower at the moment. Any comments appreciated.

Hello everyone. I'm late today but have been busy watering and checking plants . With this heat we are having, I need to keep an eye on plants that are not used to such high temps.
Its been around 43C - 45C and more to come. Poor plants are definitely not used to it down here.

Thanks Colleen, I keep all the brugs well watered . I usually get out either late evening or early morning.
They are appreciating it too .

Teresa, sounds like I need to swap your cold for some of my hot....lol
Customers are never happy, as I found when I worked in shops.
Nice to see the Weasel behaving..

DawnSong, a plant can often put up a strange shoot due to stress of some sort, or just through some perversity of its own
I would try growing the odd shoots and see what happens.
Hope you are now feeling a lot better after you illness.

Jean.

Thanks Jean. I plan to let it develop a bit more, and see if it throws another shoot. Just don't know if its worth the effort if its a common thing though.

Hello all, yes pics from the Lily Show, but once again, every time I check here, I have no Picture upload button............They tell me to keep erasing my cookies, but Im sick of it-Anthony

Charley has a good Mud coat on from taking all those rolls in the sandy soil. I bet him on the back and there is a tiny dust storm going on. But he still loves his back/rump scratched....
Everyone doing o.k. Just taking one day at a time....

I do hope everyone is coping in the extreme weather areas. Seems the world is fire and ice with all that is going on.

Charleen, give that muddy mule a pat for me too.

The latest fad I've taken up is gathering Coleus. The colours of the leaves of this plant amaze me and I can't stop photographing them.

I love Coleus!
Had quite the collection in Brisbane, so easy to grow from cuttings.
Here in ChCh I was told off by a grower at the RSA where I worked.
She donated a tiny plant & I watered it & turned the pot regularly to keep it from getting unbalanced.
And of course pinched out the tips to make it bushy...
well she was most indignant that I pinched out the flower spikes as they appeared.
I couldn't convince her that Coleus is grown for foliage not flowers.
I left it alone after that & it got leggy & then died.
Wish it had been big enough to get a cutting from.

Coleus are such great growers here in the summertime, but I have trouble trying to hold them over the winter season. I do have a nice heated sun window for our St. Paulia African Violets, but the coleus just don't do well there. They are a fun plant, the growers have so many beautiful varieties to choose in the Spring and they grow well into the Fall before frost sets. We set them every season.

Sorry Anthony, these are last years' lilliums. It's the best I can do right now..

Weather looks great, we're driving through the Pennsylvania mountains early Friday morning, likely the worst part of the drive. Seems like they always get snow there, but we're careful.

Al

Coleus comes in all colors and the leaf shapes are great. They do have little purple blooms but nothing to draw your attention like the leaves. The more sun , the more color.
I was out kissing and petting on those longears, Charley walks right by and stood there with his rump handy for a scratch. They all love that...
Hugs and nuzzles to all.

Good morning everyone.
32C at the moment and didnt drop much below that all night.
The garden was surviving after 3 days of over 40C but yesterday was a bit much and now everything is looked very limp & toasty.
Its not that the temps are so high, as I remember years ago , plenty of hot times, but for my little corner its not usual to have such a heatwave.
we do get high temps, but mainly just a day here and there..
Oh well, the plants just have to be like us & grin & bear.
The heat is affecting poor hubby though especially just so soon after his op.

Al, take care through those mountains. I hope you dont get snow as you go.

Lovely plants, coleus, but another that I cannot grow here as most of the year is too cool for them.
The colors are certainly weird & wonderful .

Charleen, I have missed Charley being around the Tea Room door. Maybe he thought I had run out of cookies....lol

He must be looking good after his mud bath. Imagine , some ladies will pay a fortune for the same treatment in some beauty salon..

Hello Anthony. hope its a bit cooler down you way.

Colleen, take care of yourself and dont overdo in the heat.

Teresa, one has to laugh at the comments that come from people ignorant of plants
You would think the first thing to be admired on the coleus would be the beautiful leaves.

Hello Dianne, Chrissy and anyone popping in.

I will leave you with a tasty treat for morning tea.....Orange Date Muffins...

I am off to finish the last bit of watering before the sun gets too toasty on me.

Stay safe
Jean.

Just a quick pop in for a cool drink of water thanks Jean. Not very good weather with fires all around and temps of high 40's for 5 days now. 48C yesterday phew!!! Supposed to be a cool change coming through later today. Must go . Colleen this is the 6pointed RFP.

the colour on RFP is so delicate, the flower looks dainty in the the thumbnail but must be pretty big when you look at it next to your hand!

warm & windy here, the heat has travelled across the Tasman & any moisture in the air is dropped on the West Coast thanks to the Southern Alps, by the time the wind gets to the Canterbury plains it is a hot dry Nor'wester.

Hubby & I are going to the North Island this weekend.
fly up Saturday & then home Monday.
His aviation forum is meeting up there & he is going to give a talk on the joys of restoring an aeroplane - a J5F Auster to be precise :)

We've met some nice people through his interest in aviation & I enjoy these meetings too.

We'll be bringing back a 'new' strut for the Auster, Baz phoned the airline & checked to see that it would fit in the hold.
Turns out to be way cheaper to book it on as excess baggage than it would to freight the thing down.

Take care everyone - Northern Hemisphere - stay warm
Aussie - stay cool

Cheers - Teresa

Hello everyone. I am just running in and out as I have so much to do .
I will be absent from DG on and off over the next few months.
Hubbys illness has not improved as much as we hoped and there will be a lot of going to and fro between hospitals , doctors etc.
I will try to pop in when I can to see how everyone is going.
I will leave the key to the Tea Room, under the mat so you can go in and help yourselves.
Dont forget to put all the leftover cookies etc outside for Charley.
I am sure Dianne or Colleen will put out something tasty for everyone to enjoy over your morning teas.

Take care and stay safe.
Jean.

Jean, so sorry to hear that hubby isn't improving. Wishing you both well and I do truly hope and pray they can get him up and running again.

Glad everyone like coleus too. Sometimes I wonder if my old faves are too lowly for the modern beauties of today. But I think they are making a come back, and good on them for doing so.

I started collecting one other plant too for its foliage, Caladiums. Such a range of these also.

Jean, sorry things are going as well as they could be. Hope things improve very soon. Give him my best wishes for a full recovery. Colleen

Jean {{{hugs}}}
hope hubby has a speedy recovery.
Take care of yourself too :)

I'm posting from the hotel in Hamilton after a long day of aviation talks.
Some good, some great, some needed a little spark.

Afterwards we had a look at a homebuilt plane with a difference.
The chap not only built it but designed it too.

We got to hop in & sit in the cockpit, it was easier to get into than Baz's plane will be & it was very comfortable.

Back home tomorrow, should have some time to spend in the garden before heading back to work Tuesday.

Hi Teresa. Glad to see you popping in to let us know what you've been doing. I thought that I would just come in for a cuppa and was really glad to see someone else here. I do hope everything's going well at Jean's. What have you been up to Dianne. I saw Charlie had been out the back looking for his cookies. Had a great day down at the lake yesterday with the boys and a few friends for the boy's birthdays. Cameren's was Friday and Branden's is Tuesday. 10 and 11 years old now. My little Great-grand son is 20 months old now. It is very hard to believe that Branden was only that age when he came to live with me. Cameren was only 10 months old and now he's 10 years . Everyone tells me that they will keep me young and I could never understand that because I was always on the go, sleepless nights at first, and when they're not feeling well and I thopught, How does this keep you young? but I understand now it's not the body it's the mind that they keep young. With all this technology and TV programs and the books that they read and the games they play. Lego is the fad at the moment again. Hello to anyone else who pops in. Hope the ones OS aren't too frozen. We had a very comfortable day of about 30C here today. I really don't want to see any of that 47-48C for a long time thanks. Have a great night everyone. Colleen

Jean , wishing both of you the best..KEEP The HOPES UP!!!Im just about 'fed up' with pain, and going into hospital on the 30th, for a double invasive[ use the imagination].. Doctor says symptoms sound like the regular IBS created over a long period, possibly assisted by many stresses in the past, but best to be safe than sorry..I don't want any sympathys please.. All I want to do Is get fixed up and get along with lily growing,, Im experiencing some brilliant seedlings and looking foreward to what the future breeding has in store[Its gonna be great]-----Still no picture upload button.. this site now is taken up with so many advertisers, it takes so long to load,, sorry , I have many brilliant pictures

This message was edited Jan 20, 2014 4:32 AM

We thought We would pop in and see what you all are up to. Mama is saying Prayers that you all Stay safe and away from the Fires. We do worry about all our Friends. Hoping Mr. Al is having a safe and happy vacation too.
Love to you all from Mama (Charleen) and me Charley the mule....

Morning to every one ,
Jean sorry hubby on the sick list best wishes to both of you .

Colleen I take Bisolvon tablets to break down mucus helps to clear the chest worth a try if it happens again


Every one have the best day you can Elaine

some pics from Sunday
1 - Baz giving his talk at the forum meet
2 - a flying helmet that has been lovingly restored
3 - Baz outside the venue
4 - the scenery at the venue, Lake Karapiro, famous for rowing events
6 - Baz hauling himself into a home built aircraft.

Hello everyone.. I just looking in quickly to see how you are all going.

Charleen, I hope Charley is sharing all the cookies I left for him..

Teresa, I see the shaky isles are shaking again. I hope no bad damage this time.
Baz looks like he is enjoying himself there.

Anthony, thanks for the kind words and you keep yourself healthy too. hope all your problems are quickly sorted.

Colleen , hope the fires are not close to you over there.
Thanks for the kind words too.

Hello to anyone else popping in. Enjoy the morning tea and chat.
I hope to look in again soon

A nibble to go on with... Apple Tart

Jean.

Anthony, I just had to pop back with this pic of my beautiful Oriental liliums now out.
Just a tad singed on the tips from the heat, but lovely. Nice perfume too.
Very large flowers...nearly 8" across
These were pots I bought for just a couple of dollars on the orphan table at Bunnings last year.
Jean.

Good score Jean!
Lovely lilies.

It's all good here in ChCh.
This time the shakes were up in the North Island.

http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/felt


they have been having a few aftershocks but the experts think it will all settle fairly quickly.

Casa Blanca, Jean 'good score'! seeing as Im struggling to post pics , try this ..tasblooms.com/claremontflshow/
Gallery 25

Anthony, what a wonderful day it must have been.....all the entries, you must be very pleased...
Congrats on your win..
Glenbrook has done well again.

Good buy, Jean...they look really nice..huge flowers.
Teresa, lovely pics...
Colleen, you are so right, the time really has flown....your RFP is one of my favourites, it's big open face at night is really lovely and I love the perfume too...a street light shines into our back garden and at night RFP is really beautiful...


This message was edited Jan 21, 2014 10:06 PM

Here is Anthony's prize winner...

Thanks for that ,Dianne .. 2days in fact , 3 if you count in Friday staging

just looked at the show photos...

WOW :)

what stunning lilies.

There were some nice arrangements as well.

Thanks, Teresa.. What does everyone think of the stage setting?

Happy 2014 to everyone.

Help please...
How to re-pot or divide and pot up, a beautiful Rhaphus Palm? Presently in 20" pot and has many
separate individual wee shrubs..v. crowded. Has been in same p[ot for 2-3 years.

Many thanks in advance
Cheers to all
Anna (Oh, still live up the road from Sydney on Central Coast).

I couldn't really make it out Anthony but the draping looked very impressive..
The lighting looks great at that venue....lots of garden shows are way too dark..

There are about 6 huge windows facing north .. The hall was once a picture theatre...They have just started refurbishing it for the 1st time since ww2

Hello everyone. Just a quick trip in and out. I like to see what everyone is doing.
Hubby is improving , but still has more tests next week.
His major op wont be for a while until after we have seen the surgeon next month.

Its going to be a warm day here as was yesterday. Nothing as bad as we had a week ago.
The garden is surviving and I am surprised at what is still green after the heat.
Its all about keeping the roots damp, I am sure.

Anthony, thank you for the name of my lovely Orientals.
I bought 3 pots at the time and should have bought them all.
The flowers are so large and now I see tiny little pink dots scattered over the insides.
They last very well out in full sun.
There are still about 4 buds to open so a nice long show for me.

Love your prize winner. The show pics look great and I do like all the arrangements

Hello Teresa, hope the Weasel is behaving. Glad the shakes were not near you again.

Dianne, how are you doing in the heat ?
Give Tilly a pat for me.

Charleen, I do miss seeing Charley as I never get to the Tea Room when he is hanging around.
I leave cookies out though.
Hope you are not getting too cold where you are.

Hello to everyone else.
Have to run, Hubby needs breakfast.

Enjoy some Blueberry Muffins for morning tea....

Keep safe .
Jean.

Have a great weekend all my Aussie mates - hope everyone is feeling fit & well & up to enjoying the celebrations.

And to the folks shivering in the Northern Hemisphere - stay warm & safe!

I had a nice big envelope arrive in the mail today...

it was from the NZ Kennel Club & contained Sugar's official certificate for her Rally Novice title.

So the weasel is now Cristabo Sugar Babe, RN.

I think I'll still be calling her weasel.

We will be back at training on Sunday - and in a few weeks our first competition.

The following weekend will be our first breed show with Australian Dalmatian specialists judging...

The garden is going to be a little neglected for a while.