Good to hear from you, Jean. Hope everything pulls together for you and dear hubby. Wishing you both well.
Al
TEA ROOM # 126
Ah ! Jean , that's no good.. Tell hubby, Ive a 1/2 decent Mig welder here , If he wants good repair jobs or gussets fitted!..Keep the spirit up and tell him to get the energy levels up , so he can go on the easter egg hunt!............Kiara Forgwen -Dahlia..tonight of all nights, they let me post a pic?
Pretty dahlia Anthony.
I've been feeling a bit blue - the commercial manager has confirmed I will be made redundant.
My two job prospects came to nothing but I have applied for a few more & who knows - something wonderful could be waiting for me out there.
It could be worse, at least we don't have a mortgage to worry about & (touch wood)
have our health.
It's been very quiet in here... I think we could all use some tea & sympathy!
I keep reminding myself that even when things get me down there are other people fighting bigger battles.
{{{hugs}}} to all in need of them :)
Miss Sugar thought young Lewis was rather nice... he thought she was hilarious. Laughed at her every move
Not good -Teresa.. One door closes, another opens.. Quiet on here , is an understatement!... I had Mo to the vet tonight with breathing problems, Vet seems sure its not the Psitta virus, as my other birds would have it.. started treatment tonight, hoping he comes right.. I know ke was treated very poorly in his previous home. He flew up onto my shoulder at the vets ''and stayed there'', all the ladies loved him and scratched his head .He is such a beautiful personality, I hate seeing him sick...Yes Teresa, there are others worse off!
Poor old Mo, I hope that all goes well for him, Anthony.
Tilly was at the vet yesterday, she had a small cyst, but she's ok....
What a strange weather pattern we have been experiencing even in Tassie....
Has yours been normal Teresa?
Sorry that you have to look for other employment, hope it comes your way soon.
Hi Al and moon, those Cardinals are so pretty aren't they....
Plenty of excercise for you with those Kites, Al......
The Dahlias are lovely Anthony, I'm only growing the small ones now, the others are too big for my garden.....
My daughter and granddaughter went to see Lisa Presley, the other night and they had pics taken and a long chat with Lisa and her husband, lovely people...Lisa organized for them to have free tickets for her next show as well....Linda and Steph were very happy..
There wasn't a need to because her shows have been well patronised....she seems to be a very nice woman, she's the same age as Linda.
Jean, we are thinking of you both.....not much longer now so keep your chin up.....
Dianne...
Hellllooo!- Has Armageddon arrived? Am I the only one left?
Hello Anthony. It does look like you are the lone visitor. I am sorry I have not been in to open the Tea Room.
I have plenty to do at the moment looking after hubby. We are off to Geelong for more tests and then still a wait until his big op at the end of the month.
He is not well at all and being very wobbly , I need to be there in case he falls when moving about.
I thought someone else may come in and put out some nice nibbles and keep you all fed.
I may not be back in much at all for quite a while, as this op coming up is very serious and will require hubby being in hospital for about 2 weeks then needing constant care for a while after he gets home.
I will try to pop in and see who is about when ever I can.
Better put out a few nibbles and then get hubbys breakfast.
Hope all is well down your way Anthony.
Hello to anyone else who pops in ..One of my favorites... Chocolate Butter Cake..
Take care..
Jean
well today has been up & down as far as the weather goes...
drizzle turned to rain, didn't last long & now we have sunshine.
Sugar had a good session at dog club - we are working on getting my hand position in the best place for Sugar to focus.
It is so different from when I started out.
We have competition next weekend, it will be interesting to see what our marks are.
I would like there to be an improvement over the last show.
All the best for you both Jean..... And good luck to Sugar
Well, Spring has sprung, okay almost...
A few of my early tomatoes grown under the light stand, now 7weeks old. They will be placed in bucket containers later when the weather warms up a bit. Too cold to put outside right now.
Just a couple of crocus peeklng through, my dafs and tulips are coming soon after.
Hope everyone is well.
Al
Today I planted out some giant strawberry seeds (Maximus Strawberry) which I got 5 mths ago throu ebay but as it was wrong time of the year to plant, Ive had to wait. I really hope these grow.
Im not a happy girl thou as Ive just realised Ive done something real dumb. I had some rare pineberry seeds (like pineapple tasting strawberry) and had put them into the freezer some time ago so when autumn came I could just plant. I went to get them out of the freezer today but found they werent there and just have realised I accidently threw them in the bin 2 weeks ago. I had them wrapped up in a little piece of alfoil and couldnt figure out when I came across it, how a small piece of alfoil got into my freezer and threw it then out thinking rubbish. :(
Crap.. they were more then $1 per seed and Ive been waiting 5mths to plant those. I dont think Im be forgetting this mistake for a while.
Tania {{{hugs}}} you will need to put arnica cream on those bruises from kicking yourself...
Hope the strawberry seeds make up for it
I had a busy day with the Sugar weasel - competing in Novice Obedience at our triple championship show.
It is held indoors at the Riding for the Disabled arena.
Sugar was very keen at the morning show & I was happy with her but not so much with myself as I felt my footwork hindered her & several times she had to cope with me staggering on our turns.
She was so enthusiastic on her recall that she ran into me & I stepped back - I thought I might lose all my points but the judge only pinged me 1pt, I think because only one foot moved.
I was gob smacked to be called back to the ring for a run off - 3 of us were on the same points.
I thought it was probably for 5th & when the chap that ran last had a lovely retrieve by his dog I figured that we were out of the running.
So imagine my surprise when they called my number for the winners line up.
We placed 3rd on 96.5/100.
Had I kept my balance we would have been running off for first!
the afternoon show Sugar was tired & while she wasn't naughty she didn't work very well & we lost a lot of points & were well out of the running.
we go back tomorrow for another try.
We learn by mistakes Tania!
Congrats-Teresa & Sugar
Hello everyone.
Just taking a few minutes to pop in and see whos here.
Hubby is resting after our trip to Geelong hospital for pre op tests.
It was a good trip down but tiring for both of us. Hopefully the next trip for the op will be the last.
No rain here but we had light rain all the way down to Geelong& back.
Its been cloudy but still a bit warm during the day.
The garden is looking very shabby and dry but the brugs are looking great.
My bromeliads are pupping madly so lots to pot up in Spring.
Plenty of autumn bulbs are coming out now and I see the blackbirds have been digging lots of bulbs up as they look for grubs etc.
I have been poking them back in but as fast as I do , they are out again. Once we get rain and the weeds start growing the birds wont bother so much.
How are things down in lilium land , Anthony ?
Lots of lovely shoots coming up here from my Christmas lilies.
You will be surrounded in beautiful blooms once again as soon as spring comes .
Al , nice to see you popping in. I hope your tomatoes do well.
I tossed a few old ones into the garden a while back. They never seem to grow well here. Too dry I think.
Hello to everyone else looking in. I will try and get in now and then but once hubbys op gets closer, it will be busy , busy for quite awhile. He is going to need lots of extra care later.
Hope everyone up north is safe from the cyclone.
Take care.
Enjoy a nibble with a cuppa....yummy Orange Cake..
Jean.
Give my regards to William & Kate, we've been watching them on the news!
Hope all are well.
Al
Smelt the cake. Jean and knew that you had popped in....
Doesn't little George look like Wills at the same stage..spitting image..IMO
Had a massive clean up in the garden today...Brug population is halved and the ones that are left are half the size...now they can all see the sky...
Took out a rampant Clematis "Montana", it covered the whole fence and countless other plants..
So it's gone too...
I didn't realise that we had so many Camellias...all full of buds despite the Clematis....
Have to cut back on the bulb population too, but at least I can give those away...
The tomatoes are lasting a lot longer this year, usually they end in march, but there are still plenty left..sorry Jean...strange Summer though...
Hope you have a good season with your tomatoes, Al.
Sorry about your seeds Tania, very frustrating...
Congrats on your good score Teresa.......hope you did well today..
There are some very pretty small Dahlias on the market at present Anthony...
I have a lovely bright orange one from last year...nice and small and suited to a pot...
Hope everyone has a great weekend..the last of my roses, Cornelia....also my favourite..
Dianne...
photo of Sugar with her 3rd place ribbon from yesterday.
She tried hard today but lost too many points on her heel work to get anywhere.
At least I know what we need to work on some more :)
She looks pleased with her effort, Teresa.....congrats anyway....
Give that girl an extra treat, she looks so proud!
Good Doggie!!
Al
she is a clever girl...
we didn't do as well in the other tests but that's ok.
I have a better idea of what we need to work on.
Pretty much everything :)
The garden is looking sad & neglected but the weeds I sprayed are being obliging & turning yellow & on their way to being dead weeds.
We have had rain, rain & more rain an it's getting colder all the time.
I think we left it to late to resow the lawn where it is patchy.
Nearly Easter & the odds are frosts won't be far off.
Rain-we need, Frosts we need[5 at least]-for the Daffs, Now I have so many 'minis' here..The fire is warm , and really soothes the bones!
What a proud looking dog!
"The garden is looking very shabby and dry but the brugs are looking great. "
I think Im quite tired tonight, I read that to say that your garden was looking very shabby and the "bugs are looking great" so was confused there for a moment lol.
..................................
Tonight, Im still in Wow mode. Today when I went to get a plant I wanted which had been advertised on gumtree, I saw what may be the best garden (its in a seaside suburb but has a tropical garden) in Adelaide and it's only three years old, Im still awe what this person has done and how tall he'd got things in his garden (banana trees, palms etc etc) in only a few years with all the understory plants too.
It was covered in vegetables down the side of the house too, just things he said come up in his compost (ripe pumpkins, rockmelons and other stuff all over the place).
He let me take a cutting from this most amazing bright purplish pink plant (which he said also grows in sun without fading) . I brought from him several plants which had been on my want list here including a beautiful Tradescantia spathacea 'Hawaiian Dwarf' (I think from the way it looks). He also had a beautiful hybiscus out the frong of his house but unfortunately had sold his last one so hopefully I'll get one of those from him in the future. He's selling his plants for only $5-$6 each including banana trees, black stemmed taros etc etc!! If my front, back and side gardens were cleaned up, I would of brought a heap more plants.
I also got a Bromelaid today (from someone else on gumtree) for $5 . its one called Queens Tears. I saw photo of it and thought it looked awesome.
We'll have the twin 2yr olds plus Livy for the weekend, lots of action for a few days for the GPs. Hope we all live through it....
Have a Great Easter Holiday everyone! The lilies are in bloom here.
Al
what a contrast in the weather...
yesterday was pouring rain, we had surface flooding in the street but friends had it knee deep & close to lapping at the garage door & the earthquake lowered areas of Christchurch that flooded last time - flooded again.
Apparently it will be 2 years before the issues can be addressed & it's estimated to be $15 million to either widen the river there or install a pump.
the weather was so much nicer the past few days, I managed to get out in the garden a bit & have done a few of the things I wanted to.
I tried my hand at patching the lawn, the instructions were to use dynamic lifter to sow the seed onto.
What I didn't realise was that Sugar would find the Dynamic Lifter irresistibly delicious.
I have been trying to keep her from snacking each time we go outside but she has managed to chow down on quite a bit of it.
I had more success with my new garden bed, after all the rain it was soft enough to dig over & I shifted a few plants into one end of it.
I put cyclamen in to the woodland corner but they have been over run by the sweet violets.
of about 10 plants I managed to find one & relocate it.
I'll have to try & find some more as I really like the look of them at the front of a bed.
I also shifted an azalea, probably not a moment to soon as it was very water logged & there's nothing they hate more than wet feet for any length of time.
Hopefully the move will make it happy, I know the last one I shifted from the wet side to the raised bed is looking much better.
Can understand why Sugar finds the Dynamic Lifter Irresistable..mmmmmmm.. Rain Is finally pouring and soaking , here [don't get much better than this].................
more rain here - you can have our share, we've had more than enough!
We need more!..
Teresa, are you at the footy? St K v Brizzy
My Granddaughter Olivia really likes your pix of Sugar, but by the looks she didn't much care for the Easter bunny ears. We were trying to count the number of spots she has but gave up after a while. Couldn't see them all anyway.
Al
lol - Anthony, haven't been to a footy match in a couple of years - and when I do it would be Union, Crusaders are my home team.
Wouldn't mind seeing an All Black's test but tickets are a bit spendy for me.
Al - I have never attempted to count my dallies spots - Sugar is a very spotty girl, it would take forever.
When we take her to the dog park we usually hear the children exclaim 'look, a Dalmatian'...
the spotty dogs seem to fascinate even babies.
Our Grandson Lewis just kept laughing every time he looked at her.
Nothing sounds better than a 5 month old baby chortling away :)
I have been feeling unwell lately and slept most of yesterday - first time I have missed ANZAC Day in a long tome.
We took Sugar to the dog park in the afternoon & the fresh air did make me feel better.
Sunshine again today so once it warms up I should try & hit the garden again, so many weeds to pull & plants to tidy up.
On the job front things are looking up.
The Commercial Manager was looking at making me redundant & offereing me a part time contract.
Well last week we had the news that he is no longer in charge of the shops, a Retail Manager has been hired to do that job.
The best thing is that she is experienced in retail having spent time with Icebreaker from when they started out.
Hazel came down to meet us & check out the shop, we expected her to be bringing my new contract - seemed logical to give her the task of making me redundant as she has no personal involvement & could keep it all professional.
Well she knew nothing about it!
In fact she was horrified when we explained how things had been playing out & is going to look into it.
So for now my job isn't going anywhere & if Hazel implements some of her plans it will be even more secure as she is being paid by our parent company so our wages bill just came down by $1000.00 per week! (what we were contributing to the Commercial Manager's salary)
Some photos of the dogs...
Copper - he had the least amount of spots
Copper with his Rally-O ribbon when he gained his Rally Novice title
my first Dalmatian, Tyson snuggled up with my first dog - Haski.
Haski in full flight, he was a beautiful dog, hard to believe someone abandoned him as a pup.
Very nice dogs indeed! And such good show quality as well.
Al
thanks Al...
Copper was a nice type, very moderate & a correct front.
If he had more spots he might have done even better in the show ring but he made it to his champion title.
Sugar is better in some ways but is short in upper arm & that is against her for showing.
I don't like her lighter eyes, but as a liver spot she gets away with it as it tones in with her coat colour.
Haski we think was a white German Shepherd/Samoyed/Golden Retriever mix.
I'd give my eye teeth for another dog just like him, he had the sweetest nature & we lost him far too soon when he was only 7 years old.
He was close to starving to death when he wandered into my life & sadly that left him with lasting damage to his heart.
It annoys me to hear nasty comments about breeding pedigree dogs & how sickly & inbred they are & that rescue dogs are healthier & better...
my pedigree dogs have all lived long healthy lives because they were bred to be that way & raised with good food & vet care to give them the best start in life.
I'd happily have a mix breed again - but I'd never pay big bucks for a 'designer dog' as those are far more likely to have health & behaviour issues than a good old mystery mix from the pound.
oops - guess I should climb off the soap box now ;)
Ola!
Hi Anthony! Me thinks we got left on the dusty road.
Hey, we have SPRING here!! Complete with Daffs and Tulips, the grass almost looks green again. Tomato plants are 4 weeks from seed, won't be planted out until June 1st.
Al
yay for spring :)
love to see some photos of the daffs & tulips.
Things are slowing down here as it gets colder.
So far no frosts but it won't be much longer.
Here's a few Springy ones for you.. tulips, daffs, and globe allium..
More to come later.
Al
I love spring flowers!
that daff is really nice :)
I havn't turned Mexican, although I did have Chilli Meatballs[Chilli Meatspecks] for evening meal,.,I swapped 2 Narcissus Cyclamenius bulbs[for me] for some pendant Asiatic bulbs today.. I'm Happy....Rimfire,or Quasar Al!-the middle one!.............little continuous specks of rain here.. very good!
April showers bring May flowers and the Red mule back home to the barn...
