Month: June 2014

Sitting in the car in the pouring rain the other day waiting for the lights to change I wondered about the merits of wintering in Melbourne.  During the recent Millennium Drought (1997 – 2009) here in Victoria we had dry sunny winters that were almost like autumn, we now seem to be back to cold wet windy ones with record breaking rainfalls.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s_Australian_drought

Some years we pack up and head north to enjoy the warmth of winter in Queensland but (sigh) that won’t be happening this year, we’ll be venturing off overseas in September; this is one year when I can’t have it all.

So what are the positives of staying home at this time of the year.  Off the top of my head I would jokingly say ‘none’  It’s cold and I don’t do cold lol

Then I thought, that yes there are some things I enjoy but don’t get to see when we are away in winter.

The Tibouchina/Lasiandra that Cynthia mentioned the other week is in flower – covered in big purple blooms – it just doesn’t photograph well with all that sky behind it.

What looks like a mass of purple from the deck are individual blooms that are a treat to see.  Just has one failing in that if I bring some indoors the petals drop quickly.

click on the photos to enlarge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then theres the first blooms of the little dwarf jonquils/narcissus (I’m not sure what is the proper term) that fills the rose bed by the deck.  They are all finished by the time we arrive home – these are the first few for this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I carried on, diid my shopping, then came home to join Kiera who had made herself very comfy by the fire – thankfully for us it only takes a flick of the switch to heat the house using our gas fired log heater.

Unlike those in other parts of rural Victoria where by choice heating can be quite different – think wood heaters (Coonara)   We were up at the Violet Town market the other week and noticed one of the most popular stalls was the one selling raffle tickets – no chook raffles for them – the people up there were trying their luck at winning a trailer load of wood!  

I’m writing this at 3pm, the temp outside is about 9c/48f – it’s freezing out there.   Yes, on days like this I definitely wonder about the merits of wintering in Melbourne lol

On the surface it looks like Australia has two new young sports heroes
Well it just seems as though they are ‘new’ to their sports

In fact they have been ‘in their game’ for quite a few years
and are now reaping some of the benefits of all that hard work

Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo is 25
He has been around ‘cars’ most of his life moving up from ‘karts’ as a youngster through various Formula competitions to finally competing in Formula One.  He really came to the Australian publics eye in March this year at the Australian Grand Prix where he came second (but was later disqualified from for a ruling on ‘fuel flow rate’)  Since then he has won the Canadian Grand Prix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ricciardo

Tennis player Nick Krygios is 19
Represented Australia in Davis Cup matches, as well as other major tournaments he has competed in the Australian Open, the French Open, and has now reached the 4th round of Wimbledon.  He is drawn against Rafael Nadal so we will have to wait till tomorrow to see how he does.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Kyrgios

Like all the ‘overnight sensations’ we see on the television pop music shows this couple of youngsters have been making their way up the ladder of their chosen careers for many years.

There wont always be smiling faces so lets wish them lots of luck for many years to come

Just a little addition to yesterday’s post

So meanwhile in the eastern suburbs on a wet and very windy Tuesday morning some woke to nothing.
Well not really ‘nothing’ – just ‘sort of’ nothing
Listen while I explain

After a sleepless Monday night what with all the wind and rain and wondering if I’d dreamt hearing motors out in the street I woke quite early on Tuesday.  Looked out the window to see cars parked outside as well as trucks.  Now there are units being built down the street from us so I thought ‘cheeky so and so’s of builders have parked their cars up here but had no idea abbout the trucks.  Maybe they had had early deliveries of some sort – bricks or something else – and were having a smoko.

So I tootle off to the kitchen put the kettle on – no water.

Had another look at the trucks outside and notice Yarra Valley Water on the door.  Oh what now – so out I go in the rain in dressing gown plus umbrella to chat up a very nice young man who didn’t seem impressed at being grilled about why there was no water when we had not had notiification.

Seems there was a burst water main that was running right through next doors garage – those cars I heard in the street during the night were theirs – being moved so they could see what was happening.  Water off till, ‘well we don’t really know when, maybe a couple of hours’ he said.  ‘But I haven’t had a cup of tea yet I moaned’ – ‘might be a stand pipe erected down the street in about half an hour’ he said!

You can imagine how I felt about that lol

Never fear I told The Golfer who had no idea what was going on I’ve just remembered I had some 600 ml bottles in the fridge I could use – it would give us tea to go with breakfast anyway.  I’m sure it’ll be back on later.

I then realised I needed to go you know where!

So here we are at 7.30am bursting to go to the toot, filling a bucket with water from the garden tank in the pouring rain – so I could ‘flush’ when I’d finished!  The Golfer went to fill it a second time just in case we needed to go again lol

Pool time was getting close, so on goes the bathers and off I go feeling ‘not quite right’ after having to boil the kettle so I could have just a little wash to ‘get the sleep out of my eyes’ as my Mum used to say.   Home mid morning to see half the street dug up in the quest to find the burst pipe, gales blowing, rain pouring and me needing a pee as soon as I walk in the house.  Thankfully The Golfer had done his job and the bucket was there lol

At least I can get warm by the fire I thought 🙂

Our heating is gas which is great but the actual heater needs electricity to run the fan. Water back on, bathed and hair washed and sitting all nice and warm and comfy and the electricity goes off!  Located little battery powered walkman to listen to talkback radio callers naming all the different suburbs that had no power – ours included.

Luckily it wasn’t off for too long, unlike some of the poor buggers who are still waiting for the linesmen to visit their street.  It’s Wednesday evening now, 24 hours since I mentioned that winter had arrived and it’s awfully cold and wet out there.

What’s the weather like at your house?
No sob stories about heatwaves please lol

Yes it’s definitely here now 🙂
Following on from my last post I can say
That Winter has definitely arrived now!

Overnight the promised gales and rain storms arrived – freezing temps as well
Today we experienced what was described as a ‘Winter Weather Bomb’
which gave us
Gale force winds (100kms and more) which meant many trees came down in some very inconvenient places (over roads and railway lines) : Pouring rain, so much so that The Yarra burst its banks at Southbank and part of the CBD was flooded: Power outages, at one time 60,000 homes were affected: and there was snow at Mt Donna Buang – 1 hour away from us.

But what is good is the snow resorts have finally had a good dump – they needed it because after the warm autumn and early winter things weren’t looking good for the school holidays which start next week.

So I can say – oh yes, Winter has definitely arrived.

And look here – it even made news in The Guardian no less lol
http://www.theguardian.com/weather/gallery/2014/jun/24/melbourne-battered-by-heavy-winds-as-the-yarra-floods-in-pictures

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-24/emergency-crews-inundated-with-calls-for-help-wild-weather/5546354

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/wild-weather-batters-melbourne-20140624-zskck.html

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/freezing-wild-weather-hits-victoria/story-fni0fit3-1226964010343

Well actually……….. it’s been and gone
The Winter Solstice I’m talking about.

Celebrated by many in many different ways here in Australia
Maybe not quite a strangely as these hardy swimmers in Hobart, Tasmania
They took to the cold waters in the NUDE!!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-22/hobart27s-winter-solstice-nude-swim-attracts-700/5541734

Yes, we are now into the second half of the year
Days will become longer – nights will become shorter.

Winter days are still here though
Will be for a while
We have dark skies and gale force winds outside
Thunderstorms and hail forecast for later
Colder tomorrow 😦

But who cares
We are on the way up again
‘they’ say the sun might shine again later in the week
Will have to dig out the sunnies lol

 

All for the love of nectar!
It’s not all gloom and doom in the garden at the  moment – luckily I do have some winter flowering plants.  Even when it’s cloudy and grey this yellow Abutilon right down near the back fence can be seen from the deck.
Abutilon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abutilon

But on a sunny winter’s day like the one’s we had a couple of weeks ago it positively shines –
it is almost like it has access to its own source of sunshine lol

Around the world Abutilons seem to be known by different names
(Flowering Maple, Chinese Bell flower)
Here in Australia it is known as:
Common name: Chinese lantern
Botanical name: Abutilon x hybridum

Chinese Lanterns

Don’t you think the flowers look like little chinese lanterns – and look at those huge stamens filled with pollen?  Guess who loves them?

The bees of course lol
I watched this one make his way inside

 turn around – hang on with all his legs –  then sort of slide down a bit and stay there for a while – it was almost as if he was trying to gather the pollen on his rear end!

Or maybe he was just resting awhile in the shade lol

Linked to Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

With a bit of luck I’ll be able to do some blog visiting and also answer some comments this week – however in the meantime –

After all the interest shown in the fabulous concrete animals and gnomes featured the other week I thought you might like to see where they were residing the day I took their photographs.
They were here at Colchester Nursery. 

There was a special reason to visit the garden centre that particular day and seeing all those fun garden ornaments was like adding icing to the top of the cake.

Some of you may remember the problem I had with the lavender round the washing line, however if you are new here you can read the full story over several posts/years by using the ‘search facility’ (top right hand corner) entering ‘lavender washing line’ in the box.

Not all recovered so in the end I decided to remove them and replant.
Don’t those little tube cuttings look small lol

Of course driving down to Colchester Road and visiting the best Plant Nursery/Garden Centre in the area with that view of The Dandenongs is not really a chore at all.  There are all those other outdoor goodies to be found there.  Have to limit my visits though as it’s a bit like walking into the big craft shop close by (Sp’tlight) in that I have been known to come out with more than I intended

They are well known for specialising in Roses
If you can’t find the named variety you are looking for in their stock they will certainly order it in for you.  These are all potted and growing well – ready to be taken home at moments notice.
However it won’t be long now before the sawdust filled barrels of bare rooted plants arrive.   All ready for the winter planting some hardy gardeners prefer.

 

 

So what else did I spot?
There are acres of ground filled with plants of all shapes and sizes as well as a big round shadehouse filled with seedlings.  They have an indoor area for house plants, a shaded one at the back for ‘tender’ plants as well as a large section devoted to fruit trees and bushes.  I wonder why I only allow myself a couple of visits per year!!

But look at these beauties that were right near the front of the car park.  Hand painted urns just waiting to catch someones eye.  Not sure if I’d want a concrete gargoyle as a welcome sign tho lol

 I’ve had a terrible time trying to size the photos so you will have to do the double click routine to really enjoy them

 Is there anywhere special in your neighbourhood you’d like to share

There is one great thing about not being tied to a full time job and that is being able to just ‘do as you please’.

Normally I’d describe myself as ‘not a tv watching person’ and even tho there is the garden as well as books and craft calling out to me each weekday afternoon, with the present colder sometimes wet weather the gogglebox seems to be turned on more and more ‘just for a look see’ rather than to watch anything in particular.  Mind you,  having said that, when he is home (read that as when he’s not golfing) the reruns of Jag are claiming The Golfer between 1 and 2pm lol

Believe it or not rather than the ‘useless rubbish’ we often have scheduled for daytime tv (and I have been known to mutter ‘I’d hate to be housebound and have this for company) there are some watcheable programmes on the ABC at the moment.

I’ve even labelled them my Afternoon Delights
(Now now, we’ll have non of that giggling down the back thank you lol)

Some days (if the pollies are in town) the afternoon on the ABC (our national  commercial free television station)  begins with what I’ve heard described a comedy show but is in actual fact ‘Question Time’ (which is live from Parliament House in Canberra ).  Often watched with the sound down as at times they tend to act like squabbling children!
Our taxes at work!

It used to be followed by Midsomers Murders (watcheable no matter how old the repeats were – yes even this ‘older lady’thought John Nettles was dishy :)) but now there is a series I’d heard about over the years but seem to have missed out on watching. Called ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ it was seen on British television from 1973 until 2010 when the last episodes were broadcast.  I don’t remember it being shown here until quite recently – it is pure giggle type fun, so easy to watch and could be so so true to life.

The basic premis is:
Three old men from Yorkshire who have never grown up face the trials of their fellow town citizens and everyday life and stay young by reminiscing about the days of their youth and attempting feats not common to the elderly.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/lastofthesummerwine/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_of_the_Summer_Wine

Then comes repeats of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple/Marple (the ITV series) – a character invented by Christie, supposedly based on older family connections.

 “the sort of old lady who would have been rather like some of my step grandmother’s Ealing cronies – old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl“. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Marple

Easy to watch, keeps you on your toes wondering about ‘who dunnit’, remembering the times and the fashions (post war/1950s) and enjoying Geraldine McEwan’s acting, twinkling eyes and cheeky smiles as well as trying to work out what she’s knitting in each episode lol

The show follows the adventures of Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster living in the quiet little village of St Mary Mead. During her many visits to friends and relatives in other villages, Miss Marple often stumbles upon mysterious murders which she helps solve. Although the police are sometimes reluctant to accept Miss Marple’s help, her reputation and unparalleled powers of observation eventually win them over

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie%27s_Marple

 After that it’s cup a tea and biccie time and a quick catch up on a bit of early news and current affairs.

Then comes the Eggheads.
These aren’t new episodes either
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggheads_(TV_series)
Oh those clever ones – they usually have all the answers.
So do we most some of the time lol 

I don’t mind repeats as long as they don’t come on at prime time
Do you enjoy repeats/reruns no matter how old they are?

Our greengrocer seems to be able to get his hands on some lovely bargains.

There is a little corner of the shop where he has a trolley filled with them. Bags of fruit and veg that is.   Trouble is you can’t make a list of which ones you’d like as they vary from week to week

Mind you at a dollar a bag it does mean I can do a bit of experimenting in the cooking dept.
I have a website I often turn to that provides me with lots of ideas
http://www.taste.com.au/
That doesn’t mean to say I follow their recipes to the tee – I’ll often add or substitute but usually follow if I can.  Milk instead of cream – get the idea 🙂

The other week it was a bag of parsnips that caught my eye – small enough to be individual sized if roasted – they turned into Parsnip Bacon and Thyme soup.
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/17366/bacon+thyme+and+parsnip+soup

Then last week there were bags of very large (read enormous) carrots – definitely not the all the same size and shape the supermarkets seem to encourage their suppliers to grow!

Well some of them were turned into Carrot Leek and Ginger soup.
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/7529/carrot+soup

A glut of cheap cauliflowers sent me looking for something different
Curried Cauliflower Soup definitely sounded different lol
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/13165/curried+cauliflower+soup

Didn’t go for the chunky look though – so turned it into smooth
Nice for lunch outside on a reasonably ‘warmish’ day last month during our warmer than usual autumn.
No outdoor lunches this week though – winter has arrived 😦

And what’s really good is there are containers of soups in the freezer ready for those ‘can’t be bothered to cook’ days that come around now and again.

For some reason there are times when I’m not content to start and continue knitting until I’ve finished a garment

Too many ideas running through my head!

Here’s the evidence that proves I’m at that point right now

Baby’s white cardigan – needs one front

Girl’s yellow cardigan – needs one front and second sleeve

Boy’s blue jumper – needs two sleeves

Child’s multi colour jumper – needs front and two sleeves

Knitted slippers – one of a pair knit, needs second slipper

eeny, meeny, miny, mo – which do I carry on with?

Probably the front of the baby cardigan, or maybe the other sleeve of the yellow cardigan.  But then I could get the other slipper done in next to no time.

Oh dear decisions! decisions!

Do you have this problem??

We don’t have any little grandchildren now – they have all grown up and become wise in the ways of the world.  However at times we’ve had to field some of the various curly questions they came up with when they were tiny.

So for your enjoyment here is a variation on an old one
Courtesy of our inbox

A six-year-old girl went to her Grandad who was working in the garden and asked him ‘Grandad what is couple se’x’

The grandfather was surprised that she would ask such a question but decided if she’s old enough to know to ask the question then she’s old enough to get a straight answer.

Steeling himself to leave nothing out he proceeeded to tell her all about human reproduction and the joys and responsibilties that go with it.

When he finished explaining, the little girl was looking at him with her mouth hanging open, eyes wide in amazement.

Seeing the look on her face the grandfather asked her ‘Why did you ask this question sweetheart?’

The little girl replied

‘Well Grandma says to tell you – that dinner will be ready in just a couple of secs’

Smile and the world smiles with you – cry and you cry alone
Stanley Gordon West 

 

 

This is what greeted me – FOG
Yes, all encompasing all enveloping FOG
Providing us with a very spooky looking neighbourhood

Did you know
Fog is a collection of liquid water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the earth’s surface.  And the foggiest place on earth is Grand Banks off the island of Newfoundland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog

Lots of the nearby trees have dropped their leaves but next door’s Oak Tree hangs on until much later in the season.  And that season would be WINTER

June 1 is the first day of the first month of Winter in Australia.
It’s now my time to grizzle about not seeing the sun and feeling its warmth lol

Mind you it’s also a time for looking forward – to seeing all the Spring bulbs.
Like these jonquils that are now rising out of the ground in the rose bed behind the garage.  And also knowing that once we are past the winter solstice (June 21) the days will become longer and that warmth will be returning:)

In the meantime I’ll just have to grin and bear it – and keep that happy thought in mind.  It will be a while before the grass will need a weekly cut so I’ll be able to exchange that exercise for raking up the oak leaves when they drop – that will keep me warm as well lol

Winter is the coldest season of the year coming between autumn and spring. It is caused by the axis of the Earth in the respective hemisphere being oriented away from the Sun. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa. At the winter solstice the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

Roll on Summer

Linked to Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods