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Todays Flowers – Nov 09 – 2

Callistemon
sometimes called Bottlebrushes
In many Melbourne suburbs
the councils have used Callistemon viminalis as street trees
In fact my neighbour has some in his nature strip
(shame he doesn’t cut his grass
as often as we do lol)
The main flowering season is about this time November
and they are really noticable
with their bright red ‘brushes’ there for all to see
They are often used as car park trees
and I snapped this as I walked back to the car
the other day
I reckon they are blooming so healthily
 ‘cose of all the rain we had recently
The past few years there has been very little winter rain
and they certainly haven’t looked as good as this for years
Lovely big red ‘brushes’ just hanging there
If you look closely the flowers really do look like bottlebrushes
Things happen in car parks
they get broken or walked on or even driven over
but these happy Australian Natives 
just seem to get on with life
(like all us Aussies lol)
and start growing again
click on the photos for a larger clearer view
http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/gnp12/callistemon-viminalis.html
http://www.anbg.gov.au/callistemon/index.html
Click here
To see more of Todays Flowers worldwide contributors
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Camera Critters

Last August we visited a friend who has chooks (chickens)
and as I watched these two pottering around the garden
it looked like they were deep in conversation
click the photos to see them more clearly
He then  met up with another one
Hello my dear
I haven’t seen you for ages
Hows the family
How do you like my new tail feathers
Well I must be off
Oh Hello
I didn’t see you there
Should watch where you are walking
Can’t see through these bushes can we
Someone should do some pruning!!
I say if you have a good look around
theres a whole lot of good things in this ground
Oh well
I must be off
Really must go
In a tearing hurry
Got to see if theres any tea on the go

Might be some eggs in the cupboard
Don’t they look grand
Had me enthralled for ages lol
For more Camera Critters
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Skywatch Friday

The weather forecast on Tuesday said cloudy
with a chance of a storm
but we decided we’d still drive out to Warburton
Not far from home on our way to the Yarra Valley
Lots of blue sky there somewhere
but the clouds had started gathering overhead
Out along the Warby Highway they turned grey
They hung around the whole time we walked along the riverbank
Luckily we made it home
before it really turned nasty later in the evening
click on the photos for a clearer view 
To see more worldwide Skywatch posts
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Watery Wednesday

It is hard to compare this quiet stretch of water
that flows beside the small Victorian town of Warburton
With this broad expanse of water
that flows through the Victorian city of Melbourne
Both are the Yarra River!!
click on the photos for a clearer view
For more Watery Wednesdays from around the world
Click here
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Look what I saw today

Today is the first Tuesday in November
Ask any Melburnian what that means
 and they will answer
Cup Day
Most Australians will know
but its only in Melbourne
that there is a public holiday
to celebrate at
Horse Race
Anyway we weren’t going to Flemington
or anywhere near a racetrack
or a pub
or friends home
to watch the race
so we decided to go for a drive
We drove out to Warburton
and walked along the river bank
Lots of others out enjoying the sunshine
but I’ll tell you all about that another day
So what I did see and am quite excited about
It was this bird
The Australian White Ibis
We saw several at Healesville
when we stopped for icecream on the way
Foraging around the tables
at the cafe
We had seen the Straw Necked Ibis in Bowen
but never managed to sight the white one
It made my day lol
There is another White Ibis called the Sacred Ibis
It also has a slightly different name
Here are some links if you are interested
Threskiornis molucca – Australian White Ibis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_White_Ibis
Threskiornis spinicollis – Straw Necked Ibis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw-necked_Ibis
Threskiornis aethiopicus- African Sacred Ibis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Sacred_Ibis
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What does it take to make you happy

It doesn’t take much to make me happy.
It’s often the little unexpected things that make me feel truly happy
Things like enough cash to pay the bills
and enough food to keep me from being hungry are a given
but I also need enough sunshine to keep my spirits up
and not send me down to an awful place I have known in the past
(sunshine and clear skies does help my mood).
Three times recently I was surprised by family
and in turn ended up feeling really happy
We have a granddaughter who lives interstate with her mother –
she doesn’t have much contact with her father (my son)
but thanks to the Internet is able to keep in touch with us.
An email arrived here after our birthdays
saying Happy Birthday to Dh and me
and also to Dad (sons birthday is also at the that time)
– mystified I looked at the properties and there was his email address –
so I was happy she was actually in contact with him.
Then a few days later I signed into messenger and up she pops to say hello.
We chat for a little while and then she says she has to go
‘cose she’s talking to her Dad.
You could have knocked me down with a feather
 â€“ she said he’s been chatting to her on the odd occasion they are online –
not for long but enough to be there for her.
Another happy feeling:)
Today was one of his boys’ birthdays
(the grandson turned eight)
– they also live interstate but not in the same state if you follow me –
this little lad is very quiet,
 Like his mother (son’s wife) he keeps everything close to his chest.
Normally we just get Yes and No answers
and nothing else
 so what a surprise it was when we rang
to have him chatting away
like we would never speak to each other again
– and the little brother was just as chatty –
so I said goodbye feeling happy again.
Then later today I nipped to our local ‘little’ supermarket for a few bits
and what do I see in the car park!!

A whole line of new trolleys
 â€“ yes brand new –
shiny new, put out first thing this morning
which means nobody has had their dirty hands on them
or filled them with goodness knows what
they have wheels that roll wherever you want them to
with no sticking or turning corners
when you want to go straight ahead.
Now that
really makes me
truly HAPPY!!
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A Halloween Joke

I realise this is late – have just opened one of my mail accounts and this is what I found – Enjoy

Halloween

A man is walking home alone late one foggy Halloween night, when behind him he hears:

BUMP…

BUMP…

BUMP…

BUMP…

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP…

BUMP…

BUMP…

BUMP…

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.

FASTER..

And

FASTER..

BUMP…

BUMP…

BUMP

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.

However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping.

Clappity-BUMP…

Clappity-BUMP….

Clappity-BUMP…

The terrified man keeps running.

Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, he locks himself in.

His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.

With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.

The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket…

And,

(Hopefully you’re ready for this!!!)

The coffin stops 🙂

Even tho’ I’m not a Halloween celebrator I laughed at this one

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Todays Flowers – Nov 09 – 1

Hebe
sometimes called Veronica
Down the bottom of our garden near to the Philadelphus
there are some Hebe plants
I was trying to grow them as a hedge by placing several plants side by side
but even with the best of pruning
one end always grows larger than the other
and also flowers earlier than the other
Its an easy plant to grow
Has fabulous glossy leaves
and
comes in a variety of heights and colours
This one partcular one is Hebe Inspiration
Has fairly small blooms and doesn’t grow taller than one metre
As you can see the flowers don’t always open at the same time
Theres always more coming on
which means
there’s colour on the shrub for quite along time
If you look carefully you will see
it’s not only people who like the flowers either lol
clicking to enlarge photos
will give a clearer view
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebe_(genus)
http://www.janinesgarden.com/plants/H/hebe.html
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1866623.htm
Click here
To see more of Todays Flowers from around the world
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Scenic Sunday

The Golden Gumboot
Banyan Park
Tully
140 Kilometres south of Cains
Far North Queensland
to read the boards
please click on the photos for a larger view
Built to recgonise the fact that Tully is reputed to be the wettest place in Australia
(although the residents of nearby Babinda would query that lol)
the Golden Gumboot is a marvellous tourist attraction
We had a great time
climbing to the top and loooking out
over the town and nearby hills
And it didn’t rain!!
The boards tell you about the area
and the benefits of living in such a high rainfall area
The height of the Gumboot
represents the amount of rainfall that fell in 1950
a record
7.9 metres – 25.91 feet
There was a small doco/film/movie
made whilst the gumboot was being built
Called Big Dreamers
it shows the plight of a small town caught in an economic downturn
(sugar imports v local sugar production)
and findidng a way to attract tourists to their town
To see where Tully actually is in Queensland
click here
Some links you might like
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2008/11/25/29261_latest-news.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Queensland/Tully/2005/02/17/1108500203795.html
http://www.tullygumbootfestival.com/tully.html

For more Scenic Sundays
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Things I am noticing

I am notoicing that as October comes to an end
I seem to have spent a lot of time
looking at flora and fauna
raindrops and roses
and
also catching up on unfinished crafty things
This was what my little corner of the lounge room looked like recently
And much to my horror this is what it looked like today
Not much different
in fact there seems to be more underway
SO
if I don’t clear it up over the weekend
I won’t be allowed out
in November to get a look at
the world around me
Sweet Myrtles intentions when she started this meme
was for bloggers to post the things they saw around them
Things that made them look and wonder
and want to pass that sight on to others
This is what she said
“I would love to see what you are noticing around you in the natural world this month
so if you would like to join me in my october noticing,
 please take the button, add it to your blog and let me know so i can link to you.”
I realise some of my posts have strayed from that thought
I didn’t play the game properly
and for that I apologise
but I notice so much around me
I have to tell it as it is
if you really want to see the mess
click and it will enlarge the photo
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Skywatch Friday

What does it look like when there is no sky to be seen?
Leaving Parkes very early on a very foggy morning
driving up to Goondiwindi
– spooky – eerie –
and dangerous
if you have to drive
For more Skywatch Friday
click here
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Now for something different

To the right of this picture of a very dry riverbank
is some very green water
Heres a better look
and this is the reason for its nasty appearance

We found this ‘billabong’ just outside Winton
When we went back into town nobody could tell us the story behind the notice board
Could have been all sorts if reason for the contamination (poison)
I was going to take more pictures but Dh saw something moving in the grass
and insisted I got back in the car!!
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Things I am noticing

Not all my Spring roses are Pink
‘Julia’s Rose’ is sort of light brown colour
 – some say coffee –
 but theres also a peachy tone in there as well
These first photos were taken on Sunday
when it was nicely formed
click on the photos for a clearer view
and then these next ones were taken yesterday – Monday
See how it ‘blew’ open overnight
http://www.rdrop.com/~paul/modern/juliasrose.html
http://www.rdrop.com/~paul/hybridteas/juliasrose.html
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Where oh where has my ……….gone??

Ok some things are going to have to change – my memory is not getting any better – I may have to look for books on improving it or tips for the same on the Internet – that’s if I remember lol

Shower time yesterday morning sees me starting to lather up and realising I still had my glasses on – and what’s worse is its not the first time either:(

Then in the afternoon I almost tear the house to pieces looking for a business card I’d had yesterday. Both Dh and I remember me sitting down with it in my hand whilst I was talking to him about ringing the tradesman. The roof on the deck is need of repair – or more to the point – we need a new roof over the deck.

A friend had used him and was very impressed with his work but instead of just copying out the phone number gave me the card – but could she have it back in case she needed him again. In other words (‘cose she knows me and what happens to paper in my house) don’t lose it lol

I hunted everywhere but to no avail – tidied drawers and corners, fluffed pillows, sorted so much paperwork,

I don’t think there’s a piece of paper that is not legitimately in the house now but still couldn’t find it.

Walked into the laundry and there it was – on the noticeboard where I’d pinned it for safekeeping!!

So now I’m wondering if I’m really starting to show signs of short-term memory loss or was it just one of those days?

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My place and Yours – Bedside

Pip over at Meet Me at Mikes has been running a fun meme
where you post an image in line with the weekly theme 
This weeks theme is
Bedside
With all the warm dry weather this week I’ve been out in the garden
clearing, tidying up and spreading mulch around
I’ve been aching each night and have resorted to a nice warm bath
made all the better with a handful of washing soda in the water.
Then this morning I went to my first Pump class since we got home
Oh I’ve walked as much as the weather would permit
but as far as working those muscles its been nil
so I’m feeling even more weary this evening
and will be in the bedroom fairly soon
Now back to the meme
This is what the sides of our bed look like
This is mine
sort of pretty pretty
Books lamp clock radio necessary meds.
and a covered box for all the bits and pieces I seem to collect
The little hat on the wall is a reminder of Dh’s aunt in Canada
click on the photos for a clearer view
Now this is the other side of the bed
As well as a lamp I can see
a wallet – a hat – a stubby holder –
some cough mixture and echinacea ( dh has a cold lol )
golf balls – petrol receipts
a savings pig for loose change –
a covered box for bits he collects
(last time I looked it had some golf tees in there)
but also various bits of stuff on the bottom shelf
For more Bedsides click here
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Skywatch Friday

Two days into our long drive
from cold wintery Melbourne
to the
very nice and warm winter of Far North Queensland
we drove out of Goondiwindi facing a sky looking like this
8am and wondering whats ahead
Doesn’t look promising for the start of another long day in the car
About 9am the storm looks as tho it is getting closer
9.45 and its still hanging around
but out to our west
Still there at 10am but changing slightly
Darker outside – no rain tho’
Not sure why we were worried
it all disappeared
and this was the lovely blue sky
up above at 2pm
Still clear at 3pm
– had to stop to let this very wide load go past –
but look theres just a hint of cloud on the horizon

some behind us as well
That was a VERY wide load:)
And here we are at 4pm
not far away from Rockhampton
still on that long straight road
with the clouds building up in front of us

Moral of story
Never judge abook by its cover lol
For more world wide Skywatch Friday
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