Its the same everywhere

Yes it was the same temp in Bowen here this morning as the ones we were having in Melbourne ( 2600kms further south) last week - 6c which is cold. Was the same yesterday morning and by lunchtime it had risen to a really nice 24c so I can't complain can I lol

Arrived in town here on Wednesday pm, its now Friday and even tho' we did that long drive I feel really rested and comfortable. Have met up with friends from Adelaide and also others we met here last year so lots of dinners and happy hours arranged already.

Some of the ladies in the caravan park organise a craft afternoon on Thursdays so thats where I went yesterday (by the bbq area with a fabulous view over the golf course and the beach) and this morning I met up with some CWA ladies at their craft morning - so you can see what I'm going to be up to this next few weeks:)

Going to be brief today, there is a queue for the internet here at the library so will be back again another time.

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go

Well nearly:))

Tomorrow, Saturday, the cases are coming out and will be filled with warm weather clothing - 'cose 7am Sunday morning we are off on a trip up norf.

Yes after a four day drive we will be up north in Bowen, Far North Queensland, staying in a cabin close to Queens Beach and the golf course.

Share and share alike, we will share the driving, 2 hours on 2 hours off , something good for me and something good for him lol

The cats have had a good grooming session, coats brushed and combed, nails clipped and their monthly dab of Frontline applied interspersed with lots of cuddles as they will be off to the boarding cattery in the morning. That will be their home for the next 8 or maybe more weeks as we won't be back till mid September.

Today I was taken aback when a person (whom I'd only just met) said I was very priviledged to be able to go away, that with all the problems in the world it was the wrong thing for me to do. I wasn't quite sure how to answer her, yes there are lots of folk suffering and the unemployment rate has risen but for us its taken a lot of budgeting and careful planning to allow us to have this trip.

Next year we will be going overseas to visit friends and relations so we will have to plan and save to make that possible as well.

So how have we managed, I'll let you into our secret weapon - this exercise book and the figures you see written down assure Dh and I that we will be able to take off whenever we want.

For many years we have kept records of what we spend and I check the accounts online most days to make sure I haven't missed a payment. I did this even before there was such a thing as online banking, certainly that invention has made it easier but I still like to see the figures pencilled in longhand on the pages of my exercise book in front of me, put down in a system I can relate to





Unlike many people, in fact almost the reverse of the way of thinking that is suggested these days, we find it useful to use our credit card for most purchases; if I have cash in my pocket I spend it and even though Dh has cash (his monthly allowance lol) he is loathe to break a note so thinks twice when it comes to actually spending it. Also for us there is the benefit of the card providing FF points that we use to fly mainly to Adelaide. Pay the balance of by the due date and pay no interest. .

For some reason I've found this winter to be really cold, more so than usual so am desperately looking forward to our time away. Sounds a bit OTT but I love the warm weather and aim to lap up as much of the winter sunshine as I can. I'll have to use the internet at the local library so may not get to check any blogs but will try very hard to post here now and again.

So as the Two Ronnies used to say - Its Goodnight from Me and its Goodnight from Him - only he's in the other room watching the cricket from Wales.

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

Go the Aussies

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

All in a days work

Decided I'd take some of the mob to lunch

and then chance a visit to the nursing home to see A Pam

I think I underestimate my young ones

They were normal at lunch meaning they weren't too obnoxious

but were generally well behaved

In other words didn't show me up in public :))

I have only taken them to the nursing home in 'ones' before and wasn't sure what sort of reception I'd get going there with several sometimes noisy boisterous kids.

I was so proud of them all as they even gave into their feelings about kissing old folks

and gave her a kiss

Yes even Master T who at 13 certainly doesn't like coming that close to a female

(had to promise an ice cream tho. lol)

And as you can see from the smiles on my Aunt's face

she was thrilled to see so many of them all at once

Mind you she couldn't remember their names and kept asking

'Who are you and who do you belong to'

Shivers down me spine

Now it really really was cold this morning - -1c/30f when I opened the door at 7am

I had to use the car first thing which meant water and brush to remove the ice and then the same a short while later when I came back to actually drive away as the windows had an icy coating on them again lol

We have had teenage grandchildren staying here this week and it will continue for a few more days so there won't be many posts. They take up so much time and don't seem to have a clock located in their body either so deadlines are not even getting a look in. Missed the planned cinema outing 'cose they were so slow - they didn't seem really bothered so I let them just mess around at home. Then of course when their parents ring I hear - we didn't do much just used the Wii and stayed at home. Can't win can you lol

And then of course they always seem to want to be on here at the same time as I do. Who knew they had so many 'friends' to talk to and guess what, the world will come to an end if they don't.

So this is just to say I'll be back sometime, maybe I'll just leave home and let them shriek the day away on their own. Oh no, thats what their parents are doing lol

See whats at the bottom of my garden

Every country has its own authors who write for children - here in Australia May Gibbs became famous for her children's stories and her use of the native flora and fauna as an inspiration for the characters in her books

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

http://www.maygibbs.com.au/maygibbs.html

My children weren't raised with May Gibbs but there are many Aussies (young and old) who remember the stories about the gumnut babies, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

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

This 'nasty' looking character is the Big Bad Banksia Man who is one of the villians in these books

This is my Banksia bush at the bottom of my garden

From recollection its a Banksia spinulosa and has the most beautiful candles

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

http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/gnp7/banksia-spinulosa.html

to see these best click on the photo to enlarge

The poor old thing has led a troubled life

When we rented the house out in 1994 he was quite big, as tall as the fence and really healthy. However the renters' children seemed to think its branches were great to use as a step ladder to get over the fence so when we came home in 2002 he really needed some attention

We cut him down nearly to the ground and he is just coming into his own again

You might like to see what his candles look like

I haven't removed any of the old candles so you are able to see them

From fairly young fresh ones

Through the different stages

This is one thats maybe from a couple of years ago and is drying off

This one is a year older and the seed pods are just becoming visible

See the resemblance to the drawing above

This is a clearer view of the seeed pods

And now one that's nearly 'naked' cept for the big pods

And heres one that I love

All those pods are ready to burst

So even if it appears there isn't much life in my garden - it turns out that if you look here and there you might get a nice surprise

Garden surprises

Its that time of the year when the winter jobs have to be done and pruning the roses is one of them

We'll be going off in a couple of weeks and won't be back till the middle of September, it will be too late then to do some of these jobs so for the best part of this week I've been busy outside

Snipping here and snipping there - giving a (sometime) silent yell when my arm or leg or any other part of my anatomy got snared by the thorns

Then the thrill of tossing 'mature' manure and choock poo all over the ground so they will can have a little feed before they really close down for the winter

I covered the top bed with some of next doors oak leaves but if the high winds that are forecast arrive they won't stay there for very long lol

Come Spring and they start shooting it won't look quite so flat and bare. Plus I plan to replant Salvia again to fill the spaces in the lower bed.

Took a photo looking up and down the side fence.

These shrubs are all deciduous, close to the house I recently (in the last 3 years) planted a Forsythia and Weigelia which are just finding their feet and filling a gap between the two large bare shrubs

Flowering Quince aka Chaenomeles, one with white flowers and the other a pinky red.

They flower on the bare stems and are great to cut and have indoors when theres not much else around.

Like the back garden it can be a bit sparse looking at this timeof the year

but once they start to leaf up that fence line is a blaze of colour

But guess what I saw peeking out of the branches as I walked down past the first bush

There were flower buds and the first had started to open

And down below the first of the Bergenias had started to bloom

All is not lost - where there is colour there is a good feeling

don't forget to click on the photos to enlarge

Even tho I thought there was nothing to see I did find few more things in flower

But that post can wait till another day

Lavender round the washing line

In the comments recently somebody mentioned the Lavender growing round the washing line

Nostaligia aside the reason I planted it there (and it could have been anything) was to form a barrier between me and the pole that holds the line up:)

I have a habit of walking in to things and this was an idea I'd used elsewhere to make me aware of where I actually was putting my feet. I'd used the idea in another form in a different house to make little grandchildren aware of the post and not run into it

This photo was taken back in 1994 when it was quite young.

We actually had green grass in those days lol

As you can see its grown quite tall and bushed out lots

I used some old bricks to form a circle a distance a way from the pole

Filled the circle with a few bags of potting mix

and then planted some tiny tubes with established cuttings

and hoped for the best.

That particular spot was a hard place to get grass to grow so I used some big broken slabs of concrete I came across

(courtesy of our council when they were digging up a pathway)

and put crazy paving in the plcae I stand to hang/peg out the clothes

Its just visible in the left of the next picture

This is the side away from the light which doesn't do as well as the other

but I do tend to keep it bare in that spot so I can get in to do a bit of weeding and clear the oak leaves away so the rain can penetrate

In the early spring I give the whole lot a good haircut and a drink of Seasol and wish it luck for the rest of the season

It thrives in a hot summer like the one we just had and the flower heads at the moment are really plump

I love the look and smell of it when its in flower but

funnily I get annoyed if the washing actually brushes against it lol

Theory of Intelligence

Who remembers Cheers?

I really enjoyed that series all those years ago

I don't know if this was actually part of script

but from memory it seems the sort of thing that would have been spoken by these two

Here via our Inbox is

the Theory of Intelligence

'Well you see, Norm, it's like this . . . A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo..

And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.

This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells.

Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells.

But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.

In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.

Kev's Patch

Several bloggers have collaborated after hearing about Peter Cundall's remarks to the Prime Minister and are now lobbying Mr Rudd to incoroprate a Veggie Garden in the grounds at The Lodge

They have set up a new blog to publicise the campaign - Have a read and see what you think..

http://kevspatch.wordpress.com/

These are the bloggers involved:

http://green-change.com/

http://greeningofgavin.blogspot.com/

http://www.gogreeneraustralia.com/blog/

I always thought large establishments had a fresh food garden - obviously I was wrong

Counting down

Well the Winter solstice has been and gone - it is now June 24th and we are on our way to the other end of the year. The days will get longer and the temps will hopefully warm up - not quite to the extent of last summer tho lol

This was the sunrise from my back window yesterday - about 7.30 am and it was another corker.

(Corker - Noun - Old-fashioned slang a splendid or outstanding person or thing)

Melbourne has a temperate climate - we have warmish summers (sometimes very hot) and coolish (sometimes very cold) winters.

It can rain most months of the year - note the word can - thats the thing it can but at the moment ( or should I say for the past I don't know how many years) it isn' :((

Contrary to popular belief we get less rain than Sydney - ours usually comes all year round which makes them think we get more lol

In the comments Aims (Big Blue Barn) and Phillip (Tossing Pebbles in the Stream) asked how cold is cold and mentioned the fact that cold is relative and thats just it.

We like our warm weather - I'm sure the fact that the sun shone was partly the reason many migrants came from the Northern Hemisphere - so when winter comes we feel the cold

Where I live we would get overnight lows of about 2/3/4c - 36/39f BUT often its down to 0c - 32f and sometimes lower depending if there's a blast coming up from Antactica lol

I'm sure to some of you living in other countries that doesn't seem low - but to each his own LOL

Trees native to Australia aren't deciduous - most of the trees in my area would be a Eucalyptus (Gum tree) of one sort or another

http://www.answers.com/topic/eucalyptus

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

Thats why in many if the photos and especially the pictures I took at the park there are no bare trees.

We have no falling leaves, well not many, if you look round the neighbourhood there are lots of trees with no leaves at the moment.

Exoctics have their place in our gardens, remember the one I mentioned that I can see from my laundry and my neighbour has a huge Oak that drops all over my garden.

Have a look at these links for more on Melbourne's climate

http://www.ayton.id.au/gary/Science/Climate/climate_melbourne.htm

http://www.moving-to-melbourne.co.uk/melbourne-victoria-climate.htm

http://www.melbourneaustralia.org/climate.html

http://www.mfs.com.au/MFSAboutMelb.htm

http://www.auinfo.com/melbourne-climate.htm

http://www.livingin-australia.com/climate-weather-melbourne.htm