The Royal Botanical Gardens.

We went to the Royal Botanical Gardens which was delightful in the rain, I am sure the colours come out better when the sun is not around. First came the Japanese Gardens and the Bridge and then we shivered in the Subantarctic House so we didn't hang around too long in there. The roses round the arches along the walls made an excellent backdrop for two handsome old boys and then they were joined by another old boy made out of King Billy Pine! The wide variety of trees in the gardens makes one realise how lucky we are to have had people in the past with such forethought and vision.

Trams, Trains and Trolly Buses!

We spent an interesting couple of hours yesterday at the Transport Museum, first time we had been there, found it very interesting if a little small.

There was a very high double decker which, by todays standards, looked extremely dangerous, the stairs were steep, the sides were low, made you wonder how many people had toppled over the side!! Then we had a 'very exciting' ride on a train, all of half a kilometer, there and back, but the seats were extremely comfortable.

There was a weird Black Wolseley which I thought was a car, until Ken pointed out that it ran on a railtrack so had no tyres. Apparently this was for the Hoi Poloi (however you spell that) when there was anything special going on.

The great big Steam Engines all looked very comfortable in their sheds, some were from the West Coast, from a bygone era, very nostalgic for Railway Buffs

I think there is something to be said for 'small' museums, not so much for you to take in all in one go, so you appreciate it a bit more. I suppose it is more interesting for males than females, but that it is sexist remark Hazel!!

My Hoya Bella

My hoya bella, which brightens up the kitchen, is blooming nicely. It is such a pretty little wax flower, looks just too perfect to be real - but it is! It seems to bloom at least twice a year and the best vantage point is looking up from underneath as all the flowers hang down!!

Harvest Festival time.

Yum Yum, this was today's haul, funny shaped Kipfler Potatoes, Dutch cream potatoes, lovely lot of broad beans and an abundance of spinach. Just add a couple of Tim's new laid eggs and that will be dinner tonight for me. Ken and Norman have gone off for a little look round our beautiful island.

All the worlds a stage!!

Kiya is learning her Monologue, she is up to Stage 5, the Judge, before you start to wear baggy pantaloons and lose your marbles!! Think she has to 'do' it today, so Good Luck Kiya.

Swings and Roundabouts

You might know already, but every Wednesday Ken and I go to Mandie's Very smart Old Peoples Home (for very smart (and not so smart, as you will see) old people!

Yesterday I went alone as Ken is entertaining brother Norman, over here from the UK. In the morning I take a trolly round to the rooms, and they buy all sorts of goodies to put up their sugar levels!! One old lady (who speaks German and knows Berlin and I have lent her my cherished Berlin Guidebook - hopefully I will get it back at some stage) asked me how old I was, and I asked her to guess. She thought for a while then said 'in your forties' well I was on cloud nine, you can imagine. But not for long!!

As we are there all day (well till 2 pm) we get lunch in the residents' dining room. As Ken is not with me at the moment I usually sit at a table for six, with the oldies. We have very comfortable seats. complete with arms, and the old lady next to me said "You know my dear, if you ask, they will push you in a bit" That took away the euphoria I felt at being told I looked forty!!!

He's arrived, and to prove it - he's here!!

Ken's brother Norman has arrived in Tasmania, he has never flown before so I think he deserves a medal for choosing us as his first international destination.

Now we are busy showing him the delights of our new homeland, today it has been an awful 27 degrees but thank goodness a cool change came over tonight and tomorrow it will be ten degrees cooler, talk about one extreme to another.

Off to Salamanca Market tomorrow, keep you posted of our escapades.

My latest Bargain.

Do you like the copper kettle? Bought from the local Tip Shop. We treated ourselves to a handy little gas burner in a carrycase, fuelled by a Gas Cylinder, a little one, then realised that we had got rid of our last whistling kettle which we used all round Australia in our travelling days, at our last Garage Sale, so a trip to the Tip Shop turned up this little beauty, only one little dent in one side, and a slight bit tarnished, but good enough for the odd cuppa enroute!

As for the beautiful flowers, we popped in on friends Jerry and Harma, to find that Jerry had a field full of Paeonies which he grows all from seed, he had such a variety that we were most impressed. This lot lasted the week and had a most unusual scent, can't make up my mind whether I liked it or not!!

Anyone coming for Breakfast?

Sometimes we go out, Cygnet and The Red Velvet Lounge is our current favourite, but sometimes I cook breakfast at home and Heidi comes to share it. This was our last breakfast here, makes a change from my usual Tony Ferguson Milkshake!!

I've got a joke!!

The other day whilst listening to the radio in bed, they were talking about the many different sorts of potato available here in Tasmania. I picked up my ears, as I have King Edward, Pontiac, Kipfler and a Dutch one (name escapes me at the moment.) Everyone was ringing in with more and more names, and the list finally got to 22, which is pretty incredible for the humble spud!

But then came this joke, which made me giggle, and hopefully will have the same effect on you. here goes:

Mother Potato had four lovely daughters and as they were approaching adulthood the first one came and said "I have met this wonderful potato and he wants to marry me" Whats his name, said mother. King Edward replied daughter, mother was very happy. Daughter No. 2 came and said she had met a great potato who wanted to marry her, his name was Bismarck. Mothers chest swelled with pride and when daughter No. 3 announced that she was about to get engaged to a potato named Royal Blue (a new one to me!)mother wondered what was in store for her last daughter, No. 4. She said to he husband "Arn't you proud of your daughters, they have done very well for themselves? Daughter No. 4 eventually turned up with her new Beau, Eddie Macquire (this joke could fall flat on its face, cos you need to know that Eddie Macquire is a wellknown figure in the football world,) Anyway Mother threw up her hands in horror and said "You can't possibly marry him, he is just a Commentater"

Oh well, I tried!!

Tell me if you got it!

Monologues!

When Kiya asked me if I had any ideas on a Monologue she could learn for school I immediately thought of my schooldays and how we had to learn great bits of Shakespeare off by heart!! "Friends, Romans and Countrymen, lend me your ears, I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones. So let it be with Caesar, for Caesar was an honourable man, so are they all, all honourable men etc. etc.

Then there was 'All the Worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts" from The Seven Stages of Man, "As you like it' (I think or it could be Much Ado About Nothing)

Well the upshot of all this was that she chose the latter, and when I went to the internet to download all the words I realised how difficult it was, and thought immediately that she would never be able to manage a minute of that (they have a minute to do it in.) Then I suggested Christopher Robin 'James James Morrison Morrison, Weatherly George Dupree, don't go down to the end of the town, unless you go down with me!!!

However, she still chose the Shakespeare one, and surprise surprise, tonight on our way to choir she recited the first four stages - infant, schoolboy, lover and soldier - almost word perfect and is prepared to learn the rest of it by Friday, so there you go, never underestimate your granddaughters capabilities!!

Riding the Waves!!

It is not everyone who can ride a Sundial!!! This clever piece of sculpture/sundial is at Campbelltown, in the Midlands, and is all made out of farm implements and, if you are very clever, you can even tell the time with it (providing the sun is out!)

Best of Show.

It is good to have such clever friends who live in such lovely places and can do such wonderful things with Orchids and get 'Best of Show' at the recent Orchid Show in Hobart Town Hall.

Margaret is on the right, her drive is lined with Chinese Elm Trees and Agapanthus and looks so good at this time of the year, and she has lots and lots of Orchids which take up a great deal of her time.

Cornish Pasties

Wow Kiya, you really have excelled yourself this time, these Pasties look good enough to eat!!!

Bossy Boots here!!

You may need to double click on the Plover photos, as that chick is pretty small!

Talk about a learning curve!!!

I spent ages giving captions to the following photos, only to find that the wording did not come out on the photos, won't waste time doing that again.

So here is what I wrote:

Photo l: How about a game of croquet, Claire will give us some coaching, she knows how to play.
Photo 2: It is not as easy as it looks!
Photo 3: We've had enough (although I don't think you are allowed to walk off in the middle of a game)
Photo 4: Help!
Photo 5: What's for lunch Mum?

? New members - Plover and chick at the KCC

Masked Lapwings (commonly known as Plovers) make the best parents, each taking it in turn to guard their young. They nest on the ground - which is not the most sensible of places to choose, making them vulnerable to dogs and humans. They usually rear two or more chicks and guard them ferociously. If you go near them they squawk loudly and threaten you menacingly. They have nasty spurs on their legs and have been known to dive-bomb you if they think you are a threat. I like the way the adults walk, they look as if they are wearing high heeled shoes!

As you will have guessed, we have some at the Croquet Club at the moment.

Karlo's Dojo

Not everyone has a Dojo in their backyard. Karlo makes the most of his, since his Aikido days, by once a week visits from a couple of members of his Karate Club. He enjoys his martial arts and is therefore very lean and very fit. This all goes together with his now completely vegetarian diet. They look good in their whites don't they?

Wots cookin - good lookin!

We had an invite over to Heidi and Karlo for Vegetarian Lasagne, it was very good and very substantial, a beautiful salad went with it. Beats having to cook it yourself any day! Carry on cooking Heidi.

Well Done Heidi (in Hamburg - not in Margate)

Heidi has discovered how to make comments, this makes the whole thing of Blogging much more fun, and interactive, we could talk all night just on the Blog. So now I know how to reply to her comments, so it could go on and on....

Melbourne Cup Lunch

This is the Horse Race that stops a Nation! That is its claim to fame, have you ever heard about it over in Germany?

Anyway, WE got lucky, Ken won $50 and I won $35 in the Sweep that they ran at Croquet, I recently got one of those chain emails about luck, and for once I sent it on, maybe there is something in it!!!!

I am Social Sec for the Club, so had to arrange lunch for 21 people, a BBQ of course, we love our BBQs here (even though Ken and I had Tofu and Vegie Burgers made by yours truly and sneaked in, so they wouldn't all think we are weirdos!!

This was the lovely Rhubarb Custard Teacake I made as my contribution to the lunch, we all take either a salad or a dessert.

Winners are Grinners!!

THEY WON!

Clever little vegemites won the Hi Lo Competition yesterday, after playing a total of eleven and a half hours of croquet, spread over four games. Well done Ken, well done Elaine. When someone asked what medication he was on (as he played so well) I said "everything but Viagra, he doesn't need that!!" That shut them up!

Everything in the garden is lovely!!

While 'He' is out playing croquet I am having a lovely time in the garden spreading my two bags of Merino Marbles (also known as sheep poo) around the fruit trees and in the vegie patch.

It is a lovely day, Ken is in the semi finals of a Hi-lo competition and any minute I am expecting a phone call to say he and his partner Elaine (he listens to her - in case you are wondering why he isn't playing with me!) are through to the Finals, in which case I will put in an appearance. I get real nervous watching him play, he is sometimes quite unconventional - and sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't!!

Anyway I know where I would sooner be these days, in the garden.

Chooks, chooks and more chooks!

The Newhams Jnr (ie Tim and Mandie) have a new pastime, chickens. If you want any newlaid eggs you know where to come. It began as a pocket money exercise for George, then Tim got interested and he now has an incubator and three cockerels to do their bit amongst the numerous females, who apparently are "always up for it!!!"
The first clutch resulted in three out of four survivors, photos not very good so didn't bother you with them, will try again when they come out of the 'hotbox'
The two main cockerels are a Rhode Island Red and a Sussex White. Watch this space.
They even had to put off a planned weekend away as Tim had to turn the eggs every few hours, don't know why he could not just take them to work and pop them in the hummidicribs with the newborns!!!