Wake up! there’s working to be done. It’s starting to warm up here finally :)

Cool here today… we have had a week of 30s so it is nice this morn.

painmaster said:

Cool here today… we have had a week of 30s so it is nice this morn.

Sounds dry…hope you get some decent rain soon. Here it’s wetter than usual.

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

I am so glad I don’t I have to worry about water here. A real blessing to have a bore, as well as two rainwater tanks which are almost always full because almost everything is off the bore!

Good morning Gardeners. I ‘slept in’ until after 7.30 this morning. It’s overcast. We have had good rains this year, but apparently just reaching average really. It just feels wet because we droughted for so long.

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

I am so glad I don’t I have to worry about water here. A real blessing to have a bore, as well as two rainwater tanks which are almost always full because almost everything is off the bore!

I’ve got an irrigation canal that runs past about 300 m away as the crow flies. Can’t access it.

I just noticed my Dodonea (sp?) viscosa (?) that I grew from seed nicked from the Flinders Ranges some 8 or 9 years ago has flower buds. Now I need to watch and see if I’ve got a male or a female. Only one of my seedlings survived, so it’s a lonely plant!

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

You might have to obtain some jerry cans and nick some water from the parks and gardens taps…

Ack, October! I’m having a baby next month!! :D

bon008 said:

Ack, October! I’m having a baby next month!! :D

sooooo exciting! :D :D

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

You might have to obtain some jerry cans and nick some water from the parks and gardens taps…

Sounds like the voice of experience?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

You might have to obtain some jerry cans and nick some water from the parks and gardens taps…

They are locked.

Not the nicking experience, no…but we did have to fill jerry cans and cart water from town during the drought, after various persons pumped the rain water tank dry…

roughbarked said:

They are locked.

Sheesh! What about a fire hydrant behind WW or something?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

They are locked.

Sheesh! What about a fire hydrant behind WW or something?

Oh dear… in Adelaide, the hydrants are monitored, pressure levels and stuff, and when one uses them for too long a period, often a Fireman will pull up and have a chat.

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

You might have to obtain some jerry cans and nick some water from the parks and gardens taps…

Sounds like the voice of experience?

My sister used to fill up big bottles at the gas station in town when she first moved into her place for drinking water. Washing water she drove down to the nearby river. That is until she got her own tanks installed.

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

You might have to obtain some jerry cans and nick some water from the parks and gardens taps…

They are locked.

Some of those grey nomads are terrible when it comes to pinching water in their travels, so I am not surprised. One was washing his van at the local hall when the CWA were meeting there. One of us pointed out that there was no town water and that he was using the hall’s tank water to wash his van with.

Mr buffy had rather stern words with a local here when we caught him taking water from the ambulance station tank tap. Then we got the local plumber to put a tap on with a removable handle.

painmaster said:

Oh dear… in Adelaide, the hydrants are monitored, pressure levels and stuff, and when one uses them for too long a period, often a Fireman will pull up and have a chat.

OK, what I really meant was a fire hose…we had one behind our office block and that’s where we got our water from…

bluegreen said:

Some of those grey nomads are terrible when it comes to pinching water in their travels, so I am not surprised. One was washing his van at the local hall when the CWA were meeting there. One of us pointed out that there was no town water and that he was using the hall’s tank water to wash his van with.

That’s dreadful…why couldn’t he use a Car Spa in town?

Well rain water tanks are a no no, absolutely…

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

Some of those grey nomads are terrible when it comes to pinching water in their travels, so I am not surprised. One was washing his van at the local hall when the CWA were meeting there. One of us pointed out that there was no town water and that he was using the hall’s tank water to wash his van with.

That’s dreadful…why couldn’t he use a Car Spa in town?

because he would have to pay for that!

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

incredible blossom on citrus here too. rain is not faraway.

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

Well it is very dry here. Haven’t had a good rain in a while. Still got a box of grapefruit to juice and about four boxes of navels. Good thing as the trees are laden with blossom. Only problem will be where do I get the water from. Rainwater is empty.

I am so glad I don’t I have to worry about water here. A real blessing to have a bore, as well as two rainwater tanks which are almost always full because almost everything is off the bore!

that’s very important – you are an astutue property buyer.
we are pumping from the rw tank at present.

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

You might have to obtain some jerry cans and nick some water from the parks and gardens taps…

They are locked.

Some of those grey nomads are terrible when it comes to pinching water in their travels, so I am not surprised. One was washing his van at the local hall when the CWA were meeting there. One of us pointed out that there was no town water and that he was using the hall’s tank water to wash his van with.

They don’t have to be grey. I was in the White Cliffs general store and a young guy came in asking if he could get rainwater as his wife and two kids needed water(this was in the biggest drought in history). Ray said, “over in the town hall rainwater tank”. Young guy said, “tried that, it’s empty”. Ray said, “where are you camped? There’s water at the caravan park.” Young guy said, “Oh we are camped out along the power line”. This got disapproving glances. Ray gave in and said “yes I’ve got water if you need it, how much do you need?” Said the other, “well we would need 100 litres a day. There’s four of us plus cooking and washing..”

Ray sighed and said, “listen mate, I’m sorry but if that’s your plan, you’d better pack up and drive back to the city. There’s no one here who can spare that much water”.

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

They are locked.

Some of those grey nomads are terrible when it comes to pinching water in their travels, so I am not surprised. One was washing his van at the local hall when the CWA were meeting there. One of us pointed out that there was no town water and that he was using the hall’s tank water to wash his van with.

They don’t have to be grey. I was in the White Cliffs general store and a young guy came in asking if he could get rainwater as his wife and two kids needed water(this was in the biggest drought in history). Ray said, “over in the town hall rainwater tank”. Young guy said, “tried that, it’s empty”. Ray said, “where are you camped? There’s water at the caravan park.” Young guy said, “Oh we are camped out along the power line”. This got disapproving glances. Ray gave in and said “yes I’ve got water if you need it, how much do you need?” Said the other, “well we would need 100 litres a day. There’s four of us plus cooking and washing..”

Ray sighed and said, “listen mate, I’m sorry but if that’s your plan, you’d better pack up and drive back to the city. There’s no one here who can spare that much water”.

One time working in a remote part of PNG, a big walk away from town, myself and 2 colleagues (read Australians) spent close on a week camping and doing it rough. (Although I had very generous supplies flown in prior) Our daily wash wash was either at the local creek or from a tap I rigged up using a mile of poly pipe, some gravity and some fittings. With the job finished early, we then had our long march back to town. This particular town had suffered a flood recently which knocked out the town water supply and the guy with the key to the big diesel genset was not playing the game so the town had no water and no power.

I decided as we were stuck in Town for a few days, I would continue to wash with the locals down at the local creek to help conserve whatever water the locals had in tanks for drinking. My learned colleagues were told that the hospital had tanks and showers and that they could use that. I showed them where the hospital was and the shower block and several hours later they returned clean, shaven, shampoo’d and sanitised. They spoke about “feeling alive” once again. My own constitution could not believe that with the knowledge that water and power was a rare commodity to these people of this town, my friends here would lavish themselves on the only water supply in town and that being the hospital???

Two days later we were back in Moresby where I knew modern conveniences await.

Some self important’s have an over inflated sense of entitlement as well. Like some who asked me why am I using the tank water (2 ×1000 lt tanks) for my garden and pond when I can use the hose now.

Because it saves water and because I can!

There’s them that can’t handle dirt for a little while…

RoughBarked it’s so sad that your story is true…

Guess a lot of city folk just don’t understand water…I agree with Happy Potter that many think it is an entitlement when, especially in Australia, it’s a privilege…

Morning. I’m baking today. Again, lol. Glad it’s starting to warm up finally. The solar panels chug along and on mostly cloudy days make about 15 Kw’s, on mostly sunny days, 40 plus. Our first power bill since installing them was $135. That was one month off solar and 2 months on, mostly cloudy days and down from 700 hunnet $ plus.

Discovered I don’t like lemon balm either. Eww. Yous can have it.

What were you trying to do with the lemon balm?

Dinetta said:

What were you trying to do with the lemon balm?

I was given some to plant around the border of the strawberry bed and the person was raving about it and it’s many uses and offered me a leaf to try, as he eats it. Pfft pfft! yuk, no thanks.
I did like another herby thing, he said the name clever? or som’t like that, can’t remb, but it was very nice! He’s getting me some cuttings.

Happy Potter said:

Dinetta said:

What were you trying to do with the lemon balm?

I was given some to plant around the border of the strawberry bed and the person was raving about it and it’s many uses and offered me a leaf to try, as he eats it. Pfft pfft! yuk, no thanks.
I did like another herby thing, he said the name clever? or som’t like that, can’t remb, but it was very nice! He’s getting me some cuttings.

This is it. Max loves it too! He was eating the fellows plant lol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galium_aparine

Not sure if I would eat a lemon balm leaf but there’s them who eat lemon skins…to each his own…what would you do with the cleaver?

Dinetta said:

Not sure if I would eat a lemon balm leaf but there’s them who eat lemon skins…to each his own…what would you do with the cleaver?

Use it in salads at first and in other cooked dishes. I will find out what I can use it in along the way. I like the taste of the leaves.

:)

Happy Potter said:

Some self important’s have an over inflated sense of entitlement as well. Like some who asked me why am I using the tank water (2 ×1000 lt tanks) for my garden and pond when I can use the hose now.

Because it saves water and because I can!

and it’s better for the garden too!

We did get some rain but not enough to water in the compost I’ve spread and dug into the front garden, so out come my joined hoses and I’ll attach the little siphon thingo to it that you jig up and down a few times to get it started, and drop into tank no 1. I’ve a timer I can set to move it hourly.

GS’s doona and bedding is in the wash. GS came over for the night and then ended up in my bed. Then the doona and sheets from my bed will be washed. Hubby can hang them out when finished.

Choc mousse cake on the go, the base is in the oven. Things will be beeping at me all day, lol.

Happy Potter said:

Happy Potter said:

Dinetta said:

What were you trying to do with the lemon balm?

I was given some to plant around the border of the strawberry bed and the person was raving about it and it’s many uses and offered me a leaf to try, as he eats it. Pfft pfft! yuk, no thanks.
I did like another herby thing, he said the name clever? or som’t like that, can’t remb, but it was very nice! He’s getting me some cuttings.

This is it. Max loves it too! He was eating the fellows plant lol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galium_aparine

well what do you know! I thought it was a weed back in Melbourne, if it is what I think it is! It spreads like crazy if it sets seed, but easy to pull out. But if you are going to eat it then the chances of it overtaking are going to be reduced.

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

Happy Potter said:

I was given some to plant around the border of the strawberry bed and the person was raving about it and it’s many uses and offered me a leaf to try, as he eats it. Pfft pfft! yuk, no thanks.

There are usually two atmospheres about plants and gardening.. one is that they are at first welcome because they grow and later often cursed because they won’t stop growing.

As for Melissa officinalis Lemon Balm. This is a highly regarded officially recognised herb of great merit. Though it too can become a bit invasive where water is applied. Good things about it: Named after bees because bees are very attracted to it. The herb is soothing calming and restorative, digestive. Its specific effect is stimulating, antispasmodic, sedative, anti-flatulent and relieves both vomitting and nausea. Also palpitation if the heart, heart neuroese sleeoplessness, hysteria, menstrual disturbances and sexually irritating conditions are beneficially influenced.

Culinary uses: Fresh leaves or sprigs are put into juices and col drinks in summer to refresh. In France a liqueur is made from the herb eau de mélisse

I’ve long used it as a sleeping draught, a sore thoat soother and general calmative.

Yes, one may nibble a bit of leaf without harm but one should always be wary of the power of drugs. I add that another smilar herb is peppermint., a powerful drug that is unpleasant to eat fresh leaf but useful for the aromatic oils.

Oooooh the scent of Philadelphus, I copped a whiff and loveeee it. Now I know what I can grow over the fernery frame. The frame wasn’t strong enough for a wisteria, but it is for this.
Got a cutting coming my way :D
As it grows I can peel back the ugly shade cloth.

been out riding my motorbike :)

Hello Gardeners.

My Philadelphus is a bush….Magnificent smell on the flowers. Looks very dead when it drops it’s leaves though…..

And cleavers (velcro plant, bedstraw,sitckyweed, scratchgrass, grip-grass, catch weed, sticky willie, sweethearts) ! Weed!! Listed in my Environmental Weeds – A Field Guide for SE Australia as a Garden Thug and toxic. Between that and the Fumitory……..if I left my garden alone they would give the ivy (seeds everywhere from ivy over the fence) a run for its money!!!

buffy said:

Hello Gardeners.

My Philadelphus is a bush….Magnificent smell on the flowers. Looks very dead when it drops it’s leaves though…..

And cleavers (velcro plant, bedstraw,sitckyweed, scratchgrass, grip-grass, catch weed, sticky willie, sweethearts) ! Weed!! Listed in my Environmental Weeds – A Field Guide for SE Australia as a Garden Thug and toxic. Between that and the Fumitory……..if I left my garden alone they would give the ivy (seeds everywhere from ivy over the fence) a run for its money!!!

:) I’m no fan of weeds either.

buffy said:

Hello Gardeners.

My Philadelphus is a bush….Magnificent smell on the flowers. Looks very dead when it drops it’s leaves though…..

And cleavers (velcro plant, bedstraw,sitckyweed, scratchgrass, grip-grass, catch weed, sticky willie, sweethearts) ! Weed!! Listed in my Environmental Weeds – A Field Guide for SE Australia as a Garden Thug and toxic. Between that and the Fumitory……..if I left my garden alone they would give the ivy (seeds everywhere from ivy over the fence) a run for its money!!!

Aw, I hadn’t seen the word weedy when I was reading about them. Bugga. I don’t want to add to the feral weed problem. But at least I know now. Thanks.

I have arisen. Morning to all. I’ve got the washing on. Made the bed. Had breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen. Might be all that I do for the day too.

pomolo said:

I have arisen. Morning to all. I’ve got the washing on. Made the bed. Had breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen. Might be all that I do for the day too.

Meant to say that we have a constant back and forth of light planes and helicopters that are searching for that missing aircraft. I’m starting to think if they don’t find it soon than it might be at the bottom of the dam that ajoins the next town to us. Very sad because there were 6 people on board.

Dinetta said:

Guess a lot of city folk just don’t understand water…I agree with Happy Potter that many think it is an entitlement when, especially in Australia, it’s a privilege…

people flipped out of water control mode so quickly as soon as the restrictions were lifted. water is so lovely tho’ – and even tho’ sprinklers are an apparent waste of water they do humidify the air – which can be very beneficial.
i have one of those ‘rainwater tank in use’ signs on my front wall now. it’s currently true – but the rw will run out in february….

justin said:

Dinetta said:

Guess a lot of city folk just don’t understand water…I agree with Happy Potter that many think it is an entitlement when, especially in Australia, it’s a privilege…

people flipped out of water control mode so quickly as soon as the restrictions were lifted. water is so lovely tho’ – and even tho’ sprinklers are an apparent waste of water they do humidify the air – which can be very beneficial.
i have one of those ‘rainwater tank in use’ signs on my front wall now. it’s currently true – but the rw will run out in february….

No rain since then .. but.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/99559986@N00/8046491447/in/photostream

it either rains, or it doesn’t!

pomolo said:

Meant to say that we have a constant back and forth of light planes and helicopters that are searching for that missing aircraft. I’m starting to think if they don’t find it soon than it might be at the bottom of the dam that ajoins the next town to us. Very sad because there were 6 people on board.

It says on the abc online news just now, 14 kilometres north of Lake Borumba (Borumba Dam). Shame, they all sounded marvellous folk in The Courier Mail today…

Wondering what happened to the EPIRB, P thinks it may have been damaged…

Dinetta said:

pomolo said:

Meant to say that we have a constant back and forth of light planes and helicopters that are searching for that missing aircraft. I’m starting to think if they don’t find it soon than it might be at the bottom of the dam that ajoins the next town to us. Very sad because there were 6 people on board.

It says on the abc online news just now, 14 kilometres north of Lake Borumba (Borumba Dam). Shame, they all sounded marvellous folk in The Courier Mail today…

Wondering what happened to the EPIRB, P thinks it may have been damaged…

Was it a new EPIRB? Any older than 3 years is now defunct…

I have a little water feature in my fernery that I never check and it’s been a year or more since I switched the pump on. I was in the fernery tonight candling broody no2’s eggs and I happened to shine the torch about and into the water..blow me over there are worms living in it!.. under, yes under about 8-9 inches of water, they are living in the sediment at the bottom. Then I shove my torch around the back where the pump is and they are teaming in and out of the filter part, very much alive. What the???
There’s also heaps of water snails in it. I know the snails eventually show up, but what’s with the worms? They just look like regular red tiger compost farm worms.

Happy Potter said:

I have a little water feature in my fernery that I never check and it’s been a year or more since I switched the pump on. I was in the fernery tonight candling broody no2’s eggs and I happened to shine the torch about and into the water..blow me over there are worms living in it!.. under, yes under about 8-9 inches of water, they are living in the sediment at the bottom. Then I shove my torch around the back where the pump is and they are teaming in and out of the filter part, very much alive. What the???
There’s also heaps of water snails in it. I know the snails eventually show up, but what’s with the worms? They just look like regular red tiger compost farm worms.

Got photos..

Happy Potter said:

Happy Potter said:

I have a little water feature in my fernery that I never check and it’s been a year or more since I switched the pump on. I was in the fernery tonight candling broody no2’s eggs and I happened to shine the torch about and into the water..blow me over there are worms living in it!.. under, yes under about 8-9 inches of water, they are living in the sediment at the bottom. Then I shove my torch around the back where the pump is and they are teaming in and out of the filter part, very much alive. What the???
There’s also heaps of water snails in it. I know the snails eventually show up, but what’s with the worms? They just look like regular red tiger compost farm worms.

Well why woldn’t they gravitate to a wet feeding site?

Got photos..

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Happy Potter said:

I have a little water feature in my fernery that I never check and it’s been a year or more since I switched the pump on. I was in the fernery tonight candling broody no2’s eggs and I happened to shine the torch about and into the water..blow me over there are worms living in it!.. under, yes under about 8-9 inches of water, they are living in the sediment at the bottom. Then I shove my torch around the back where the pump is and they are teaming in and out of the filter part, very much alive. What the???
There’s also heaps of water snails in it. I know the snails eventually show up, but what’s with the worms? They just look like regular red tiger compost farm worms.

Well why woldn’t they gravitate to a wet feeding site?

Got photos..

Look like Wormfarm worms to me.

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Well why woldn’t they gravitate to a wet feeding site?

Got photos..

Look like Wormfarm worms to me.

They are but they drown in water and die fairly quickly without oxygen. These ones are either mutants that have adapted to living underwater, leave the water to breathe, or go up into the middle part of the water feature stand by day. That would be a dry area tho..as I said I haven’t switched the fountain on in a long time. And why would they leave the thick manure mulch in the area to go for a swim in deoxygenated water…
I’ve drawn off worm wee from the farms with dead worms in it that’ve drowned and they’re a grey colour. I just looked though and they’re still there and still alive.
I will take the fountain apart later.

Happy Potter said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Look like Wormfarm worms to me.

They are but they drown in water and die fairly quickly without oxygen. These ones are either mutants that have adapted to living underwater, leave the water to breathe, or go up into the middle part of the water feature stand by day. That would be a dry area tho..as I said I haven’t switched the fountain on in a long time. And why would they leave the thick manure mulch in the area to go for a swim in deoxygenated water…
I’ve drawn off worm wee from the farms with dead worms in it that’ve drowned and they’re a grey colour. I just looked though and they’re still there and still alive.
I will take the fountain apart later.

Ummm is it a case of a worm that grows up in a farm will drown in water but a worm that hatches and lives it entire life underwater will survive underwater?

painmaster said:

Happy Potter said:

painmaster said:

Look like Wormfarm worms to me.

They are but they drown in water and die fairly quickly without oxygen. These ones are either mutants that have adapted to living underwater, leave the water to breathe, or go up into the middle part of the water feature stand by day. That would be a dry area tho..as I said I haven’t switched the fountain on in a long time. And why would they leave the thick manure mulch in the area to go for a swim in deoxygenated water…
I’ve drawn off worm wee from the farms with dead worms in it that’ve drowned and they’re a grey colour. I just looked though and they’re still there and still alive.
I will take the fountain apart later.

Ummm is it a case of a worm that grows up in a farm will drown in water but a worm that hatches and lives it entire life underwater will survive underwater?

Worm eggs won’t hatch underwater. I live in the twilight zone, I’m sure.

busted

(not gardening but I’m sure we all relate to this…)

If they called me, I played them as long as I could before telling them that they aren’t getting anything from me. My wife waffles on and sounds convincingly confused. She must have had them rubbing their hands together expecting this sucker to pay up.. Then she says, my husband won’t let me near the computer and gives them the sob story..

Happy Potter said:

painmaster said:

Happy Potter said:

They are but they drown in water and die fairly quickly without oxygen. These ones are either mutants that have adapted to living underwater, leave the water to breathe, or go up into the middle part of the water feature stand by day. That would be a dry area tho..as I said I haven’t switched the fountain on in a long time. And why would they leave the thick manure mulch in the area to go for a swim in deoxygenated water…
I’ve drawn off worm wee from the farms with dead worms in it that’ve drowned and they’re a grey colour. I just looked though and they’re still there and still alive.
I will take the fountain apart later.

Ummm is it a case of a worm that grows up in a farm will drown in water but a worm that hatches and lives it entire life underwater will survive underwater?

Worm eggs won’t hatch underwater. I live in the twilight zone, I’m sure.

AHA!
I was sent this link re vermiponics. http://www.microponics.net.au/?p=650
I can rest now knowing everything has an explanation and I’m not going insane.

Happy Potter said:

AHA!
I was sent this link re vermiponics. http://www.microponics.net.au/?p=650
I can rest now knowing everything has an explanation and I’m not going insane.

Eventually, he arrived at the fact that the most efficient way to ferment the food was to put it through the rabbit first

lol!

I didn’t think what was happening was strange, I just didn’t know why. Still don’t actually, but if you think about it in a worm treated grey water and waste system they are constantly living in a semi liquid state.

roughbarked said:

If they called me, I played them as long as I could before telling them that they aren’t getting anything from me. My wife waffles on and sounds convincingly confused. She must have had them rubbing their hands together expecting this sucker to pay up.. Then she says, my husband won’t let me near the computer and gives them the sob story..

They ended up swearing at Sonny Joe, offering to slap his face etc etc… but I think Mrs RoughBarked might be ahead on style…

justin said:

Dinetta said:

Guess a lot of city folk just don’t understand water…I agree with Happy Potter that many think it is an entitlement when, especially in Australia, it’s a privilege…

people flipped out of water control mode so quickly as soon as the restrictions were lifted. water is so lovely tho’ – and even tho’ sprinklers are an apparent waste of water they do humidify the air – which can be very beneficial.
i have one of those ‘rainwater tank in use’ signs on my front wall now. it’s currently true – but the rw will run out in february….

my computer was so very slow yesterday i gave up at this point.
it better today for unknown reasons.

Happy Potter said:

I have a little water feature in my fernery that I never check and it’s been a year or more since I switched the pump on. I was in the fernery tonight candling broody no2’s eggs and I happened to shine the torch about and into the water..blow me over there are worms living in it!.. under, yes under about 8-9 inches of water, they are living in the sediment at the bottom. Then I shove my torch around the back where the pump is and they are teaming in and out of the filter part, very much alive. What the???
There’s also heaps of water snails in it. I know the snails eventually show up, but what’s with the worms? They just look like regular red tiger compost farm worms.

it happened (six years ago) in my pool as well.
they are worms that come out from under the pavement and dive into the black pool water and live at 6 foot under on an algae diet. it only ever happened once here because the frogs were in numbers the following year and i presume they ate the algae and the worms?

Happy Potter said:

Happy Potter said:

painmaster said:

Ummm is it a case of a worm that grows up in a farm will drown in water but a worm that hatches and lives it entire life underwater will survive underwater?

Worm eggs won’t hatch underwater. I live in the twilight zone, I’m sure.

AHA!
I was sent this link re vermiponics. http://www.microponics.net.au/?p=650
I can rest now knowing everything has an explanation and I’m not going insane.

i read it but ….. are these worms breeding under water and living there generation after generation?
will read again..

justin said:

Happy Potter said:

Happy Potter said:

Worm eggs won’t hatch underwater. I live in the twilight zone, I’m sure.

AHA!
I was sent this link re vermiponics. http://www.microponics.net.au/?p=650
I can rest now knowing everything has an explanation and I’m not going insane.

i read it but ….. are these worms breeding under water and living there generation after generation?
will read again..

i’m still mystified – the worms seem to be living in a water-filled pipe over winter?

justin said:

Happy Potter said:

I have a little water feature in my fernery that I never check and it’s been a year or more since I switched the pump on. I was in the fernery tonight candling broody no2’s eggs and I happened to shine the torch about and into the water..blow me over there are worms living in it!.. under, yes under about 8-9 inches of water, they are living in the sediment at the bottom. Then I shove my torch around the back where the pump is and they are teaming in and out of the filter part, very much alive. What the???
There’s also heaps of water snails in it. I know the snails eventually show up, but what’s with the worms? They just look like regular red tiger compost farm worms.

it happened (six years ago) in my pool as well.
they are worms that come out from under the pavement and dive into the black pool water and live at 6 foot under on an algae diet. it only ever happened once here because the frogs were in numbers the following year and i presume they ate the algae and the worms?

I had a nursery that swam in a pool of water.. I found worms metres long under there.

The town water pressure is pity-ful…sorry RoughBarked, at least I have water, right? Started watering under the plumeria…common name will come in a minute, and thought well might as well green up out there as that’s where the breezes come from…

Hard to come to terms with the fact I’m using drinking water on the grass, where I was it was straight out of Lake Maraboon…

Have had some difficulty sourcing bauhinia blakeana (F7), the only Australian site I could find was in WA…need to do some stepping out and measuring…the Leichhardt bean across the road is flowering so I can get a seed pod off it later, this is local to the area (the Hong Kong orchid aint, tho’) as one grew in the middle of the road here when I was a child…am considering an alternating HKO shrub (you can keep it to shrub height but the skirts are quite wide) and LHB tree, along my front fence, basically to soften the look of the place and also to baffle the hot winds in summer…

I have an old Iceberg rose, it was my Dad’s, but want to pull that out and prepare the bed for more climate-friendly (and scented) roses…do you think, if I advertised, people would take it for free?

They halved the water pressure on town water and since I am furthest away.. my pressure is a dribble. No matter they still charge me ten times as much anyway.

http://www.eco-outfitter.com/p-341-compospin-50-gallon-spinning-composter.aspx

I can tell you it takes about an hour to put one of these together because the man bought me one. That was when I sent him to the B shop for nails and a bit of gal pipe to make a frame for tumbler composter for a large barrel I have. I need a tumbler composter as I can’t manually turn a heap. I dunno wheather to kiss him or compost him…

I took my compost heap apart and could see what was wrong right away. Anerobic, and too wet. I’ve added a few bucketfuls to the death ray looking ball and turned it. I need to add some staw and cardboard, but it turns well.
I hope I don’t terrify the chooks..

Bit of molasses slurry, if you’ve got it, is a cheep kick-a-long…

Happy Potter said:

http://www.eco-outfitter.com/p-341-compospin-50-gallon-spinning-composter.aspx

I can tell you it takes about an hour to put one of these together because the man bought me one. That was when I sent him to the B shop for nails and a bit of gal pipe to make a frame for tumbler composter for a large barrel I have. I need a tumbler composter as I can’t manually turn a heap. I dunno wheather to kiss him or compost him…

I took my compost heap apart and could see what was wrong right away. Anerobic, and too wet. I’ve added a few bucketfuls to the death ray looking ball and turned it. I need to add some staw and cardboard, but it turns well.
I hope I don’t terrify the chooks..

looks space age! I see on that site that it says that it takes 35mins and also 15mins both to assemble. What were you doing wrong? lol!

let us know how it goes.

Happy Potter said:

http://www.eco-outfitter.com/p-341-compospin-50-gallon-spinning-composter.aspx

I can tell you it takes about an hour to put one of these together because the man bought me one. That was when I sent him to the B shop for nails and a bit of gal pipe to make a frame for tumbler composter for a large barrel I have. I need a tumbler composter as I can’t manually turn a heap. I dunno wheather to kiss him or compost him…

I took my compost heap apart and could see what was wrong right away. Anerobic, and too wet. I’ve added a few bucketfuls to the death ray looking ball and turned it. I need to add some staw and cardboard, but it turns well.
I hope I don’t terrify the chooks..

looks good.
my compost is saturated and you’ve had more rain than us.
- the bin gives moisture control – the man gets thumbs up i say!.
now how long will it last?

Dinetta said:

I have an old Iceberg rose, it was my Dad’s, but want to pull that out and prepare the bed for more climate-friendly (and scented) roses…do you think, if I advertised, people would take it for free?

I think down your way, there would be a taker.

justin said:

Happy Potter said:

http://www.eco-outfitter.com/p-341-compospin-50-gallon-spinning-composter.aspx

I can tell you it takes about an hour to put one of these together because the man bought me one. That was when I sent him to the B shop for nails and a bit of gal pipe to make a frame for tumbler composter for a large barrel I have. I need a tumbler composter as I can’t manually turn a heap. I dunno wheather to kiss him or compost him…

I took my compost heap apart and could see what was wrong right away. Anerobic, and too wet. I’ve added a few bucketfuls to the death ray looking ball and turned it. I need to add some staw and cardboard, but it turns well.
I hope I don’t terrify the chooks..

looks good.
my compost is saturated and you’ve had more rain than us.
- the bin gives moisture control – the man gets thumbs up i say!.
now how long will it last?

It’s very strong, heavy too. I would say years and years. There’s hollow air tubes inside it to mix the contents well, all up a pretty clever design. The man had fun rolling it all over the place. It makes you want to make compost.
I used it for my excercises and.. well I had a ball rolling it about…

Happy Potter said:

justin said:

Happy Potter said:

http://www.eco-outfitter.com/p-341-compospin-50-gallon-spinning-composter.aspx

I can tell you it takes about an hour to put one of these together because the man bought me one. That was when I sent him to the B shop for nails and a bit of gal pipe to make a frame for tumbler composter for a large barrel I have. I need a tumbler composter as I can’t manually turn a heap. I dunno wheather to kiss him or compost him…

I took my compost heap apart and could see what was wrong right away. Anerobic, and too wet. I’ve added a few bucketfuls to the death ray looking ball and turned it. I need to add some staw and cardboard, but it turns well.
I hope I don’t terrify the chooks..

looks good.
my compost is saturated and you’ve had more rain than us.
- the bin gives moisture control – the man gets thumbs up i say!.
now how long will it last?

It’s very strong, heavy too. I would say years and years. There’s hollow air tubes inside it to mix the contents well, all up a pretty clever design. The man had fun rolling it all over the place. It makes you want to make compost.
I used it for my excercises and.. well I had a ball rolling it about…

ps.. the man told grandson it was a relic from the ocean, an undersea mine from WW2 and not to go near it in case it goes off. The kid was peering at it from behind the shed LOL

Happy Potter said:

Happy Potter said:

justin said:

looks good.
my compost is saturated and you’ve had more rain than us.
- the bin gives moisture control – the man gets thumbs up i say!.
now how long will it last?

It’s very strong, heavy too. I would say years and years. There’s hollow air tubes inside it to mix the contents well, all up a pretty clever design. The man had fun rolling it all over the place. It makes you want to make compost.
I used it for my excercises and.. well I had a ball rolling it about…

ps.. the man told grandson it was a relic from the ocean, an undersea mine from WW2 and not to go near it in case it goes off. The kid was peering at it from behind the shed LOL

Just off the Kokoda Track, well a reasonable walk off the track is a 500lb unexploded bomb from WW2 sitting in a muddy hole. The locals would steer you away from the track so tourists and trekkers could go look at it, but not everyone wanted to add additional distance to the 96km trek. Some bright local then thought “lets move it closer so all the trekkers can see it”, so they dragged this 500lb bomb to the main track. Then someone said “ummm that was dangerous, it could have blown up when you moved it here” and the same bright local saw that maybe he had done the wrong thing by rolling it closer to the track, so him and his mates, rolled it back to its original location, and that is where it is today.

painmaster said:

Happy Potter said:

Happy Potter said:

It’s very strong, heavy too. I would say years and years. There’s hollow air tubes inside it to mix the contents well, all up a pretty clever design. The man had fun rolling it all over the place. It makes you want to make compost.
I used it for my excercises and.. well I had a ball rolling it about…

ps.. the man told grandson it was a relic from the ocean, an undersea mine from WW2 and not to go near it in case it goes off. The kid was peering at it from behind the shed LOL

Just off the Kokoda Track, well a reasonable walk off the track is a 500lb unexploded bomb from WW2 sitting in a muddy hole. The locals would steer you away from the track so tourists and trekkers could go look at it, but not everyone wanted to add additional distance to the 96km trek. Some bright local then thought “lets move it closer so all the trekkers can see it”, so they dragged this 500lb bomb to the main track. Then someone said “ummm that was dangerous, it could have blown up when you moved it here” and the same bright local saw that maybe he had done the wrong thing by rolling it closer to the track, so him and his mates, rolled it back to its original location, and that is where it is today.

Unreal! lol

I’m dehydrating stuff in preparation for camping down at Philip Island. I have made some beef jerky and now have some vegetables in the dehydrator. If you blitz the dried veges into small pieces and pop in a thermos with some boiling stock, then by lunchtime you have a yummy vege soup.

Morning green ones. Busy here tending people and chooks and gardens and learning about herbs. I’ve chickweed everywhere, dandilions too. Suffice to say they’re no longer weeds to my eyes.
I still can’t find a jelly bag locally and the ones I make aren’t up to scratch, there’s always something I have to comensate for so I will order one online. I want to make extracts and my own herbal ointments and balms and need a jelly bag.

It’s cold and cloudy again, brrr. Pulls thick cardy round me.

The compost ball is going great guns, only now I have it off it’s base and I roll it along two sleepers between citrus beds. The sleepers act like a tram tracks, the the ball fair flies along it. It’s fun making compost these days.

Good morning.

I’d never heard of a jelly bag. On the few occasions I’ve bothered to make jelly I’ve just stuck a sieve in the top of a tall bowl, lined it with material and tipped the stuff in the top. For small amounts, I think I’ve even used a very clean old mens’ hanky.

Yes theres heaps of ways to make a jelly bag, I’ve used a large linen napkin with success. But where to hang it to free bench space and not get bumped by people and sniffing dog..I need the stand and the propper set up. The bags come with it and I can get one with spare bags cheap from a site in Melb. Rapt :)

Ooooh I might be having a sort of perma blitz here in Nov, with a fellow and his and my friends to help setting up an aquaponics system with the big pondy tub and spare barrels. Seeing as I don’t need the barrels for compost tumblers now, this is a great idea.
Wait until I show ‘em the underwater wormies..

I’ve created a dilemma. The lamb was getting into the chook food when I let them out and I was told not to. So I have been putting it on top of the chook cage during the day, only the cockatoos have found it and now I have created a feeding station for the local cockies and I don’t want to encourage that or that will decimate my fruit and veg. I think I am going to have to rethink this situation.

hello gardeners..

I have some kangaroo paws. I thought one of them was dying until i saw ‘new’ flower stems.. should I remove old flowers (they are brown and dry) and at what point? (ground level?)

Arts said:

hello gardeners..

I have some kangaroo paws. I thought one of them was dying until i saw ‘new’ flower stems.. should I remove old flowers (they are brown and dry) and at what point? (ground level?)

I would remove the old ones at ground level. Any dead leaves can be removed as well.

bluegreen said:

I’ve created a dilemma. The lamb was getting into the chook food when I let them out and I was told not to. So I have been putting it on top of the chook cage during the day, only the cockatoos have found it and now I have created a feeding station for the local cockies and I don’t want to encourage that or that will decimate my fruit and veg. I think I am going to have to rethink this situation.

The Aussie White Ibis love our chook food….

Arts said:

hello gardeners..

I have some kangaroo paws. I thought one of them was dying until i saw ‘new’ flower stems.. should I remove old flowers (they are brown and dry) and at what point? (ground level?)

I’d remove the entire dead flower stalk at the base. You will find if you cut it short, it may continue to dry up and become a bit of a spear the next time you are foraging around amongst the foliage…

And Hi Arts, good to see a new face here, welcome!

thank you painmaster and bluegreen

I have cut them now and we’ll see what happens.

I am in the (very slow) process of building a native garden. I have a blog somewhere around here (but not much happens in winter).. I should get it up and going again..

Arts said:

thank you painmaster and bluegreen

I have cut them now and we’ll see what happens.

I am in the (very slow) process of building a native garden. I have a blog somewhere around here (but not much happens in winter).. I should get it up and going again..

Well then if a Native Garden interests you then you have come to the right place… Roughbarked will see this later and I am sure he is good for advice.

And just a question, has daylight savings started?

painmaster said:

Arts said:

thank you painmaster and bluegreen

I have cut them now and we’ll see what happens.

I am in the (very slow) process of building a native garden. I have a blog somewhere around here (but not much happens in winter).. I should get it up and going again..

Well then if a Native Garden interests you then you have come to the right place… Roughbarked will see this later and I am sure he is good for advice.

And just a question, has daylight savings started?

it has in Vic

painmaster said:

Arts said:

thank you painmaster and bluegreen

I have cut them now and we’ll see what happens.

I am in the (very slow) process of building a native garden. I have a blog somewhere around here (but not much happens in winter).. I should get it up and going again..

Well then if a Native Garden interests you then you have come to the right place… Roughbarked will see this later and I am sure he is good for advice.

And just a question, has daylight savings started?

I know Roughy, and we don’t have daylight saving here :)

Hello Gardeners.

In Vic we lost an hour of morning daylight this morning. I think Tassie might have changed earlier, but I’m not sure. We might be aligned now.Apparently we change back on the 7th April next year.

Arts said:

painmaster said:

Arts said:

thank you painmaster and bluegreen

I have cut them now and we’ll see what happens.

I am in the (very slow) process of building a native garden. I have a blog somewhere around here (but not much happens in winter).. I should get it up and going again..

Well then if a Native Garden interests you then you have come to the right place… Roughbarked will see this later and I am sure he is good for advice.

And just a question, has daylight savings started?

I know Roughy, and we don’t have daylight saving here :)

Ahhh Kangaroo Paws, and no DLS, so you in WA then? No DLS here either…

painmaster said:

Arts said:

painmaster said:

Well then if a Native Garden interests you then you have come to the right place… Roughbarked will see this later and I am sure he is good for advice.

And just a question, has daylight savings started?

I know Roughy, and we don’t have daylight saving here :)

Ahhh Kangaroo Paws, and no DLS, so you in WA then? No DLS here either…

yes.. qld or NT ?

Arts said:

painmaster said:

Arts said:

I know Roughy, and we don’t have daylight saving here :)

Ahhh Kangaroo Paws, and no DLS, so you in WA then? No DLS here either…

yes.. qld or NT ?

Oh yeah, forgot about NT. In Alice I could understand growing Kangaroo Paws, but could see them struggling in Darwin…

Arts said:

hello gardeners..

I have some kangaroo paws. I thought one of them was dying until i saw ‘new’ flower stems.. should I remove old flowers (they are brown and dry) and at what point? (ground level?)

Cut old flower stems as close to the bottom as you can without chopping the whole plant.
Cut any dead leaf tips back to where they are green.
Depending upon the species, some are very prone to fungal problems, you may need to use fungicides though autumn winter or treat them as annuals and just pull them out, plant new ones..

Arts said:

painmaster said:

Arts said:

I know Roughy, and we don’t have daylight saving here :)

Ahhh Kangaroo Paws, and no DLS, so you in WA then? No DLS here either…

yes.. qld or NT ?

Hi Arts .. yes. PM is in NQ

painmaster said:

Arts said:

painmaster said:

Ahhh Kangaroo Paws, and no DLS, so you in WA then? No DLS here either…

yes.. qld or NT ?

Oh yeah, forgot about NT. In Alice I could understand growing Kangaroo Paws, but could see them struggling in Darwin…

OK so how about in Marulan? They don’t really like extreme frost.

buffy said:

Hello Gardeners.

In Vic we lost an hour of morning daylight this morning. I think Tassie might have changed earlier, but I’m not sure. We might be aligned now.Apparently we change back on the 7th April next year.

Yeah.. what’s with this 7th business?

It was always the last day of the month in the past.. some international computer convention?

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

Hello Gardeners.

In Vic we lost an hour of morning daylight this morning. I think Tassie might have changed earlier, but I’m not sure. We might be aligned now.Apparently we change back on the 7th April next year.

Yeah.. what’s with this 7th business?

It was always the last day of the month in the past.. some international computer convention?

they extended it another week I think.

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

Hello Gardeners.

In Vic we lost an hour of morning daylight this morning. I think Tassie might have changed earlier, but I’m not sure. We might be aligned now.Apparently we change back on the 7th April next year.

Yeah.. what’s with this 7th business?

It was always the last day of the month in the past.. some international computer convention?

they extended it another week I think.

Um, if they did that it would have been the 23rd Sept. No I think it is more about matching computer software universally.

I was looking up Equinox 2012, and came upon this: Aust BOM Seasonal Calendar

Those diagrammes show quite clearly why DLS is not relevant to the populace north of a latitude, e.g. in most parts of Qld…

roughbarked said:

Arts said:

hello gardeners..

I have some kangaroo paws. I thought one of them was dying until i saw ‘new’ flower stems.. should I remove old flowers (they are brown and dry) and at what point? (ground level?)

Cut old flower stems as close to the bottom as you can without chopping the whole plant.
Cut any dead leaf tips back to where they are green.
Depending upon the species, some are very prone to fungal problems, you may need to use fungicides though autumn winter or treat them as annuals and just pull them out, plant new ones..

I was hoping to avoid the ‘annuals’ and deliberately went for species that were labelled otherwise.. although, I suppose it’s possible that it was mislabelled or I have somehow killed it. Thanks for the tips, I have cut them now except for the new ones, so hopefully it’ll spring back :)

I should update my garden blog..

Dinetta said:

I was looking up Equinox 2012, and came upon this: Aust BOM Seasonal Calendar

Those diagrammes show quite clearly why DLS is not relevant to the populace north of a latitude, e.g. in most parts of Qld…

and for the same reasons not in northern WA.. which is why we in the southern part miss out too :(

Arts said:

Dinetta said:

I was looking up Equinox 2012, and came upon this: Aust BOM Seasonal Calendar

Those diagrammes show quite clearly why DLS is not relevant to the populace north of a latitude, e.g. in most parts of Qld…

and for the same reasons not in northern WA.. which is why we in the southern part miss out too :(

When you think that WA is = to Vic, NSW and Qld (roughly) put together, you’d wonder the WA govt doesn’t decide on a latitude such as the Tropic of Capricorn and say, OK, DSL down here and above the ToC, you can keep normal time (not sure of acronym for over there?) …I the US of A has many time zones and they manage to stay commercially viable…

My once-a-year brunsfelsia is in bloom…the perfume is, quite literally, heavenly…beats the pants off the continuous flowering brunsfelsia…

Dinetta said:

Arts said:

Dinetta said:

I was looking up Equinox 2012, and came upon this: Aust BOM Seasonal Calendar

Those diagrammes show quite clearly why DLS is not relevant to the populace north of a latitude, e.g. in most parts of Qld…

and for the same reasons not in northern WA.. which is why we in the southern part miss out too :(

When you think that WA is = to Vic, NSW and Qld (roughly) put together, you’d wonder the WA govt doesn’t decide on a latitude such as the Tropic of Capricorn and say, OK, DSL down here and above the ToC, you can keep normal time (not sure of acronym for over there?) …I the US of A has many time zones and they manage to stay commercially viable…

yes, i have mentioned that before many times on several soap boxes. Noone wants to listen to reason though..

Dinetta said:

My once-a-year brunsfelsia is in bloom…the perfume is, quite literally, heavenly…beats the pants off the continuous flowering brunsfelsia…

I love this time of year. My some sort of acacia tree is flowering now.. great smell.

and the bees… oh the bees!

Arts said:

Dinetta said:

Arts said:

and for the same reasons not in northern WA.. which is why we in the southern part miss out too :(

When you think that WA is = to Vic, NSW and Qld (roughly) put together, you’d wonder the WA govt doesn’t decide on a latitude such as the Tropic of Capricorn and say, OK, DSL down here and above the ToC, you can keep normal time (not sure of acronym for over there?) …I the US of A has many time zones and they manage to stay commercially viable…

yes, i have mentioned that before many times on several soap boxes. Noone wants to listen to reason though..

the existential problem.. If you write a book about it, some people may read it and yet still fewer will compute the reasoning.

Arts said:

Dinetta said:

My once-a-year brunsfelsia is in bloom…the perfume is, quite literally, heavenly…beats the pants off the continuous flowering brunsfelsia…

I love this time of year. My some sort of acacia tree is flowering now.. great smell.

and the bees… oh the bees!

:)

spring hath sprung.

my back is playing up today :(

bluegreen said:

my back is playing up today :(

mine is always playing up. it is a matter of trying to work around it.

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

my back is playing up today :(

mine is always playing up. it is a matter of trying to work around it.

I always have to be careful, but it is spasming today so I have to be extra careful. So I am not going to use the whipper snipper today as planned.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to why my oranges are small this year? There has been enough rain. Maybe it is simply the huge number of them, and they should have been thinned. The next blossom wave is starting.

buffy said:

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to why my oranges are small this year? There has been enough rain. Maybe it is simply the huge number of them, and they should have been thinned. The next blossom wave is starting.

I think the rule of thumb is that the more there are the smaller they’ll be. Sometimes the smaller fruit are the nicest though :)

I’ve just made an orange cake….smells good.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

Arts said:

yes.. qld or NT ?

Oh yeah, forgot about NT. In Alice I could understand growing Kangaroo Paws, but could see them struggling in Darwin…

OK so how about in Marulan? They don’t really like extreme frost.

I learn something new.

I’m still juicing oranges and lemons. Might have to behead the lemon tree. No one needs that many lemons.

Checking in. Been missing because I’ve been crook. Recovery is happening now. I’ve been reading most of what you’ve all been on about and checking BG’s cuties.

So very dry here and all over most of the State. We are heading away for a week from this Friday and we’re a bit worried about whether our plants will survive without us providing the water. I doubt that we will be able to depend on any rain happening for quite some time. This is when we could do with some like minded gardening friends nearby but there aren’t any.

Despite the dryness everything is looking Springy and it’s a joy to see. We will miss some of the flowerings though. Sure to open to the world while we’re away. Burke’s law.

Hope you have a good day.

Good to see you are recovering, Pom.

sorry to hear you have been ill, pomolo. Hope you are fully recovered for when you are away.

pomolo said:

Checking in. Been missing because I’ve been crook. Recovery is happening now. I’ve been reading most of what you’ve all been on about and checking BG’s cuties.

So very dry here and all over most of the State. We are heading away for a week from this Friday and we’re a bit worried about whether our plants will survive without us providing the water. I doubt that we will be able to depend on any rain happening for quite some time. This is when we could do with some like minded gardening friends nearby but there aren’t any.

Despite the dryness everything is looking Springy and it’s a joy to see. We will miss some of the flowerings though. Sure to open to the world while we’re away. Burke’s law.

Hope you have a good day.

It’s not slowed you down too much though ;) Get better.

pomolo said:

Checking in. Been missing because I’ve been crook. Recovery is happening now. I’ve been reading most of what you’ve all been on about and checking BG’s cuties.

So very dry here and all over most of the State. We are heading away for a week from this Friday and we’re a bit worried about whether our plants will survive without us providing the water. I doubt that we will be able to depend on any rain happening for quite some time. This is when we could do with some like minded gardening friends nearby but there aren’t any.

Despite the dryness everything is looking Springy and it’s a joy to see. We will miss some of the flowerings though. Sure to open to the world while we’re away. Burke’s law.

Is Burke a relative of Murphy?

Hope you have a good day.

the lamb is running and jumping round the chook and duck pens playing with chasing the ducks and a cockatoo :)

bubba louie said:

pomolo said:

Checking in. Been missing because I’ve been crook. Recovery is happening now. I’ve been reading most of what you’ve all been on about and checking BG’s cuties.

So very dry here and all over most of the State. We are heading away for a week from this Friday and we’re a bit worried about whether our plants will survive without us providing the water. I doubt that we will be able to depend on any rain happening for quite some time. This is when we could do with some like minded gardening friends nearby but there aren’t any.

Despite the dryness everything is looking Springy and it’s a joy to see. We will miss some of the flowerings though. Sure to open to the world while we’re away. Burke’s law.

Is Burke a relative of Murphy?

Hope you have a good day.

No it’s the garden Burke’s Law.

Been hosing most of the arvo. It’s not going to be wet enough to last till Sunday week though. Have set up pots that are important on to garden beds that have been fully drenched. Made some shade for them and will keep our fingers crossed. Some babies will be put in the bathroom with water for atmosphere. Not sure how they will go because the closed up house will be so hot. Trying al sorts of stuff.

pomolo said:

Been hosing most of the arvo. It’s not going to be wet enough to last till Sunday week though. Have set up pots that are important on to garden beds that have been fully drenched. Made some shade for them and will keep our fingers crossed. Some babies will be put in the bathroom with water for atmosphere. Not sure how they will go because the closed up house will be so hot. Trying al sorts of stuff.

Have you tried water saving crystals? They’re exxy but they work well.

Morning, it’s a chilly 3.7C at the moment. Brr.
All is well in my little corner of the world. Kids fine, well sort of…
Eldest daughter is still losing the plot with my grandson, so I have him here with me for a spell. Back to ironing shool shirts and making lunches and overseeing homework and screen times. He’s got a rissole sanger for today and a couple of my mandarines. He is great for me and the man, loves to help around the place.

JJ is going well, walking but slowly. Work is still a ways off yet.

Brekky time.

Happy Potter said:

pomolo said:

Been hosing most of the arvo. It’s not going to be wet enough to last till Sunday week though. Have set up pots that are important on to garden beds that have been fully drenched. Made some shade for them and will keep our fingers crossed. Some babies will be put in the bathroom with water for atmosphere. Not sure how they will go because the closed up house will be so hot. Trying al sorts of stuff.

Have you tried water saving crystals? They’re exxy but they work well.

The wtting agents are more efficient and don’t shrink away when dry, leaving airspace.

Happy Potter said:

pomolo said:

Been hosing most of the arvo. It’s not going to be wet enough to last till Sunday week though. Have set up pots that are important on to garden beds that have been fully drenched. Made some shade for them and will keep our fingers crossed. Some babies will be put in the bathroom with water for atmosphere. Not sure how they will go because the closed up house will be so hot. Trying al sorts of stuff.

Have you tried water saving crystals? They’re exxy but they work well.

You are so absolutely right. Why didn’t I think of them. We have them here and use them for certain things. Don’t use them willy nilly but now is the perfect time of course. I’ll remember to give myself a sharp rap over the knuckles.

Happy Potter said:

Morning, it’s a chilly 3.7C at the moment. Brr.
All is well in my little corner of the world. Kids fine, well sort of…
Eldest daughter is still losing the plot with my grandson, so I have him here with me for a spell. Back to ironing shool shirts and making lunches and overseeing homework and screen times. He’s got a rissole sanger for today and a couple of my mandarines. He is great for me and the man, loves to help around the place.

JJ is going well, walking but slowly. Work is still a ways off yet.

Brekky time.

Don’t you let that cold 3.7 come up this way. We have finally graduated to double digit minimums thanks very much!

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

pomolo said:

Been hosing most of the arvo. It’s not going to be wet enough to last till Sunday week though. Have set up pots that are important on to garden beds that have been fully drenched. Made some shade for them and will keep our fingers crossed. Some babies will be put in the bathroom with water for atmosphere. Not sure how they will go because the closed up house will be so hot. Trying al sorts of stuff.

Have you tried water saving crystals? They’re exxy but they work well.

The wtting agents are more efficient and don’t shrink away when dry, leaving airspace.

I intend to scout that area too RB.

Morning to you Dinetta.

Good morning all…chookens happy to see me, I made a quick trip Sunday night so the egg dating is under control…they were getting short of water, but I had filled the saucepan on Sunday night…

The neighbour’s garden is blooming…still planning mine…will prolly use some second hand single bed frames for protecting the garden beds, covered in bird netting (not necessarily wire)…

Good Morning Pomolo…it’s a pain having to leave your lovely garden with the dry winds around isn’t it? sorry you haven’t been so well lately…

pomolo said:

Checking in. Been missing because I’ve been crook. Recovery is happening now. I’ve been reading most of what you’ve all been on about and checking BG’s cuties.

So very dry here and all over most of the State. We are heading away for a week from this Friday and we’re a bit worried about whether our plants will survive without us providing the water. I doubt that we will be able to depend on any rain happening for quite some time. This is when we could do with some like minded gardening friends nearby but there aren’t any.

Despite the dryness everything is looking Springy and it’s a joy to see. We will miss some of the flowerings though. Sure to open to the world while we’re away. Burke’s law.

Hope you have a good day.

here’s a coupla sweetpeas to help mend you. the apple blossum is out as well down here – will post photo as soon as it is in full bloom..
i am glad you are well and hope the rain keeps coming in nice doses for your garden.

bluegreen said:

the lamb is running and jumping round the chook and duck pens playing with chasing the ducks and a cockatoo :)

chuckle – that does sound spring-like.

CWA lunch and meeting today. I’m exhausted!

We were going to have a picnic lunch in the Benalla Rose Gardens but the forecast didn’t look good so we had it in the regular hall instead as some of the older ladies were worried about sitting around in the cold trying to hold a meeting. Of course it was a beautiful day and would have been fine in the gardens!

Dinetta said:

Good Morning Pomolo…it’s a pain having to leave your lovely garden with the dry winds around isn’t it? sorry you haven’t been so well lately…

Thanks for the nice thoughts D and all you others as well.

justin said:

pomolo said:

Checking in. Been missing because I’ve been crook. Recovery is happening now. I’ve been reading most of what you’ve all been on about and checking BG’s cuties.

So very dry here and all over most of the State. We are heading away for a week from this Friday and we’re a bit worried about whether our plants will survive without us providing the water. I doubt that we will be able to depend on any rain happening for quite some time. This is when we could do with some like minded gardening friends nearby but there aren’t any.

Despite the dryness everything is looking Springy and it’s a joy to see. We will miss some of the flowerings though. Sure to open to the world while we’re away. Burke’s law.

Hope you have a good day.

here’s a coupla sweetpeas to help mend you. the apple blossum is out as well down here – will post photo as soon as it is in full bloom..
i am glad you are well and hope the rain keeps coming in nice doses for your garden.

You’re a sweetie J.

Been a bit noisy around here this morning. There is a small flock of black cockatoos having antics in the trees round about. According to old locals this is an indication of rain coming. BoM has said they could be right too. Definately a storm tonight but remains to be seen as to whether we are under it or not. Rain is moving down through central Q but missing us so far.

Had paw paw again for breakfast. Been having one each day. Shame they aren’t around all the year.

Heading off to spend some money at the s’market then home to start packing for tour trip. Enjoy your day.

Snow on Mt Lofty, apparently…

Dinetta said:

Snow on Mt Lofty, apparently…

still?

It was on the ABC ONline earlier…can’t find it just now…drat…

Snow on Mt Lofty and Adelaide Hills

Dinetta said:

Snow on Mt Lofty and Adelaide Hills

We’ll be in SA on Saturday. I was wondering what clothes to pack and now I know.

pomolo said:

Dinetta said:

Snow on Mt Lofty and Adelaide Hills

We’ll be in SA on Saturday. I was wondering what clothes to pack and now I know.

Pack me! Pack me!

It will be different by then!!

It’s Spring.

:)

buffy said:

It will be different by then!!

It’s Spring.

:)

We have often had dustorms by now.

Packing is done. Yard is tidy. Sheds are locked. Outdoor furniture stacked. Nothing to do now but jump in the car and take off.

Be good. Be kind and be happy.

Back in 10 days.

Have a nice time…

pomolo said:

Packing is done. Yard is tidy. Sheds are locked. Outdoor furniture stacked. Nothing to do now but jump in the car and take off.

Be good. Be kind and be happy.

Back in 10 days.

have fun, be good :)

bluegreen said:

pomolo said:

Packing is done. Yard is tidy. Sheds are locked. Outdoor furniture stacked. Nothing to do now but jump in the car and take off.

Be good. Be kind and be happy.

Back in 10 days.

have fun, be good :)

or be good at being bad :P

enjoy

pomolo said:

Packing is done. Yard is tidy. Sheds are locked. Outdoor furniture stacked. Nothing to do now but jump in the car and take off.

Be good. Be kind and be happy.

Back in 10 days.

I hope you have fun and all your plants survive.

Happy Potter said:

pomolo said:

Packing is done. Yard is tidy. Sheds are locked. Outdoor furniture stacked. Nothing to do now but jump in the car and take off.

Be good. Be kind and be happy.

Back in 10 days.

I hope you have fun and all your plants survive.

Can’t have fun if one is worried about plants surviving.

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

Snow on Mt Lofty, apparently…

still?

now it’s on mt remarkable as well – was – i’m several days behind here – but the snow was well north of me

pomolo said:

Dinetta said:

Snow on Mt Lofty and Adelaide Hills

We’ll be in SA on Saturday. I was wondering what clothes to pack and now I know.

you’ll need a jumper – and a coat if the hills are your destination.

Well there you go, I thought you were quoting a nick name for a local feature but there really is a Mt Remarkable in SA…

justin said:

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

Snow on Mt Lofty, apparently…

still?

now it’s on mt remarkable as well – was – i’m several days behind here – but the snow was well north of me

Mt Remarkable is well north of you indeed! If it is going to snow in SA, then Terowie and Hallet will experience snow well before Lofty!

Dinetta said:

Well there you go, I thought you were quoting a nick name for a local feature but there really is a Mt Remarkable in SA…

The indigenous people called it Wangyarra.

painmaster said:

Mt Remarkable is well north of you indeed! If it is going to snow in SA, then Terowie and Hallet will experience snow well before Lofty!

In the news article, the emphasis was on Hallett…

painmaster said:

justin said:

painmaster said:

still?

now it’s on mt remarkable as well – was – i’m several days behind here – but the snow was well north of me

Mt Remarkable is well north of you indeed! If it is going to snow in SA, then Terowie and Hallet will experience snow well before Lofty!

Mt Remarkable is the start of the Flinders – well on their southern edge – it hadn’t snowed there in decades – until wednesday.

For those of you who know my boys …

It’s DS14’s (formerly Littlefella) birthday next week and we measured him today .. he’s within millimetres of his big brother’s (formerly The Feral Teenager) final height (5’9”).So the lad’s got to eat lots for the next couple of days to see if he can achieve the same height by his 15th birthday … and given that his father is 6’1” the lad’s got a chance of equalling or exceeding that eventually.

i bought a new mower this morning.
still a push mower because us ex-smokers have to walk – so why not do functional walking with a mower in front.
it’s a makita 4-stoke with – 4 cutting blades- side shute for slashing without a catcher – and it fits into my boot.

test ran my home made dehydrated vegetable soup mix today. Very pleased. This will be my lunch at the MotoGP. In the morning put a third of a cup of assorted small dehydrated vegetable pieces and herbs into a 2 cup wide mouth thermos. Add 2 cups of boiling stock. Consume at lunch time.

I have been also dehydrating some apples and vegetables for snacks. The problem is they are so yummy that I keep pinching some, so I will have to do some more to make sure that I have some for the trip!

bluegreen said:

test ran my home made dehydrated vegetable soup mix today. Very pleased. This will be my lunch at the MotoGP. In the morning put a third of a cup of assorted small dehydrated vegetable pieces and herbs into a 2 cup wide mouth thermos. Add 2 cups of boiling stock. Consume at lunch time.

I have been also dehydrating some apples and vegetables for snacks. The problem is they are so yummy that I keep pinching some, so I will have to do some more to make sure that I have some for the trip!

Yes, I find that I eat such things very quickly rather than keep them for a rainy day.

just sayin’… had the pleasure of spending the evening with Dinetta. Lovely!

painmaster said:

just sayin’… had the pleasure of spending the evening with Dinetta. Lovely!

cool.

painmaster said:

just sayin’… had the pleasure of spending the evening with Dinetta. Lovely!

lucky you :)

painmaster said:

just sayin’… had the pleasure of spending the evening with Dinetta. Lovely!

Awww…

…and MrD and I had the pleasure of finally meeting PM… in spite of my fizzy lemonade that had no sugar in it, time flew…

PM is not as scary in real life as some of his self-portraits on fb would suggest… (kidding)

bluegreen said:

painmaster said:

just sayin’… had the pleasure of spending the evening with Dinetta. Lovely!

lucky you :)

In spite of my distinct lack of aural capabilities, PM coped quite well…

Wow – some names from the past in this place. PM is from Brownsville, from memory?

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Wow – some names from the past in this place. PM is from Brownsville, from memory?

Also known as TownTown…yes…:P

Thinking of entering a “learning to make smoothies” phase…

Also, I’ve got someone coming to collect an Iceberg rose, I think it is the sole surviving rose that Dad put in and it’s very healthy and flowers like there’s no tomorrow…do we need to save much of the root ball or just, say, about 30 cm out? It’s going to someone who knew Dad so it’s not a complete loss, but I have other plans for that garden bed …

Dinetta said:

Thinking of entering a “learning to make smoothies” phase…

Also, I’ve got someone coming to collect an Iceberg rose, I think it is the sole surviving rose that Dad put in and it’s very healthy and flowers like there’s no tomorrow…do we need to save much of the root ball or just, say, about 30 cm out? It’s going to someone who knew Dad so it’s not a complete loss, but I have other plans for that garden bed …

At this time of year it would be advisable to keep a root ball with the plant. The size of that, always depends upon the size of the plant. The more you hack off the top, the smaller your root ball can be but it is still limited by the actual size of the stump.

Thanks RoughBarked…the stump is a good 6 inches across, the plant is about 2 foot overall in height …could possibly cut the foliage back about 6 inches I suppose … the canes are coming about 9 inches up the stump but there’s just the one point that they’re coming from…I really do think that if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re best not to “prune” roses…there are 6 plants that have gone back to the briar (or whatever) due to hacking…

Dinetta said:

Thanks RoughBarked…the stump is a good 6 inches across, the plant is about 2 foot overall in height …could possibly cut the foliage back about 6 inches I suppose … the canes are coming about 9 inches up the stump but there’s just the one point that they’re coming from…I really do think that if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re best not to “prune” roses…there are 6 plants that have gone back to the briar (or whatever) due to hacking…

Yes, don’t cut below the graft unless you both know how to graft and still have the grafting scion wood source.

With grafted plants, care needs to be taken to make sure that no shoots grow from below the graft. To do this, the grafted top must always be growing with health. At any time that the growth of the graft is checked.. the rootstock will attempt to survive by throwing shoots from below the graft.

From what you describe, the root ball should not be less than 30 cm but preferably up to 50 cm. Thus we come to the next set of limiting factors; how much mass are you able to you shift? how well prepared is the new site and grower?

I think she’s done this before, from what she was saying. I was looking at her front yard as I was walking along yesterday, and she has an established rose bed along her fence but there’s gaps.

The chooks are madly “aerating” the soil around this bush, and fertilising it as well…I think I might have to put some newspaper down around this plant to preserve the roots…

The other rose that I’m hopeful to give away (not one of Dad’s), might be a Just Joey, it’s shooting from the graft but giving lovely blooms ATM on the two lonely canes above.

OK, next time I see her I’ll ask if she wants me to pick up some manure or whatever, to get the spot ready…

Thanks

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

just sayin’… had the pleasure of spending the evening with Dinetta. Lovely!

Awww…

…and MrD and I had the pleasure of finally meeting PM… in spite of my fizzy lemonade that had no sugar in it, time flew…

PM is not as scary in real life as some of his self-portraits on fb would suggest… (kidding)

My fizzy lemonade had some hops and malted barley in it, and not many lemons…

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Wow – some names from the past in this place. PM is from Brownsville, from memory?

At times… In Rockhampton for a few days.

painmaster said:

My fizzy lemonade had some hops and malted barley in it, and not many lemons…

Yes go on, rub it in…altho’ the replacement second drink had a very pleasant after taste of lemons…have’t had a lemonade like that since I was a child…

Note to self: Must try a Corona and lime one day

painmaster said:

At times… In Rockhampton for a few days.

The beach at Emu Park is nice and clean….

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

My fizzy lemonade had some hops and malted barley in it, and not many lemons…

Yes go on, rub it in…altho’ the replacement second drink had a very pleasant after taste of lemons…have’t had a lemonade like that since I was a child…

Note to self: Must try a Corona and lime one day

Forget the lime… horrid stuff. Suffer a Corona only with lemon if you must.

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

At times… In Rockhampton for a few days.

The beach at Emu Park is nice and clean….

ate a big piece of Spanish Mackeral there at lunch. Now consuming too much steak in Australia’s Beef Capital.

painmaster said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Wow – some names from the past in this place. PM is from Brownsville, from memory?

At times… In Rockhampton for a few days.

I used to live in both Townsville and Rocky (Well, Cooee bay). Now in Cairns but work wherever they send me. (Mackay, Tom price, Perth)

Currently on 2 weeks holiday in Tassie!

Dinetta said:

Note to self: Must try a Corona and lime one day

I would suggest a far better goal would be to try a different beer every week. Next time you are in Dan Murphy’s (or any other shop with a large range of beers) buy a few random single bottles to stick in the fridge for when you are feeling like something adventurous.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

painmaster said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Wow – some names from the past in this place. PM is from Brownsville, from memory?

At times… In Rockhampton for a few days.

I used to live in both Townsville and Rocky (Well, Cooee bay). Now in Cairns but work wherever they send me. (Mackay, Tom price, Perth)

Currently on 2 weeks holiday in Tassie!

Never been to Tassie. One day.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Dinetta said:

Note to self: Must try a Corona and lime one day

I would suggest a far better goal would be to try a different beer every week. Next time you are in Dan Murphy’s (or any other shop with a large range of beers) buy a few random single bottles to stick in the fridge for when you are feeling like something adventurous.

My suggestion is to buy a 6pack of foreign brews every now and then…. because the one beer option sometimes leaves you wondering if you really liked it or not, a second, or third plus a fourth, fifth and sixth to maybe share with someone near and dear will confirm your enjoyment factor….

painmaster said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

Dinetta said:

Note to self: Must try a Corona and lime one day

I would suggest a far better goal would be to try a different beer every week. Next time you are in Dan Murphy’s (or any other shop with a large range of beers) buy a few random single bottles to stick in the fridge for when you are feeling like something adventurous.

My suggestion is to buy a 6pack of foreign brews every now and then…. because the one beer option sometimes leaves you wondering if you really liked it or not, a second, or third plus a fourth, fifth and sixth to maybe share with someone near and dear will confirm your enjoyment factor….

what if you really dislike the first one? then you are stuck picking a friend you don’t really like to give the rest to. Go to a bar that has lots of beer choices on tap and chat to the bar person and have a few tastes. You’ll be able to figure out what you like and then you can buy the range you know you like and make a new friend at the bar.

Arts said:

painmaster said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

I would suggest a far better goal would be to try a different beer every week. Next time you are in Dan Murphy’s (or any other shop with a large range of beers) buy a few random single bottles to stick in the fridge for when you are feeling like something adventurous.

My suggestion is to buy a 6pack of foreign brews every now and then…. because the one beer option sometimes leaves you wondering if you really liked it or not, a second, or third plus a fourth, fifth and sixth to maybe share with someone near and dear will confirm your enjoyment factor….

what if you really dislike the first one? then you are stuck picking a friend you don’t really like to give the rest to. Go to a bar that has lots of beer choices on tap and chat to the bar person and have a few tastes. You’ll be able to figure out what you like and then you can buy the range you know you like and make a new friend at the bar.

I hate beer. The ex tried to get me to taste lots of different brands, I think I was a personal challenge, to try and find one I would like. I hate all beers.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

I used to live in both Townsville and Rocky (Well, Cooee bay). Now in Cairns but work wherever they send me. (Mackay, Tom price, Perth)

Currently on 2 weeks holiday in Tassie!

So you’re on a holiday that’s a culture shock…

painmaster said:

My suggestion is to buy a 6pack of foreign brews every now and then…. because the one beer option sometimes leaves you wondering if you really liked it or not, a second, or third plus a fourth, fifth and sixth to maybe share with someone near and dear will confirm your enjoyment factor….

P is the beer afficiando…I was just curious about what happens to the lime in the Corona…

bluegreen said:

I hate beer. The ex tried to get me to taste lots of different brands, I think I was a personal challenge, to try and find one I would like. I hate all beers.

I learned to like beer at Uni…like a lot of my fellow students, it was all I could afford at the time…even tried Toohey’s Old (back in ’76)….ack, peels tongue from roof of mouth, where it got stuck

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

I hate beer. The ex tried to get me to taste lots of different brands, I think I was a personal challenge, to try and find one I would like. I hate all beers.

I learned to like beer at Uni…like a lot of my fellow students, it was all I could afford at the time…even tried Toohey’s Old (back in ’76)….ack, peels tongue from roof of mouth, where it got stuck

the ‘wheatsheaf’ hotel in thebarton sells something like 600 different beers and three takeaway 6 packs called ‘cheap ass’, weird ass’ and ‘kick ass’. the microbrews are much better than the sameold sameold standard pub beers.
our brew club has fermented citrus and we now have 30+ dozen of nonalcoholic and alcoholic lime, lemon, orange and mandarin ciders. try pear cider if beer isn’t your taste.
we also have good lagers and ales but, as the brew club is just 11 months old we haven’t yet tasted a 1y.o. brew.

justin said:

the ‘wheatsheaf’ hotel in thebarton sells something like 600 different beers and three takeaway 6 packs called ‘cheap ass’, weird ass’ and ‘kick ass’. the microbrews are much better than the sameold sameold standard pub beers.
our brew club has fermented citrus and we now have 30+ dozen of nonalcoholic and alcoholic lime, lemon, orange and mandarin ciders. try pear cider if beer isn’t your taste.
we also have good lagers and ales but, as the brew club is just 11 months old we haven’t yet tasted a 1y.o. brew.

Sounds promising…

Arts said:

painmaster said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

I would suggest a far better goal would be to try a different beer every week. Next time you are in Dan Murphy’s (or any other shop with a large range of beers) buy a few random single bottles to stick in the fridge for when you are feeling like something adventurous.

My suggestion is to buy a 6pack of foreign brews every now and then…. because the one beer option sometimes leaves you wondering if you really liked it or not, a second, or third plus a fourth, fifth and sixth to maybe share with someone near and dear will confirm your enjoyment factor….

what if you really dislike the first one? then you are stuck picking a friend you don’t really like to give the rest to. Go to a bar that has lots of beer choices on tap and chat to the bar person and have a few tastes. You’ll be able to figure out what you like and then you can buy the range you know you like and make a new friend at the bar.

I live in Qld. A “range” of beers include the entire CUB range plus some Lion Nathan stalwarts and maybe a James Squire.

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

My suggestion is to buy a 6pack of foreign brews every now and then…. because the one beer option sometimes leaves you wondering if you really liked it or not, a second, or third plus a fourth, fifth and sixth to maybe share with someone near and dear will confirm your enjoyment factor….

P is the beer afficiando…I was just curious about what happens to the lime in the Corona…

The Mexicans only put a slice of citrus in the top of the bottle to stop the flies from getting in. They remove it to drink the cerveza and place it back in like a stopper. Only us dumbarsed Aussies poke the fruit into the bottle….

justin said:

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

I hate beer. The ex tried to get me to taste lots of different brands, I think I was a personal challenge, to try and find one I would like. I hate all beers.

I learned to like beer at Uni…like a lot of my fellow students, it was all I could afford at the time…even tried Toohey’s Old (back in ’76)….ack, peels tongue from roof of mouth, where it got stuck

the ‘wheatsheaf’ hotel in thebarton sells something like 600 different beers and three takeaway 6 packs called ‘cheap ass’, weird ass’ and ‘kick ass’. the microbrews are much better than the sameold sameold standard pub beers.
our brew club has fermented citrus and we now have 30+ dozen of nonalcoholic and alcoholic lime, lemon, orange and mandarin ciders. try pear cider if beer isn’t your taste.
we also have good lagers and ales but, as the brew club is just 11 months old we haven’t yet tasted a 1y.o. brew.

Had many a good night at the Wheaty.

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

My suggestion is to buy a 6pack of foreign brews every now and then…. because the one beer option sometimes leaves you wondering if you really liked it or not, a second, or third plus a fourth, fifth and sixth to maybe share with someone near and dear will confirm your enjoyment factor….

P is the beer afficiando…I was just curious about what happens to the lime in the Corona…

The Mexicans only put a slice of citrus in the top of the bottle to stop the flies from getting in. They remove it to drink the cerveza and place it back in like a stopper. Only us dumbarsed Aussies poke the fruit into the bottle….

well, that’s an explanation I have never heard before

painmaster said:

The Mexicans only put a slice of citrus in the top of the bottle to stop the flies from getting in. They remove it to drink the cerveza and place it back in like a stopper. Only us dumbarsed Aussies poke the fruit into the bottle….

…so now I know lol!

Arts said:

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

P is the beer afficiando…I was just curious about what happens to the lime in the Corona…

The Mexicans only put a slice of citrus in the top of the bottle to stop the flies from getting in. They remove it to drink the cerveza and place it back in like a stopper. Only us dumbarsed Aussies poke the fruit into the bottle….

well, that’s an explanation I have never heard before

They think we have lost the plot…

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

My suggestion is to buy a 6pack of foreign brews every now and then…. because the one beer option sometimes leaves you wondering if you really liked it or not, a second, or third plus a fourth, fifth and sixth to maybe share with someone near and dear will confirm your enjoyment factor….

P is the beer afficiando…I was just curious about what happens to the lime in the Corona…

The Mexicans only put a slice of citrus in the top of the bottle to stop the flies from getting in. They remove it to drink the cerveza and place it back in like a stopper. Only us dumbarsed Aussies poke the fruit into the bottle….

Speak for yourself ;) I wouldn’t drink Corona with or without the lime. The lime is there to make it taste like something other than fizzy water.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

P is the beer afficiando…I was just curious about what happens to the lime in the Corona…

The Mexicans only put a slice of citrus in the top of the bottle to stop the flies from getting in. They remove it to drink the cerveza and place it back in like a stopper. Only us dumbarsed Aussies poke the fruit into the bottle….

Speak for yourself ;) I wouldn’t drink Corona with or without the lime. The lime is there to make it taste like something other than fizzy water.

While I appreciate your view and your devotion to Coopers, and I do believe that Pale Ale is the best beer in the world, but in the same breath, I think Jarlsberg is the best cheese in the world, I still enjoy a good pecorino, a wendsleydale, a brie, and a Coon Tasty.

It would be like only ever accepting a Shiraz from the Coonawarra.

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

The Mexicans only put a slice of citrus in the top of the bottle to stop the flies from getting in. They remove it to drink the cerveza and place it back in like a stopper. Only us dumbarsed Aussies poke the fruit into the bottle….

Speak for yourself ;) I wouldn’t drink Corona with or without the lime. The lime is there to make it taste like something other than fizzy water.

While I appreciate your view and your devotion to Coopers, and I do believe that Pale Ale is the best beer in the world, but in the same breath, I think Jarlsberg is the best cheese in the world, I still enjoy a good pecorino, a wendsleydale, a brie, and a Coon Tasty.

It would be like only ever accepting a Shiraz from the Coonawarra.

Oh I drink other things than coopers, I just am not all that keen on corona.
James Squire makes a few good drops.

I’d probably prefer to eat the lime..

Mmmm the brewers in Belgium do make a fine drop, had a Leffe Blonde the other day…

I like my pale ales. The american styles (Little Creatures) are at the flavoursome end of my palate, and the Coopers are at the other end. James Squire 150 lashes is slap-bang in the middle of my taste zone.

I also enjoy a Stout, but prefer a Porter but they are not beers I can drink all night.

I mainly drink beer as a refreshment after a hard day at work, and I find G&T does a better job of that. (Hendrick’s or Bombay Sapphire)

Carmen_Sandiego said:

I like my pale ales. The american styles (Little Creatures) are at the flavoursome end of my palate, and the Coopers are at the other end. James Squire 150 lashes is slap-bang in the middle of my taste zone.

I also enjoy a Stout, but prefer a Porter but they are not beers I can drink all night.

I mainly drink beer as a refreshment after a hard day at work, and I find G&T does a better job of that. (Hendrick’s or Bombay Sapphire)

After the first mouthful .. they all taste the same is what a Kansan friend once told me when I was selecting a Coopers dark ale and he bought a XXXX gold.
I’m prone to buy the odd Toohey’s old and I do like a good stout.
I do opt for the odd porter and would love to get their original winter dark ale. These aren’t sold in my shops unfortunately. I have to go to the big city shops for such things.

You have to admit that if you had to wade through pallets and pallets of VB and Fosters then you’d probably buy the Coopers too.

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

The neighbour’s duranta is shading out my frangipani, she told us when we first came, to prune anything back, but I’ll ask just the same…all the rest of her stuff looks nice hanging or branching over the fence…

I am watering under the cherry guava (which “my” singing honey eater loves so much) as it is trying to flower and I am hoping for lots of fruit…

Need to source some free mulch from somewhere, a lot of the brigalow scrub that I used to scrape leaf litter from, has gone…

roughbarked said:

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

Now that’s an interesting shandy…

Dinetta said:

The neighbour’s duranta is shading out my frangipani, she told us when we first came, to prune anything back, but I’ll ask just the same…all the rest of her stuff looks nice hanging or branching over the fence…

I am watering under the cherry guava (which “my” singing honey eater loves so much) as it is trying to flower and I am hoping for lots of fruit…

Need to source some free mulch from somewhere, a lot of the brigalow scrub that I used to scrape leaf litter from, has gone…

mulch.. there never seems to be enough of it.

Yes, though it is your right to hack things your side of the fence, often this can be the best side of the plant and either is an abusive shock to the plant or just an extension of your problems.. depending on what time of year you prune it.. and after all, the roots are on the other side of the fence.

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

Now that’s an interesting shandy…

I have an ever seeking palate.. ;)

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

The Mexicans only put a slice of citrus in the top of the bottle to stop the flies from getting in. They remove it to drink the cerveza and place it back in like a stopper. Only us dumbarsed Aussies poke the fruit into the bottle….

Speak for yourself ;) I wouldn’t drink Corona with or without the lime. The lime is there to make it taste like something other than fizzy water.

While I appreciate your view and your devotion to Coopers, and I do believe that Pale Ale is the best beer in the world, but in the same breath, I think Jarlsberg is the best cheese in the world, I still enjoy a good pecorino, a wendsleydale, a brie, and a Coon Tasty.

It would be like only ever accepting a Shiraz from the Coonawarra.

pale ale is the best but these micro brewers can beat it if they keep going with their – honey, wheat, coriander and fruit overtones – some of them are very original.
i homebrew coopers ‘cervesa’ and the wife prefers it to ale – so each to their own – which applies to wine tastes as well.

roughbarked said:

a perfect vision – coffee stout i presume?

Carmen_Sandiego said:

I like my pale ales. The american styles (Little Creatures) are at the flavoursome end of my palate, and the Coopers are at the other end. James Squire 150 lashes is slap-bang in the middle of my taste zone.

I also enjoy a Stout, but prefer a Porter but they are not beers I can drink all night.

I mainly drink beer as a refreshment after a hard day at work, and I find G&T does a better job of that. (Hendrick’s or Bombay Sapphire)

welcome sandiego – I bow in reverence to a person who knows what they like LOL.
there is summin about a g&t on a balcony after work – dreams of colonial grandeur probably.

justin said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

I like my pale ales. The american styles (Little Creatures) are at the flavoursome end of my palate, and the Coopers are at the other end. James Squire 150 lashes is slap-bang in the middle of my taste zone.

I also enjoy a Stout, but prefer a Porter but they are not beers I can drink all night.

I mainly drink beer as a refreshment after a hard day at work, and I find G&T does a better job of that. (Hendrick’s or Bombay Sapphire)

welcome sandiego – I bow in reverence to a person who knows what they like LOL.
there is summin about a g&t on a balcony after work – dreams of colonial grandeur probably.

We can’t have everybody living as long as the Queen Mother.

justin said:

roughbarked said:

a perfect vision – coffee stout i presume?

obviously not – i was looking at the dark bottle not the glasses.

justin said:

justin said:

roughbarked said:

a perfect vision – coffee stout i presume?

obviously not – i was looking at the dark bottle not the glasses.

:)

I have just realised a problem with tasting alcohol…you get drunk eventually…this we found in the Barossa Valley back in the summer of 1981…before breathalysers etc…yes I know now that you’re supposed to spit it out etc but they didn’t tell us that…

Arvo all. Rushing about as usual here. My day started with minding my adorable little grandaughter whilst mummy went for a haircut. She wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I poked her. I was hoping for some playtime smiles. I had to resort to watching teevee.
Gawd, now I know why I don’t bother watching it much. The cycling world is coming adrift.

Home now and I have some new chickens arriving soon :D 3 brown pol leghorn bantams. More big eggs, yay. I’ve made a temp area for the next to the big pen to get aquainted with the white leghorns.
I’ve sold another 2000 worm farm worms and with the dough I’m going to get some poly pipe and the pieces to make an auto chook feeder thingo.
Fern, the silkie broody currently housed in a pen in the fernery, has been sitting for the 3 weeks and I can hear cheeping. Yes! more cute fluffballs. These are one leghorn bantam, one silkie, 2 aracaunas and 2 aracaunas x belgium d’uccles. The silkie egg is from my girls but the others were from a friends flock. I can keep whatever I like. Crossed fingers hoping the leghorn is a hen.

justin said:

there is summin about a g&t on a balcony after work – dreams of colonial grandeur probably.

Indeed. Currently cruising up the east coast of Tassie, picking up cheap but surprisingly tasty whites at a rate faster than our ability to consume them so we are going to have to work out how to get them all home.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

I like my pale ales. The american styles (Little Creatures) are at the flavoursome end of my palate, and the Coopers are at the other end. James Squire 150 lashes is slap-bang in the middle of my taste zone.

I also enjoy a Stout, but prefer a Porter but they are not beers I can drink all night.

I mainly drink beer as a refreshment after a hard day at work, and I find G&T does a better job of that. (Hendrick’s or Bombay Sapphire)

I find Hendrick’s well tasty!

roughbarked said:

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

Dinetta said:

The neighbour’s duranta is shading out my frangipani, she told us when we first came, to prune anything back, but I’ll ask just the same…all the rest of her stuff looks nice hanging or branching over the fence…

I am watering under the cherry guava (which “my” singing honey eater loves so much) as it is trying to flower and I am hoping for lots of fruit…

Need to source some free mulch from somewhere, a lot of the brigalow scrub that I used to scrape leaf litter from, has gone…

A Duranta bigger than your Plumeria? Chainsaw time!

Dinetta said:

I have just realised a problem with tasting alcohol…you get drunk eventually…this we found in the Barossa Valley back in the summer of 1981…before breathalysers etc…yes I know now that you’re supposed to spit it out etc but they didn’t tell us that…

The Barossa will do that to everyone…

hello. I’ve just been to the Garden of St Erth with the Violet Town Seed Savers. Long trip, tired.

bluegreen said:

hello. I’ve just been to the Garden of St Erth with the Violet Town Seed Savers. Long trip, tired.

same.. I just drove 800kms today… and attended a few work appointments…. buggered big time!

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

What’s a Grumpie?

painmaster said:

A Duranta bigger than your Plumeria? Chainsaw time!

My sentiments exactly…only back to the fence, mind…hate duranta with a passion, now…altho’ the one outside the laundry ) (Geisha Girl) always has wren nests in it…they sleep there in the “off season”, did you know?

bluegreen said:

hello. I’ve just been to the Garden of St Erth with the Violet Town Seed Savers. Long trip, tired.

Do tell :)

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

What’s a Grumpie?

Grumpy is the best Ginger Beer available at Dan Murphys as we type… super well tasty.

Oooh, we usually buy Bundaberg…not sure who the GB enthusiast is in the family…

Starving. Did this monumental typing effort, 72 mb (full of photos) and the b would not send…not through bigpond anyhow…had to split it up into page by page…

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

hello. I’ve just been to the Garden of St Erth with the Violet Town Seed Savers. Long trip, tired.

Do tell :)

the VTSS sell saved seeds at the Yea and Violet Town markets. With the money raised they give some to worthy organisations and some is spent on outings like this. So they hired a bus to take us to St Erth for a look see. We were also going to visit a botanical gardens out that way too only the bus driver was hopeless, seemed unconcerned that we were on a tight schedule, got lost twice, and couldn’t understand why we wanted to have a morning and afternoon tea break during the trip. So the botanical gardens had to be dropped. Even so we were an hour late returning. I took some phone photos but am too tired to put them up today. Nice gardens though and they have been doing some nice work with espaliered fruit trees and all the apples were in blossom and looked spectacular.

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

Not sure if it is the quality of the grain or something else but Coopers sparkling has become quite more bitter of late and any sweetener makes it both more tasty yet more affordable.

bluegreen said:

the VTSS sell saved seeds at the Yea and Violet Town markets. With the money raised they give some to worthy organisations and some is spent on outings like this. So they hired a bus to take us to St Erth for a look see. We were also going to visit a botanical gardens out that way too only the bus driver was hopeless, seemed unconcerned that we were on a tight schedule, got lost twice, and couldn’t understand why we wanted to have a morning and afternoon tea break during the trip. So the botanical gardens had to be dropped. Even so we were an hour late returning. I took some phone photos but am too tired to put them up today. Nice gardens though and they have been doing some nice work with espaliered fruit trees and all the apples were in blossom and looked spectacular.

Still sounds like a worthwhile trip…you’ve sure taken up with some keen gardeners lol! Hopeless bus driver alright, is the VTSS going to express their dissatisfaction to the bus company?

Dinetta said:

Oooh, we usually buy Bundaberg…not sure who the GB enthusiast is in the family…

I got it wrong… It is Crabbies Ginger Beer that goes down very well. It’s alcoholic, and well tasty.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

Not sure if it is the quality of the grain or something else but Coopers sparkling has become quite more bitter of late and any sweetener makes it both more tasty yet more affordable.

Maybe something to do with the Hops?

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

the VTSS sell saved seeds at the Yea and Violet Town markets. With the money raised they give some to worthy organisations and some is spent on outings like this. So they hired a bus to take us to St Erth for a look see. We were also going to visit a botanical gardens out that way too only the bus driver was hopeless, seemed unconcerned that we were on a tight schedule, got lost twice, and couldn’t understand why we wanted to have a morning and afternoon tea break during the trip. So the botanical gardens had to be dropped. Even so we were an hour late returning. I took some phone photos but am too tired to put them up today. Nice gardens though and they have been doing some nice work with espaliered fruit trees and all the apples were in blossom and looked spectacular.

Still sounds like a worthwhile trip…you’ve sure taken up with some keen gardeners lol! Hopeless bus driver alright, is the VTSS going to express their dissatisfaction to the bus company?

definitely

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

Oooh, we usually buy Bundaberg…not sure who the GB enthusiast is in the family…

I got it wrong… It is Crabbies Ginger Beer that goes down very well. It’s alcoholic, and well tasty.

Yes, I seem to remember a lot of alcoholic cider and ginger beer was consumed in Qld, um back in my dim past..1970.

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

Oooh, we usually buy Bundaberg…not sure who the GB enthusiast is in the family…

I got it wrong… It is Crabbies Ginger Beer that goes down very well. It’s alcoholic, and well tasty.

I thought all Ginger Beer was alcoholic, even the home made stuff (just a little bit)…

Good Morning all

I did tell you that I’m watering my cherry guava, hoping for fruit?

What a long way it has come since the late 1960’s…slowly but surely…I recall the early days with garlic in holed jam tins, to keep something away…the 6 fruit we picked the first year (that didn’t have bugs in them) were very precious to my mother apparently…guava jelly and all that…

Dinetta said:

Good Morning all

I did tell you that I’m watering my cherry guava, hoping for fruit?

What a long way it has come since the late 1960’s…slowly but surely…I recall the early days with garlic in holed jam tins, to keep something away…the 6 fruit we picked the first year (that didn’t have bugs in them) were very precious to my mother apparently…guava jelly and all that…

bloody fruit fly traps.

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

Oooh, we usually buy Bundaberg…not sure who the GB enthusiast is in the family…

I got it wrong… It is Crabbies Ginger Beer that goes down very well. It’s alcoholic, and well tasty.

I thought all Ginger Beer was alcoholic, even the home made stuff (just a little bit)…

traditional ginger beer is fermented while commercial ginger beer is carbonated.

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

Not sure if it is the quality of the grain or something else but Coopers sparkling has become quite more bitter of late and any sweetener makes it both more tasty yet more affordable.

Maybe something to do with the Hops?

Yes, they could have changed the variety of the hops?

We’ll see. The fruit that’s lingering from last season does not seem to be imperfect in any way. I’m hoping the singing honey eater will work on the bug population. Do they eat spiders? I saw one looking hopefully at the cobwebs on our external walls.

Arts said:

traditional ginger beer is fermented while commercial ginger beer is carbonated.

Oh I see, thanks Arts. So you mean if I use the soda bulb, I can put fizz in my home-made ginger beer? If I ever get around to making it…

Dinetta said:

We’ll see. The fruit that’s lingering from last season does not seem to be imperfect in any way. I’m hoping the singing honey eater will work on the bug population. Do they eat spiders? I saw one looking hopefully at the cobwebs on our external walls.

yes a lot of honeyeaters will feed spiders and other meaty bites to hungry babes.

Dinetta said:

Arts said:

traditional ginger beer is fermented while commercial ginger beer is carbonated.

Oh I see, thanks Arts. So you mean if I use the soda bulb, I can put fizz in my home-made ginger beer? If I ever get around to making it…

I’d give it a go, should be much the same. Worth making some ginger beer for the experiment ;)

Dinetta said:

We’ll see. The fruit that’s lingering from last season does not seem to be imperfect in any way. I’m hoping the singing honey eater will work on the bug population. Do they eat spiders? I saw one looking hopefully at the cobwebs on our external walls.

yes.. they need to get protein from somewhere

http://suburbanbackyardbirds.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/wait-theres-a-new-holland/

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

We’ll see. The fruit that’s lingering from last season does not seem to be imperfect in any way. I’m hoping the singing honey eater will work on the bug population. Do they eat spiders? I saw one looking hopefully at the cobwebs on our external walls.

yes a lot of honeyeaters will feed spiders and other meaty bites to hungry babes.

the Singing Honeyeater does eat insects in its diet. It also uses cobwebs as nesting material.

painmaster said:

the Singing Honeyeater does eat insects in its diet. It also uses cobwebs as nesting material.

Oooh, I like the sound of that! Missing my pee wees and willie wagtails which would be nesting at the other house right now…and finches and wrens and…

One neighbour here has a kind of dry forest in her back yard. It was planted for another lady by her daughters, when she first moved in. The son, a builder, purpose-built the house for his elderly mother. So we have some birds but I only see the little wrens etc when I head to the snake haven in the back block…

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

the Singing Honeyeater does eat insects in its diet. It also uses cobwebs as nesting material.

Oooh, I like the sound of that! Missing my pee wees and willie wagtails which would be nesting at the other house right now…and finches and wrens and…

One neighbour here has a kind of dry forest in her back yard. It was planted for another lady by her daughters, when she first moved in. The son, a builder, purpose-built the house for his elderly mother. So we have some birds but I only see the little wrens etc when I head to the snake haven in the back block…

hmm I was just in my workshop with the door wide open. Looking through a bucket of opal potch to see if I missed anything worthwhile. Now turning my back on an open door in the workshop is tantamount to willful suicide. The floor is at ground level there is no escape if one of the many snakes I’ve found slithering past the door when I open it.

The added bonus is thta I usually scare wrens out of the emubush at the door also.

Sounds lively around your place, RoughBarked!

Dinetta said:

Sounds lively around your place, RoughBarked!

Yeah it is.
and I wear bare feet everywhere.

I do from time to time (wear bare feet) as my floors here are wooden, but I would end up hobbling if I was on concrete all day…

I walk on the spiders and swing a mattock between my legs while in bare feet..

bluegreen said:

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

hello. I’ve just been to the Garden of St Erth with the Violet Town Seed Savers. Long trip, tired.

Do tell :)

the VTSS sell saved seeds at the Yea and Violet Town markets. With the money raised they give some to worthy organisations and some is spent on outings like this. So they hired a bus to take us to St Erth for a look see. We were also going to visit a botanical gardens out that way too only the bus driver was hopeless, seemed unconcerned that we were on a tight schedule, got lost twice, and couldn’t understand why we wanted to have a morning and afternoon tea break during the trip. So the botanical gardens had to be dropped. Even so we were an hour late returning. I took some phone photos but am too tired to put them up today. Nice gardens though and they have been doing some nice work with espaliered fruit trees and all the apples were in blossom and looked spectacular.

seed savers – now i know where the saving b.beans technique comes from.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Actually I am quite fond of a shandy. Currently 50/50 Coopers sparkling and Colesworths pinapple and mango and fake mineral water.

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

Not sure if it is the quality of the grain or something else but Coopers sparkling has become quite more bitter of late and any sweetener makes it both more tasty yet more affordable.

beers are made of malted barley and hops.
hops is the bitter part and malt the sweet part.
the pale ale is slightly sweeter than the sparkling IMHO.
first time I’ve heard of anyone diluting either of them..

Dinetta said:

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

Oooh, we usually buy Bundaberg…not sure who the GB enthusiast is in the family…

I got it wrong… It is Crabbies Ginger Beer that goes down very well. It’s alcoholic, and well tasty.

I thought all Ginger Beer was alcoholic, even the home made stuff (just a little bit)…

if it brewed with yeast the non-alcoholic GB has about 0.5% alcohol as compared to 5% for the alcoholic stuff.
bundy GB is the best non-alcoholic GB i’ve tasted.

justin said:

.
bundy GB is the best non-alcoholic GB i’ve tasted.

yep. I concur.

justin said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

Not sure if it is the quality of the grain or something else but Coopers sparkling has become quite more bitter of late and any sweetener makes it both more tasty yet more affordable.

beers are made of malted barley and hops.
hops is the bitter part and malt the sweet part.
the pale ale is slightly sweeter than the sparkling IMHO.
first time I’ve heard of anyone diluting either of them..

Well, believe it or not, I’ve started a trend. I know of several people who would never have had a shandy by choice, suddenly shandying Coopers. and not just with lemonade as I have pointed out. The first time was when I was asked to a friday night jam and brought along some bitter lemon to stretch my beers out. Next thing the others were enjoying it..

I suppose it is a bit like the Magical Mystery tour.. an ad hock.. change is as good as a holiday.

justin said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

That’s an odd Shandy. i don’t mind my Shandies with Ginger Beer, so 3/4 Lager and a splash of Grumpies is good.

Not sure if it is the quality of the grain or something else but Coopers sparkling has become quite more bitter of late and any sweetener makes it both more tasty yet more affordable.

beers are made of malted barley and hops.
hops is the bitter part and malt the sweet part.
the pale ale is slightly sweeter than the sparkling IMHO.
first time I’ve heard of anyone diluting either of them..

The only thing I dilute Sparkling with is with a Stout, and I would never dilute Pale.

roughbarked said:

justin said:

.
bundy GB is the best non-alcoholic GB i’ve tasted.

yep. I concur.

same.

According to the kitchen scales the temp is 32.5 C and it’s 17:30.
Might go for a gentle bike ride to check if the town pool will be opening soon (main pump needed replacing and they didn’t find out until the pool was due to be opened)…plus a bit more of a trundle along some flats…

hello. had a great day today at the Spaghetti Rally held by the Moto Guzzi Club Vic. lots of bikes, had mine admired a lot, got to meet some people from their forum, caught up with some people who I had not seen for 7 years and had a nice ride to boot :D

Dinetta said:

We’ll see. The fruit that’s lingering from last season does not seem to be imperfect in any way. I’m hoping the singing honey eater will work on the bug population. Do they eat spiders? I saw one looking hopefully at the cobwebs on our external walls.

I get willy wagtails eating bugs out of spider webs on my windows, so maybe your bird is doing the same?

That’s what I was thinking, BlueGreen…they do this at the other house…when I know they’re not nesting I go around and sweep all the webs down…

bluegreen said:

hello. had a great day today at the Spaghetti Rally held by the Moto Guzzi Club Vic. lots of bikes, had mine admired a lot, got to meet some people from their forum, caught up with some people who I had not seen for 7 years and had a nice ride to boot :D

Good to get out and about, and in the fresh air too…

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

hello. had a great day today at the Spaghetti Rally held by the Moto Guzzi Club Vic. lots of bikes, had mine admired a lot, got to meet some people from their forum, caught up with some people who I had not seen for 7 years and had a nice ride to boot :D

Good to get out and about, and in the fresh air too…

the weather was perfect :)

bluegreen said:

Dinetta said:

We’ll see. The fruit that’s lingering from last season does not seem to be imperfect in any way. I’m hoping the singing honey eater will work on the bug population. Do they eat spiders? I saw one looking hopefully at the cobwebs on our external walls.

I get willy wagtails eating bugs out of spider webs on my windows, so maybe your bird is doing the same?

Yes but the willies are mainly building nests from spider webs. They largely exist on a diet of mosquitoes.

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

Dinetta said:

We’ll see. The fruit that’s lingering from last season does not seem to be imperfect in any way. I’m hoping the singing honey eater will work on the bug population. Do they eat spiders? I saw one looking hopefully at the cobwebs on our external walls.

I get willy wagtails eating bugs out of spider webs on my windows, so maybe your bird is doing the same?

Yes but the willies are mainly building nests from spider webs. They largely exist on a diet of mosquitoes.

They do probably try to take moths and perhaps spiders from webs but unless they are quicker than the spider, there is nothing left but wings.

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

Dinetta said:

We’ll see. The fruit that’s lingering from last season does not seem to be imperfect in any way. I’m hoping the singing honey eater will work on the bug population. Do they eat spiders? I saw one looking hopefully at the cobwebs on our external walls.

I get willy wagtails eating bugs out of spider webs on my windows, so maybe your bird is doing the same?

Yes but the willies are mainly building nests from spider webs. They largely exist on a diet of mosquitoes.

OK. I thought they were eating bugs but may be they are collecting nesting materials? Cool!

bluegreen said:

hello. had a great day today at the Spaghetti Rally held by the Moto Guzzi Club Vic. lots of bikes, had mine admired a lot, got to meet some people from their forum, caught up with some people who I had not seen for 7 years and had a nice ride to boot :D

Wonderful :)

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

I get willy wagtails eating bugs out of spider webs on my windows, so maybe your bird is doing the same?

Yes but the willies are mainly building nests from spider webs. They largely exist on a diet of mosquitoes.

OK. I thought they were eating bugs but may be they are collecting nesting materials? Cool!

Yes the willie wagtail is a flycatcher.. which means that they catch most of their food on the wing but their nest is composed of small twigs to frame the cup they make from spider webs.

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

roughbarked said:

Yes but the willies are mainly building nests from spider webs. They largely exist on a diet of mosquitoes.

OK. I thought they were eating bugs but may be they are collecting nesting materials? Cool!

Yes the willie wagtail is a flycatcher.. which means that they catch most of their food on the wing but their nest is composed of small twigs to frame the cup they make from spider webs.

That would explain why I get willy wagtails darting about under my patio roof, and honeyeaters, catching bugs and flies that get caught.

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

OK. I thought they were eating bugs but may be they are collecting nesting materials? Cool!

Yes the willie wagtail is a flycatcher.. which means that they catch most of their food on the wing but their nest is composed of small twigs to frame the cup they make from spider webs.

yep.

If your rainwater tank is under the verandah, swallows will nest there too.

That would explain why I get willy wagtails darting about under my patio roof, and honeyeaters, catching bugs and flies that get caught.

roughbarked said:

Yes but the willies are mainly building nests from spider webs. They largely exist on a diet of mosquitoes.

Mine are upmarket: they use horse hair

Just sayin’

I’ve put in a full day again and ready to hit the sack. I planted out tomatoes and eggplants, silverbeet and leeks and finished planting out triangle strawberry bed # 2. I borded this one with marigolds parsley and oregano.
I don’t notice the time as much when the days are suddenly longer with daylight savings and I was thinking about getting tea on and it was already 6.30..so we went to the pub for tea. I had the yummiest meal of pan fried scallops on a bed of little spirals of garlic and spud mash and topped off with crispy shredded leeks and the lot drizzled with garlic butter. It was entree size and there were four scallops, but it filled me to the brim. Yum! I couldn’t even fit the side salad in.

My newest chooks are settling in well, three bantam brown leghorn hens at the start of their 2nd year. They’re from show lines and very pretty. They were sold as the breeder needed new bloodstock.
One laid an egg under a big sage bush in flower and absolutely covered in bees! I needed to get it asap, there’s rats about and they’re not getting my eggs.. I did a sort of mad run arms waving and grabbed the egg as quick as I could and got out of there.

A couple young 10 week old silkies are going home with a new owner tomorrow, a 9 yo girl. In the morning I’m going to give them the salon treatment, bath and blow dry. They come up a treat and I’m sure the girl will be delighted with them :)

bluegreen said:

hello. had a great day today at the Spaghetti Rally held by the Moto Guzzi Club Vic. lots of bikes, had mine admired a lot, got to meet some people from their forum, caught up with some people who I had not seen for 7 years and had a nice ride to boot :D

Nice one BG :)

Went to see a touring Art Exhibition from the Goulbourn or Gosford Regional Art Gallery (I forget which one) and it was linocuts and prints by GW Bot and it was pretty amazing. I would recommend anyone here to go along if her work ever shows up nearby. She prints very fine detail onto Tapa Cloth and special hand made papers that some of the sheets would be close to 1cm thick.

I have included a link which contains some pics but it doesn’t do her work real justice, especially when you see some of the paper she uses.

Good morning. Looking like a nice sunny day here. I have some chores to do, then I might do some pottering sort of weeding this afternoon.

painmaster said:

Went to see a touring Art Exhibition from the Goulbourn or Gosford Regional Art Gallery (I forget which one) and it was linocuts and prints by GW Bot and it was pretty amazing. I would recommend anyone here to go along if her work ever shows up nearby. She prints very fine detail onto Tapa Cloth and special hand made papers that some of the sheets would be close to 1cm thick.

I have included a link which contains some pics but it doesn’t do her work real justice, especially when you see some of the paper she uses.

We went into the Launceston museum yesterday and emerged many hours later – turn out they have some nature photography exhibition on that is well worth seeing.

And we even managed time to venture into the rest of the museum which was well worth the price of admission. (Free!!) Very nicely set up and had great displays.

good morning all…going to be a dry and rather warm day today…

OK then, looks like the Black Krim tomato seeds have failed me. I’ll pop some more in. And only one Tommy Toe germinated…..that is no good at all!

Oh, and who was it interested in cleavers (the plant) here last week or the week before? Because, I’ve got about a barrowful of it I’ve just pulled out. And I reckon I could find some more. Lovely, healthy, green stuff that rips your skin when you are pulling it!

I’ve also got heaps of fumitory. And hundreds of seedling ivy plants. Don’t you just love weeds?!

buffy said:

OK then, looks like the Black Krim tomato seeds have failed me. I’ll pop some more in. And only one Tommy Toe germinated…..that is no good at all!

If it helps, I had to re-sow my tomatoes too. I’ve had a dismal germination rate.

According to the kitchen scales the temp is 32.5 C and it’s 17:30.

———————————————————-

so your scales have a thermometer and a clock.
does your fridge have a TV? LOL

justin said:

According to the kitchen scales the temp is 32.5 C and it’s 17:30.

———————————————————-

so your scales have a thermometer and a clock.
does your fridge have a TV? LOL

No “boo hoo”…. think my fridge is 20 years old…

Not sure about the clock on the scales…hang on while I look…

the friends I met up with at the rally after 7 years just dropped in on their way home and we had lunch :)

and they brought back the chair I left behind. Oops!

Pssst. It was a ploy to make sure they dropped in. Well not really but sounds good :)

Dinetta said:

justin said:

According to the kitchen scales the temp is 32.5 C and it’s 17:30.

———————————————————-

so your scales have a thermometer and a clock.
does your fridge have a TV? LOL

No “boo hoo”…. think my fridge is 20 years old…

Not sure about the clock on the scales…hang on while I look…

No clock but it does have a timer :P

bluegreen said:

the friends I met up with at the rally after 7 years just dropped in on their way home and we had lunch :)

and they brought back the chair I left behind. Oops!

Pssst. It was a ploy to make sure they dropped in. Well not really but sounds good :)

Great stuff!!

I have been rolling a bath tub up the hill…it is enamelled and I didn’t realise it, but these old bath tubs are enamel on cast iron?

Fortunately this is just a corner unit and not the full plunge bath…very heavy just the same…

Sonny Jim has been and gone, left the lawn mower/mulcher behind, I’ll have to hide it in the laundry…

It didn’t take all that long to do the mowing (half acre) as there is not much grass…he has, however, bought me a “wobbler” sprinkler, a syringe sprinkler, and a brand new hose.

The wobbler is watering so much better than the little round sprinkler, but that might also be because the hose does not have holes…

By “better”,. I mean a larger area…

:)

Dinetta said:

I have been rolling a bath tub up the hill…it is enamelled and I didn’t realise it, but these old bath tubs are enamel on cast iron?

Fortunately this is just a corner unit and not the full plunge bath…very heavy just the same…

the do have some weight in them!

Dinetta said:

Sonny Jim has been and gone, left the lawn mower/mulcher behind, I’ll have to hide it in the laundry…

It didn’t take all that long to do the mowing (half acre) as there is not much grass…he has, however, bought me a “wobbler” sprinkler, a syringe sprinkler, and a brand new hose.

The wobbler is watering so much better than the little round sprinkler, but that might also be because the hose does not have holes…

I have bought three of those wobblers and they are awesome! Work really well in low pressure, and throw a really nice big large drop of water. I first purchased one, and then went and got two more. Mine are on a base that looks like a 3 legged boomerang, and you can unscrew the ends off and attach another hose to another wobbler. Very cool.

My base is also like the 3-legged boomerang, quite the curiosity there for 5 minutes as I’m used to the grey-water wobbler from the irrigation shop (they specialise in farms)…this has a closed triangular base, more like a heart really, but with the same curves each corner, as the “boomerang” item…the outlet hole is bigger, too

It’s amazing just how far they throw the water…and here’s me thinking it’s the hole-less hose :P

Dinetta said:

My base is also like the 3-legged boomerang, quite the curiosity there for 5 minutes as I’m used to the grey-water wobbler from the irrigation shop (they specialise in farms)…this has a closed triangular base, more like a heart really, but with the same curves each corner, as the “boomerang” item…the outlet hole is bigger, too

It’s amazing just how far they throw the water…and here’s me thinking it’s the hole-less hose :P

wobbler.. am I missing some new marketing enterprise?

plis exlpain?

This is a You-Tube animation

It’s upside down…

A fun one, on a stick

Thanks I’ll probably be able to see what it is after about 20 days of loading.

Oh sorry…I’ll see if I can find a picture…have you got a friend with broadband?

RoughBarked, is this better?

Just some images on a web page, no moving parts…

Dinetta said:

Oh sorry…I’ll see if I can find a picture…have you got a friend with broadband?

It is OK. I think I know what it is. Just thought that from what you were saying that it may be a new invention.

Dinetta said:

RoughBarked, is this better?

Just some images on a web page, no moving parts…

Yep.. I’ve seen quite a few different sprinklers.. Living in an irrigated community.

Thanks.

Aw I can’t catch up, the posts are re highlighting when it refreshes, if that’s an explanation. Dunno why that’s happening.
All is good anyway :)
Sold some young silkies, had others hatch and I’m planting out more beds. Still dodging bees.

MY all in one almond hasn’t a single almond fruit this year. There was no blossom and I’ve no idea why. Lot’s of healthy growth though. I picked heaps last year.

Happy Potter said:

Aw I can’t catch up, the posts are re highlighting when it refreshes, if that’s an explanation. Dunno why that’s happening.

It does that to me at times

Happy Potter said:

MY all in one almond hasn’t a single almond fruit this year. There was no blossom and I’ve no idea why. Lot’s of healthy growth though. I picked heaps last year.

The mangoes do that from time to time: some years they produce so much blossom you can’t hardly see the leaves, and other times you wonder if the tree is sick. Most times it’s not, of course. I reckon a lot of it, especially in relation to mangoes, is related to when the rain falls.

roughbarked said:

Yep.. I’ve seen quite a few different sprinklers.. Living in an irrigated community.

Thanks.

The majority of the gardening populace would not need a wobbler, so it would be a novelty for them… then there’s the shape of the foot (if that’s what it is)… this little 3-sided boomerang is rather taking…

Happy Potter said:

MY all in one almond hasn’t a single almond fruit this year. There was no blossom and I’ve no idea why. Lot’s of healthy growth though. I picked heaps last year.

many fruit trees have alternating large and small crops. Maybe the same with your almond? Or it was really rainy and windy when it came into blossom and they all got knocked off?

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

RoughBarked, is this better?

Just some images on a web page, no moving parts…

Yep.. I’ve seen quite a few different sprinklers.. Living in an irrigated community.

Thanks.

I’ve never seen them before so i will check them out. i presume the big b stocks them?

if you’ve never heard of Gobeckli Tepe (in Turkey) it’s worthwhile googling it.
it’s the oldest barbeque area in existence (12000 years ago) – although archeologists are calling it a temple. LOL.

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

I have been rolling a bath tub up the hill…it is enamelled and I didn’t realise it, but these old bath tubs are enamel on cast iron?

Fortunately this is just a corner unit and not the full plunge bath…very heavy just the same…

the do have some weight in them!

they roll better downhill LOL.

Our pressed metal baths are still operating well as ponds. They provide water for the birds and bees so keeping them out of the swimming pool. ………………… altho’…… yesterday the wife heard the wrens making a fuss and went to see if a baby wren was drowning in the ponds. Instead she saw the tail end of a snake disappearing between rocks. So chalk up first of the season to the justins and remember wrens do sound a warning when snakes are about.

Hello Gardeners. I have spent a couple of Quality Hours with my chipper today. Produced a nice mound of fragrant weed suppressant. Into that pile went olive tree, lavender, buddleia, apricot, pear and plum prunings, acacia, eucaluptus and peppercorn. Still more work to do, but it’s a start.

And we have wobblers on the roof, as part of our fire safety system.

buffy said:

And we have wobblers on the roof, as part of our fire safety system.

:D Something about that statement brings a smile to my dial…

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

My base is also like the 3-legged boomerang, quite the curiosity there for 5 minutes as I’m used to the grey-water wobbler from the irrigation shop (they specialise in farms)…this has a closed triangular base, more like a heart really, but with the same curves each corner, as the “boomerang” item…the outlet hole is bigger, too

It’s amazing just how far they throw the water…and here’s me thinking it’s the hole-less hose :P

wobbler.. am I missing some new marketing enterprise?

plis exlpain?

I should take a photo, would be easier… but I know my in-laws had a wobbler on their farm when they were just on gravity fed tank water and it watered their 12sqm patch of turf under their hills hoist really well.

Happy Potter said:

Aw I can’t catch up, the posts are re highlighting when it refreshes, if that’s an explanation. Dunno why that’s happening.
All is good anyway :)
Sold some young silkies, had others hatch and I’m planting out more beds. Still dodging bees.

MY all in one almond hasn’t a single almond fruit this year. There was no blossom and I’ve no idea why. Lot’s of healthy growth though. I picked heaps last year.

mine browser is doing the same thing Potter. Easier just to say something as a marker before signing off…. and you can come back to your name later.

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

Aw I can’t catch up, the posts are re highlighting when it refreshes, if that’s an explanation. Dunno why that’s happening.

It does that to me at times

Happy Potter said:

MY all in one almond hasn’t a single almond fruit this year. There was no blossom and I’ve no idea why. Lot’s of healthy growth though. I picked heaps last year.

The mangoes do that from time to time: some years they produce so much blossom you can’t hardly see the leaves, and other times you wonder if the tree is sick. Most times it’s not, of course. I reckon a lot of it, especially in relation to mangoes, is related to when the rain falls.

Mangos are quad seasonal (is the best way to explain it)… they will have a good year followed by an ordinary year followed by a great year followed by an ordinary year… BUT this is all dependent on rainfall like you say. But traditionally, irrigated crops will follow a 4 year cycle.

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Yep.. I’ve seen quite a few different sprinklers.. Living in an irrigated community.

Thanks.

The majority of the gardening populace would not need a wobbler, so it would be a novelty for them… then there’s the shape of the foot (if that’s what it is)… this little 3-sided boomerang is rather taking…

Is yours blue?

I’ve used these for a while now. I like them…..and so do the wild birds. You barely need to turn the tap on:

http://www.diggers.com.au/shop/product/HLOP/LOW%20PRESSURE%20COUNTRY%20SPRINKLER.aspx

painmaster said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Yep.. I’ve seen quite a few different sprinklers.. Living in an irrigated community.

Thanks.

The majority of the gardening populace would not need a wobbler, so it would be a novelty for them… then there’s the shape of the foot (if that’s what it is)… this little 3-sided boomerang is rather taking…

Is yours blue?

No, it’s green…

I still feel weird about using drinking quality water for the yard, tho’… but I do need some dampness and greeness for environmental comfort…besides when these grasses go to seed, some native birds come and feast on the seeds…

buffy said:

I’ve used these for a while now. I like them…..and so do the wild birds. You barely need to turn the tap on:

http://www.diggers.com.au/shop/product/HLOP/LOW%20PRESSURE%20COUNTRY%20SPRINKLER.aspx

Looks good…

painmaster said:

Happy Potter said:

Aw I can’t catch up, the posts are re highlighting when it refreshes, if that’s an explanation. Dunno why that’s happening.
All is good anyway :)
Sold some young silkies, had others hatch and I’m planting out more beds. Still dodging bees.

MY all in one almond hasn’t a single almond fruit this year. There was no blossom and I’ve no idea why. Lot’s of healthy growth though. I picked heaps last year.

mine browser is doing the same thing Potter. Easier just to say something as a marker before signing off…. and you can come back to your name later.

It’s driving me bonkers. Never had this prob before so this is my marker. ps there was an unusual amount of rainy days back a few weeks, might’ve upset the almond and would explain the abundant green growth.

Hi all. Just a quick visit so you know I’m still alive.

I’ve started back gardening after losing my mojo for a while. Weeds are terrible, but on the bright side I have frogs. Big fat green tree frogs, the first in years. I must be doing something right, but now I can’t use the roundup I was ready to resort to.

Almost arvo. I did some computer ‘housework’ and the refresh thing has stopped. Yay. No time to catch up though, I’m in my sewing room working on the quilted nappy bag I’m making for Mrs. Daughter.
I had sandwiched material and thin filling and liner and pinned all to quilt, then I had to sew straight lines (yer right!) in an even crissross pattern, evenly acoss the width (yer right!)
Rulers and lines and numbers… math does not become me. So I had a hair raising coffee and thunk and thunk on the problem..
Masking tape! It worked :D I will show yas a pic of the piece later.

bubba louie said:

Hi all. Just a quick visit so you know I’m still alive.

I’ve started back gardening after losing my mojo for a while. Weeds are terrible, but on the bright side I have frogs. Big fat green tree frogs, the first in years. I must be doing something right, but now I can’t use the roundup I was ready to resort to.

Good for you, getting back into the garden…

You will need lots of mulch to suppress the weeds once you pull them out / trim them…

Wonderful news about the froggies

Lurve froggies…

:D

Happy Potter said:

Almost arvo. I did some computer ‘housework’ and the refresh thing has stopped. Yay. No time to catch up though, I’m in my sewing room working on the quilted nappy bag I’m making for Mrs. Daughter.
I had sandwiched material and thin filling and liner and pinned all to quilt, then I had to sew straight lines (yer right!) in an even crissross pattern, evenly acoss the width (yer right!)
Rulers and lines and numbers… math does not become me. So I had a hair raising coffee and thunk and thunk on the problem..
Masking tape! It worked :D I will show yas a pic of the piece later.

I have read about people using masking tape for patchwork / quilting before. They also advise to start sewing from the middle of the article, I guess from top to bottom in the middle of the article, this means as you do one side and then the other, you don’t end up with pucker in the middle…also I imagine the material would not move across the lining / filling?

Could be totally wrong but I did read this in an excellent patchwork / applique / quilting book…for what it’s worth..

Happy Potter said:

I will show yas a pic of the piece later.

Looking forward to the picture…

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

Almost arvo. I did some computer ‘housework’ and the refresh thing has stopped. Yay. No time to catch up though, I’m in my sewing room working on the quilted nappy bag I’m making for Mrs. Daughter.
I had sandwiched material and thin filling and liner and pinned all to quilt, then I had to sew straight lines (yer right!) in an even crissross pattern, evenly acoss the width (yer right!)
Rulers and lines and numbers… math does not become me. So I had a hair raising coffee and thunk and thunk on the problem..
Masking tape! It worked :D I will show yas a pic of the piece later.

I have read about people using masking tape for patchwork / quilting before. They also advise to start sewing from the middle of the article, I guess from top to bottom in the middle of the article, this means as you do one side and then the other, you don’t end up with pucker in the middle…also I imagine the material would not move across the lining / filling?

Could be totally wrong but I did read this in an excellent patchwork / applique / quilting book…for what it’s worth..

Not when I used a million pins lol. No puckering here. The solid pink is the body of the bag and the print the pockets. I’ve made metres of bias and started on that, but it’s time for a break and go water some veges.

bookmark.

I got a bit of gardening done today. I’ve weeded out the foreigners and planted out some of my native grasses that I raised from seed. One area is doing well, but this new area is outside the fence, on the side of the road. I had some stuff planted there which has died. But I’m hoping to get the grasses going, let them seed and then have a swathe (small) of native grasses in amongst the junky grass. Our roadsides are wide and unkerbed. I’ll see if I can locate a picture. I’ve planted some local native trees, now I’m working on some ground stuff.

And I planted out some looseleaf lettuces…..and applied the Angry Bees for protection!

I bought one of those bees from the cheap shop a few weeks ago, and today when they had some more I thought I ‘needed’ them too. It’s a bit Minuscule, but I like it.

Bluddy neighbours!!!

I have a whole bed to replant along our side fence, but the aforementioned bluddy neighbours have a row of bluddy palms planted so close to the the fence that these ruddy huge fronds come crashing down into my yard. Anything I plant is going to have to cope with semi regular frond attacks.

These are my neighbours from hell so any discussion is useless.

bubba louie said:

Bluddy neighbours!!!

I have a whole bed to replant along our side fence, but the aforementioned bluddy neighbours have a row of bluddy palms planted so close to the the fence that these ruddy huge fronds come crashing down into my yard. Anything I plant is going to have to cope with semi regular frond attacks.

These are my neighbours from hell so any discussion is useless.

I should have said that I want to plant all the same thing in this bed to make an informal hedge. Callistemons We’re my first choice. A bit fragile maybe but easy to prune back if damaged and fast to regrow. Any thoughts?

bubba louie said:

bubba louie said:

Bluddy neighbours!!!

I have a whole bed to replant along our side fence, but the aforementioned bluddy neighbours have a row of bluddy palms planted so close to the the fence that these ruddy huge fronds come crashing down into my yard. Anything I plant is going to have to cope with semi regular frond attacks.

These are my neighbours from hell so any discussion is useless.

I should have said that I want to plant all the same thing in this bed to make an informal hedge. Callistemons We’re my first choice. A bit fragile maybe but easy to prune back if damaged and fast to regrow. Any thoughts?

What kind of Callistemons? Just a little shrubby one, or a tall 8ft jobby?

I have an informal Callistemon hedge. C. viminalis or citrinus, I can’t recall which. I’ll find you a photo. Mine was ambitious, being about 30m long. Ten years on and it’s magnificent. You have to religiously prune off the spent flowers for the first 3 or 4 years to get them nice and bushy.

Back in a tick with a pic.

painmaster said:

bubba louie said:

bubba louie said:

Bluddy neighbours!!!

I have a whole bed to replant along our side fence, but the aforementioned bluddy neighbours have a row of bluddy palms planted so close to the the fence that these ruddy huge fronds come crashing down into my yard. Anything I plant is going to have to cope with semi regular frond attacks.

These are my neighbours from hell so any discussion is useless.

I should have said that I want to plant all the same thing in this bed to make an informal hedge. Callistemons We’re my first choice. A bit fragile maybe but easy to prune back if damaged and fast to regrow. Any thoughts?

What kind of Callistemons? Just a little shrubby one, or a tall 8ft jobby?

Somewhere around the 6 foot mark I think. It’s flexible.

buffy said:

I have an informal Callistemon hedge. C. viminalis or citrinus, I can’t recall which. I’ll find you a photo. Mine was ambitious, being about 30m long. Ten years on and it’s magnificent. You have to religiously prune off the spent flowers for the first 3 or 4 years to get them nice and bushy.

Back in a tick with a pic.

I sort of have a fancy for the green flowered one,the names escapes me ATM, but colour isn’t all that important. Something that doesn’t get too wide would be an advantage.

buffy said:

Pretty. Maybe a bit too wide for this spot.

Be careful, this is a big download picture:

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n245/lizza_06/Casterton/Callistemonhedge2008.jpg

That was in 2008, the other photo is last year.

You can prune them hard into shape. And from experience, you can prune them very, very hard. My mother horrified me by chopping one of mine back to about two feet high once (not part of that hedge) and the thing just sprang back.

buffy said:

Nice looking soil there Buffy…

bubba louie said:

Bluddy neighbours!!!

I have a whole bed to replant along our side fence, but the aforementioned bluddy neighbours have a row of bluddy palms planted so close to the the fence that these ruddy huge fronds come crashing down into my yard. Anything I plant is going to have to cope with semi regular frond attacks.

These are my neighbours from hell so any discussion is useless.

Geez are they still there? The neighbours I mean…I would have thought the palm root system more of a problem for gardening along that fence…

bubba louie said:

I should have said that I want to plant all the same thing in this bed to make an informal hedge. Callistemons We’re my first choice. A bit fragile maybe but easy to prune back if damaged and fast to regrow. Any thoughts?

Don’t they require lots of water?

buffy said:

Indeedy…

Buffy’s Hedge

Stunning, Buffy!

I’m homesick for Portland…was only there 5 days about 3 years ago, but it felt like “home”…

I don’t believe Callistemons need a lot of water. The aforementioned one that my mother brutalized grew quite well (but not as lushly as the Casterton ones) under a row of big gum trees. I have never bothered to water the Casterton hedge, but it is on a flood plain. Those ones went in after the last flood in 1996, so I have yet to find out if they will survive a flood. I expect they will as the water comes up and goes down quite quickly there when it does flood.

>>Nice looking soil there Buffy…<<

That is the garden at Penshurst. On the side of a volcano, so every time you dig you hit a stone, but the soil itself is quite good. And I’ve been working that bed for about 4 years now. It gets broadbeans grown in it to nitrogenate it, and peastraw mulch and eggshells crushed across it….basically I have a messy garden. It only looks sort of tidy at the moment as it is supposed to be fallow…..but tell that to those potatoes that came up! Now they are there I’m letting them go so I can harvest them in a month or so.

I like messy gardens…you do need some order but by and large a messy garden seems to have more dynamics…if you know what I mean?

Love the red volcanic soil, reminds me of the soil around Childers…

Mine, where I am now, is red and comes up nicely with constant mulching/feeding, but we’re on a stony aggregate here…old gold and copper mining town…

There are ‘seams’ of scoria here….Mt Rouse, which we are on the side of, is a scoria cone. But the plants don’t seem to mind it if you dig it through. The bigger rocks are more interesting….

Dinetta said:

bubba louie said:

Bluddy neighbours!!!

I have a whole bed to replant along our side fence, but the aforementioned bluddy neighbours have a row of bluddy palms planted so close to the the fence that these ruddy huge fronds come crashing down into my yard. Anything I plant is going to have to cope with semi regular frond attacks.

These are my neighbours from hell so any discussion is useless.

Geez are they still there? The neighbours I mean…I would have thought the palm root system more of a problem for gardening along that fence…

He’s still there. She did a runner so he got himself a mail order replacement. The roots are a bit of a pain.

buffy said:

Be careful, this is a big download picture:

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n245/lizza_06/Casterton/Callistemonhedge2008.jpg

That was in 2008, the other photo is last year.

You can prune them hard into shape. And from experience, you can prune them very, very hard. My mother horrified me by chopping one of mine back to about two feet high once (not part of that hedge) and the thing just sprang back.

I could but I’d really like to keep the pruning to a minimum.

Dinetta said:

bubba louie said:

I should have said that I want to plant all the same thing in this bed to make an informal hedge. Callistemons We’re my first choice. A bit fragile maybe but easy to prune back if damaged and fast to regrow. Any thoughts?

Don’t they require lots of water?

I really don’t know.

Dinetta said:

Buffy’s Hedge

Stunning, Buffy!

I’m homesick for Portland…was only there 5 days about 3 years ago, but it felt like “home”…

I’ll second the stunning bit.

buffy said:

I have an informal Callistemon hedge. C. viminalis or citrinus, I can’t recall which. I’ll find you a photo. Mine was ambitious, being about 30m long. Ten years on and it’s magnificent. You have to religiously prune off the spent flowers for the first 3 or 4 years to get them nice and bushy.

Back in a tick with a pic.

C. citrinus

bubba louie said:

buffy said:

I have an informal Callistemon hedge. C. viminalis or citrinus, I can’t recall which. I’ll find you a photo. Mine was ambitious, being about 30m long. Ten years on and it’s magnificent. You have to religiously prune off the spent flowers for the first 3 or 4 years to get them nice and bushy.

Back in a tick with a pic.

I sort of have a fancy for the green flowered one,the names escapes me ATM, but colour isn’t all that important. Something that doesn’t get too wide would be an advantage.

There is a greenish white form of C. saligna that reaches approx 3 m but the lime green one is C. pinifolius which rarely gets above 1.5 m

Dinetta said:

bubba louie said:

I should have said that I want to plant all the same thing in this bed to make an informal hedge. Callistemons We’re my first choice. A bit fragile maybe but easy to prune back if damaged and fast to regrow. Any thoughts?

Don’t they require lots of water?

Yes and no, depending on where they are native to. C. phonecious is very drought hardy
As is C. brachychandrus

roughbarked said:

bubba louie said:

buffy said:

I have an informal Callistemon hedge. C. viminalis or citrinus, I can’t recall which. I’ll find you a photo. Mine was ambitious, being about 30m long. Ten years on and it’s magnificent. You have to religiously prune off the spent flowers for the first 3 or 4 years to get them nice and bushy.

Back in a tick with a pic.

I sort of have a fancy for the green flowered one,the names escapes me ATM, but colour isn’t all that important. Something that doesn’t get too wide would be an advantage.

There is a greenish white form of C. saligna that reaches approx 3 m but the lime green one is C. pinifolius which rarely gets above 1.5 m

The one I had in mind is Callistemon pachyphyllus var. viridis.

bubba louie said:

He’s still there. She did a runner so he got himself a mail order replacement. The roots are a bit of a pain.

When she did the runner, did she take the dogs?

Dinetta said:

bubba louie said:

He’s still there. She did a runner so he got himself a mail order replacement. The roots are a bit of a pain.

When she did the runner, did she take the dogs?

Dog not dogs, and yes, Imelda went too.