Hello Gardeners.

Overcast and 19ish here this morning. We should be getting the dregs of Cyclone Christine in the form of rain later today. So I’ve been out and watered the garden in anticipation. My garden was a bit the worse for wear with a week of neglect and a couple of Quite Warm days.

Looks to be that Christine will pass out more towards Tasmania which will not leave much for north of the Victorian border.

I’ve spent the morning potting up Eremophila.

Hmm, a rather large branch from one of the redgums has decided to part company with the tree sometime while we were away. The passionfruit vine has caught it, the fence may be slightly dented, but the brushy bit is in the neighbour’s and the heavy bit on our side. Some of it is caught in the bracket of his vent pipe. He’s not around. There is easy access, we’ve just called up some reinforcements and we’ll nip in there and remove it.

Happy New Year folks. Still waiting on baby here. Hope she comes before I have to go home again on Sunday!

Good morning all and welcome in 2014. I’ve been ‘chook-ing’ and cleaning their food and water dishes. And watering dry parts of the garden. The mulched parts don’t need any moisture. The work was well worth it.

Rats are eating my almonds. I haven’t heard a cockatoo or seen any parrot-y type birds about and the almond shells are bitten clean in half. Last night I was out with the torch looking in places and behind things, looked behind the shed ladder storage and here’s this huge rat staring right at me. You’re gone rat, you’re gone.

I have red tomatoes! Late, yeah a bit, but they’re here now :)

bluegreen said:

Happy New Year folks. Still waiting on baby here. Hope she comes before I have to go home again on Sunday!

C’mon bubba!

You have tomatoes early. I generally don’t pick until around February. At the moment my plants are about 6 inches high. But growing apace.

buffy said:

You have tomatoes early. I generally don’t pick until around February. At the moment my plants are about 6 inches high. But growing apace.

I have had buckets full for weeks. Well, small buckets.

Happy Potter said:

Good morning all and welcome in 2014. I’ve been ‘chook-ing’ and cleaning their food and water dishes. And watering dry parts of the garden. The mulched parts don’t need any moisture. The work was well worth it.

Rats are eating my almonds. I haven’t heard a cockatoo or seen any parrot-y type birds about and the almond shells are bitten clean in half. Last night I was out with the torch looking in places and behind things, looked behind the shed ladder storage and here’s this huge rat staring right at me. You’re gone rat, you’re gone.

I have red tomatoes! Late, yeah a bit, but they’re here now :)

But but.. rats nibble, they don’t bite in half. You do have parroty munchers.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Good morning all and welcome in 2014. I’ve been ‘chook-ing’ and cleaning their food and water dishes. And watering dry parts of the garden. The mulched parts don’t need any moisture. The work was well worth it.

Rats are eating my almonds. I haven’t heard a cockatoo or seen any parrot-y type birds about and the almond shells are bitten clean in half. Last night I was out with the torch looking in places and behind things, looked behind the shed ladder storage and here’s this huge rat staring right at me. You’re gone rat, you’re gone.

I have red tomatoes! Late, yeah a bit, but they’re here now :)

But but.. rats nibble, they don’t bite in half. You do have parroty munchers.

Yes then right around until it falls in half. I’ve noticed with parrots they will tear chunks of skin off then pull out the kernel and drop bits. The tree is too tall to net.

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Good morning all and welcome in 2014. I’ve been ‘chook-ing’ and cleaning their food and water dishes. And watering dry parts of the garden. The mulched parts don’t need any moisture. The work was well worth it.

Rats are eating my almonds. I haven’t heard a cockatoo or seen any parrot-y type birds about and the almond shells are bitten clean in half. Last night I was out with the torch looking in places and behind things, looked behind the shed ladder storage and here’s this huge rat staring right at me. You’re gone rat, you’re gone.

I have red tomatoes! Late, yeah a bit, but they’re here now :)

But but.. rats nibble, they don’t bite in half. You do have parroty munchers.

Yes then right around until it falls in half. I’ve noticed with parrots they will tear chunks of skin off then pull out the kernel and drop bits. The tree is too tall to net.

Netting is no proof against rodents anyway. If the tree is too tall to net, it is probably too tall to hand pick as well. Short of having a almond shaker, you are going to have to wait for the nuts to fall anyway. If it wasn’t the parrots or the rats, the crows will take them anyway.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

But but.. rats nibble, they don’t bite in half. You do have parroty munchers.

Yes then right around until it falls in half. I’ve noticed with parrots they will tear chunks of skin off then pull out the kernel and drop bits. The tree is too tall to net.

Netting is no proof against rodents anyway. If the tree is too tall to net, it is probably too tall to hand pick as well. Short of having a almond shaker, you are going to have to wait for the nuts to fall anyway. If it wasn’t the parrots or the rats, the crows will take them anyway.

Stone the crows! them too? Whats the point of growing a nut tree? Well I’m going to turn the ‘Max cam’ around to the window pointing out to the almond and see what the main culprit is.

Gosh, quiet around here lately. My excuse is I’ve been at work with Mr buffy as receptionist, which is not as efficient as with my secretary of 25 years. So I’ve had two jobs to do. He’s a good phone answerer and chatter with patients, but the rest I have to do.

Anyway, now we are closed down for 2 weeks, C can recover from The Christmas of Great Sadness (she is not going to forget 2013 in a hurry) and we can start the new year on 21st.

Still waiting for baby here, but there are some hopeful signs, like minor (but not braxton hicks) contractions. Maybe she’ll be born before I have to go home after all! Maybe.

bluegreen said:

Still waiting for baby here, but there are some hopeful signs, like minor (but not braxton hicks) contractions. Maybe she’ll be born before I have to go home after all! Maybe.

contractions are now 7-9 mins apart.

The wet season has forgotten us. We received promising earlyish downpours and we all started talking up a wet one but I ventured into the ranges on Friday and she is dry-as up there. At least the early rain refilled the dam. Like many places around the globe, Moresby’s population has now reached the stage that the Sirinumu Dam will not last a dry season. It is a good thing the catchment receives a lot more rain than we do here on the coast in our rain shadow. Murmurs of damming the Brown River or the Mt Koiari River are gaining momentum.

Several years ago, back in 2006-07 there was a chap who closed the Kokoda Track demanding that the Aust Govt should allow the go ahead of a proposed mine for the Nauro area. The Aust and PNG Govts were against the proposal because of a potential Heritage listing of the iconic Kokoda Track and a mine would see the Kokoda Track be disrupted. The problem was there was never a guarantee of the mines’ return, just some mining exploratory leases and a mining company wanting to get on the front cover of the papers. Let alone the locals at Nauro who too wanted to get on the front pages. The village received its compensation recently from the PNG Govt for the lack of income that the mine would have provided despite the fact the results of all the exploration showed gold deposits but not in a viable form. K5,000,000.00 has now been shared around the village of what looked like around 40 when I walked there, but I daresay several hundred have their hands out.

Damming either river could see similar disruptions to the track.

no progress baby wise :(

contractions backed off over night and are still only mild. I have to go home today so I will have to wait for my cuddle.

Morning. Been busy with GS dramas. Still ongoing. Any spare time is spent looking after my chooks and garden. I haven’t cooked a single meal in days. It’s been all ‘grab what you can’ type eating.

I planted out some usual red beetroots and some stripey ones and more silverbeets. Sent email to csiro with pics of the rind eating caterpillars. I have three of them in the metho jar now. If and when they reply I will let you know.
Organizing a poo poo train convoy to clear a mountain of horse manure. It mightn’t be what native animals leave on the ground, but it makes good dirt/compost.

Youngest girl KK and her bf have gone to Thailand for two weeks with a bunch of others for a friends wedding. I am mortified of reports coming back about trying to cross a busy street there.
And taxi drivers doing over 130 klms ph. I can’t go any greyer haired. I told her not to eat or drink anything! lol.

Happy Potter said:

Morning. Been busy with GS dramas. Still ongoing. Any spare time is spent looking after my chooks and garden. I haven’t cooked a single meal in days. It’s been all ‘grab what you can’ type eating.

I planted out some usual red beetroots and some stripey ones and more silverbeets. Sent email to csiro with pics of the rind eating caterpillars. I have three of them in the metho jar now. If and when they reply I will let you know.
Organizing a poo poo train convoy to clear a mountain of horse manure. It mightn’t be what native animals leave on the ground, but it makes good dirt/compost.

Youngest girl KK and her bf have gone to Thailand for two weeks with a bunch of others for a friends wedding. I am mortified of reports coming back about trying to cross a busy street there.
And taxi drivers doing over 130 klms ph. I can’t go any greyer haired. I told her not to eat or drink anything! lol.

Not Thailand, Indonesia, Pedang. See how stressed I am? Argh……….

Hello Gardeners. I’ve had another bike ride this morning…..which reminds me, I should open mapometer and see how far that route was. I think about 8 to 9 km. Then went to a light breakfast and coffee at the cafe and I remembered I hadn’t properly packed some stuff to post for work, so had to go to Hamilton to do that properly. Cleaned the window of the practice (we are a shopfront) while I was there.

Did some weeding when we got back and a bit more tidymowing.

Something to eat now.

Oh yes, picked a few peas and broadbeans this morning, and some lettuce. The garden is reviving.

home again. still waiting on baby.

House is nice and clean and weeds have been slashed with whipper snipper. Birds fat and happy. Very pleased with my housesitter.

painmaster said:

The wet season has forgotten us. We received promising earlyish downpours and we all started talking up a wet one but I ventured into the ranges on Friday and she is dry-as up there. At least the early rain refilled the dam. Like many places around the globe, Moresby’s population has now reached the stage that the Sirinumu Dam will not last a dry season. It is a good thing the catchment receives a lot more rain than we do here on the coast in our rain shadow. Murmurs of damming the Brown River or the Mt Koiari River are gaining momentum.

Several years ago, back in 2006-07 there was a chap who closed the Kokoda Track demanding that the Aust Govt should allow the go ahead of a proposed mine for the Nauro area. The Aust and PNG Govts were against the proposal because of a potential Heritage listing of the iconic Kokoda Track and a mine would see the Kokoda Track be disrupted. The problem was there was never a guarantee of the mines’ return, just some mining exploratory leases and a mining company wanting to get on the front cover of the papers. Let alone the locals at Nauro who too wanted to get on the front pages. The village received its compensation recently from the PNG Govt for the lack of income that the mine would have provided despite the fact the results of all the exploration showed gold deposits but not in a viable form. K5,000,000.00 has now been shared around the village of what looked like around 40 when I walked there, but I daresay several hundred have their hands out.

Damming either river could see similar disruptions to the track.

They are still trying to stand the Parthenon up.

Good morning Gardeners. Cool and sunny here at the moment. Going to the Grampians today for some minor walking. Takes about an hour to get to Halls Gap from here.

buffy said:

Good morning Gardeners. Cool and sunny here at the moment. Going to the Grampians today for some minor walking. Takes about an hour to get to Halls Gap from here.

Mt William Carpark to the peak?

The reply I got from the csiro regarding the green caterpillars eating the orange rind.

‘Thank you for your enquiry regarding insect or other animal species identification.

We regret to advise that CSIRO no longer provides an insect or animal identification service.

We suggest in this instance you contact your State Museum, which can assist with providing identification and advice for the general public.’

>>Mt William Carpark to the peak?<<

We went to Mackenzie Falls, walked to the bottom and along the creek a bit. And then climbed back up to the top. Then walked to the Broken Falls lookout and back again. And then to the Mackenzie Falls lookout and back again. Then back into Halls Gap for pies and ate them at my sister’s rental, along with a cake I made and took with me. Then we all came home here to Penshurst for a coffee at our local cafe, then up Mt Rouse (in the car, only did the last 100 steps to the top on foot this time!) and then the obligatory garden tour you do with family. Around our Penshurst Botanic Gardens with dogs attached and now B and her partner and her son have headed back to Halls Gap. Tomorrow they return to Melbourne and on Wednesday they fly back to Houston. It’s been a good time.

:)

Good morning Gardeners. Eight degrees and overcast, clearing at the moment. I;ve been for a bike ride in the lovely cool.

buffy said:

>>Mt William Carpark to the peak?<<

We went to Mackenzie Falls, walked to the bottom and along the creek a bit. And then climbed back up to the top. Then walked to the Broken Falls lookout and back again. And then to the Mackenzie Falls lookout and back again. Then back into Halls Gap for pies and ate them at my sister’s rental, along with a cake I made and took with me. Then we all came home here to Penshurst for a coffee at our local cafe, then up Mt Rouse (in the car, only did the last 100 steps to the top on foot this time!) and then the obligatory garden tour you do with family. Around our Penshurst Botanic Gardens with dogs attached and now B and her partner and her son have headed back to Halls Gap. Tomorrow they return to Melbourne and on Wednesday they fly back to Houston. It’s been a good time.

:)

I once nearly got killed by a wallaby at McKenzie Falls…

painmaster said:

I once nearly got killed by a wallaby at McKenzie Falls…

Now you have to finish the tale.

Got this cute little porcelain bathtub at the Op Shop for 50 cents for the bathroom. What do you think I should put in it?

bluegreen said:

Got this cute little porcelain bathtub at the Op Shop for 50 cents for the bathroom. What do you think I should put in it?

I got one for free. Was thinking of giving it to the budgies to bath in.

Rose petals?

Buffy’s bean report….I have done a trial companion planting plot with corn, zucchini and bush beans at the front, climbing beans at the back. The bed is rather narrow, so it’s quite squished in. But looking lush at the moment. There is a 3cm zucchini already set in there, and tiny little beans on the bush beans at the front. The climbers on the wire at the back are struggling a bit from a light shortage, but I think they might make it up the wire eventually.

And when I pruned the Buddleias I kept a lot of the sticks……bean poles for bush beans!

I don’t know why the photos look blurry in the post…they are not blurry at Photobucket.

buffy said:

Buffy’s bean report….I have done a trial companion planting plot with corn, zucchini and bush beans at the front, climbing beans at the back. The bed is rather narrow, so it’s quite squished in. But looking lush at the moment. There is a 3cm zucchini already set in there, and tiny little beans on the bush beans at the front. The climbers on the wire at the back are struggling a bit from a light shortage, but I think they might make it up the wire eventually.

And when I pruned the Buddleias I kept a lot of the sticks……bean poles for bush beans!

I don’t know why the photos look blurry in the post…they are not blurry at Photobucket.

Very neat. Well done with the Buddleia sticks. It doesn’t look blurry to me!

Good morning Holidayers. Off to Casterton to mow this morning, then back home via the practice to do some of those things that happen even when you are closed down, and archery this evening.

Presently a cool and gusty 8 degrees and a clear sky here.

I would like to share a personal experience with you about drinking and driving after a “social session” with friends.

I was out with some friends on a pre-Christmas evening. I had a couple of cocktails, followed by a few glasses of vintage red wine and a couple of brandies for good measure. Despite the jolliness, I still had the sense to know that I was over the limit. That’s when I decided to do what I have never done before: I took a cab home.

Sure enough, there was a police road block on the road but, since it was a cab, they waved it past. I arrived home safely without incident.

This was both a great relief and surprise because I had never driven a cab before. I don’t even know where I got it from and, now that it is in my garage, I don’t know what to do with it.

Zoë Michelle has arrived by natural birth after a long labour. Congratulations to parents Michelle and Ben, especially Michelle!

More details to follow, as soon as I get them!!

bluegreen said:

I would like to share a personal experience with you about drinking and driving after a “social session” with friends.

I was out with some friends on a pre-Christmas evening. I had a couple of cocktails, followed by a few glasses of vintage red wine and a couple of brandies for good measure. Despite the jolliness, I still had the sense to know that I was over the limit. That’s when I decided to do what I have never done before: I took a cab home.

Sure enough, there was a police road block on the road but, since it was a cab, they waved it past. I arrived home safely without incident.

This was both a great relief and surprise because I had never driven a cab before. I don’t even know where I got it from and, now that it is in my garage, I don’t know what to do with it.

Hehehehe.

Morning. Still running about madly. Half the time in my nightie lol, no time to get dressed. One trailer load of aged manure sitting in my carport waiting to be unloaded. It’s topped with bags of soiled stable straw. Sounds like a dessert. It’ll be unloaded today. The next trailer loads will be collected tomorrow.

There’s been no rain and things are drying out. I’m keeping up the hand watering.

Still worrying about KK, youngest daughter in Thailand. Yeah it was Thailand where they’re at. She’s been bitten alive by mozzies and some bites have turned purple. She said she’ll see a doctor. She better!

I scored a cheap buy on a fb site, a lovely feather vest made from chickens feathers. It will sit very nicely with my mad chook lady tag ;)

We got a welcome 3.5 mm this morning. :) I’ve come to the opinion that Patio Pick is one of the better tomatoes for my climate and requirements. For one, I’m not fond of having to stake tomato plants. Others in this category are Rouge De Marmande and KY1. The category also includes, taste. ;)

Hello Gardeners. I’ve hand watered and picked some side shoots from some Romanesco broccoli that I picked the main head off about 2 weeks ago. The plant can go to the chooks now. Also rode the bike this morning and went to the cafe for breakfast. Spending my holiday money in my own town instead of going away for annual leave. Not that there is a lot to spend, but it might as well stay local.

I mowed a bit of grass in Auntie Annie’s and weeded out the mini veggie plot I have set up for her. I’ll foliar feed the plants this evening. Lettuce, tomato, beans and snow and snap peas. My own plants will get a feed too. They had seaweed last time, a week back or so, this time they can have Aquasol.

I also need to reseed a corn block where the germination was annoyingly patchy. The cucumber seed I put underneath for soil cover germinated well though.

Now getting a bit warm outside for anything too strenuous, so I might do a bit more thinking about some changes to my veggie patch that I am planning. Like making more space…

Corn was difficult for me this season.. as well

Buffy, are you going to leave the clavulus with the business when you go?

>>Buffy, are you going to leave the clavulus with the business when you go?<<

Depends. It’s unlikely I have a saleable business because I run it in a rather oldfashioned way. If I find a buyer, it’s not likely to be anyone trained in spectacle repairs – the optometrists have not been taught that stuff for a very long time. I only really learnt to do it because I went into an old country practice. So I’ll probably eventually just break the business up and we will let the premises to someone. I may be able to sell the goodwill, but even that is debateable as I have maintained paper patient records and people want electronic now. So the plan now is to keep working for as long as I enjoy it, possibly reducing the consulting days to 3 a week in a few years time and eventually just shutting down. I have more work than I can cope with really (I am booked out to about 3 months ahead presently and it’s been that way for over 12 months now. Prior to that it was 2 months ahead), so I think I will be able to just gradually ease out and people will simply have to transfer to someone else. We do not have SpecSavers or OPSM or Luxottica in our town, which I suspect is just a little bit too small for that sort of place to be viable – 10,000 + 10,000 in the outlying district. At the moment I am consulting 4 days a week, and my opposition has two optometrists consulting 5 days a week. They are not booking as far ahead as me…

And on the Aurora thing….some more info:

http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/aurora-alert-january-9-10-2014.html

I’m thinking I might drive up Mt Rouse tonight after dark and look South.

Oooh I might go for a drive down past the foreshore.

I suppose I could drive up Mt Hotham? But probably won’t. lol!

Here’s the reply I got from Melb Museum regarding the rind boring grub. So, now I have to breed the rotten thing aye.

‘Thank you for sending your image into Discovery Centre at Melbourne Museum.

We can say that we believe it is a species of moth and that we think it may be from the family Tortricidae known as leaf curling moths. There are more than 1200 species in this family to be found in Australia and unfortunately from the larval form we can’t provide an identification. If you were really keen to know you could take some of the larvae and provide them with food and try to get them to pupate and when the adult emerges take some images and send them into us. If they are becoming a real problem your local nursery or garden centre may be able to recommend something if you say you have a number of suspected leaf curling moth larvae.’

Happy Potter said:

Here’s the reply I got from Melb Museum regarding the rind boring grub. So, now I have to breed the rotten thing aye.

‘Thank you for sending your image into Discovery Centre at Melbourne Museum.

We can say that we believe it is a species of moth and that we think it may be from the family Tortricidae known as leaf curling moths. There are more than 1200 species in this family to be found in Australia and unfortunately from the larval form we can’t provide an identification. If you were really keen to know you could take some of the larvae and provide them with food and try to get them to pupate and when the adult emerges take some images and send them into us. If they are becoming a real problem your local nursery or garden centre may be able to recommend something if you say you have a number of suspected leaf curling moth larvae.’

That’s interesting. Are you going to try to follow the advice?

buffy said:

>>Buffy, are you going to leave the clavulus with the business when you go?<<

Depends. It’s unlikely I have a saleable business because I run it in a rather oldfashioned way. If I find a buyer, it’s not likely to be anyone trained in spectacle repairs – the optometrists have not been taught that stuff for a very long time. I only really learnt to do it because I went into an old country practice. So I’ll probably eventually just break the business up and we will let the premises to someone. I may be able to sell the goodwill, but even that is debateable as I have maintained paper patient records and people want electronic now. So the plan now is to keep working for as long as I enjoy it, possibly reducing the consulting days to 3 a week in a few years time and eventually just shutting down. I have more work than I can cope with really (I am booked out to about 3 months ahead presently and it’s been that way for over 12 months now. Prior to that it was 2 months ahead), so I think I will be able to just gradually ease out and people will simply have to transfer to someone else. We do not have SpecSavers or OPSM or Luxottica in our town, which I suspect is just a little bit too small for that sort of place to be viable – 10,000 + 10,000 in the outlying district. At the moment I am consulting 4 days a week, and my opposition has two optometrists consulting 5 days a week. They are not booking as far ahead as me…

The jewellers I worked in for around 25 years does lots of spectacle repairs for the customers from the optometrists.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Here’s the reply I got from Melb Museum regarding the rind boring grub. So, now I have to breed the rotten thing aye.

‘Thank you for sending your image into Discovery Centre at Melbourne Museum.

We can say that we believe it is a species of moth and that we think it may be from the family Tortricidae known as leaf curling moths. There are more than 1200 species in this family to be found in Australia and unfortunately from the larval form we can’t provide an identification. If you were really keen to know you could take some of the larvae and provide them with food and try to get them to pupate and when the adult emerges take some images and send them into us. If they are becoming a real problem your local nursery or garden centre may be able to recommend something if you say you have a number of suspected leaf curling moth larvae.’

That’s interesting. Are you going to try to follow the advice?

Yes I will, I do want to know what it is and obviously that involves time and patience. I will have to wait until next year for the spring blossom/fruit flush. I did see moths in the area, thought they were codling moths as there were stung apples nearby (stung fruit tossed to chooks)

How to keep the grub growing until it pupates and a moth emerges, I need to find out how to keep it alive and provide the right conditions. Hmm.

Well hello all, I have been without a computer since Christmas Eve and I must say my addiction to the computer has taken a much-needed whack…the house looks so much better and I bought a Sudoku book of puzzles, from dreadfully easy to mind-numbingly difficult, to cope with the lack of a computer.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and let’s hope this will be a great year.

The two family dogs are with me at present, Shadow doesn’t get so upset when I go downtown whilst Puta and Manu are here…Manu has found a tiny teddy bear from somewhere and carts it around the house with her, along with my shoes…this will go back and no doubt join her yellow bath ducky…

Gardening-wise, two of my rose transplants are doing splendidly, one being the Dr Huey rootstock and the other an un-named tea rose…the tea rose is trying to bud but I have nipped them as it’s so hot…the third transplant was dug up by the chookens whilst I was away, I replanted it but they dug it up again, so I planted it again and the heatwave “woodened” it…no great loss as it was another Dr Huey rootstock and I have more that can be moved…if I could be bothered…

Back to reading the LHS…

Happy Potter said:

How to keep the grub growing until it pupates and a moth emerges, I need to find out how to keep it alive and provide the right conditions. Hmm.

you know what it likes to eat!

Dinetta said:

Well hello all, I have been without a computer since Christmas Eve and I must say my addiction to the computer has taken a much-needed whack…the house looks so much better and I bought a Sudoku book of puzzles, from dreadfully easy to mind-numbingly difficult, to cope with the lack of a computer.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and let’s hope this will be a great year.

The two family dogs are with me at present, Shadow doesn’t get so upset when I go downtown whilst Puta and Manu are here…Manu has found a tiny teddy bear from somewhere and carts it around the house with her, along with my shoes…this will go back and no doubt join her yellow bath ducky…

Gardening-wise, two of my rose transplants are doing splendidly, one being the Dr Huey rootstock and the other an un-named tea rose…the tea rose is trying to bud but I have nipped them as it’s so hot…the third transplant was dug up by the chookens whilst I was away, I replanted it but they dug it up again, so I planted it again and the heatwave “woodened” it…no great loss as it was another Dr Huey rootstock and I have more that can be moved…if I could be bothered…

Back to reading the LHS…

Good to see you back :)
I did wonder how you were going in the heat when my eldest girl got a shock when she and her new husband drove up and settled in Toowoomba.
The rental they are in for now has an air con but not in the bedroom, so they turned their loungeroom into a bedroom.

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

How to keep the grub growing until it pupates and a moth emerges, I need to find out how to keep it alive and provide the right conditions. Hmm.

you know what it likes to eat!

That I do!

Happy Potter said:

Good to see you back :)
I did wonder how you were going in the heat when my eldest girl got a shock when she and her new husband drove up and settled in Toowoomba.
The rental they are in for now has an air con but not in the bedroom, so they turned their loungeroom into a bedroom.

Needs must…difficult to believe that WoombaWoomba needs airconditioning but I did see where the south was setting heat records…for the south…

Good morning Gardeners. We have a beautiful 12 degrees here this morning, overcast and still. The calm before the heat hits, I suppose. I’ll do some tidying and gardening and stuff while Mr buffy is in Hamilton at a meeting all day.

The Saturday night drunks are out in force…very glad for the booming barks of Puta and Shadow…when Manu let out an excited squeak (she’s been guarding a green apple which she retrieved from the hessian shopping bag) I knew it was serious…

Good morning Buffy…I must say the name you have for Bilbergia nutans is much nicer than the one I’ve known it by, which is “Queen’s Tears”… very easy to grow here provided it’s sheltered from the summer afternoon sun…would never let it grow outside a pot, tho’…I’ll be calling it the Tartan Lily from now on…honestly it grows soilless-ly in the pots…just add water…

Dinetta said:

Good morning Buffy…I must say the name you have for Bilbergia nutans is much nicer than the one I’ve known it by, which is “Queen’s Tears”… very easy to grow here provided it’s sheltered from the summer afternoon sun…would never let it grow outside a pot, tho’…I’ll be calling it the Tartan Lily from now on…honestly it grows soilless-ly in the pots…just add water…

Snail trap.

Whoops! Wrong thread.

We’ve always grown B. nutans, I got my original bulby things from my Mum, and I suspect she got hers from one of her aunts.

And then I looked up Themeda triandra (kangaroo grass) propogation, sorted out what I brought home and…..I’ve got a whole 3 seeds. I’ll take the car out later and gather some more. I’m not really supposed to pick off the side of the road, so I might go down a side road. But I’m planning to plant it on the roadside here if I can get it going, so I want local stock.

>>Snail trap.<<

Yes, the go in there rather than eating my veggies. And I can gather them up and give them to the chooks.

buffy said:

>>Snail trap.<<

Yes, the go in there rather than eating my veggies. And I can gather them up and give them to the chooks.

That’s the one.

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Good morning Buffy…I must say the name you have for Bilbergia nutans is much nicer than the one I’ve known it by, which is “Queen’s Tears”… very easy to grow here provided it’s sheltered from the summer afternoon sun…would never let it grow outside a pot, tho’…I’ll be calling it the Tartan Lily from now on…honestly it grows soilless-ly in the pots…just add water…

Snail trap.

What snails?

buffy said:

And then I looked up Themeda triandra (kangaroo grass) propogation, sorted out what I brought home and…..I’ve got a whole 3 seeds. I’ll take the car out later and gather some more. I’m not really supposed to pick off the side of the road, so I might go down a side road. But I’m planning to plant it on the roadside here if I can get it going, so I want local stock.

We won’t tell…

Dinetta said:

buffy said:

And then I looked up Themeda triandra (kangaroo grass) propogation, sorted out what I brought home and…..I’ve got a whole 3 seeds. I’ll take the car out later and gather some more. I’m not really supposed to pick off the side of the road, so I might go down a side road. But I’m planning to plant it on the roadside here if I can get it going, so I want local stock.

We won’t tell…

But we will say that Themeda needs to be collected as soon as the seed matures rather than when it is dried.

I went to the cemetery to scatter rose petals and collected some more seed. From about 4km away from what I picked opportunistically this morning. Some was still flowering, but some was ready. So I’ll go an pick through the chaff and then set it out in a spot in the veggie patch. It may take 12 months to germinate, so I’ll have to make sure I mark where it is.

And if anyone is interested, I found this and it looks brilliant:

http://www.nativegrassgroup.asn.au/dloads/propagation.pdf

Simply explained and well set out.

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Good morning Buffy…I must say the name you have for Bilbergia nutans is much nicer than the one I’ve known it by, which is “Queen’s Tears”… very easy to grow here provided it’s sheltered from the summer afternoon sun…would never let it grow outside a pot, tho’…I’ll be calling it the Tartan Lily from now on…honestly it grows soilless-ly in the pots…just add water…

Snail trap.

What snails?

Took me years to get rid of them. Now have no French snails but millions of Italian ones.

buffy said:

And if anyone is interested, I found this and it looks brilliant:

http://www.nativegrassgroup.asn.au/dloads/propagation.pdf

Simply explained and well set out.

looks good. Thanks.

Homegrown beetroot (in my lunch salad) is very earthy.

:)

buffy said:

Homegrown beetroot (in my lunch salad) is very earthy.

:)

I’m a big fan of homegrown beetroot. Not that I’m best situated to grow it.

Morning. I dropped off the radar for a bit. Too busy to even brush my hair, so I went about looking messy lol.
Critter, son in law with the broken leg, is off crutches finally after 3 months. Still no tearing about though, and not back to work for another month or when the surgeon clears him for work.

My big gold fish are finally being picked up. In a week. The fellow who bought them had a devastating stroke and was in hosp for a while. He asked if I would kindly hold them for him. Course I would. He built a 25 mt long pond half a metre deep and now wants to stock it and care for the fish as therapy. He lost his speech ability and is very hard to understand, but we converse in pointing, thumbs up and hugs :) He is the sweetest man. He is coming here today just to visit them. We have a spot of fishing to do :)

Some scumbag/s decided to slash my tires. In the driveway.
KK’s car is in front of mine while she’s o’seas so mine was further down the drive than usual. Karma, watch out for it a**hole. I’m not out and about with 4 oddbod tires on, no long trips until I have 4 goodies.

I’m geared up and watered up in readiness for the big hot.

Happy Potter said:

My big gold fish are finally being picked up. In a week. The fellow who bought them had a devastating stroke and was in hosp for a while. He asked if I would kindly hold them for him. Course I would. He built a 25 mt long pond half a metre deep and now wants to stock it and care for the fish as therapy. He lost his speech ability and is very hard to understand, but we converse in pointing, thumbs up and hugs :) He is the sweetest man. He is coming here today just to visit them. We have a spot of fishing to do :)

:D :D

Happy Potter said:

Some scumbag/s decided to slash my tires. In the driveway.
KK’s car is in front of mine while she’s o’seas so mine was further down the drive than usual. Karma, watch out for it a**hole. I’m not out and about with 4 oddbod tires on, no long trips until I have 4 goodies.

:( :(

Hello Holidayers. I’ve taken Buschka to Warrnambool for her lump removal and will go back this afternoon to pick her up. It was lovely and cool overnight and there were some fog banks on the 70km trip down…all gone when I came back. Now gone over 32 here, so heading into the heat.

I’ll be staying inside in the cool. We trapped quite a good deal of cool and now have the aircon on to keep it that way.

buffy said:

Hello Holidayers. I’ve taken Buschka to Warrnambool for her lump removal and will go back this afternoon to pick her up. It was lovely and cool overnight and there were some fog banks on the 70km trip down…all gone when I came back. Now gone over 32 here, so heading into the heat.

I’ll be staying inside in the cool. We trapped quite a good deal of cool and now have the aircon on to keep it that way.

aircon on here to. using it to stop the temp rising, rather than trying to cool down a hot house later. 39 forecast for today, currently 31.2.

Happy Potter said:

Morning. I dropped off the radar for a bit. Too busy to even brush my hair, so I went about looking messy lol.
Critter, son in law with the broken leg, is off crutches finally after 3 months. Still no tearing about though, and not back to work for another month or when the surgeon clears him for work.

My big gold fish are finally being picked up. In a week. The fellow who bought them had a devastating stroke and was in hosp for a while. He asked if I would kindly hold them for him. Course I would. He built a 25 mt long pond half a metre deep and now wants to stock it and care for the fish as therapy. He lost his speech ability and is very hard to understand, but we converse in pointing, thumbs up and hugs :) He is the sweetest man. He is coming here today just to visit them. We have a spot of fishing to do :)

Some scumbag/s decided to slash my tires. In the driveway.
KK’s car is in front of mine while she’s o’seas so mine was further down the drive than usual. Karma, watch out for it a**hole. I’m not out and about with 4 oddbod tires on, no long trips until I have 4 goodies.

I’m geared up and watered up in readiness for the big hot.

Tch re the tyres…what was the point, one wonders? Tyres are so expensive, as well.

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

Morning. I dropped off the radar for a bit. Too busy to even brush my hair, so I went about looking messy lol.
Critter, son in law with the broken leg, is off crutches finally after 3 months. Still no tearing about though, and not back to work for another month or when the surgeon clears him for work.

My big gold fish are finally being picked up. In a week. The fellow who bought them had a devastating stroke and was in hosp for a while. He asked if I would kindly hold them for him. Course I would. He built a 25 mt long pond half a metre deep and now wants to stock it and care for the fish as therapy. He lost his speech ability and is very hard to understand, but we converse in pointing, thumbs up and hugs :) He is the sweetest man. He is coming here today just to visit them. We have a spot of fishing to do :)

Some scumbag/s decided to slash my tires. In the driveway.
KK’s car is in front of mine while she’s o’seas so mine was further down the drive than usual. Karma, watch out for it a**hole. I’m not out and about with 4 oddbod tires on, no long trips until I have 4 goodies.

I’m geared up and watered up in readiness for the big hot.

Tch re the tyres…what was the point, one wonders? Tyres are so expensive, as well.

and it is no mean feat to slash one let alone all four. It is a deliberate act of vengeance type of vandalism. Why were your tyres attacked? is the question that should be asked.

‘and it is no mean feat to slash one let alone all four. It is a deliberate act of vengeance type of vandalism. Why were your tyres attacked? is the question that should be asked.’

————————————————
A random vicious act. I don’t have any enemies. According to the authorities there’s been several tire slashing’s in the area, it’s not as noisy as breaking windscreens, and mine was probably because the car was close to the road, it was just there and so were they, the rotten mongrels. Apparently it’s more than one person. The town is getting too big.

There’s a resident nearby hoon driver who came a cropper the other day. We dubbed him the ‘james bond’ driver because he drove about like he was in a car chase scene from a movie and took corners sideways. He finally took the corner too fast and collected a pole and ambos carted him away. His car was caved in.

Happy Potter said:

‘and it is no mean feat to slash one let alone all four. It is a deliberate act of vengeance type of vandalism. Why were your tyres attacked? is the question that should be asked.’

————————————————
A random vicious act. I don’t have any enemies. According to the authorities there’s been several tire slashing’s in the area, it’s not as noisy as breaking windscreens, and mine was probably because the car was close to the road, it was just there and so were they, the rotten mongrels. Apparently it’s more than one person. The town is getting too big.

There’s a resident nearby hoon driver who came a cropper the other day. We dubbed him the ‘james bond’ driver because he drove about like he was in a car chase scene from a movie and took corners sideways. He finally took the corner too fast and collected a pole and ambos carted him away. His car was caved in.

Sometimes they slash anybody’s tyres because they are sim[ply extremely pissed off about something and have a go at the first thing they see but to do all four suggests that they may be emulating a movie or something.

Good morning Gardeners. I’ve just spent a couple of hours watering the veggies, soaker hosing a strip in front of the house (North facing), another strip under the prop clothes line, cleaning and refilling the fire buckets along the verandah and doing the dishes of water for the local birds around the garden. Not quite sure why it took that long really, but apart from having to come inside and swap my shorts for long pants (mosquitoes) there was not much else I did. Oh, I did do the chook water too. I wanted things to have a good drink as we are forecast a 42 or something ridiculous today. I’ve just written off the Casterton garden, they are forecast 44, I think.

Oh erk, it’s worse than I thought:

http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/casterton.shtml

I’m glad I’m still on leave and not going there for consulting tomorrow…

buffy said:

Oh erk, it’s worse than I thought:

http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/casterton.shtml

I’m glad I’m still on leave and not going there for consulting tomorrow…

right behind you

Benalla

It will be a relief next weekend when the temps drop to a mere mid-thirties!
laughs hysterically

Phowarrr, melting. I’m tempted to supa glue myself to the air con’, but no..havta go with the man to get him some new shorts. He went on his own, after I told him what size to get and he came back with ones too small. He was downcast because he was quite proud of himself for picking his own clothes out and seeing another couple and thinking heh heh I can do this on my own. lol.
(No he can’t)

I might avail myself of a thin summer shirt or two while I’m at it ;)

Happy Potter said:

There’s a resident nearby hoon driver who came a cropper the other day. We dubbed him the ‘james bond’ driver because he drove about like he was in a car chase scene from a movie and took corners sideways. He finally took the corner too fast and collected a pole and ambos carted him away. His car was caved in.

That’ll learn him…one hopes…

Happy Potter said:

Phowarrr, melting. I’m tempted to supa glue myself to the air con’, but no..havta go with the man to get him some new shorts. He went on his own, after I told him what size to get and he came back with ones too small. He was downcast because he was quite proud of himself for picking his own clothes out and seeing another couple and thinking heh heh I can do this on my own. lol.
(No he can’t)

He didn’t try them on???

Happy Potter said:

Phowarrr, melting. I’m tempted to supa glue myself to the air con’, but no..havta go with the man to get him some new shorts. He went on his own, after I told him what size to get and he came back with ones too small. He was downcast because he was quite proud of himself for picking his own clothes out and seeing another couple and thinking heh heh I can do this on my own. lol.
(No he can’t)

I might avail myself of a thin summer shirt or two while I’m at it ;)

lol!

got a plumbing problem here. The shower has been losing pressure even though the pressure in other taps is fine. I figured that due to me having old copper pipes and bore water that it has become clogged up with deposits. There has certainly been green crystals depositing themselves on the outside of the shower head. OK. I figured I can fix this one myself. Buy a new shower head, remove the old one, clean threads and wrap with plumbing tape then screw the new one on. Voila!

Well. It took me a while to find the plumbing tape I knew I had (so didn’t buy any more.) There was just enough on the roll for the job. Removed old shower head, no problem. Ran tap to check for pressure and flush out any deposits, no problem. Cleaned and wrapped plumbing tape around thread, again all good. Started winding on the new shower head when…. it fell off in my hand! On closer inspection the first 4mm of threaded pipe has sheared off and is firmly embedded in the “nut” of the shower head. I can’t get it out! There is enough thread left on the supply pipe but until I get the broken bit out the new shower head is useless, and I don’t particularly want to go buy another one either. It is sitting in the freezer atm in the hope that the bit of copper pipe will shrink more than the metal of the shower head and therefore come out. If not I could call a plumber but that will cost more than a new shower head. If I buy a new shower head then what is the guarantee that another bit won’t break off again!

Any suggestions welcome.

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

There’s a resident nearby hoon driver who came a cropper the other day. We dubbed him the ‘james bond’ driver because he drove about like he was in a car chase scene from a movie and took corners sideways. He finally took the corner too fast and collected a pole and ambos carted him away. His car was caved in.

That’ll learn him…one hopes…

sounds like it was lucky he didn’t hurt someone else in the process though. Saw a similar thing a long time ago – a car that rear-ended a power pole right up to the front seats and wrapped around it. Think about it. Must have been going pretty fast and spun around to rear-end a pole with that much damage.

bluegreen said:

. It is sitting in the freezer atm in the hope that the bit of copper pipe will shrink more than the metal of the shower head and therefore come out.

It worked! It freed it up enough for me to be able to work it out with pliers. Feeling pretty pleased with myself. Now to finish the job!

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

Phowarrr, melting. I’m tempted to supa glue myself to the air con’, but no..havta go with the man to get him some new shorts. He went on his own, after I told him what size to get and he came back with ones too small. He was downcast because he was quite proud of himself for picking his own clothes out and seeing another couple and thinking heh heh I can do this on my own. lol.
(No he can’t)

I might avail myself of a thin summer shirt or two while I’m at it ;)

lol!

got a plumbing problem here. The shower has been losing pressure even though the pressure in other taps is fine. I figured that due to me having old copper pipes and bore water that it has become clogged up with deposits. There has certainly been green crystals depositing themselves on the outside of the shower head. OK. I figured I can fix this one myself. Buy a new shower head, remove the old one, clean threads and wrap with plumbing tape then screw the new one on. Voila!

Well. It took me a while to find the plumbing tape I knew I had (so didn’t buy any more.) There was just enough on the roll for the job. Removed old shower head, no problem. Ran tap to check for pressure and flush out any deposits, no problem. Cleaned and wrapped plumbing tape around thread, again all good. Started winding on the new shower head when…. it fell off in my hand! On closer inspection the first 4mm of threaded pipe has sheared off and is firmly embedded in the “nut” of the shower head. I can’t get it out! There is enough thread left on the supply pipe but until I get the broken bit out the new shower head is useless, and I don’t particularly want to go buy another one either. It is sitting in the freezer atm in the hope that the bit of copper pipe will shrink more than the metal of the shower head and therefore come out. If not I could call a plumber but that will cost more than a new shower head. If I buy a new shower head then what is the guarantee that another bit won’t break off again!

Any suggestions welcome.

Sharpen an old screwdriver so that it can be jammed inside the offending piece.. squirt a tiny bit of WD40 into the threaded part and try unscrewing it with the screwdriver, You’ll probably need a pair of vice-grips to hold the shower head but put some cloth between the grips and the head to prevent scratching. Neoprene would be best as it will also grip and help the unscrewing.

bluegreen said:

bluegreen said:

. It is sitting in the freezer atm in the hope that the bit of copper pipe will shrink more than the metal of the shower head and therefore come out.

It worked! It freed it up enough for me to be able to work it out with pliers. Feeling pretty pleased with myself. Now to finish the job!

Yep.. The freezer was a good idea.

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

bluegreen said:

. It is sitting in the freezer atm in the hope that the bit of copper pipe will shrink more than the metal of the shower head and therefore come out.

It worked! It freed it up enough for me to be able to work it out with pliers. Feeling pretty pleased with myself. Now to finish the job!

Yep.. The freezer was a good idea.

Another bit broke off but smaller than the last one and I was able to get it out without the freezer. I have managed to get it on without any more breaking off so I now have a functioning shower with volume. I guess all that copper leaching has weakened the pipes? I expect I will have to have them all replaced at some stage but until then they will have to do.

Help! What is the short cut to resizing the Desktop? I have to scroll halfway across the screen to read the whole page. Had it right but P has adjusted this…

Dinetta said:

Help! What is the short cut to resizing the Desktop? I have to scroll halfway across the screen to read the whole page. Had it right but P has adjusted this…

I think, right click on desktop and select “screen resolution” where you should have options.

Bit hot here….43 at the back door. I’m not game to put the thermometer out in the sun. I just went and refilled some of the garden bird water and Long’s paddle pool. I was a bit mean throwing his chewed bone into the water, but he doesn’t mind getting his head underwater and it succeeded in cooling him off. He’s gone to sleep again now as he is not allowed to worry Buschka’s stitches. I took some photos of him in the water but they didn’t work very well. I’ll have another go tonight or tomorrow. Or the next day.

buffy said:

Bit hot here….43 at the back door. I’m not game to put the thermometer out in the sun. I just went and refilled some of the garden bird water and Long’s paddle pool. I was a bit mean throwing his chewed bone into the water, but he doesn’t mind getting his head underwater and it succeeded in cooling him off. He’s gone to sleep again now as he is not allowed to worry Buschka’s stitches. I took some photos of him in the water but they didn’t work very well. I’ll have another go tonight or tomorrow. Or the next day.

there is sure to be more opportunities for photos, given the current weather. I have brought the chicks and hen inside. I already had brought Chester Galah in the other day so what with them, the budgie and six cockateils it is getting rather crowded in my little house!

I didn’t check the tiels. But they are desert birds, and I put groundwater out for them this morning, and they have shade and continuous water, so they should be fine.

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

Phowarrr, melting. I’m tempted to supa glue myself to the air con’, but no..havta go with the man to get him some new shorts. He went on his own, after I told him what size to get and he came back with ones too small. He was downcast because he was quite proud of himself for picking his own clothes out and seeing another couple and thinking heh heh I can do this on my own. lol.
(No he can’t)

He didn’t try them on???

No, the dill just holds them up to himself.
I can’t believe how hot the car interior was. I couldn’t touch the steering wheel so had to get cotton garden gloves on with the grippy stuff on the palms and fingers, then the bridge of my sunnies burnt my nose, then the seatbelt buckle branded my hip!

I had to stifle a chuckle when he emerged out of the change room with normal shorts on.. all he needed was long socks and sandals and I would have died laughing. They were way too short. He is very tall and needs those knee length ones. He couldn’t find any so I dragged him off to the mens shop. Got some beautys there. It was interesting to see the fellow measure him.. he put the tape on his arm from the tip of his elbow to his pinky knuckle. (bent arm closed hand) and that is a mans waist measurement. It was perfect!

bluegreen said:

bluegreen said:

. It is sitting in the freezer atm in the hope that the bit of copper pipe will shrink more than the metal of the shower head and therefore come out.

It worked! It freed it up enough for me to be able to work it out with pliers. Feeling pretty pleased with myself. Now to finish the job!

Well done!

Dinetta said:

Help! What is the short cut to resizing the Desktop? I have to scroll halfway across the screen to read the whole page. Had it right but P has adjusted this…

CTRL + 0 (numeric “o”)

buffy said:

Bit hot here….43 at the back door. I’m not game to put the thermometer out in the sun. I just went and refilled some of the garden bird water and Long’s paddle pool. I was a bit mean throwing his chewed bone into the water, but he doesn’t mind getting his head underwater and it succeeded in cooling him off. He’s gone to sleep again now as he is not allowed to worry Buschka’s stitches. I took some photos of him in the water but they didn’t work very well. I’ll have another go tonight or tomorrow. Or the next day.

“Bit hot”… @ 43C!!!… want to hope it cools down overnight…it’s when the nights don’t cool off I have issues with the heat…

We have termites in a post under the house…they must have come with a pile of wooden stakes for the real estate signs…bugg@r…will have to have the pest control pronto…just popped up in the last couple of days…

Dinetta said:

We have termites in a post under the house…they must have come with a pile of wooden stakes for the real estate signs…bugg@r…will have to have the pest control pronto…just popped up in the last couple of days…

bummer :(

Now down to about 32, and I’ve been out watering the veggies. They are already popping back well, so I need them to rehydrate well overnight, I’ll give them more moisture in the morning….and we will repeat today.

Dinetta said:

We have termites in a post under the house…they must have come with a pile of wooden stakes for the real estate signs…bugg@r…will have to have the pest control pronto…just popped up in the last couple of days…

Termites don’t come in bits of timber. They need a queen.
The termite colonies like many insect colonies grow wings and fly. These in termites are the new queens and their prospective mates. So other than coming underground from a nearby colony, the only other way is by flying in and establishing a colony.

cooled off a tad here.. 39.8°C

roughbarked said:

cooled off a tad here.. 39.8°C

Still 37.9 here. The mans off to work in an hour.

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

We have termites in a post under the house…they must have come with a pile of wooden stakes for the real estate signs…bugg@r…will have to have the pest control pronto…just popped up in the last couple of days…

Termites don’t come in bits of timber. They need a queen.
The termite colonies like many insect colonies grow wings and fly. These in termites are the new queens and their prospective mates. So other than coming underground from a nearby colony, the only other way is by flying in and establishing a colony.

Well maybe these bits of timber got eaten out, they already had termites, and the queen flew the short distance (1 metre) to the house stump, would that be possible?

roughbarked said:

cooled off a tad here.. 39.8°C

One notices it, at those extremes…

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

We have termites in a post under the house…they must have come with a pile of wooden stakes for the real estate signs…bugg@r…will have to have the pest control pronto…just popped up in the last couple of days…

Termites don’t come in bits of timber. They need a queen.
The termite colonies like many insect colonies grow wings and fly. These in termites are the new queens and their prospective mates. So other than coming underground from a nearby colony, the only other way is by flying in and establishing a colony.

Well maybe these bits of timber got eaten out, they already had termites, and the queen flew the short distance (1 metre) to the house stump, would that be possible?

Practically impossible to transport a queen. She is way down at the bottom of the nest. The ones in the bits of wood are the intrepid ones.

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Termites don’t come in bits of timber. They need a queen.
The termite colonies like many insect colonies grow wings and fly. These in termites are the new queens and their prospective mates. So other than coming underground from a nearby colony, the only other way is by flying in and establishing a colony.

Well maybe these bits of timber got eaten out, they already had termites, and the queen flew the short distance (1 metre) to the house stump, would that be possible?

Practically impossible to transport a queen. She is way down at the bottom of the nest. The ones in the bits of wood are the intrepid ones.

It is most certain that there is a termite colony nearby to the house. What material os the post made from? One should be using Callitris or Tallowwood

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Well maybe these bits of timber got eaten out, they already had termites, and the queen flew the short distance (1 metre) to the house stump, would that be possible?

Practically impossible to transport a queen. She is way down at the bottom of the nest. The ones in the bits of wood are the intrepid ones.

Well one post did show signs of termite infestation but as near as we can tell it’s not there any more? If it is, would the termites have burrowed 2 metres under concrete to the next post?
It is most certain that there is a termite colony nearby to the house. What material os the post made from? One should be using Callitris or Tallowwood

Starting to panic here, I think I need the pest control pronto.

Not sure what the wood is, it would be locally sourced, the posts are about 50 years old…It would be either eucalyptus or ironbark, I should imagine…

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

Practically impossible to transport a queen. She is way down at the bottom of the nest. The ones in the bits of wood are the intrepid ones.

It is most certain that there is a termite colony nearby to the house. What material os the post made from? One should be using Callitris or Tallowwood

Well one post did show signs of termite infestation but as near as we can tell it’s not there any more? If it is, would the termites have burrowed 2 metres under concrete to the next post?

Yes. 2 metres would be nothing to them.

bluegreen said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

It is most certain that there is a termite colony nearby to the house. What material os the post made from? One should be using Callitris or Tallowwood

Well one post did show signs of termite infestation but as near as we can tell it’s not there any more? If it is, would the termites have burrowed 2 metres under concrete to the next post?

Yes. 2 metres would be nothing to them.

Tell me.. is the post through the concrete?

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

Dinetta said:

Well one post did show signs of termite infestation but as near as we can tell it’s not there any more? If it is, would the termites have burrowed 2 metres under concrete to the next post?

Yes. 2 metres would be nothing to them.

Tell me.. is the post through the concrete?

Is the post capped on top with a metal plate that has bent down corners..

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

Dinetta said:

Well one post did show signs of termite infestation but as near as we can tell it’s not there any more? If it is, would the termites have burrowed 2 metres under concrete to the next post?

Yes. 2 metres would be nothing to them.

Tell me.. is the post through the concrete?

The posts went in first, then the concrete was laid on top and around the bases of the posts…

roughbarked said:

Is the post capped on top with a metal plate that has bent down corners..

The posts are all capped on top, the caps are like upside down dinner plates (tin ones of course)…

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

bluegreen said:

Yes. 2 metres would be nothing to them.

Tell me.. is the post through the concrete?

The posts went in first, then the concrete was laid on top and around the bases of the posts…

Not a good move. Only makes it easier for termites to travel unnoticed. The post being in the ground is a track upwards into your house.

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Is the post capped on top with a metal plate that has bent down corners..

The posts are all capped on top, the caps are like upside down dinner plates (tin ones of course)…

Standard ant capping. Which is really termite capping. There being no such thing as white ants.

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Is the post capped on top with a metal plate that has bent down corners..

The posts are all capped on top, the caps are like upside down dinner plates (tin ones of course)…

Standard ant capping. Which is really termite capping. There being no such thing as white ants.

This circumvents them from walking into your house. However the capping should be regularly checked and kept well ventilated. Termites don’t like being in the air and the light.

As for the post.. If it is actually Callitris and the sapwood had not been removed, then termites can and will eat the sap wood but they don’t eat the heartwood. Properly prepared Callitris posts should have the sap wood removed.

There are very few termite resistant timbers. It is recommended practice to use such timbers when using timber in contact with the earth. A termite infestation can structurally completely destroy a house in a matter of a single year.

37.6 at midnight. Ya gotta be kidding..

Happy Potter said:

37.6 at midnight. Ya gotta be kidding..

I’m used to noticing that most summers in my locale. It has often been 38+ at midnight here.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

37.6 at midnight. Ya gotta be kidding..

I’m used to noticing that most summers in my locale. It has often been 38+ at midnight here.

Not in mine I haven’t. I think the higest I remember is 30C. That was bad enough.

I just brought the mumchook and her 5 bubs back inside in the crate. I had to drag it, it’s quite heavy so they had a bit of a bumpy ride. Hubby on nightshift and JJ not home. They can live inside for a few days. Others are losing chooks, dropping like flies. I am determined to do what I can to avoid losing any.

Happy Potter said:

37.6 at midnight. Ya gotta be kidding..

That’s obscene…

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

37.6 at midnight. Ya gotta be kidding..

That’s obscene…

but not unusual.

roughbarked said:

There are very few termite resistant timbers. It is recommended practice to use such timbers when using timber in contact with the earth. A termite infestation can structurally completely destroy a house in a matter of a single year.

I’ll see what I can do about getting a pest inspection of the posts…

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

There are very few termite resistant timbers. It is recommended practice to use such timbers when using timber in contact with the earth. A termite infestation can structurally completely destroy a house in a matter of a single year.

I’ll see what I can do about getting a pest inspection of the posts…

Thanks for your interest, RoughBarked…

Happy Potter said:

I just brought the mumchook and her 5 bubs back inside in the crate. I had to drag it, it’s quite heavy so they had a bit of a bumpy ride. Hubby on nightshift and JJ not home. They can live inside for a few days. Others are losing chooks, dropping like flies. I am determined to do what I can to avoid losing any.

I’m going to have to start soaking the earth in the deep shade…gone dry again after the nice soaking rains…pretty sure there’s another couple of hot days coming up…

Dinetta said:

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

There are very few termite resistant timbers. It is recommended practice to use such timbers when using timber in contact with the earth. A termite infestation can structurally completely destroy a house in a matter of a single year.

I’ll see what I can do about getting a pest inspection of the posts…

Thanks for your interest, RoughBarked…

No probs. Termites are scary to home owners but indeed regular visual inspections can prevent the woes.
No termite would dare enter my house. My ants are well trained.

roughbarked said:

No probs. Termites are scary to home owners but indeed regular visual inspections can prevent the woes.
No termite would dare enter my house. My ants are well trained.

LOL! P always said we’d be right for termites (in the old house) because we had lots of ants but the termites still got in…courtesy of untreated timber used when the place was re-roofed…we weren’t told about this at the time (untreated timber being used)…

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

No probs. Termites are scary to home owners but indeed regular visual inspections can prevent the woes.
No termite would dare enter my house. My ants are well trained.

LOL! P always said we’d be right for termites (in the old house) because we had lots of ants but the termites still got in…courtesy of untreated timber used when the place was re-roofed…we weren’t told about this at the time (untreated timber being used)…

Routine careful vigilance is important. Never cover any place up to obscure your view(which also means that light can get at it), where termites may build their dirt tracks to cover their entry. ie; Don’t stack firewood up against your wall..

roughbarked said:

There are very few termite resistant timbers. It is recommended practice to use such timbers when using timber in contact with the earth. A termite infestation can structurally completely destroy a house in a matter of a single year.

my house has been restumped with concrete stumps that are capped. A good move I think.

roughbarked said:

Routine careful vigilance is important. Never cover any place up to obscure your view(which also means that light can get at it), where termites may build their dirt tracks to cover their entry. ie; Don’t stack firewood up against your wall..

We certainly didn’t recognise it at the old house…the problem there was trees growing right up under the eaves…the yard work was left to me and it all got too much…violins play softly

I’ve just been chatting to P about it as I want a pest controller to inspect ASAP. The posts are, as I say, about 50 years old, and some are splitting a bit, and I would say that the termites have entered a split in the first post…

Dinetta said:

I’ve just been chatting to P about it as I want a pest controller to inspect ASAP. The posts are, as I say, about 50 years old, and some are splitting a bit, and I would say that the termites have entered a split in the first post…

best to get onto it straight away. If a false alarm you are out a few dollars, if ignored then you could be up for thousands.

Good morning Holidayers. Woke to 23C, now 36C. The cloud burnt off. I got all veggies watered, and bird water around the garden checked and topped up where required. Now we are all hibernating inside, with just a couple of rooms open to the aircon and all the others closed up. Nice and cool in these ones.

:)

I might see if I can get my work journal reading right up to date this afternoon. It will be pointless thinking I can do anything outside.

I now live in a barn with the animals. Chooks on the point of collapse – laying there panting and when I prodded they couldn’t move – so I got boxes and carriers and pet pens inside on tarps (old lined curtains) and lined with a stack of newspapers and wood shavings, then had to carefully pick up the worst ones first and bring them inside. If they ran or flapped wings that would probably kill them so I went about gathering them without chasing them. I brought the broody in in her own carrier nest and picked up another on dud eggs and put her with the others and threw the eggs out.

They aren’t making a sound.

The ducklings are splashing in their large pot plant tray and mum leghorn has left them there to hang out under the almond, digging herself into the cool dirt.

I put the sprinkler on the lawn and the amount of wildlife that is coming in to drink is amazing. There’s blue banded bees buzzing the tomatoes, never seen that before, and other insects big and small, lizards and birds and hoppy things and crawling things. Even mice. They don’t seem to be bothered with each other, natural enemies sharing the water and shade.

Happy Potter said:

I put the sprinkler on the lawn and the amount of wildlife that is coming in to drink is amazing. There’s blue banded bees buzzing the tomatoes, never seen that before, and other insects big and small, lizards and birds and hoppy things and crawling things. Even mice. They don’t seem to be bothered with each other, natural enemies sharing the water and shade.

some needs surmount all enmities.

One of my chooks is panting. The other one is OK. I’ve just put another bucket of cooler water into their dish (cat litter tray).

Just had a bit of excitement when the lookout on Mt Rouse reported a fire 2 miles East of town. That woke me up from my nannanap. Already listed as safe, so that was a very quick turnout. They sent one of the bombers straight out in this direction too.

Power is out in Werribee, according to the news. Hope HP and her menagerie are coping OK.

Happy Potter said:

I put the sprinkler on the lawn and the amount of wildlife that is coming in to drink is amazing. There’s blue banded bees buzzing the tomatoes, never seen that before, and other insects big and small, lizards and birds and hoppy things and crawling things. Even mice. They don’t seem to be bothered with each other, natural enemies sharing the water and shade.

It’s called basic survival…but it would be awesome to witness…

Happy Potter said:

I now live in a barn with the animals. Chooks on the point of collapse -

I’ve been thinking about the poor animals in that heat, all day…have you put dampened newspapers under the chookens, they like to kind of bare their breasts against the cool moisture…? I do hope they all survive…

Lightning coming through Victoria again tonight….and here is the result. This is the Victoria Valley in the Grampians. The smoke pall is getting bigger. I took the photo from our front yard, but it’s 50-60km away, there is little to no wind and what there is is pushing that away from us.

I’ll still be alert to the fire radio all night though, and everything is prepared.

buffy said:

Lightning coming through Victoria again tonight….and here is the result. This is the Victoria Valley in the Grampians. The smoke pall is getting bigger. I took the photo from our front yard, but it’s 50-60km away, there is little to no wind and what there is is pushing that away from us.

I’ll still be alert to the fire radio all night though, and everything is prepared.

heard about this on the news :(

buffy said:

Lightning coming through Victoria again tonight….and here is the result. This is the Victoria Valley in the Grampians. The smoke pall is getting bigger. I took the photo from our front yard, but it’s 50-60km away, there is little to no wind and what there is is pushing that away from us.

I’ll still be alert to the fire radio all night though, and everything is prepared.

Great photo…here’s hoping the preparations aren’t needed…I did read where a high proportion of the fires have been started by lightning strike…

bluegreen said:

Power is out in Werribee, according to the news. Hope HP and her menagerie are coping OK.

All good thanks for the concern. No power outage here, thank goodness. It was close by though, on the other side of our road for a few blocks.

I would have gone and sat under the sprinkler anyway, lol. The temp has dropped and we put all the chooks back out. Tomorrow is going to be hotter still.

Happy Potter said:

I would have gone and sat under the sprinkler anyway, lol. The temp has dropped and we put all the chooks back out. Tomorrow is going to be hotter still.

I’m busy sprinkling for the next heat wave…I’ll probably need the airconditioner in the study for the dawg, but it helps that the fan for that blows across the damp ground under the cherry guava (and shade of the house) so the earth is cooled by evaporation, if you get my drift…

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

I now live in a barn with the animals. Chooks on the point of collapse -

I’ve been thinking about the poor animals in that heat, all day…have you put dampened newspapers under the chookens, they like to kind of bare their breasts against the cool moisture…? I do hope they all survive…

I deep watered shady areas for them. They soon find them and dig holes in the cool dirt to rest in.

Good morning Gardeners. It’s 22C at the moment, but as there is no cloud to burn off this morning, the temperature will soar quite quickly. I’m pleased to see most of the firey stuff in Victoria has been controlled overnight. Now we just wait for this afternoon’s lot…

Morning. It’s 33.9C.
Chook indoors camp set up has fresh food and water bowls. I’ve brought in the bubs and broodies already. The rest soon to follow. It’s getting too hot for me to keep going out.

Sprinkler set up on the lawn ready to turn on the lever tap. I have big slugs drowning themselves in the yabby pond, by the dozen. Pics later.

Also took some pics of the mountain pawpaws. I’ve fluked it for one male and two female trees. Yay. The male tree looks completely different. All my searching on how to ID what I bought only emphasized the different flowers, not the tree itself. I find that odd. The female trees leaves are umbrella like, the male leaf pretty much flat. The fruit is plentiful but still tiny.

Eek, brown snake spotted just down the road. Wot, has the river dried up?

I had the front sprinkler on until midnight, for the plants as well as frogs and all manner of other creepy crawlies out there. I figure if it comes to my place and I give it water it will stay out there, not come into the backyard.

In theory……..

Snake catchers number found.

The ants ate one of my pawpaws…they got in through the blossom end and in a matter of 3 days, ate it around in circles, kind of like those open-cut mines look…but I rescued the third pawpaw for P, who likes them…

I didn’t realise that pawpaws had different leaves according to male/female? I think MrsB’s tree might be male, then…these pawpaws have been here for two years now, I thought they were annuals?

Happy Potter said:

Eek, brown snake spotted just down the road. Wot, has the river dried up?

I had the front sprinkler on until midnight, for the plants as well as frogs and all manner of other creepy crawlies out there. I figure if it comes to my place and I give it water it will stay out there, not come into the backyard.

In theory……..

Snake catchers number found.

Oh you will have a busy front yard! How’s Max handling all this?

Mr buffy tells me it’s just on 37 degrees at the back door. So I won’t be going outside too much today. The fire bombers/tractors etc seem to be all in the air and some over this way. I don’t like the stuff in the Grampians, Victoria Valley is not under control and the wind over there is coming from the North and at Mt William gusting to 56km/hr. We have prepared.

http://incidentalert.com.au/iav4/vemapv2.asp

Oh, the back door is in the shade…

buffy said:

Oh, the back door is in the shade…

Yep, and my thermometer is hanging in the coolest spot under the house, as this is the closest match to the records at the local aerodrome weather station..

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

Eek, brown snake spotted just down the road. Wot, has the river dried up?

I had the front sprinkler on until midnight, for the plants as well as frogs and all manner of other creepy crawlies out there. I figure if it comes to my place and I give it water it will stay out there, not come into the backyard.

In theory……..

Snake catchers number found.

Oh you will have a busy front yard! How’s Max handling all this?

Max is fine. He doesn’t stay outside long. Vet appt for 8 am in the morning. His ongoing ear treatment seems to have stopped working and he has black tar like gunk coming out of it. When it gets to that point I administer pain relief.
I missed an appt yesty because it was too hot to get him in the car.

Herronswood at Dromana burnt down! I just saw the photos. That is so sad.

It was just the cafe HP, not the house. It had a thatched roof, and embers and all that.

I just put the thermometer in the sun for a few minutes. Topped out at 50C. It’s 38 in the shade here now.

Happy Potter said:

Morning. It’s 33.9C.
Chook indoors camp set up has fresh food and water bowls. I’ve brought in the bubs and broodies already. The rest soon to follow. It’s getting too hot for me to keep going out.

Helps keep the house cooler if you are not constantly going in and out too.

Happy Potter said:

Herronswood at Dromana burnt down! I just saw the photos. That is so sad.

just the Cafe I believe. The main house which is heritage listed is OK. shame about the cafe (with offices above) though as they put a lot of work into the mudbrick and thatched rooved building. Even though the thatch was treated to make it fire resistant and was kept wet it still caught fire.

buffy said:

It was just the cafe HP, not the house. It had a thatched roof, and embers and all that.

I just put the thermometer in the sun for a few minutes. Topped out at 50C. It’s 38 in the shade here now.

Yes I read that afterwards. 55C under my patio.

KK and her bf get back from Thailand later today. I think they’re in for a shock.

Dinetta said:

buffy said:

Oh, the back door is in the shade…

Yep, and my thermometer is hanging in the coolest spot under the house, as this is the closest match to the records at the local aerodrome weather station..

similar.. 39.9°C

ticked over at 00:1300 .. 40.1°C

no snakes or bombers or bushfires here yet.
the fire fighting trucks, bulldozers on trailers and utes are cruising up and down this road tho.’

are the snake catchers there yet HP?

pepe said:

no snakes or bombers or bushfires here yet.
the fire fighting trucks, bulldozers on trailers and utes are cruising up and down this road tho.’

are the snake catchers there yet HP?

The snake is long gone.

pepe said:

no snakes or bombers or bushfires here yet.
the fire fighting trucks, bulldozers on trailers and utes are cruising up and down this road tho.’

are the snake catchers there yet HP?

Do you think I was going out there to see if it was still around ?? Ha. The heat’s affecting you eh.

I forgot about the sprinkler on out the front though and have created a little billabong for the wildlife. If I happen to see a hippo I will let the zoo know.

G’day Pepe, good to see you pop in. Even got your old login back :)

Uh-oh…Wartook is in trouble. There aren’t many houses at Wartook…..and there is a lake.

http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/warnings-and-advice/index.html?inUrl=websites_detail_2435851.html

Hmm, and it looks like the lightning monster has moved its attentions to the Otways this evening:

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/radar/vic

Good morning Gardeners. Smoky and 35C here now. The Grampians National Park was closed yesterday afternoon. The Northern part of the Grampians is afired. Halls Gap is on “go now!” warning. A couple of places further North have just gone “Too late…stay and look after yourself” warning.

It’s not pleasant. Just spoke to one of our neighbours, who wished us luck for the day. I’m alert. He is hyperalert. Hopefully that’s all we need and nothing happens.

buffy said:

Good morning Gardeners. Smoky and 35C here now. The Grampians National Park was closed yesterday afternoon. The Northern part of the Grampians is afired. Halls Gap is on “go now!” warning. A couple of places further North have just gone “Too late…stay and look after yourself” warning.

It’s not pleasant. Just spoke to one of our neighbours, who wished us luck for the day. I’m alert. He is hyperalert. Hopefully that’s all we need and nothing happens.

Stay safe buffy.

buffy said:

It’s not pleasant. Just spoke to one of our neighbours, who wished us luck for the day. I’m alert. He is hyperalert. Hopefully that’s all we need and nothing happens.

Hopefully…

Happy Potter said:

pepe said:

no snakes or bombers or bushfires here yet.
the fire fighting trucks, bulldozers on trailers and utes are cruising up and down this road tho.’
are the snake catchers there yet HP?

Do you think I was going out there to see if it was still around ?? Ha. The heat’s affecting you eh.
I forgot about the sprinkler on out the front though and have created a little billabong for the wildlife. If I happen to see a hippo I will let the zoo know.
G’day Pepe, good to see you pop in. Even got your old login back :)

g’day HP
I thought you might start a snake farm. not really. just interested in those urban snake catchers.
we had some come and gather a little snake we caught in a live mouse trap here a few years ago.
in the bush there are no such services and for 30 years we disposed of snakes as we saw fit.

we do keep two ponds full of water here and the birds do luv that service. it also keeps the bees away from the pool.

buffy said:

Good morning Gardeners. Smoky and 35C here now. The Grampians National Park was closed yesterday afternoon. The Northern part of the Grampians is afired. Halls Gap is on “go now!” warning. A couple of places further North have just gone “Too late…stay and look after yourself” warning.

It’s not pleasant. Just spoke to one of our neighbours, who wished us luck for the day. I’m alert. He is hyperalert. Hopefully that’s all we need and nothing happens.

good morning might be an exaggeration buffy. we see the reports here too – and the gramps are the worst situation so far. stay cool and fingers crossed.

The Grampians just got worse….Halls Gap evacuate….

http://www.emergency.vic.gov.au/#now

The wind change is good for us. Going around from the North to the West now.

Watch out to the East of the Grampians…..

buffy said:

The Grampians just got worse….Halls Gap evacuate….

Just watched that Catalyst show on iView, the one about coping with natural disasters…simulation was egg-sellent…

The Grampians have appeared out of the smoke again. So the wind from the South is pushing the smoke North. This should be a Good Thing. Looking at the map of the Northern Grampians complex fire, this should push the fire back on itself.

buffy said:

The Grampians have appeared out of the smoke again. So the wind from the South is pushing the smoke North. This should be a Good Thing. Looking at the map of the Northern Grampians complex fire, this should push the fire back on itself.

And then hopefully there will be no fire…

buffy said:

The Grampians have appeared out of the smoke again. So the wind from the South is pushing the smoke North. This should be a Good Thing. Looking at the map of the Northern Grampians complex fire, this should push the fire back on itself.

hope this means that they can get on top of it, although changes can bring other problems.

the trouble with having the radio on for fire updates, is that you have to listen to the boring cricket commentary in between.

bluegreen said:

hope this means that they can get on top of it, although changes can bring other problems.

Apparently 12 of the 68 fires burning in Victoria were deliberately lit…geez…

bluegreen said:

the trouble with having the radio on for fire updates, is that you have to listen to the boring cricket commentary in between.

Oh, One Day Internationals (ODIs?). Boooooring….

Have I said anywhere, I thought Manu had a problem “evacuating her bowel” and sent the 2 dogs home…Manu’s owner (Ragamuffin) took her for a walk and here is a transcript of the text message:

“So we took Manu for a walk, she tried to sh!t 3 times, to no avail. AND THEN IT HAPPENED! She did a poo! It was literally a log of chook food. A solid log of chook food. You wouldn’t read about it. Except you just did. “ etc etc… Some grapeseed oil has been added to her food, hopefully to lubricate the elimination of any more grains lurking in Manu’s alimentary tract…

The thought occurred to me, do grains kind of ferment and swell if left too long in dog’s guts?

I never saw her eat any grains, would you believe. LIke Shakespeare said, All’s well that ends well…

Dinetta said:

Have I said anywhere, I thought Manu had a problem “evacuating her bowel” and sent the 2 dogs home…Manu’s owner (Ragamuffin) took her for a walk and here is a transcript of the text message:

“So we took Manu for a walk, she tried to sh!t 3 times, to no avail. AND THEN IT HAPPENED! She did a poo! It was literally a log of chook food. A solid log of chook food. You wouldn’t read about it. Except you just did. “ etc etc… Some grapeseed oil has been added to her food, hopefully to lubricate the elimination of any more grains lurking in Manu’s alimentary tract…

The thought occurred to me, do grains kind of ferment and swell if left too long in dog’s guts?

I never saw her eat any grains, would you believe. LIke Shakespeare said, All’s well that ends well…

glad she finally passed it! Grains will swell with moisture so could have been a serious problem if she was not able to go.

Remember this a couple of days ago when the Grampians started to burn:

Well, I just went up Mt Rouse for a photo….windy, the change is just coming through and I had some trouble holding the camera still. Anyway Halls Gap is under ember attack right now and this is what it looks like from 60km away:

And the smoke is making the sun interesting. I thought I had the horizon level for this but apparently not…..

bluegreen said:

glad she finally passed it! Grains will swell with moisture so could have been a serious problem if she was not able to go.

She woke me at 3 am to “go”, but nothing was happening…later that day (during daylight hours) I tried the local vet but they were both out on a property, so I suggested that the dogs go back “home” as there is 3 vets there, and get Manu checked out. Ragamuffin thought a walk might serve as a constitutional and she was right…thankfully!

Otherwise it was going to be $$$$$

Good morning Gardeners. We have a beautiful 15 degrees and the humidity is up a bit. I still need to water the veggies though. I’ve been for a bike ride and a dog walk.

Morning guys. Thought I would drop in and see if everyone is going okay in this heat and also the dreadful fires.

Had a rotten week here and been busy keeping the animals safe and the Elf as ell.

Lucky1 said:

Morning guys. Thought I would drop in and see if everyone is going okay in this heat and also the dreadful fires.

Had a rotten week here and been busy keeping the animals safe and the Elf as ell.

Everyone over there—< thinks I’m loonytunes. ;)

roughbarked said:

Lucky1 said:

Morning guys. Thought I would drop in and see if everyone is going okay in this heat and also the dreadful fires.

Had a rotten week here and been busy keeping the animals safe and the Elf as ell.

Everyone over there—< thinks I’m loonytunes. ;)

Otherwise, Hi Lucky1. :)

roughbarked said:

Lucky1 said:

Morning guys. Thought I would drop in and see if everyone is going okay in this heat and also the dreadful fires.

Had a rotten week here and been busy keeping the animals safe and the Elf as ell.

Everyone over there—< thinks I’m loonytunes. ;)

LOL good to know.

Lucky1 said:

roughbarked said:

Lucky1 said:

Morning guys. Thought I would drop in and see if everyone is going okay in this heat and also the dreadful fires.

Had a rotten week here and been busy keeping the animals safe and the Elf as ell.

Everyone over there—< thinks I’m loonytunes. ;)

LOL good to know.

forewarned is to be forearmed.. ;)

Hi RB how is it your end of the gardening hose??? No garden here still. Saving for my first raised bed area. Then I can go back to gardening. But not on such a big level.

Lucky1 said:

Hi RB how is it your end of the gardening hose???

crisped by the succession of 42+ days.

Lucky1 said:

Morning guys. Thought I would drop in and see if everyone is going okay in this heat and also the dreadful fires.

Had a rotten week here and been busy keeping the animals safe and the Elf as ell.

hi lucky – hi to elf as well.
damn hot weather – it has finally stopped – only in the 30’s now – ha.

roughbarked said:

Lucky1 said:

Morning guys. Thought I would drop in and see if everyone is going okay in this heat and also the dreadful fires.

Had a rotten week here and been busy keeping the animals safe and the Elf as ell.

Everyone over there—< thinks I’m loonytunes. ;)

you’re my guru!
I got some red flowering broad bean seed. about twenty I guess.
the beans were a bit tastier I thought – altho s.w.m.b.o. said they were the same as normal beans.

pepe said:

Lucky1 said:

Morning guys. Thought I would drop in and see if everyone is going okay in this heat and also the dreadful fires.

Had a rotten week here and been busy keeping the animals safe and the Elf as ell.

hi lucky – hi to elf as well.
damn hot weather – it has finally stopped – only in the 30’s now – ha.

Hi ya Pepe…could be cooler in my books…lol

Anybody else watching the Filthy Cities show on ABC? They did London last week and it was an eye-opener! (Not-so) Gay Paree this week…

pepe said:

roughbarked said:

Everyone over there—< thinks I’m loonytunes. ;)

you’re my guru!

Mine also…

Heya Lucky1, good to see you but sorry to hear about your two hens. And to see the heatwave pass, it was cruel. I have one leghorn that has burnt comb points. Betadine on. I thought it was dirt.

Happy Potter said:

I have one leghorn that has burnt comb points. Betadine on. I thought it was dirt.

Ouch

Happy Potter said:

Heya Lucky1, good to see you but sorry to hear about your two hens. And to see the heatwave pass, it was cruel. I have one leghorn that has burnt comb points. Betadine on. I thought it was dirt.

HI PH. Wow poor chookie. Good thing Dr, Quin is in the house. :)

Yes much cooler here in Luckyland. That heat was just so cruel. No I need to find my zapped energy to kick start myself.

Lucky1 said:

Happy Potter said:

Heya Lucky1, good to see you but sorry to hear about your two hens. And to see the heatwave pass, it was cruel. I have one leghorn that has burnt comb points. Betadine on. I thought it was dirt.

HI PH. Wow poor chookie. Good thing Dr, Quin is in the house. :)

Yes much cooler here in Luckyland. That heat was just so cruel. No I need to find my zapped energy to kick start myself.

It took me a couple of days to sleep properly, after the worst of the heat was over…

Hello Gardeners. I’ve put a pile of euc through the chipper this morning. And sundry other bits and pieces. And mowed the section around the veggie garden where I have been watering and it’s stayed green. I might read an nap this afternoon. It is 19 degrees here at the moment and I’m loving it, but pushing the mower I was sweating, despite being mostly in the shade.

Burnt the shortbread again…b&gg&r…I keep forgetting how hot the oven really is…have to turn it to 40C less than the recommended temp…it’s fanforced but 20C under is still too hot…

sorry it’s been so long, not really into the whole foruming thing these days…
anyways… can someone pretty please id some insectie things and plants/fungi for me…
pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157636057312295/
and http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157629648282913/

fresnel_chick said:

sorry it’s been so long, not really into the whole foruming thing these days…
anyways… can someone pretty please id some insectie things and plants/fungi for me…
pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157636057312295/
and http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157629648282913/

Good to see you f_c but if you could point to specific ones you’d like ID on it may help as Flickr these days as a bandwidth nightmare.

roughbarked said:

fresnel_chick said:

sorry it’s been so long, not really into the whole foruming thing these days…
anyways… can someone pretty please id some insectie things and plants/fungi for me…
pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157636057312295/
and http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157629648282913/

Good to see you f_c but if you could point to specific ones you’d like ID on it may help as Flickr these days as a bandwidth nightmare.

sorry!
i can’t really get flickr going myself lately. our internet’s been playing up a lot.
luckily i had those pages bookmarked.

Morning green ones. I’m trying to catch up, again. I have a late note, I’ve been crook, but I’m all better now.

All’s quiet on the GS front. Other kiddlywinks too. Garden as well. Although there’s a bloody black fly plague. They are on everything inside and outside. I guess the heat affected them and there was a mating/dying/survival frenzy. Places have run out of sprays and fly papers!
I’m picking limes and there’s flies all over fruit and leaves.

I’m off shortly with Critter (son in law) yabbying at a place with 3 dams not far out of town. Should be fun :) The bored young man is filling his days looking after his little girl and doing some carpentry, and fishing.
He can walk now, his leg is healing but he has a marked limp. He asked me if I’d like him to build me some beehive boxes and supers.. I nearly ran at him with ‘hell yeah! ..um, yes please. LOL

Happy Potter said:

Morning green ones. I’m trying to catch up, again. I have a late note, I’ve been crook, but I’m all better now.

All’s quiet on the GS front. Other kiddlywinks too. Garden as well. Although there’s a bloody black fly plague. They are on everything inside and outside. I guess the heat affected them and there was a mating/dying/survival frenzy. Places have run out of sprays and fly papers!
I’m picking limes and there’s flies all over fruit and leaves.

I’m off shortly with Critter (son in law) yabbying at a place with 3 dams not far out of town. Should be fun :) The bored young man is filling his days looking after his little girl and doing some carpentry, and fishing.
He can walk now, his leg is healing but he has a marked limp. He asked me if I’d like him to build me some beehive boxes and supers.. I nearly ran at him with ‘hell yeah! ..um, yes please. LOL

glad to hear you are well again. Sounds like you could benefit greatly from Critter’s convalescence! I’m sure you could find plenty of things for him to do to stop him from becoming too bored :P

When I was just a little tacker my dad had a serious accident that smashed his ankle and put him out of action for many months and light duties for years. I think mum must have gotten bored with his moaning and set him the task of building a canoe. It kept dad in the garage and out of mum’s hair and his mind off the pain for many months. The canoe which was in the Canadian style was made of timber strips and was no mean feat. It is still in the care of my sister but I don’t know if she uses it as it is very heavy, especially when there are so many alternative light materials these days.

‘glad to hear you are well again. Sounds like you could benefit greatly from Critter’s convalescence! I’m sure you could find plenty of things for him to do to stop him from becoming too bored :P’

—————————————
Thankyou. I need a nice spud box too!
Oh and a couple A frame mumchook and chick coops, but larger and stronger than those crappy little pet shop ones. Got the boy onto it! :D

started a Flickr page, uploaded a few recently http://www.flickr.com/photos/swashzones/

some from my pots and some from other gardens. looking at the rendition etc. and so forth of various lenses.

new modem, so hopefully won’t be having any more internet issues…
haven’t tried flickr out yet, though.

on a completely unrelated note, has anyone got any suggestions for wedding/reception songs?

fresnel_chick said:

sorry it’s been so long, not really into the whole foruming thing these days…
anyways… can someone pretty please id some insectie things and plants/fungi for me…
pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157636057312295/
and http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157629648282913/

from http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/sets/72157636057312295/
some kind of native grass: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/9440290955/in/set-72157636057312295
fuzzy leaved weedy thing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/9423789272/in/set-72157636057312295
pretty sure this is some kind of wasp: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/9421055769/in/set-72157636057312295
earth star: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/11025886163/in/set-72157636057312295
different angle of same earth star: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/11025684825/in/set-72157636057312295
some kind of plate fungus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/11025865093/in/set-72157636057312295
underside of same fungus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/11025641245/in/set-72157636057312295
skink: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/10342203766/in/set-72157636057312295
lichen:http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/11025815693/in/set-72157636057312295
another earth star: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fresnel_chick/11025664025/in/set-72157636057312295

fresnel_chick said:

on a completely unrelated note, has anyone got any suggestions for wedding/reception songs?

“Oh you dolls, you great big beautiful dolls” for the bridesmaids…

Dinetta said:

fresnel_chick said:

on a completely unrelated note, has anyone got any suggestions for wedding/reception songs?

“Oh you dolls, you great big beautiful dolls” for the bridesmaids…

chuckle
I’d forgotten that one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXLrZKefxZo

fresnel_chick said:

Dinetta said:

fresnel_chick said:

on a completely unrelated note, has anyone got any suggestions for wedding/reception songs?

“Oh you dolls, you great big beautiful dolls” for the bridesmaids…

chuckle
I’d forgotten that one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXLrZKefxZo

I’ve still got our place cards somewhere, not sure where but it will be safe…after 31 years…today, according to one of our daughters…

Dinetta said:

fresnel_chick said:

Dinetta said:

“Oh you dolls, you great big beautiful dolls” for the bridesmaids…

chuckle
I’d forgotten that one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXLrZKefxZo

I’ve still got our place cards somewhere, not sure where but it will be safe…after 31 years…today, according to one of our daughters…

In Nov/2015, we will have survived 40 years of each other. That’s if we make it to there.

roughbarked said:

In Nov/2015, we will have survived 40 years of each other. That’s if we make it to there.

Yes, you never know what’s around the corner or further up the road…

On an entirely non-gardening note, the cat came back!!!

P was up last night, drinking a cup of tea, and Nefertiti jumped up on the table!!

Shadow eventually came out, checked Nefertiti’s backside (a process of identification, one presumes? Oh it’s you, is it really you? Hang on whilst I just make sure…) and P caught the moment on camera…sent it to my phone as “Friends meet”…he also fed her, gave her milk and petted her…

I’m so happy, it’s been a worry what with people filling rodents with ratsak or whatever, she’s been missing since Boxing Day and the weather’s been so hot…

Dinetta said:

On an entirely non-gardening note, the cat came back!!!

P was up last night, drinking a cup of tea, and Nefertiti jumped up on the table!!

Shadow eventually came out, checked Nefertiti’s backside (a process of identification, one presumes? Oh it’s you, is it really you? Hang on whilst I just make sure…) and P caught the moment on camera…sent it to my phone as “Friends meet”…he also fed her, gave her milk and petted her…

I’m so happy, it’s been a worry what with people filling rodents with ratsak or whatever, she’s been missing since Boxing Day and the weather’s been so hot…

good news! if only she could tell you of her adventures!

bluegreen said:

good news! if only she could tell you of her adventures!

If only!

One of the roses that I transplanted just before Christmas, has rewarded me with a small but perfectly formed bloom…it’s coping very well with the heat and drying winds…I did nip quite a few buds before, they were so scrawny and I wanted the bush to concentrate on establishing itself…but this bud was in the right place and looked good sized and healthy…was hoping the other rose bush (not transplanted) would put forth some blossoms but it’s having a power nap…

no one around, I’m sure everyone is watching the tennis, go Fed :)

Good morning Gardeners. Nice and cool and only going into the twenties here today. I’ve been for a bike ride, interrupted in the middle by a stop for bacon and eggs and coffee. Now I have to put in some more stakes and tie up the tardy tomatoes. Growing them from seed at Nature’s pace means I am resigned to them being Autumn fruit. But boy are they good Autumn fruit…

:)

Morning. I’m not on as much, still smarting over KK’s trip to Thailand. Sad animal stories emerging. Like the zoo they visited, a wild full grown tiger tightly chained in a crouched position so people can pat it and have their photo taken with it. She didn’t see the chains apart from the one, then realized it cannot move an inch, she cried. And the orangutan that copies your every move, but when it put it’s hand momentarily on Lee Lees’ knee, the trainer raised his hand as if to hit it and the animal flinched. Mankind makes me sick. There’s nothing kind about them.

Coolish now, good weather to get garden stuff’s done. I’ve cleared the saffron bed and now watering it daily to get it moist deep down, then next lucerne mulch on it and keep it moist. I should get a few grams of the red threads this year.

Happy Potter said:

Morning. I’m not on as much, still smarting over KK’s trip to Thailand. Sad animal stories emerging. Like the zoo they visited, a wild full grown tiger tightly chained in a crouched position so people can pat it and have their photo taken with it. She didn’t see the chains apart from the one, then realized it cannot move an inch, she cried. And the orangutan that copies your every move, but when it put it’s hand momentarily on Lee Lees’ knee, the trainer raised his hand as if to hit it and the animal flinched. Mankind makes me sick. There’s nothing kind about them.

That is so sad :(

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

Morning. I’m not on as much, still smarting over KK’s trip to Thailand. Sad animal stories emerging. Like the zoo they visited, a wild full grown tiger tightly chained in a crouched position so people can pat it and have their photo taken with it. She didn’t see the chains apart from the one, then realized it cannot move an inch, she cried. And the orangutan that copies your every move, but when it put it’s hand momentarily on Lee Lees’ knee, the trainer raised his hand as if to hit it and the animal flinched. Mankind makes me sick. There’s nothing kind about them.

That is so sad :(

Agree…

Dinetta said:

On an entirely non-gardening note, the cat came back!!!

P was up last night, drinking a cup of tea, and Nefertiti jumped up on the table!!

Shadow eventually came out, checked Nefertiti’s backside (a process of identification, one presumes? Oh it’s you, is it really you? Hang on whilst I just make sure…) and P caught the moment on camera…sent it to my phone as “Friends meet”…he also fed her, gave her milk and petted her…

I’m so happy, it’s been a worry what with people filling rodents with ratsak or whatever, she’s been missing since Boxing Day and the weather’s been so hot…

Oh my gosh! I wonder how many of her 9 lives she used up getting back to you. :/

fresnel_chick said:

Dinetta said:

On an entirely non-gardening note, the cat came back!!!

Oh my gosh! I wonder how many of her 9 lives she used up getting back to you. :/

LOL! I’m quite sure she used up a few before she claimed me, Oct 2012…

I have just had the in-laws to visit…P’s sister has earring aides as well..Just one at the moment but, like me, she is going to choose a colour for her next one, that will match her glasses…P’s mother is a little bit deaf as well, the conversations got a bit confusing at times…Washed the coffee pot early this morning, it was still a bit dark I guess, but when I went to put it on the table after filling with coffee (had warmed it previously with boiling water)…geez a mud-wasp nest in the spout!! Embarrassment!

It rained during the night (hooray!) and the clods are hanging around…the monsoon trough at the Top End has moved back west, to where it should be, so here’s hoping… I was looking at the 4-day map forecast and was wondering if that’s a TC forming in the Coral Sea (or where I think the Coral Sea might be)???

Flick, the dog next door, has gone…I’m not sure if she died or has gone out to the son’s cattle station…don’t really like to ask…she was a good 12 – 14 years old…

Hello Gardeners.

Here is my contribution to your general amusement…..

First they filled up my paddling pond with water, then they put a jelly frog in the middle of it:

It takes a bit of getting out:

And I don’t appreciate Digby laughing at me blowing bubbles….

I got it, though:

Even if I had to put my whole head in and get half drowned and spend the next 10 minutes snuffling the water out of my nose….

good fun water play there :D

buffy said:

Hello Gardeners.

Here is my contribution to your general amusement…..

First they filled up my paddling pond with water, then they put a jelly frog in the middle of it:
…
…

Crool! …but funny!

Good morning. Nineteen degrees at the moment, going for 41C, low humidity and North winds. Yuk. I’m going to work. And staying in the aircon.

Love the swimming ‘Long’ dog pics, the news of a new baby RB, and pics of your new granddaughter BG :D

It’s been hell on earth with GS. Emergencies all over the place. He was off his meds and off his head. I got his script and went to the chemist to fill it and the fellow said sorry I’m out of one of them, can get it by 9 am tomorrow. Argh. I asked him did he have any ‘spares’, that’s the main therapeutic medication and this is urgent. He said he will have a look and came back with two tablets unopened in the blister pack. Cool. GS takes one a day of that particular tablet. Got home, shoved it down his throat and within an hour he was being his normal self again.

Thank goodness he had some spares. These are pills someone hadn’t used and returned to the chemist. It’s a good thing to do, in case someone like GS needs them.

Yes. The news of the new baby was one thing that helped keep me sane all weekend.

See here

Happy Potter said:

It’s been hell on earth with GS. Emergencies all over the place. He was off his meds and off his head. I got his script and went to the chemist to fill it and the fellow said sorry I’m out of one of them, can get it by 9 am tomorrow. Argh. I asked him did he have any ‘spares’, that’s the main therapeutic medication and this is urgent. He said he will have a look and came back with two tablets unopened in the blister pack. Cool. GS takes one a day of that particular tablet. Got home, shoved it down his throat and within an hour he was being his normal self again.

Thank goodness he had some spares. These are pills someone hadn’t used and returned to the chemist. It’s a good thing to do, in case someone like GS needs them.

Thank goodness it’s all worked out…interesting about returning unused medications to the pharmacist…it makes sense but you don’t hear about it…

Happy Potter said:

Love the swimming ‘Long’ dog pics, the news of a new baby RB, and pics of your new granddaughter BG :D

It’s been hell on earth with GS. Emergencies all over the place. He was off his meds and off his head. I got his script and went to the chemist to fill it and the fellow said sorry I’m out of one of them, can get it by 9 am tomorrow. Argh. I asked him did he have any ‘spares’, that’s the main therapeutic medication and this is urgent. He said he will have a look and came back with two tablets unopened in the blister pack. Cool. GS takes one a day of that particular tablet. Got home, shoved it down his throat and within an hour he was being his normal self again.

Thank goodness he had some spares. These are pills someone hadn’t used and returned to the chemist. It’s a good thing to do, in case someone like GS needs them.

I remember chasing around chemists for some meds at the last minute because everyone was out (supply problem.) I get my replacements with time to spare these days. Glad there was a happy ending at the end of the day.

roughbarked said:

Yes. The news of the new baby was one thing that helped keep me sane all weekend.

See here

I was thinking of you….ever so pleased you managed to ID him and hopefully things will go your way and a fingerprint discovered…amazing to think a fingerprint would survive a fire…

roughbarked said:

Yes. The news of the new baby was one thing that helped keep me sane all weekend.

See here

a good read. some good friends there :)

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

It’s been hell on earth with GS. Emergencies all over the place. He was off his meds and off his head. I got his script and went to the chemist to fill it and the fellow said sorry I’m out of one of them, can get it by 9 am tomorrow. Argh. I asked him did he have any ‘spares’, that’s the main therapeutic medication and this is urgent. He said he will have a look and came back with two tablets unopened in the blister pack. Cool. GS takes one a day of that particular tablet. Got home, shoved it down his throat and within an hour he was being his normal self again.

Thank goodness he had some spares. These are pills someone hadn’t used and returned to the chemist. It’s a good thing to do, in case someone like GS needs them.

Thank goodness it’s all worked out…interesting about returning unused medications to the pharmacist…it makes sense but you don’t hear about it…

I thought they disposed of them but nice to know they keep them for emergencies.

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Yes. The news of the new baby was one thing that helped keep me sane all weekend.

See here

I was thinking of you….ever so pleased you managed to ID him and hopefully things will go your way and a fingerprint discovered…amazing to think a fingerprint would survive a fire…

I had to talk the police into believing that there was one place that could have his prints. They told me it was too badly burned. However, he opened the door to get out of the car and tossed something burning onto the seats to start the fire. The top of the door window frame survived the fire enough to possibly lift prints off.

Um.. that photo is crap.. Wonder what happened there? Anyway I’m trying another photo… It is true that the window frame corner section is the only part of the car that still has the original paint unburned.

roughbarked said:

I had to talk the police into believing that there was one place that could have his prints. They told me it was too badly burned. However, he opened the door to get out of the car and tossed something burning onto the seats to start the fire. The top of the door window frame survived the fire enough to possibly lift prints off.

Oh I do hope so! Was it the village idiot?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

I had to talk the police into believing that there was one place that could have his prints. They told me it was too badly burned. However, he opened the door to get out of the car and tossed something burning onto the seats to start the fire. The top of the door window frame survived the fire enough to possibly lift prints off.

Oh I do hope so! Was it the village idiot?

Yes. He’s the one person nobody else in the village wants to share the village with.

They’ll all be happy if I get him locked up for grand larceny and arson.

Here’s a better pic.

roughbarked said:

Dinetta said:

Oh I do hope so! Was it the village idiot?

Yes. He’s the one person nobody else in the village wants to share the village with.

They’ll all be happy if I get him locked up for grand larceny and arson.

Here’s a better pic.

Mindless git (the theft / arsonist)…that door frame is worth dusting, if only for thoroughness…

roughbarked said:

Yes. The news of the new baby was one thing that helped keep me sane all weekend.

See here

Oh they burnt it, the rotten mongrels! :(

Good morning, Gardeners. I love 12 degrees and overcast. Going into the twenties only today. But warming up again after that.

buffy said:

Good morning, Gardeners. I love 12 degrees and overcast. Going into the twenties only today. But warming up again after that.

Good morning.

Chilli here also: 21C with a sou’ easterly straight off the South Pole…brrrr…south easterlies do not bring rain, not to us they don’t…

The Cyclone-in-the-making (It’s name will be Dillon, so they say), is too weak and too far north to be of benefit to us, apparently, but who knows, it may spr-e-a-d out and become a fantastic rain event…stranger things have happened…

Morning. Yes me too, love the nice cool day after the heat.

Now some time to catch up on stuff for me, after settling the big boy and seeing that all is ok with him. Drs appt first up for me re’ test results. Ageing sucks. More aches and pains. And heaven knows I’m active enough and my diet is, almost perfect, going on the food pyramid. I made lime curd and cordial, the latter being wonderful for a lime spider on a scorching day.

I give up with growing tomatoes. They look fabulous then as fruit starts turning red they all look crap and start dying.

Happy Potter said:

Morning. Yes me too, love the nice cool day after the heat.

Now some time to catch up on stuff for me, after settling the big boy and seeing that all is ok with him. Drs appt first up for me re’ test results. Ageing sucks. More aches and pains. And heaven knows I’m active enough and my diet is, almost perfect, going on the food pyramid. I made lime curd and cordial, the latter being wonderful for a lime spider on a scorching day.

I give up with growing tomatoes. They look fabulous then as fruit starts turning red they all look crap and start dying.

I was thinking the other day, I’d love to make lime cordial…

Do your tomatoes get plenty of fresh air?

>>They look fabulous then as fruit starts turning red they all look crap and start dying.<<

But the fruit is still pickable and useable. Think about it. They make the fruit to spread the seed to perpetuate the species. And as they are annuals, the plant must then die.

I have a patient arriving.

Happy Potter said:

I give up with growing tomatoes. They look fabulous then as fruit starts turning red they all look crap and start dying.

Sounds like one of the wilts.

Dinetta said:

Happy Potter said:

Morning. Yes me too, love the nice cool day after the heat.

Now some time to catch up on stuff for me, after settling the big boy and seeing that all is ok with him. Drs appt first up for me re’ test results. Ageing sucks. More aches and pains. And heaven knows I’m active enough and my diet is, almost perfect, going on the food pyramid. I made lime curd and cordial, the latter being wonderful for a lime spider on a scorching day.

I give up with growing tomatoes. They look fabulous then as fruit starts turning red they all look crap and start dying.

I was thinking the other day, I’d love to make lime cordial…

Do your tomatoes get plenty of fresh air?

Yes they do, and I removed all the lower leaf and small branches. I just don’t know what else I can do. Even when I grew them in large pots, the same problem happened.

Re the lime cordial, it’s not my usual delicious one. It’s ok, but not the same recipe. I seem to have lost it so I looked about for one similar. I remember I did share it in here last year, but trying to go back that far thread by thread would take weeks.

bluegreen said:

Happy Potter said:

I give up with growing tomatoes. They look fabulous then as fruit starts turning red they all look crap and start dying.

Sounds like one of the wilts.

Yes I would say wilt. Will take a pic later.

I’ll just bring the Chat up a bit higher too……

Good morning Gardeners. I’ve just picked one of these:

http://diggers.com.au/shop/product/S2541/ZUCCHINI%20COSTATA.aspx

because if I leave it to tomorrow it will not be a zucchini but a marrow! Ratatouille tonight for tea. With tinned tomatoes, unfortunately, my tomatoes are a good month away yet. And I pulled a couple of carrots from around the tomatoes and they certainly seem happy.

$5 at Vinnie’s Op Shop. I know a little boy who would enjoy this. A bit of a clean up, some training wheels and a brake and it’s good to go!

bluegreen said:

$5 at Vinnie’s Op Shop. I know a little boy who would enjoy this. A bit of a clean up, some training wheels and a brake and it’s good to go!

We gave our kidlets’ small bikes to the local Vinnies…hope they got recycled…beat taking them to the dump…

I have turned off all J1’s hoses that were dripping on her citrus trees…quite enough of a natural soak going on without good drinking water doubling up…

bluegreen said:

$5 at Vinnie’s Op Shop. I know a little boy who would enjoy this. A bit of a clean up, some training wheels and a brake and it’s good to go!

Awesome. Today Cooper and I were in a tent under the kitchen table. Bedspreads make good tents.

Lucky1 said:

bluegreen said:

$5 at Vinnie’s Op Shop. I know a little boy who would enjoy this. A bit of a clean up, some training wheels and a brake and it’s good to go!

Awesome. Today Cooper and I were in a tent under the kitchen table. Bedspreads make good tents.

I remember all those days… happy times…

Could be a gardening day today, overcast and showery…perfick for this time of year…

Good morning Gardeners. I have been cutting grass. If you water the veggie patch and do a few minutes of soaker hose for a green strip around the house (part of the fire plan)…..the grass grows! We had a wet fog this morning. Usually that is an Autumn thing, but now it’s burning off and it’s going for the thirties.

Went for a bike ride in the fog (fluoro vest on and back streets!) and ended up even foggier as my glasses gained a wet exterior. I have picked lettuce, so I’d better wash, spin and fridge that. Do a spot of tidying up in the kitchen. Maybe pull a few gentle weeds in the veggie patch in the shade. But I think a lot of today will be spent inside.

Hmm, I thought we might be a bit down on rainfall, but for the past 6 months we are pretty close to the mean. For Hamilton Airport there has been 326mm recorded. The long term mean for those 6 months is 332mm.

Morning, it’s gunna be a warm one. I’m going to pull the tomatoes out and plant something else. Maybe beetroots and leeks.
Then pending how hot it gets, we’re going to pull out the contents of my shed and throw/give away unwanted things and put some steel shed shelves in that I scored.

I also scored a couple old but solid wood cupboards that I am giving to Critter, son in law, to recycle into A frame broody coops.