Christmas episode 2

 

I was lucky enough to have capable people for guests for little did they know that they would have to cook the dinner, me being so ill. They younger brigade set the table while the older ones cooked. They had travelled from all over Australia to spend Christmas Day with us. They came from Darwin, Brisbane, Alice Springs, Canberra and Adelaide.

 

All seated and ready to hop into a good lunch, the table groaning with food.

 

But not before a check that every thing is OK by "Olive & Popeye"

 

Time to pop the bon-bons open (made from scratch by me) which I think were the "hit" of the day, with most people that is, you can't please everyone all of the time. Ha-ha

 

It seems like it was pretty good, not much left behind. Personally, I had only a bite of potato and a sniff of chicken. The day finished for me by being admitted to hospital with pnuemonia and a kidney infection that caused my heart beat to elevate to an alarming speed. I'm home again now, but not much better, at least the Pnuemonia has been laid to rest.

 

Tummies full and time for a rest, these two newlyweds find acomfy spot.

Our Christmas. episode One

 

Our Christmas started out badly, with me feeling very ill. Like a trooper I tried to "battle on" but it just became worse and it was evident that that I'd need some medical help. But me, being me, I refused to give in. The day started with having to help with the dressing, no...not the salad...my husband !! ha-ha

 

Some time ago I purchased an icecream churn and now seemed the perfect time to try it out. My DIL, Jen, helped me out by making the icecream and once we had all the parts in the right way it worked perfectly. I must say it was the smoothest and creamiest icecream that I've ever tasted ( believe me,, I've eaten lots of different icecreams in my lifetime) This pic shows the "old boy" offering advice.

 

Amy, one of my grandchildren had a doll when she was young and named it Doll-doll. now to cut a long story short, when she was 16 yo it was thrown out in the trash and (she says) it caused her emotional trauma. Well then it was found (born again) and sitting large as life in Target. For a joke her parents gave the born again version. Look at the face, see how delighted this now 23yo is to have found her baby again ..... Ha-ha

 

They also bought their 2 dogs on holiday all the way from Canberra, this one is named Scooter.

 

And here is his friend Millie.
That's it for now, story to be continued (maybe tomorrow)

Oh Christmas Tree !!

 

I felt the urge to resurrect my old "tree" this year, mostly because the dear family members will be spending the day with us. There are a couple that will be absent, it would have been great to have them all together once more, but sadly it can not be. The first picture was taken just after I finished erecting it (it took me 2 days) and the other just as dark set in. This is only an ornamental thing, no presents under our tree, this is a time to enjoy the company of our loved ones, not to engage in the "commercial hype" that the stores have turned Christmas into.

 

In the eye of the beholder.

Just take a look at these lovelies, all blooming beautifully in my garden

 

This one looks better in real life, such soft lavender and pink.

 

Then, last but not least this magnificent blue with a dash of lemon. Sounds a bit like a drink that you'd order on a hot thirsty day (lol)

 

Don't forget to click on each picture to get the true beauty of these blooms

Rats tail cacti

 

This delightful plant in my sun room has put on a gorgeous display this year. Like Jack's beanstalk, it has grown and grown but in the opposite direction, lol

I just went out and measured it and its about 6 foot long !!

A Perfect day in Paradise

Today..the weather is PERFECT. The sun is warm, the bees are buzzing and the seeds are popping their heads through the soil.

 

This is my favourite iris, I know I've posted this one before but I just love it !!

 

New to my garden is this purple Pacific Coast iris, isn't she lovely? Do you get the impression that my favourite colour is purple? Well just to trick you here is another the wonderful plants growing in my garden. (I wont bore you with my veggies, but they are doing well too [lol])

 

This is Echium "Tower of Jewels" 2 metres high. I couldn't put a stake in to support her because she is right on top of the water pipe supplying water to the house. I've done that before and it wasn't a happy household, so I tied her in the middle to the shrub behind.
And just to show that I meant it when I said the bees are buzzing, here is a close up of the flowers.

 

Don't you think its a beautiful sight?

Fountain is working by solar power !

The fountain has been placed ih the fish pond, the leak has been fixed, now all is "hunky-dory" in my opinion. What a clever fellow he is !! He has been saving an old solar panel that he salvaged from the dump many years ago because he knew that one day the pond water would need re-circulating.

 

All I want now is for the water lillies to grow and flower, it should look BEAUTIFUL.

 

The most important thing left for me is, get those darned weeds off the cliff face. Looks as if I'll have to get the ladder as some of them are just too high for me to reach.

 

Then there is this delightful bush (a native) planted last autumn that has come out in bloom, just to the right of the pond, so delicate and a lovely colour.

 

 

 

I like this plant so much that I decided to add a few more pics. (lol)