Devastation

I hate all the possums that live in the city.  Why can't they all move to the country and sit up in gum trees and leave us alone.

Apart from the evidence that one of the freeloaders who lives in my garden likes to sit on the swimming pool wall and piddle, the whole family must have been involved in the feast that involved eating all the leaves on my passion fruit vine and knocking over the pawpaw tree to get there.....

 You might find these photos rather unsettling - what used to be a veryrichwall covered with lush leafy passion vine (which not only looked nice but carried a promise of lovely fruit) has now been reduced to an industrial site with some sticks!!

 Look closely and you will see that one of my pawpaw trees is now lying horizontal (complete with green papayas on it).  the possum family have obviously used it as a vehicle to jump off the wall onto and then sit and eat the vine.

I do have some tomatoes which haven't been discovered by the possums - perhaps they don't eat them.  Unfortunately, these will ripen while I'm away.

The heavy pruning in the front garden was my fault, not the possums.  I am greatly relieved to see that things are now starting to sprout - the mulberry tree is even popping out some little fruit - it must have been just about to do so when Bill and I attacked it.

There is also a promise that the bridal tree will again grow up and shade my front verandah.

A new lease of life

Marina's chair was cowering in a corner covered with pretty pink rugs because nearly 30 years of use - three babies etc.etc. had taken it's toll.
I have enjoyed playing with it and giving it a new cover.

I brought up the old cover from Evans Head and picked it apart working out which order it had been made in and then cut out the pieces in RED!

 I didn't have the chair here while I was making the loose cover and so had to keep trying it on my Ikea chair - which of course it didn't fit!!

Then the chair arrived up here in the back of Bill's 4WD so it could have a final fitting

Not a perfect fit - it looks as though it would sit well in an English country estate!

AND it's about to be moved to the verandah again and covered with a sheet so that it can be collected and taken home again.  I hope Marina has many happy hours of reading in it!

goodbye london

Well - that's the end of the third London Olympics and I have enjoyed them, despite the fact that I haven't got Foxtel and had to make do with Channel 9.

Derrick was chosen to represent the volunteers and be thanked and receive flowers at the closing ceremony.  I got a couple of photos of him and then channel 9 decided they weren't of any interest and inserted 5 minutes of ads!!

A bit blurry, but there is he is on the centre stage!!!

I loved the concert - probably the best were:
-  Eric Idle looking on the bright side with skating nuns, bollywood dancers, Morris men, angels and bagpipes; and
John Lennon singing Imagine - with a previously unseen tape from 1971

It's sad that someone like this had to die unnecessarily but let's face it, he looked better at the 2012 olympics than The Who and Queen!!!!!   and I noticed that Elton John didn't even come?!

Darcy Bussel's dancing was amazing - Goodbye to the lovely flames

the week that was

last sunday I was invited to afternoon at Sue's place.  I expected a cuppa and a biscuit and a chance to meet her new granddaughter Audrey -  BUT this is what was turned on:

YUM!!!  no dinner necessary on Sunday night!!

On Monday I went to Sydney - was surprised to find ASIC in the Westfield building in the middle of Market Street - with all the designer shops!

I was too tired for bridge on Wednesday when I got home so I started covering an old chair for Marina:

I am using the Ikea chair as a template so I hope it fits that old chair at Evans Head

On Thursday Helen W came to stay.  She was up from Melbourne for work and it was nice to catch up with her after about 10 years or so!  She brought two bottles of this with her;

and I have to say it was  VERY NICE.  She told me it was $50 a bottle which is considerably more than I pay for wine - we managed to drink 11/2 b bottles of it but not a whisper of a hangover in the morning!!!

Kris is away as she had an operation on her thyroid.  I have therefore been cleaning.  This is the most useful cleaning thing I have had for a while

like a dustbuster on steroids - it just sits in the ironing board cupboard charging it's batteries and then sweeps up all the dirt!  For someone with a sore back, no bending!!

 I washed the floor and tightened up all the screws with my wonderful screw driver.

Then I did some chair covering while watching this fellow on the telly talking about his time in Korea:

Audrey is 2

Audrey has now been alive for two years and today she had a party at Laura and Andy's house.

I gave her a tea set

AND IT was a great success.

Aunty Lu made some cookie monster cakes which seemed to consist mainly of butter, sugar and coconut, all held together with copious quantities of BLUE food colouring

She wanted to share a finger full of blue icing with Lu.....

Laura made a barby fairy cake which Audry and her friend Harbi decorated..

 Just after this photo Barbies dress caught fire!

Happy birthday was sung and the cake cut.

London's finest moment

I didn't get up early enough to watch all of the opening ceremony for the olympic games.  However, I got there in time to see the lighting of the flame which was very spectacular.  All these gorgeous young athletes representing the athletes of UK - I hope you're impressed with the coke bottle tribute to the games - left over from lunch at Wagamama on Friday

I wasn't sure why each team that came into the arena was accompanied by a child carrying a bronze dish - until I saw them all on this wonderful stand - and all on fire.  Each one representing one of the 250 countries participating.

when they all raised up, it looked amazing.....

and the shots from underneath were mind blowing.

melbourne continued

The last couple of days I spent in Melbourne were very happy ones, even if I did have some trouble getting my children to post properly for photos!!!!!
.

At least I got this good one of Floss with her favourite things.....

But they did line up for this.....

 I loved catching up with Prue - no wonder a couple of extra kilos are hanging around..

 The day I was flying home, we went for a lovely walk around Studley Park - very much a blast from the past.....lots of good memories.

Thank goodness I'm not allergic to wattle as there was a very superior display of it down there by the river.

And, as they have been for the past umpty years, the boats were all lined up ready for people to take for a row.