Don't Hurry Back, Winter!!!!

Friday 31st August, 2012

Yaayyyyy Winter has finally come to an end!  The weather forecasters say that this has been our wettest winter for 7 years and our coldest for nearly 20 years.  We are supposed to be in for some nice temperatures over the next few days and then the rain will return mid next week. 

Geez if we have any more rain we will be wearing these.........

                                                    Source unknown

I know that in most parts of the world Spring doesn't begin until the solstices, but here in Australia I have always known  the seasons to start on the first day of each relative month.  

The winter solstice represents the shortest day of the year and the summer solstice represents the longest day of the year.   With more and more people coming from different parts of the world to live here, I think it's beginning to slowly change.  

I can't wait for the days to warm up and then stick around.  Surely this must be a sign that Spring is around the corner.........

Food! Glorious Food!

Monday 27th August, 2012

Late Friday afternoon I went and did some food shopping and met Tony.  We went and had coffee and decided to have Chinese for dinner.  But where would we get it from?  We don't like most of the Chinese restaurants around here.  Tony suggested we go to Murray Bridge.  I was up for it.

When we got there it was after 7.30pm and so we decided to eat in.  I think our eyes were too big for our bellies, as we ordered 3 meals to share plus a fried rice.  We got Sweet and Sour Pork, Honey Chicken and Braised King Prawns with Cashew Nits.  It was delicious.  They offered a take away container for what we couldn't eat, but all that was left was some of the Fried Rice and Honey Chicken.  Still it was enough for Tony's lunch the following day.

It was after 10.30pm when we got home and we both said that we'd do it again.  Better than any Chinese food offered down here. Well worth the trip! 

On Saturday afternoon I went and did another Scrapbooking class.  Robyn and Bob came around shortly after 5.00pm as we were going out for dinner with them.  They have been collecting the vouchers from the paper.....Split The Bill.  This time they thought they would try the Boatdeck Restaurant at Taperoo.

We had a very nice meal there, Tony and I had sizzling Porterhouse Steak with mashed potato and garlic mushrooms.  Robyn had fish and Bob had Rump Steak.  They also offered a salad bar and soup in the cost of the main meal. For dessert Robyn had Apple Crumble and Bob and I had Nut Sundaes.  Tony opted for a coffee.

On Sunday we decided to go to Harbor Town.  I wanted new mats for the kitchen and bathroom floors.  The weather was quite nice, cool, but at least we had some sunshine.  I didn't find any mats other than bath mats (which I didn't want).  Out of all the shops that are there, there is only one Rug place and they didn't have anything suitable. 

We called into Largs for an icecream.  While waiting I tried to capture the people feeding the seagulls.

Wet 'N' Wild

Thursday 23rd August, 2012

This morning we woke to pelting rain and 'hurricane' like wind.  I felt so sorry for Tony having to go to work in it. 

During the morning it sort of abated and we even had some sunshine.  This afternoon the weather bureau put out another alert for damaging winds and heavy rain with hail and maybe some thunder and lightning.  

Just before 3.00pm it struck again.  The wind was recorded at over 90kmh and it even scared me a bit.  The rain pelted down but because the wind was so strong it fell horizontally.  

There were lots of reports of fallen trees, power lines down, hail on the roads making driving hazardous and some snow fell on Mount Lofty and in the Hills.  A lot of people lost their power.

roof damaged on block of units at Largs Bay

One lady was injured when this tree came down on her car and up to 10 cars were damaged at Northpark Shopping Centre.  There are plenty of warnings given for people not to park under trees but I don't think anyone takes any notice.

We sometimes park by this tree whenever we go to Northpark, but there is no way I would park there when the weather was like it was today.  It is still windy, though not as strong, and we are still having lots of rain.  On the weather report it said that this has been our wettest Winter for 7 years.

Anyone  for surfing?

Thank goodness for our SES workers, they are out there in this goddam awful weather repairing roofs, clearing debris from cars and roads and anything else that needs doing.

Most people I have spoken to are fed up with this wet weather and are now ready for some warmer days.  I know, in a few months we'll be complaining that it's too hot!

                                                               Photos taken from Adelaide Now website

Another Weekend Bites The Dust

Monday 20th August, 2012

Another weekend has flown by.  On Thursday night I got a phone call from Katie wanting to come for the weekend.  The weekend weather wasn't sounding too promising but I told her we were sure we could find something to do.

We picked her up Friday night, did some food shopping and then went to Fasta Pasta for dinner.  Not long after we had got home I got a phone call from Tori.  She was going to a party not far from here and asked if I could pick her up from the bus stop and take her there.  The thing was, I had to meet her at Paradise, as she was already on the bus to there.

Katie and I ended up going to get her and two of her friends.  We dropped her off, came home and were soon in bed.  Around 11.30pm Tony came in with the phone, it was Tori, she was wondering if I could go back and pick her up and take her home.   Grrrrr I thought I was done with teenagers and running them around.  Anyway, she apologised for waking me and said she would find another way to get home.

Saturday morning Katie slept in.  She said she was still tired from her school camp. They went to Illawonga Camp near Swan Reach on the Murray River.   She had a great time at camp.  They went to a yabby farm and caught some yabbies.  They watched a video on how almonds are grown and harvested, canoed on the river, in her words, "did donuts in the speedboat", had bonfires and toasted marshmallows, went to the gym, explored a cave, archery, watching sheep shearing and just mucked around.

The gym at the camp

Tony had an appointment at the optometrist in the afternoon.  He has been complaining of his eyes being sore and so thought it was time for them to be checked.  It has been a few years since he last had them checked.  He also wanted a haircut.  After we had some lunch and while Tony was doing his thing Katie and I went off and did some shopping.  She wanted a wallet to take to Perth plus some hair accessories.

Katie has always been wanting to have false nails.  Just because a couple of her classmates have them done she thinks she should also be able to have hers done too.  I have explained to her that she is too young and she could damage her nail base if she has acrylic put on her nails.  While shopping we found these stick on nails.  They have a sticky backing and to remove them she just needs to soak her fingers in water.  She was ecstatic to be able to wear them.  They didn't need to be put in water, they came off easily after a few hours of them being on her nails.

After Tony was finished we took a quick trip out to Virginia Nursery to get some more potting mix and another pot.  No sooner were we back home and we had to go again, this time to meet Robyn and Bob at the Reepham Hotel for dinner.

On Sunday morning Tony and Katie cooked pancakes for breakfast.  We decided to go to the movies in the afternoon.  I wanted to see "The Sapphires", a movie about 4 aboriginal girls (sisters and cousins) that were chosen to go to Vietnam to entertain the US troops in the late 1960's.  Tony and I had seen the stage production a few years ago and really loved it.  I thought Katie might like the movie too because one of the stars was Jessica Mauboy, an Australian pop star.  

At first she didn't want to see it, she thought it would be boring.  We ended up going down to the Noarlunga Cinemas (near her place).  She was happy to go there and had great delight in showing us where they have the movie discos, where the swimming centre was and where she does her martial arts. 

As for the movie, she LOVED it!!!  "Oh Nanna." she said "That movie was so cool".  "Yeah," I said her to, "we had some pretty cool times back when I was a teenager.  Our music was pretty good too wasn't it?"  She looked at me, shook her head and said "Nah, not really." and laughed as she walked away.

She was also excited that we got to drop her off at her place and she could finally show us her bedroom.  It was the first time that we had been to her place.  Let's hope it's not the last!

Always Knew We Lived In One Of The Best Cities

Tuesday 14th August, 2012

Adelaide has been named as one of the best cities in which to live.  Melbourne (???) came in at Number 1 followed by Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto and then Adelaide tied with Calgary at 5th.  Sydney came in 7th place and Perth 9th.  

Us Adelaideians have always known that we live in the best city.  We have the best weather, easy to commute, affordable housing, great restaurants and cafes and some of the best wineries within an hours drive of the city.  Our beaches are pretty good too.

We are known as the Festival State and even our interstate counterparts have admitted that we put on the best festivals. To name a few, WOMadelaide, Fringe, Festival of Arts, Cabaret Festival, Guitar Festival, Tour Down Under and the Clipsal 500. 

We have to laugh at Melbourne being named Number 1.   While Melbourne is a great city to visit I wouldn't like to live there.  We often joke about them having four seasons in one day, so weather wise it's not as good as what we have.  The only good thing going for Melbourne is their tram system plus they are sports mad.  The river that flows through Melbourne, the Yarra, was said to flow upside down because it was so muddy.

They are also known to pinch successful events from other states.  They took the Grand Prix away from Adelaide but never ran it as good as what we did.  Now they are eyeing off the Tour down Under or so the rumours go.

Still to have 4 cities and a city (Auckland) in New Zealand named in the Top 10, this region must have something going for it.  Sssshhh don't let the rest of the world know!!!!

Adelaide city skyline

 Parklands

River Torrens

I Can Get Back To Normal

Monday 13th August, 2012

Finally my life can get back to some normality.  The Olympics' are over for another four years.  Congratulations to all the Aussie athletes who did this country proud especially to those who won medals.  Australia won 35 medals, 7 gold, we got these for swimming, rowing, cycling, 3 for sailing and athletics, 16 silver and 12 bronze.  We ended up finishing 10th on the Olympic Medal Ladder.

Sally Pearson won gold for the 100m hurdles

Anna Meares won gold for the individual cycling sprint

Meares beat Britains' Victoria Pendleton for gold.  They are long time opponents

 our sailors going for gold

On Sunday Katie called in to pick up her sleeping bag and jacket.  She was really looking forward to going on camp.  They were leaving this morning and coming back on Wednesday afternoon.  They hung around for a couple of hours and after they left Tony had to go down to the neighbours' house. When he was mowing the lawn earlier in the morning the guy came up and asked Tony to have a look at some electrical switches in his house.  David, another neighbour had told this guy that Tony was an electrician.

Tony is a qualified A class electrician.  These days he doesn't do much electrical work for people anymore, he says he is too old to be clambering around in ceilings.  When he came back he said he was appalled at the work some other electrician had done for the previous owners.  He has to go back another day to fix the problems. 

After he finished there we went out to Virginia Nursery to have a look.  I ended up buying a few plants and Tony got a tub in which to plant some vegies.  He thought we might start with some capsicums and a tomato plant.  I also got this gorgeous swan for the pond.

Saturday was a quiet day.  Tony painted the walls of the toilet.  It needed to be done seeing the toilet had to be moved over, and rather than just paint over what needed doing it was better to paint the whole area.  

I decided I don't need to go and buy a new toilet roll holder.  We had a spare glass shelf in the garage and so Tony put that up to hold a couple of toilet rolls.  Looks good!

Poppa And Nanna Are So Proud Of Their Little Girl

Wednesday 8th August, 2012

Last Wednesday while talking to Katie on the phone she told us that she had been asked to apply to go to Perth for a student conference.  She was very excited when she was telling me about it, I didn't get to understand what it was all about.  She said that she had to write an essay saying why she should be chosen to go.

Earlier tonight I rang Katie to see if she was coming for the weekend and the first thing she said to me "Guess what Nanna?"  "What?" I asked.  She shouted, "I'm going to Perth".  OMG  I was SO proud of her and told her so.  She had been told after school that she was one of four students selected.  Four teachers are going as chaperones.

She flies out on Saturday 8th September and comes home on Sunday 9th September.  She is only gone for just over 24 hours.  Because she is on the Student Representative Council and represents her class, the conference is to teach them how to deal with students' conflicts and other problems that arise within the classroom and playground. 

This is right down Katies' alley.  She has always shown concern and compassion for others.  We notice it when we are out with her, if someone is in distress she wants to know what's wrong and how can she help them.  

When she was younger she wanted to be an ambulance driver.  Whenever we saw an ambulance she always asked where was it going to, what would be wrong with the person in the ambulance, always asking questions we couldn't always answer.

Today, she doesn't want to be an ambulance driver, "I don't like blood", she says.  Instead she wants to be a Veterinary Nurse.  "Animals have blood," we tell her.  "I know," she says,   "but it's not the same as people blood."   Let's hope she realises her ambition.

As for coming to stay this weekend she is not.  We are meeting up with her on Sunday because on Monday she goes away on school camp.  We've got the sleeping bag and coat that she needs to take.  She said that if she comes to stay she will only get to sleep one night at home before she goes on camp.

Such a busy life she leads....lol.  Also on Tuesday 4th September she has been chosen to sing in the school choir at the Festival Theatre.  Kahra told me tonight that she has bought us tickets for the show.  Looking forward to that!

Out And About

Monday 6th August, 2012

Saturday ended up being a nice day weather wise.  The morning started off foggy, but once the sun came out it was rather nice.  Sunday, on the other hand was back to normal, showers and cold.

As I hadn't heard anything about some cleaning products I ordered back in June, we decided to go to Hahndorf and see whether they had come in.  Firstly, Tony had a doctor's appointment, a blood test for cholesterol.  The doctor decided not to do one, instead told him to get one done in October, but rather than come to the surgery and pay for it he told him just to go to the Pathology Lab.

As Tony had fasted we decided to go out and have breakfast.  With that done we went off to Hahndorf.   On the way we called into "The Cedars", the house where the famous South Australian, Hans Heysen, a painter and artist lived until his death in 1968.  He was born in Germany and came to Australia when he was 6 years old.  The house tour wasn't going to be held until 2.00pm and as we didn't want to hang around for another 2 or so hours we had a walk through the gardens instead.

Heysen's Studio 

The Heysen Tunnels on the South Eastern Freeway are named after him.  Also there is a walking trail that takes in a good part of South Australia going from the Fleurieu Peninsula in the south through to the Flinders Ranges in the North.  This trail is some 1500 kilometres long and is known as the Heysen Trail.

Hans Heysens' paintings

While walking through the garden we came across these beautifully coloured parrots and a brightly coloured little blue bird.  They were hard to photograph as I only had my point and shoot camera, the Nikon camera was left home.  Also to our delight there were kookaburras in the trees near us.  Yes, and the kookaburras were laughing, most probably at us trying to get a photo of the parrots.

one of the birds looking for nectar

Kookaburras

Lucky for me the cleaning products had come in.  After getting them we went onto Mt Barker and did some grocery shopping.  I also picked up some foam off cuts to use in the foot stool and we had a browse in the kitchen shop.

As I had also got Robyn some cleaning product we decided to take it out to her Sunday afternoon.  When we got there they weren't home and so we decided to go off to Lyndoch and to the Craft shop.  Since we had the new toilet installed I can no longer use my toilet roll holder.  

I am looking for one that can go on the wall and will hold around 3 toilet rolls.  I know they were around years ago and thought maybe a craft shop would be a place where I may be able to get one.  The shop at Lyndoch didn't have any but the lady referred me to the craft shop in Tanunda.

The shop in Tanunda has sold them in the past but the person who made them was sick and wasn't making any until she was well enough.  The lady there said to keep checking whenever we were passing through.

To kill some time before going back to Robyn's we went and had a browse in Wohler's furniture shop.   As we are looking at buying a couple of recliners we got some information while there.

I rang Robyn and they were at home and so we headed back there.  Along the way we saw plenty of golden wattle that was starting to bloom.  This is Australia's national flower.  When it starts to bloom we know that spring is just around the corner.

What A Lovely Surprise!

Sunday 5th August, 2012


This morning as I was going through my morning ritual of coffee and blog hopping I came across across a lovely surprise.   Edna, from Miss Edna's Place awarded me a Blog Award, named the "Sunshine Award".

Thankyou Edna! Take a visit to her blog, she has just got herself a most gorgeous puppy, Pogo, and photographs some amazing birds, insects, wildlife and flowers. http://missednasplace.blogspot.com.au   Apparently I have to pass this Award on to 10 other blogs (I will have to think about that).    

Also I have to answer 10 questions about myself.  Well here goes:

Favourite Colour    -      Red  ( but funnily enough I would never wear red lipstick,  red nail polish and those who know me would NEVER give me red flowers)

Favourite Animal   -    Elephants are number 1, but I like  all animals EXCEPT snakes

Favourite Number   -   Number 3 has always been lucky for me 

Favourite Drink   -   Coffee

Facebook or Twitter   -   I have accounts for both, very rarely publish anything to Facebook or Twitter, but I do like some of the games Facebook offers

Good Book or Good Movie   -   My all time favourite book  "To Killl A Mockingbird"

My Passion   -   my family, photography (though not very good at it) and scrapbooking

Giving or Getting Gifts   -   love to give gifts to friends and family,  I would rather give than be offered payment for anything I don't find to be of any use anymore

Favourite Day   -   Friday, because I then get to spend the weekend with Tony and Katie (when she comes to stay)

Favourite Flower   -   Carnations

Cold Start To August

Friday 3rd August, 2012


So far the start of August has been the coldest  in 13 years.  On Wednesday several places in the state had minus temperatures, here in Adelaide it varied to just above 0C degrees to 2C degrees.

This morning we woke up to a very foggy morning.  The airport had to reschedule several flights due to the fog.  Looking forward to next week, they say we should have a couple of days around 20C degrees.

We have been watching the Olympics.  Unfortunately most of the medal rounds are held in the early hours of the morning while I am tucked up in my bed..  We still get to see a lot of the action, albeit most of it replays.  Australia has been disappointing with their medal count, but congratulations must go to all the athletes just for representing their country and competing.

Still, Australia punches well above its weight when it comes to how well they perform.  Compared to the other heavy weights of the world, eg China, United States, Germany we don't do too bad.  Our population is a lot smaller than these countries and we sit somewhere in the top ten.

I think this is the best photo of the Olympics so far.  It's William and Kate at the cycling when Great Britain won a gold medal at the Velodrome.  It was so nice to see their spontaneous response..... protocol went right out the window.