Tulip Time

What do you think, should we look at something really pretty now? Here's the first tulips I've ever grown. They are very satisfying!































And there are some yellow ones on the way too.

Creepy Toy Department again

Here you are children, a cute little pussy cat for your doll house. She'll curl up by the fire, and drink milk, and purr...


... and hardly eat your soul at all...

















I tried hard to capture the very cool creepiness of this cat toy. I tried photographing it inside...















and outside with a cheerful garden setting (aren't the geraniums doing well?).




But I just don't think you are getting the essential "otherness" of this creepy cat.

Can't sleep, cat'll eat me, can't sleep, cat'll eat me...

Creepy Toy Department

Cute cats and blogs......they go together, right? Everyone likes cute cats on blogs.

Here's mine - 50c well spent at the Wantirna Market.

Awww.

There's chips in Melbourne - good ones!

Mmm, chips. Good, freshly made chips.

This is just a blatant plug for a place in Melbourne that makes really good chips.

It's Lord of the Fries in the city. We went there on the day we went to the aquarium. After all those fish...

Everything on the menu is vegetarian. The nuggets are very nuggety.

They are outstandingly good. Problem is, I ate so many, I had a teensy tummy ache the next day. Ah well, that's what getting old does to you.

Cafe Colour Sharpies at Costco Docklands!

One of the odd things about having a blog counter is that you get to see what people were searching for when they visited you. Mostly it's pretty straightforward; they look for penguins, I give them penguins.

But oddly, one of the most popular topics has been my purchase of Cafe Colour Sharpies. In fact, there are a lot of hits searching for Pomegranate coloured Sharpies. Why? Dunno. There's probably an awesome project out there I don't know about. Let me know, won't you!

Anyway, to all the people visiting to find out where to get Cafe Colour (or Cafe Color) Sharpies, they are on sale at the new Costco at Docklands. 24 assorted Sharpies, including the six cafe colours, including Pomegranate, for $24. While you're there, you can get 1.5kg of liquorice bullets for $7. Yummm....

Gloating about my talented kids ... again!

Jonathan exhibited a piece at the annual Strathdon Art Show (I was lucky enough to acquire it, for just $5).




















Catriona played with the Box Hill High School Wind Symphony at the Melbourne School Bands Festival, an opportunity to play for, and be tutored by, a panel of adjudicators.

























And Thomas got a distinction in the International Science Competition. It's one of those challenges where you have to think. Neat!

More spring news

Here's some other great stuff happening in the garden as Spring approaches - have a look in your garden, you might have cool stuff happening too!

The jonquils are jonquilling...














The hyacinths are hyacinthing ... they smell wonderful, but DO NOT let them in the house! I planted one in a pot last year, specially to let it bloom inside. It flowered. I brought it inside. It was nice. I went out to the post office. I came home and it had TAKEN OVER. It had to go back outside.














Hmm, nothing interesting here, just a bunch of grassy stuff...













And then, just days later, starflowers appear!






















And the snails are ... well, I'm not sure what they're doing, but I think I'll leave them to it...

Spring's coming, there's no doubt of it

A few days ago I took this photo in the garden. Back in April I went to the Flower and Garden Show in Melbourne, had a fabulous time, and bought my first tulip bulbs (how hard can it be?).

I stored them in the fridge for the required six weeks; forgot about them and left them for an extra four or so weeks; then planted them, some in the garden bed, and some in big pots.

And here's the first signs of flowering!







And now it's a few days later. My first tulip!

They are a real favourite of mine as a cut flower, but so much nicer in the garden.

What a cool mum I have

Just stumbled across this photo in the hard disk archives.

It was taken in 1966 - I'm the little tacker, and the woman in the fabulous swimsuit is my Mum. We're in Scotland, so full marks to us for getting beachy. I just think Mum looks amazing!

She's currently retired, living on the coast, and spending at least three months a year on totally unplanned caravan holidays with her husband boyfriend, to favourite bits of Australia. Cool!

I have earned impunity!

I did a fun journal page in a swap, years ago. I used a scrap from my favourite dictionary. The journal's topic was "Sky", and the page I picked from the dictionary defined the word "Sky", and also "Skylark", and the very memorable "Skyey".

Nobody ever beleived me that "skyey" is a real word (it means, like the sky - as in, you look very skyey today). And I didn't have the dictionary page that proved it.

If only I had another copy of that same book...

Well, thanks to the scout hall garage sale, NOW I DO! I can rip and tear the one book as much as I want, 'cos there's another copy with all those memorable words preserved properly.

Toot toot! Want a cool train set?

Love wooden train sets?

There's a train set for sale at the Scout Hall Garage Sale tomorrow!

Now, the one I've pictured here is just to show you what sort of thing I'm talking about. I nabbed it shamelessly from a web site.

The train set I helped set up for sale is one very large, single board, with wooden train track and accessories glued onto it. Some parts of it need a little work - there are bits of track missing.

It's probably an ex-shop display, or ex-kindergarten, where kids were encouraged to fill in the gaps with a few spare bits of track, but where it wasn't appropriate to let them take it all to pieces.

Now, I think I also saw a low table (disassembled) so it's POSSIBLE they went together.

Anyway, come along to the garage sale (it's being run by the Lions Club, to benefit the Scouts on this occasion). It's at 8am, 15 August 2009, on the corner of Canterbury Rd and Mitcham Rd, Mitcham. You'll find it.

The entire scout hall is full of trash and treasure, and prices are very cheap - just fill your shopping bag and they'll price for you at the end.

You'll probably be able to get a sausage in bread there too.

So, that's my bit to promote the sale!

Moo!

New creepy toy, direct from the Wantirna Market.

It has jointed legs, very good for stop motion animation. And a sort of Little Golden Books style.

Shudder!

Blech!

Nope, it wasn't an Ugli, it was a wonky lemon.

It's citrus season!

It's citrus season! Time to munch on juicy, sweet, tangy things to eat. Today for your enjoyment, I have photographed an Ugli fruit (bought in an Op Shop, where all good weird fruit comes from).




































Next in the parade we have a Meyer lemon, the rich, orangey yellow variety.













We follow this with a truly huge Imperial mandarin - it fits in your whole hand!












And last in the citrus parade is a Tangelo, a delicious hybrid snack fruit, rather like a tart and juicy mandarin.


There you go, are you hungry for citrus? I think it helps you get over the winter blahs, so I recommend it.

Important note

If you ASSUME something, you make an ASS out of an EMU.

I think.

Yet another dictionary

Being a very busy person, I have very little time to spare these days. Really. I had a small slice of unallocated time this week (on the way home from the accountant) in a suburb I don't normally visit. First stop, vanilla slice - excellent. Second stop, op shop. Here's the awsomest thing I found...

A French to German dictionary!

Now tell me that's not a good use of spare time!

Another whimsical office photo

My job is really very interesting, but I am worried that if I tried to describe it to you, it might sounds just the tiniest bit ... boring. And complicated too. So instead, I'll tell you the story of the New Desk.

Some of the guys put in some excellent work last week, rearranging the desks for best use of space, and to reduce screen glare in the mornings. It was such a success that a completely new desk space emerged, and was set up, clean and tidy.

Jeff assumed it was for me, so I sat down and used it for an hour or so. Of course, when the boss came in, it WASN'T for me - I went back to my less glamorous desk.

This is the lucky duck that got to use the New Desk yesterday!

We went to the Aquarium!

It was COOL! And I do mean cool. This cool.



That, my friends, is a PENGUIN. None of your rubbish.

















We reckon this is Nick's new shark. Must have hung it up to defrost or something.












The jellyfish display is fabulous - for your convenience, they come in Whisper White ...











And also Very Vanilla...







Our favourite bit of the day was discovering that the big, round, main display room is called the "Fish Room".