I'M BAAAACK!

 

I'M BAAAACK!

Yes, back on Blogger. And back on my home turf, New Zealand. At present, bunking with The Man's brother, but let's get on with this bloggy stuff, OK?

Some of you may know that  I could probably waste time (mine and yours!) trying to write something witty, but our erstwhile friend in Norfolk has come up with a good idea. Well, pretty good for those of us either genuinely busy or too damned lazy to write!

Just four photos. New or old. Well, okay... 

First up is Sporran, sitting on a cabin trunk. Yes, of course she  came with us! First time on a plane and she  can now boast that she's actually been on TWO planes! What a trouper...

Demonstrating to buyer that the TV does work...

Ditto, tool box

The Quisqualis was still going great guns when we left...

Well, there you have 'em...four photos. 

 The greedy bastards at Wordpress are making things difficult on what they call a "free" site! I'll scoot over and see if I can leave a trail of breadcrumbs...

ACCORDING TO THE CALENDAR...

 

...it's "that time of year again." I seem to be grumpier with every year that goes by. 

The seasons are still the same, but my gods! the people have got worse! Two women, scrapping like kids at kindergarten, over some item. One of them put her basket on the floor and managed to out-reach the other for the disputed item. Ah! but her rival kicked the basket into the aisle and it was soundly sent out to another customer by a passing trolley whose steering was waaay beyond its pusher's control.

I left before the ensuing scrum...

I shall steer well clear of the January sales!

Right, a brief update ... we continue to scale down our goods and chattels, though a departure date is still some way off. Just let me say that we cannot invite people for meals as we're now down to two bar stools at the kitchen bench! But feel free to pop in if you don't mind standing about with a plate of finger food. (My butcher had some really delicious fingers last week!)

The monsoonal rains have finally arrived, to great relief for many of us. 

And that is about all I have made time for. Thank you for sticking with me, despite my back-sliding.

Oh! Has anyone else noticed that this year we can have what they (who's "they"?) call a double whammy? 

Yep. Tomorrow,  those who do so will light their Hanukkah menorah and the rest of us will renew annual vows.*                                               

I have an old tradition I like to share with friends. And, should he happen to stumble over here, my thanks go to Mr D.W.F.Baillie, who first introduced Mr Lehrer into my life.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tomlehrer+christmas+song

And for those of the Jewish persuasion...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgbNaOLVOBM

It's Merry Festivus for the rest of us!

* In most households this involves swearing never to eat so much. Ever again. 

BREAKING MORE PROMISES!

     I promised I would try to update this more regularly.  

Was that a lie? Or a broken promise? How about a picture of a Kowhai ( Sophora ) in glorious flower? I'd love to grow it here, but the summers would probably do for it. 

 We are still waiting for some rain...it's a good thing that we have the water tanks! Only a stop-gap, of course, but at least garden water is not coming out of the rates bill.

 Just around the corner from our flat is a glorious, old jacaranda   and I keep saying I must take a camera and get some photos. I shall do that, right now! You chaps nip out and either put your kettles on or pour a Pimms, depending on your time zone...

      Aaaand, I'm back. With a jacaranda for you.  

     But I was so excited at a pair of  Red-Tailed cockatoos

       Calyptorhynchus banksii  I spent more time trying to 

   get them on film. Well, the jacaranda will be there for

   quite a while, but these birds don't hang about for glamour       shots! I might try tomorrow with a longer lens; for now, I have

  a couple of indifferent pics. Here's the male, happy to show

  you why he has the common name.

And, below, his missus.

            Her tail feathers are yellowy-orange.

       Rubbishy pics,but, as I said I needed a longer lens. 

, 

 

I THINK I'M BACK...

...but I might just be sideways!

Wordpress is no longer sending me demands for money at my old site, but it is being EXCESSIVELY obstructive.

So I guess I'll just muddle along with Blogger. 

Right! That's settled, so ... what have I been up to? Well, the de-cluttering continues, but we still have some way to go before we go!

The Spring orchid show was a couple of weeks ago so I put on my kitchen pinny and served tea-and-tiny-cakes. In quiet moments, I wandered around and salivated over some gorgeous plants. I didn't take my camera (fool!), but there were some glorious blooms; like the third prize in the raffle! 

Oh, you want to see the first prize? Hang on...

Back home, my quisqualis is flinging itself about with gay abandon.

on and over the fence

close-up

And the goanna has found a girlfriend! They've been flinging themselves about, too. 

We are hopeful of eating home-grown passion fruit this year! At last count 8 (I think) fruits; still green, but fingers are crossed.

We've been back and forth to the vet with poor old Sporran. Injections, tablets (scratches for me) and I think she's out of the woods. Hope so!

Not much else to write about and I have chores piling-up.

State election next week so we did the early vote thing the other day and I've queued-up some Nordic noir films for when tv gets too politicky! Suspect I'll need to drown my left-inclined sorrows...

STILL SOMEWHAT AT SEA...BUT DETERMINED!

 I'm still muddling along in the no man's land between Wordpress and Blogger and trying to dodge sniper fire. Not the happiest analogy, but there it is. 

In trawling through archives, I came across this and thought it worth a re-run...

. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? 

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down. 

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way. 

2 How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?  

Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?

Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions. 

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. 

All the animals attend …. Except one. Which animal does not attend? 

Correct Answer : The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there.? This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities. 

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and You do not have a boat. How do you manage it? 

Correct Answer:? You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the Professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

I hope you all did better than the 4 year olds!

Now...let's see if I can post a picture that wont disappear when I hit the publish button. Well, it's a Thunbergia. Unless, of course, the gremlins re-invert it to a grey square!

---

SOME SPRING COLOUR IN THE TROPICS

 

Just went out to water and discovered masses of Quisqualis buds. 

...on Lisa's side of the fence (gets more sunshine, facing North) But it's going bonkers and will soon be slugging it out with the umbrella tree (Schleffera actinophylla)

 I've been watering some very thirsty plants; it's easy to forget how searing the wind can be! I'll go out again with the camera when the sun is more obliging...

A pretty little un-named orchid

Petrea volubilis. Also keen to escape to my neighbour!

Passion fruit! YAY! At this stage I don't know whether they are bog-standard purples or the (less tasty!) yellows.

And, just like that, the clock has whizzed around to  almost Happy Hour. 

..I'll close with this...https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=NVBz13CWwvM...

IT'S BEEN A WHILE...

 ...since I used this site. I fiddled about with various ideas and plans and (as regulars know) I stayed with Wordpress.

But now, like Scarlet and, apparently, quite a few others, I have decided that Wordpress is not interested in maintaining free sites.

And a newsfeed I follow has its lead story today on the Muddle the Web has become  https://theconversation.com/the-internet-is-worse-than-it-used-to-be-how-did-we-get-here-and-can-we-go-back-236513

Idle Thoughts has always been a free site, but now they want me pay. And I notice that other hosting platforms are also looking to hit our hip pockets.

A few years ago I probably could have accepted that, but these days I find that, with more essential costs rising, my daily "living allowance" must take priority. We don't see pensions zipping up the ladder on a daily basis, do we?

Okay! That's enough moaning!

There are quite a few flowers on the passion fruit vine. 😊 And that good ol' colourful Tecomanthe hillii is hitting its stride after a couple of good showers. Yay!

The Man went to the Big Box Hardware place for some nails. On the way out he saw a sad, drooping, almost dead Phalaenopsis orchid. A little bit of TLC and ...voila!

A Vanda I've had for years." V.Pat's Delight."

Tecomanthe hillii. Been having a bit of a sulk, but suddenly-Whoosh!

I'll stop for now and promise I'll try to keep this updated. I'll also pop over to Idle Thoughts and let you all know where to find me!