WHAT A DIFFERENCE A LITTLE RAIN MAKES

It seems like an age since I've had time for blogging.
In fact it almost feels like the whole year has almost passed me by.
Every time I arrange to meet with friends or have an appointment booked some crisis seems to happen and nothing ever goes as planned.

I'm missing all the Christmas "dos", Mahjong days, lunch outings as well as just the normal routines and cups of coffee 'n chats with friends.

 But it can't be helped.


Dad has had his miraculous procedure - no cutting involved so we can't say operation!

He now has a new aortic valve skillfully placed inside the old one and apparently working well, all achieved through the wonders of modern medicine by way of the artery in his groin.
 

Although not an invasive procedure, it was still a big thing to go through for a 90 year old who has had his first experience of an anaesthetic, being shaved in the nether regions and supervised in the shower by a female nurse!!!

 

There have been a few side issues but hopefully they will remain of a minor nature and he and Mum can go on with enjoying their old age......

and I can get back to everything.

* Christmas planning and shopping - heavens I haven't even started and we're off to Sydney to visit Brett and Sarah for early Christmas with them next weekend !!!

  * Holiday planning - as you can imagine a lot of that has been done already. Cottages and apartments rented. Lots of research on what to see and where to go but more needed.

* Housework - yes housework ! You know how I hate it but my, oh my, do I need to get into it. Things have been allowed to slide a bit here of late !!

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Finally, a decent bit of rain has fallen on our parched gardens and it has been just in time.

The gardenia is now covered in huge buds



and already the first flowers are filling the air with their delightful perfume.



The lovely blue agapanthus are doing what they do best




and the red flowering gum from Western Australia is providing a great show.

Elsewhere in the garden colour is emerging

sometimes pale,

sometimes bright

sometimes from leaves

sometimes filling the whole hedge with colour.

But my modest garden is not the only place that is making a show.
In the streets of Brisbane the flowering trees are doing their best to brighten up the neighbourhood.

 

 

 

Here's a close-up of those pretty Poincianas.

 

 

and I can't leave out the lovely bouganvilleas.

 

 

 Thanks for sticking with me.

I've had a chance here and there to fly around the blogs but I hope to get back into gear posting and commenting from now on.

 

I've got a lot of catching up to do.

 

Cheers.

  

TAKE-AWAY TIME

After a stinking hot day today

we decided that it was just the night for a dinner take away.

 

A visit to our favourite Thai and we came home the proud owners of this

 

 

 

Penang Chicken Curry - my absolute favourite.....

 

 

Chicken Chilli Basil Stirfry for Tony......

 

and this delightful Thai Coconut Rice

 

 

cooked by ME !!

 

We've been watching Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute meals so I though I'd give his recipe a try.

 

Easy peasy !

 

1 tin of coconut milk

1 tin ( same tin ) of rice

2 tins ( same tin) of water

 

Stir together in a large microwave container and cook for about 15 minutes.

 

We sat on our front porch ( hidden from view by the shrubbery ) and ate this feast

with a pleasant breeze and a glass of rose'

( How do you get the little accent in the right place? Do you have to own a French computer ????)

 

and some candles to give a little light.

 

Very pleasant indeed !

 

We're in for 37 C again tomorrow with fierce storms predicted for the afternoon.

Sounds like fun.

 

Cheers.

 

SOLAR ECLIPSE

All photos today are from this site.

 

Early this morning a rare solar eclipse took place in the Southern Hemisphere and the best place to view it was from a lovely beach  beach in tropical north Queensland.

 

Cameras were set up to record one of nature's greatest phenomena - a total eclipse of the sun.   

 

Crowds of people numbering in the ten thousands took up positions on the beach 

 

 

 wearing special glasses distributed to them the day before to prevent devestating eye damage that is caused by looking directly at the sun.

 

Huge cheers erupted when the clouds threatening to spoil the view parted and the eclipse began.

 

 

A perfect view of totality - when the moon completely covers the sun and a faint halo or corona appears.

 

 

It was reported that a hush fell over the crowd and even the birds and insects went quiet.

 

Here's a map showing future eclipses over Australia.

 

 

I wonder how many of us will still be blogging when the next one comes along in 2023 ?

 

Cheers.

SNEAKING UP ON US - Take 2

On Sunday we found ourselves free from the restraints that we have recently been under with aged parents, so we set off for the city centre where there were some new sights Tony wanted to show me.

We call it " Going into town".



Surprise, surprise the city centre was swinging into Christmas mode.
Yes I'm sorry I mentioned that word but I've been reminded it is but a few weeks away !!!

It was quite a shock to realise how close it is ...




but when I saw the Christmas windows in Myers it really hit home how close it is.



I took some photos with my phone but it's not too good and I'm not good at taking them either.
Thought I'd include some with people in them so you could see how different it is to have Christmas in Summer time.( and casual dress is the way to go on Sunday in Brisbane!!!)

As usual the Christmas stories were all about a snowy Christmas



with little relevance to Aussies and our climate.



No wonder most of us list experiencing a White Christmas on our Bucket List !

The "something new" Tony wanted to show me was a very glitzy new shopping arcade called
The Wintergarden.



Can you see the building front above the Tourist Information Centre?
 

Very colourful and quite unusual though I've seen a building in Paris that looked a bit like that.
There were huge colourful butterflies resting all over it.

On street level there were quite a range of shops

with this Aussie icon taking pride of place

and this one full of sparkly stuff.

When you moved inside it was pure glitz.

High end fashion





and other expensive "stuff "

 

 There was even a ten pin bowling alley !
 

I guess that will give tourists something else to do ????
or perhaps it will become the "in" place to be seen before hitting the night life later in the evening?


We spied this Japanese restaurant and decided to give it a go for a late lunch ( we've not tried Japanese much ).

It was called Wagamama which my nephew says means "selfish".
A strange name for a restaurant but possibly something was lost in the translation !

 

 
 

 Anyhow, I was selfish and ate all of mine myself !!
 

 

I have to say it tasted better than it looked .

Cheers.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

I have been working very hard at planning our overseas jaunt to France and Switzerland next year.
With the amazing resource of the Internet at my finger tips I have booked flights and reserved accommodation in apartments in four different locations.
The next thing on my list of "to dos" is to see if I can write, add photos and post to my blog using Tony's iPad.

If you can see this post I have been successful and I will be able to take you with me on my holiday.

Isn't technology wonderful ?

 

 

 

Edited from my laptop:

 OK, that worked alright don't you think? I just need to work on putting the photos in better.

The top photo came from the images already stored on the iPad and the second photo I just took using the iPad camera. My next mission will be to try to place the photos in amongst the text.

 

Advice from anyone out there with any expertise in this would be welcome.