three little fish

I am home again for a few days. Yay! And have finished the body of the trout. I purchased this Elizabeth Bradley kit in England earlier this year. When it is finished it will have a navy background, and the plan is turn turn it into a long cushion. I have some pink toned fringing which I plan to edge the cushion with, and funky it up.


Rainbow Trout

Further on the fishy theme, this morning B and I did a brief survey of the backyard, including the fish pond. We were considering what could be done to liven the fish pond up, noting that a few (3 or 4) of our bright red goldfish seemed to be no longer. Was it birds? Natural attrition? or some other factor? When B spotted a tiny little fish. I couldn't see it at first, but as we continued to peer into the water, we found not just 1 but 3 new additions. Unfortunately they are not the brightly coloured orange ones like the original inhabitants but, a deep reddy black colour, which is a bit difficult to see. We know who one of the parents is - last summer we added a large reddy black fish to the clan, and these are the same as that one, just a lot smaller.

she's arrived!!!!!!!!!

Blythe arrival!!

I couldn't wait any longer as the parcel arrived the other day. It has been secretly deposited somewhere about the house where L would not find it!! Sorry L, I just had to do it!!!!!

She is larger than I (we) thought too!!


Looking at the arrival proceedings

getting closer

WOW!!! Isn't she cute!! 

Close up 

and again... 

Ooooohhhhhh, what a cutie! 

pheeeeewww!!!

What is the biggest flower in the world???

Well if you were to go to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney to see Titan Arum you can see it for yourself!!

Cheers

please explain!!!!

As the title says, PLEASE EXPLAIN!!!
I do not understand it how Chanel got through on Australian Idol, and how Emelia, aka Pauline, got the boot!! Ok, whilst Emelia is very much the novice (in her own words), what an experience for her, she gave it her all, well done!
And as to Chanel, I mean, how much of this girl can we bear? I don't know about you, but I am sick to death of how she puts on the 'cutesy' (if that's a word) look all the time. I find her boring, cant sing, and certainly can't be cute while trying to sing!!!
And then there's Marty, poor soul, felt sorry for him too last night about again being in the bottom three, but then again he was boring as hell on Sunday night too!!!

views of our garden

Here are a couple of the things that are flowering in our garden right now!
As you can see, we are having a bit of colour, and the Star Jasmine out the front is also about to flower, so wait for that pic!


Isnt our Orange Blossom Orchid nice!


Camellia japonica


Our first Rose of the season!! 

the birthday celebration that was not!!!!!

Well N, sorry to say this, and A will agree, dinner was a huge success!!!
Not only as good as the last time, but this time I added in a new element........CHILLI!!!
Sorry you couldn't make it, but alas, someone had to make sure that the 'office' was manned!!!
Oh by the way, I have sent a parcel home with A, so make sure you get in contact!!


N, look what you missed out on!!

a blonde moment

Yes I know, 1 October is next week. So it isn't Jasmine's Birthday at all today.

This is going to provide B with hours of entertainment. Especially, as I have organised him to cook a special dinner (chicken of course) and special guests have been invited (who will hopefully be bringing the Toberlerone Cheesecake).

the cats birthday

It's our little Jasmine's birthday today. She is three. Well actually its her guesstimated birthday. As she is far from pedigreed, coming from a backyard encounter (B's mums ex-neighbours' tabby cat had with a local persian/chinchilla...got that!) we are not really sure of the exact date. And as her human parents at the time were the most irresponsible cat owners, allowing their cat to have up to 3 litters a year, they couldn't remember the date Jasmine was born. So we settled early on that her birthday would be 1 October.

Being a 98% of the time indoor cat, today she has been shown the door and given the opportunity to roam and investigate the backyard biodiversity, as well as bask in the sun.

I visited Loobylu's site earlier and she had provided some commentary regarding her dislike for cats. I must say that we too went for the boisterous kitty of the litter (we actually had a choice of two by the time we rescued our Jas). I wanted a female, and of the two (both identical) she showed the most spunk. Now I have had cats before and they were very docile, so one with attitude would be nice for a change however, as with the nursery rhyme... when she is good, she is very very good, but when she is bad, she is rotten - and I have the scratches to prove it.

Jasmine is a beautiful cat (not biased of course), she has beautiful large eyes, impressive whiskers and an equally impressive tail. She is very playful, playing fetch with bottletops, and is also extremely inquisitive. I wouldn't trade her for another, however she does command respect.

Thank goodness for Macc who provides us with lots of cuddles and affection. It is funny how individual and different the personalities of cats can be. I am not sure with all breeds of dogs but you can be sure of one thing, greyhounds are all very affectionate and gentle. It is so sad they are so misunderstood and that someone, and I refer to the article B posted earlier today, could be so cruel to such a gentle creature. The sad thing is that this is actually more common than the article reports.

What a sad state of affairs.....

Below is a copy of a story in the Tasmanian Mercury. Isn't it disgusting what some heartless people can do.......

THE RSPCA is hunting a cruel killer after a greyhound was found mutilated and left for dead near Hobart yesterday. The dog was found by a young man early yesterday after he heard whimpering coming from a popular dumping area off the Lyell Highway between Granton and New Norfolk.
The dog's ears had been hacked off to hinder identification and it had been buried alive under several large rocks and a sheet of tin.
The dog was an older female with a black body, white chest, white fur under its chin and two white "socks" on its back feet.
RSPCA Tasmania chief animal welfare officer Graeme Lewis said the RSPCA was determined to catch the culprit, who faces a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and/or 18 months in jail under Tasmania's Animal Welfare Act 1993.
Inspector Lewis said the dog had obviously outlived its "usefulness" for greyhound racing or breeding and those responsible for its death knew the tattoos on its ears would help trace the owner.
"This poor creature was left to suffer for a long time," he said.
"When the young man discovered her, she was suffering immensely and near death.
"Her rescuer then put the dog out of her misery. He is extremely distressed and traumatised by what he found."
Insp Lewis fears the perpetrator may also be responsible for the death of at least one other greyhound.
"We found evidence of another dog being dumped in the same spot and found the remains of another greyhound's vertebrae, head and a jaw," he said.
"We are very anxious for information that will help lead to the person or people responsible, before they can cause any more suffering."
Mike Stiles, the chairman of stewards for greyhounds for Racing Services Tasmania, said DNA testing would hopefully identify the dog and therefore its owner.
Mr Stiles said he had not heard of an incident like this in his five years as chairman of stewards, as most older greyhounds found loving homes once their careers were over.
"It's certainly something we would frown upon -- I wouldn't think people would treat their pets like that," he said.
"This is not the right way to get rid of them. That's why we have the Greyhound Adoption Program to try to find new homes for them.
"We would certainly like to find out who did it and trust that the maximum penalties would be enforced."

the real economy in the long run

That is the topic for this morning, with the focus on production and growth.

I'm home again for a few days, this time on study leave. I get a whole 3 days study leave a semester, and I have taken them at this time to get my assignment finalised and submitted by Friday PM. I am not too worried about it, as it is essentially finished, but unlike an essay, this one is entirely multiple choice. So you are either right or wrong.

I will also be having 3 days off next week, this time annual leave, however, I will be using my time in a similar way, to continue with the study. I am going to rethink my strategy for next semester, I seem to have had a lot of leave but somehow the more time I give myself, the less motivated I am to get through the work. I think the old saying "if you want something done, ask a busy person" rings true in my case, as the more I have on my plate the more I seem to get done.

I think getting the career blues a few weeks back, kind of upset my drive to get things done. Although I made some changes as a result, which have had positive outcomes already.