The First Day Of Winter ...
A PINCH AND A PUNCH
FOR THE FIRST OF THE MONTH
Today is the 1st of June 2006 ... the official first day of Winter in Australia. It is a glorious, sunny day, although quite cool ... a duplicate of the last few days, actually. There is some whispy, white cloud in the sky, but it is generally a lovely shade of blue. The upcoming forecast is looking cold and wet, but at the moment it is beautiful.
I took a couple of photos in my backyard earlier, to show you that Winter is really here ... now, my backyard is not what you would find in any gardening magazine ... more like something you would find in a "Before" photo of a garden makeover. We are not gardeners, and don't claim to even like gardening. We only do what is necessary, and then only if it is REALLY necessary !!!
Anyway, this first photo is of my Apricot Tree (which, incidentally, grows the best apricots ... it is amazing how it thrives from neglect !!). The poor tree is almost naked !!
We had a lovely evening last night, over at my parent's house for dinner. We try to alternate every Wednesday ... one week here, one week there. Mum made a yummy spaghetti bolognase ... mmmmmm. It always tastes better when someone else cooks it, don't you think. (Particularly after my disasterous meal last week !!!)
This afternoon, I am off to the Retirement Village again to do some typing for my elderly friend. She is trying to get her life story finished and fine-tuned, and is working on getting it published. She was born in England, and migrated to Australia in the early 60s. It is a fascinating story, and I really enjoy hearing about her early life. I think she enjoys my company, too. I will be taking my postcards (which I have put into an album, finally) to show her. I think she'll enjoy looking through them, particularly the few I have from England.
I have a typing job on the go, which I really should be doing now, instead of blogging (whoops !!). I regularly do typing for this gentleman ... it's nice that he keeps coming back to me for his work.
Chicky is in a dance competition tomorrow (Friday) night. It is a sort of battle of the schools competition. She is part of a troupe of 12 girls. They have been practicing like crazy, and seem to have it down-pat (let's hope they get it right on the night !!). Their costume is simple, but cute. Their school seems to usually do very well each year in this competition. Hopefully that tradition will continue this year. If not, doesn't matter ... so long as they have fun.
My weekend is looking fairly quiet, apart from going over to friends for dinner on Saturday night. I plan on discovering the floor in my spare room, though. It has been some time since I have seen it, there is so much stuff in there. We seem to just open the door, find a surface to put in whatever we have, and then quickly shut the door again, in case it all escapes !! I know many people have a "junk room" ... but this one is getting out of hand. It will be a big job ... hope I don't get lost in the wilderness in there !! If you don't hear from me for a few days, you know I have disappeared, hopefully to be found again !!!
Well, that's all from me for now.
Have a wonderful Thursday.
Take care,
MEOW
13 comments:
I can't believe I am the first to comment on this very popular blog! I feel special :)
You have a very nice yard and I envy you since winter is my favorite season. MMMMM I love apricots, how do you keep the birds from eating them?
Take care Meow!!
Barbara ... you are first to comment ... I only just posted this a few minutes ago ... you are quick !!
Unfortunately, the birds to eat many of the apricots, but they still leave plenty for us. The tree bears an amazing amount of fruit. The only downfall, is it usually ripens around Christmas / New Years, and we usually go away for a couple of weeks, so we often miss out on the fruit entirely (if it is late in ripening). Our neighbours and family get to pick heaps, though.
Thanks, Barbara, and have a wonderful day.
Take care, Meow xx
Hi meow
Wish Chicky good luck or break aleg or whatever they say in dance , I bet she is wonderful to watch , love to see her .
Your last post , your coaster is excellent , I love it , I wish I could paint like that, my brother is a true artist , I do folk art , they call it that cause peole say what the folk is it LOL sorry if offended with the f word hehehe
sounds like your chilling down , love your trees , APRICOTS wow ! that has to be awesome .
Your yard looks lovely even from these little peeks . I would love a peek in the junk room , haha , if you go in there bring in your laptop case you get lost , I would miss you friend :)
And your spaghetti , it is nice when someone else cooks sometimes ,I told you if you fool it up more , you would eat out more , LOL Hope your wonderful and feeling chilly :)
your friend
Greeneyes
Your friend
Hi, Meow, sounds like you have quite a bit to do the next few days. It's very hot and dry here, wish it would cool off some and rain.
Nice kitty coasters, too. Bambi is a darlin', pet her for me. :-)
I envy you the fresh apricots. They make delicious fried pies.
Wish Chickie good luck for me, and enjoy the barbecue. :-)
Winter...I wonder how it feels to have winter here? Here we run a temperature of 36 deg. Centigrade. I would maybe welcome Winter if it ever happens.
Spaghetti, one of my favorites. I can smell it already.
Good luck to Chicky for the dance competition. I know you'll make it.
My T13 is up.
Wow...it still amazes me that we are on different ends of the world. That our seasons are opposite. As you enjoy the autumn colors we here are enjoying the spring/summer colors...its all such a wonderous thing.
I hope all is well with you!!
Greeneyes ... thank you. My painting class is actually folk art, or decorative painting ... I love it. I'm no good at free-hand painting, although I'm giving it a go with the coasters !! I'm not going to show you the junk room ... you would be scarred for life !!I am a bit stressed, as a client rang wanting a mountain of typing, which he wants by Sunday. This means I will be typing around the clock. If you don't see me for a few days, that's why !!
Diane ... thank you. I've never tried a fried apricot pie ... sounds yummy !!
Fridays Child ... I don't know how I would cope with constand hot temperatures. I like the variations of temp we have here ... I love to put the heater on and snuggle up in front of the tv.
Kylee ... thank you. Autumn is pretty.
Thanks everyone for your kind wishes for Chicky's dance comp. I will pass them on. When the apricot tree is ripe, I will post photos (not till next summer !!). I will catch you all soon.
Take care, Meow
It is hard to believe it is winter - it is still so mild, and more amazingly, we are still getting rain!!
Megz Mum ... You should come down here, it is cold ... brrrrr. Although, the sun has been out, and it has been lovely during the day ... but really, really cold at night. I hope it doesn't get too cold up your way.
Take care, Meow
First thing's first: GOOD LUCK TO CHICKIE GIRL AND FRIENDS!
Remind her though, that winning is NOT everything, even if she does trounce the competition and beat the lot of them.
;-)
My favourite of the two pictures is the maple. The oak is the last to get rid of its leaves here: they don't drop until the new leaves of spring force them off the branches!
I downloaded a picture of my very own today (and posted it as my profile. No, it isn't me. I really don't look like that. The size may be appropriate but I promise; I'm a normal, average human being. ...Well...) AND started a discussion in Yahoo Message Boards, something I've never done before.
Yay me!
And yay you for being brilliant.
And yay your mum for cooking stellar meals.
...Not - a-hem! - that you DON'T......I mean, I've never tasted you meals, so obviously...I mean, I'm sure they're great...
- I'll just stop talking now.
:-S
We do seem to follow each other around Blogland even though our clocks are set a lot different from each other! It proves I have good taste, or that you do.
I need to do more with my yard and I hope to move more to simplifying the upkeep on it. The desert SW landscapes really seem to me to be a good idea, although I am afraid that our plant growth rate here in the NW is a lot higher due to all our rain. So I guess I will still have weeds growing from the gravel I put out. I probably need a lot of Roundup.
Meow, your painting sounds wonderful.
Reverberate ... thank you. Blueberries, mmmmm ... how do they grow (like a vine, a bush, a tree ??).
DaybyDay ... Japanese Maples are pretty trees ... mine is not a very good example. It is probably 15 years old, but appears to be stunted !!
Alice ... thank you, I will tell her !! Yay to you for becoming a computer whizz !! It's fun, isn't it !! And, normally my cooking isn't that bad (only sometimes !!!)
Dick ... thank you ... I like to think we both have great taste !! Good luck with the garden ... Roundup is wonderful stuff !!
Jean-luc ... thank you.
Connie ... thank you. It is interesting ... I will let you know if she gets published ... I really hope she does, it's a fascinating story.
Maddy ... spare room, yep ... but if anyone were to come and visit at this moment, they would need to perch on top of everything LOL.
Have a wonderful Friday everyone. Take care, Meow
Post a Comment