Waiting for a visitor.

Waiting for a friend to come for morning tea.  So using the time to blog.  Been busy but not sure with what, have to check out the calendar to see what has been happening.  :D

Took Jay to his club Tuesday night, picked Rohan up on the way home,then on an Annual General Meeting.   Only one person there apart from the Committee.  So we all got re-elected.  :)


Worked Wednesday. 

Went to friends in Yarra Junction for lunch on Thursday, and it was a really lovely day, weather wise as well.  Was good to catch up. There was another couple there too, we girls worked together  over 50 years ago.  I have been there before so have probably told you all that.  Didn't take many photos, but did get this shot from the street near them.  This is a fire access track, as they are in a bushfire prone region.

Friday did some more housework and checked out some things on line.  I suggested be get proper name badges,  we have be using paper ones in plastic covers, so been checking out the prices.  Went to somewhere nearby that I knew made them, but they had closed down.

 Found Demi in the wardrobe the other day, she was curled up nicely asleep, but sat up while I went to find the camera.  Don't know what the inside of your wardrobes are but mine are a mess.  The cats find it comfortable though  :D

My friend has been and gone, and found that the washing machine had somehow overflowed so have just finished mopping up all the water.  At least the floor is really really clean now.  It is raining, so not much to do today.  Tomorrow we are going out for lunch to Dromana, which is on the Mornington Peninsula and about an hour and a half away.  If the rain goes away, might get some photos of the bay. This is a very popular spot in the summer to campers.

Jayden was supposed to go into the city with his godfather and his family to see the Christmas decorations, but they may not go because of the weather. 

So wait for the next installment.  Enjoy your weekend.  Hugs and kisses.

Saturday

Haven't felt like making any entries, so sorry about that.  Have been having connection problems too, but that is no excuse.  :)

 Just some more photos from my Adelaide trip.  Binney is one of my ancestors, so had to have a photo taken of the road named after them :)

 A view from the highest point near where my family originally landed in South Australia in 1847.

The really big bull doesn't quite look as big in the photo  ;D

Came home to a couple of patiently waiting pets. Make good ornaments for the steps  :)

 These are the shots I took of the moon, about the same time you posted your last photos.  

Thought the clouds make it look interesting.  Didn't use the night shot option.  Will try that next time  :)

 It was Liam's 2nd birthday last week.  So took over his present.  Which was new clothes.  He wanted to put them on straight away.  Had some chocolate yoghurt and dirtied the first shirt, this is one of the others.  This is also his idea of smiling for the camera.  Cute.

 Then this was a better picture, with his new fire truck.  I might be a little, just a little bit biased, but think my grandchildren are just beautiful.  :D  (disagree if you dare)

Rohan has been in contact, and has actually taken Jayden for the night, so have the weekend free again. But it has been very wet, so can't work in the garden.  Neil brought me some wood which I have to split, but don't feel like it now.  Maybe tomorrow. 

I am feeling very virtuous, as I have written out all my Christmas cards.  Saw some nice ones and decided to get them early and then decided I may as well write them out.  Wont post them yet though, that would be too organized  :)



Might just get another box out of the ceiling space (attic) and sort it out.  I must be sickening for something. 


Hope you are feeling ok.   Have a great weekend.


Hugs and kisses.

Gardening

 One of my tree dahlia's which I planted from cutting from my sister a few months ago.  Slowly growing  :)

 Another one, not quite as advanced.

When I was at Gwynne's yesterday, she gave me come tree Peonies.  This is one.  Hope it will grow in the shade.  They say they can be hard to grow.  

 My lillium has lots of buds, so hope it will be good this year.  Shame it is white.  I prefer colour.

 This is where I took a lot of bulbs out of the ground.  Lost a couple of the lobelia, as had planted them over the bulbs.  The star flower has so many little tubers, I must have dug up hundreds and hundreds.  Probably left quite a few too.  They can be quite small.

 Planted a couple of tree peonies here too.

 And there is another tree dahlia growing quite well here too.

No sure what this plant is.  I think someone has told me, but have forgotten.  Thought it had died, as all the foliage had died off, but has come back well.  Love the way all the flowers hid underneath the leaves.  Looks good when it is fully in flower.  The thunderstorms and heavy rain of two nights ago, don't appear to have done any damage.

Jay is staying overnight with his godfather.  But missing him.  Quite worried about my son.  So think I am heading into a bout of depression.  Also my friend Joan's, son-in-law, who had cancer, passed away on Wednesday night.  So sad all around.  He was only in his early 40's and leaves two small children.  7 and 5 years old.  Life is not fair sometimes.

Sorry don't want to dampen your weekend.  Hope you and yours are all well and happy.  Lots of love, hugs and kisses.

Garden and visiting and dining out

Seems ages.  Sorry so busy these days.  Last weekend went for lunch with a friend to another winery.  We do have lots here :D.  She has a son who has drug problems too, so we can commiserate with each other.  Though we tried to not talk about things, it was such a lovely day.

 
We shared a platter.  Lovely cheeses and meats. Salmon, polish sausage, beef strips, olive etc.  Lovely.  Plus some breads and crackers.








Did us both good I think.  Tuesday went out with friends for lunch, but not worth photographing.  Not bad, but just a small diner with take-away type food.  I just had a roast pork roll.

 But after a busy day working on Wednesday, I went to my sister's for lunch with two of our cousins.  Our favourite ones.  :)   Gwynne (my Sister) loves cooking, so made this lovely chicken  and corn soup.

I took some crunchy cob loaf bread.  My favourite.  Then, although it was only lunch, which is when we normally have a small meal or snack.  She made roast beef and scalloped potatoes.  Really yummy.

Really nice cheddar cheese, chives and bits of 
bacon in it too.





The beef was tender and the gravy was nice too.











 

Then, of course, we had to have dessert.  Pavlova, with banana, passionfruit and strawberries.

 She loves cooking and is very creative, just like you.



  Not at all like me.   :)














I did take one photo in her garden.  Which I think I have show you her garden before.  This plant, which is an Asian plant,  Indogofera.  Also known as Summer Wisteria.  I think it is pretty.

This Ian, his wife Dot, Noel (his wife Bev couldn't come) and Gwynne.  We had a good time.  Great to catch up, we intend to do it more often, as Noel has cancer.  As you can see on Noel's lap, I gave them all a coat hanger. 


Anyway, have a good weekend.

Indian Ceremony

Sorry it has taken a while as I couldn't find the cable for my phone, and it was right under my nose :)

Because they grounded all flights by Qantas, I spent the morning trying to book a flight home, without success.  Finally had to get ready, and wasn't very happy with my final attempt at draping the sari, but had to go with it.  Also left if too late to take public transport so caught a taxi, which cost $26, but had a great driver.  (An Australian, which here is unusual, as in Melbourne most taxi drivers are Indian or Pakistani).  Mind you, he lived in Adelaide, and I had to tell him how to get there.  Fortunately, I knew as he didn't have a street directory.)

Not all the photos are good as not used to using the zoom and went too far sometime.  But this is the best I could find.  Hope you enjoy.

 This is the Krishna Shrine.

 The altar inside the marquee.




















This the mother and father of bride

 The bride and groom with the bride's father.

 Two of her sisters-in-law  Michelle on the left and Donna on the right.

 Her other sister-in-law Nikki.

 One of her attendants. very pretty sari this one.

Another of her attendants, although this look a bit purple, it was a beautiful royal blue.

 This was the only clear shot of the ceremony.  They were pouring water? over their hands.  Not sure of the significance.

 This is the last decent shot and shows all Bec's sisters-in-law. Namita's sari was very spectacular too, in Cherice with silver diamenties.  All also had matching bangles.

We then went to an Indian restaurant for lunch.  Didn't get any photos sorry, as dropped my phone when I got out of the car.  Didn't find it until we left..  And couldn't each much of the food as too spicy and didn't want to take the chance of my tummy being upset.

Was able to get a lift home back to the city to my motel with Bec's Uncle and Aunt. 

When I got back and changed again tried to get a flight home, but had to settle for a bus.  Couldn't stay as didn't have my medications.  Only took enough for the four days.  Won't make that mistake again.

Found a seat on a bus, which takes 10 hours.  But then it wouldn't accept my credit card. So rang my elder son and asked him to do it for me in Melbourne.  Which he was able to do.  Had plenty of time,and the motel owner was very gracious and let me use the room until I left.

The bus depot was again close to the motel so just had to walk down.  Had had MacDonalds for tea, which I don't normally eat.  But then did find they had chicken wings which were ok.  Their hamburgers are rubbish.  (In my opinion ;D )

Lots on the bus were in the same boat, having been caught by the airline dispute.   So very friendly.  Didn't sleep a wink though.   Had a couple of stops on the way back.  Got into Melbourne just after 6am.  Caught a train home.  Rang Ro and he picked me up at Ringwood.  Home and went to bed for a couple of hours after taking Jayden to school.   Different ending than expected.

Hope you are having  a great weekend.  Not missing your daughter too much.

Hugs and kisses.

The reception.

Following the ceremony, we loaded back on the bus, by this time it was raining quite hard.  Some of the men made lots of trips to the church and back to the bus with the few umbrellas we had.

Then we headed off to the Three Brothers Arms Hotel, until it was time for the reception.  Tried to take some photos of the countryside from the bus, but not very successful.

 This was about the best. and at least, shows the rain.  :)

A couple of photos of the hotel.  Couldn't get one of the inside, sorry.

 A view of the vineyards.  Called Longview winery.

Me outside.

The verandah, where we had pre-dinner drinks and hours devours. The bistro blinds made it dry and a bit warmer.   Nice weather they would be rolled up.

 This was our table.

 

 This was the bridal table.

 This was a novel way to find your seat.  All the tables were named after apple or pear varieties.

The candles were all in these English Bone china sets, a lot of which were manufactured in the town that Anit was born and his parents still live.  The mother of the bride made up the candles, after trawling through the antique stores and jumble sales.

 The menu.  Hope you can read it.

The two entrees.












Then the main course, and you could order the one you prefer. Most weddings and other function here work on a two choice, but alternating, and if you don't like what you get, you have to try and swap with someone.

 I chose the beef.

Then there was the salmon.

 Or the chicken.

Dessert was a serving of the wedding cake, which was sticky date pudding, with butterscotch sauce.
Also they came around with toffee apples, which were yummy too.

 And lastly for today, the thank you gift, which, appropriately were in test tubes, as they are both doctors. 

One containing a serving of the Turkish apple & cinnamon tea, and the other chocolate coated coffee beans.











Took other photos of the dancing, but feel this is enough to absorb in one hit.   Will do more tomorrow, on how I filled in Saturday, and then the Indian ceremony on the Sunday.
Thanks for taking the time to read all this.  :D