Is anyone up for a chat?

Doolhof · ‎27-07-2015

Hi Everyone,

Sometimes it is great to have a place where you can just have a chat about something not related to your mental health. So here is the opportunity to have a general chat about anything and to maybe find a "friend" to help make the day feel brighter.

Occasionally I connect with people on the forums and a lovely friendship develops, but it may seem to others that they are not welcome to join in the conversation. This is not the case.

So here is an opportunity for new friendships to happen.

Maybe you would like to share your favourite holiday destination, or place you would love to visit. If you could have any animal as a pet what would it be? What is your favourite flavoured ice cream?

For me right now I would love to be somewhere warm! We have been experiencing some rather cold weather where even the chooks water is freezing over during the night! Somewhere with a beach and warm sea to swim in would be lovely!

My favourite ice cream flavour would be Jaffa in one of those crunchy cones! I would love to be eating one down at that tropical beach paradise followed by a lovely fresh coconut and maybe a beach massage as well.

I will be dreaming about this as I drive around today for work listening to Meatloaf. Maybe I should be listening to The Beach Boys instead, but I don't think I have any of their music on CD.

Hope you all have a great day,

Cheers from Mrs. Dools

Doolhof · ‎11-08-2015

Hi All,

I hope you have all had a day where you feel like you have achieved something and have been able to benefit from the ideas and advice that has been offered here in this thread regarding all sorts of themes and ideas.

It is wonderful when people get together and share their knowledge, advice and suggestions. Sometimes for one reason or another we may find it hard to do so in person, so this is a wonderful alternative and an extra way to connect.

Our weather here has gone from one extreme tot he other. I sat in the sun this morning reading and became almost sunburnt and now it is pouring with refreshing rain. I spent some time in the garden and felt like I was about to be blown away by the wind. It was so refreshing and revitalising.

Hope you all have a good week.

Cheers for now from Lauren

White_Rose · ‎11-08-2015

Hello Yggy

So much for my guess at your country of origin. My family are all in the UK as well as the friends I grew up with and went to school with. I still keep in contact although it is more spasmodic these days.

I had a huge pot that I bought many years ago and planted a Ponytail tree in it. The pot tapers in towards the bottom and the Ponytail develops a huge bulbous root so eventually the pot split down the side. I replanted the tree in the garden where it is now flourishing but I have been reluctant to throw away the pot. A friend of mine is a potter and she said she could save it. So we filled in the crack then put a hessian strip down both sides and sealed that. Now the area of the crack is painted and looks OK. However my friend tells me not to plant directly into the pot but put a plastic pot inside. So nearly at the last stage of pot repair.

I will be planting an ivy geranium in it. It was a present from a neighbour who taught me lots about gardening. That is when she stopped laughing at my first attempts. Sadly she died two years ago so I have lost my mentor.

However I have made progress on making my garden almost maintenance free. Well the front garden at least. Working on the back but I suspect it will always need work.

Have a good day folks.

Mary

Mangof · ‎13-08-2015

Hi Lauren

oh my goodness had a giggle hen I read about your pretty noxious weeds. That's something I would do too! Yes Pinterest is very good for gardening ideas art ideas actually everything you could want it's certainly worth a look. Our soil here is quite hard and like you geraniums grow differently depending on what side of the house they are. Recently at our local markets I found seeds that produced a variety of multi coloured flowers and fruit blue strawberries,rainbow roses,black tomatoes and rainbow coloured cherry tomatoes

ill try the cherry tomatoes see how they taste all genetically modified no doubt but great for children to see.

stay happy everyone 🙂

BKYTH · ‎13-08-2015

Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' is a treasure. I never tire of it. The Baroque period produced some of the most glorious music ever written. I am not inclined to a belief in God but when I listen to the music of J.S.Bach I sense the divine, an ineffable feeling of timelessness that I bath in and imagine 'such things'. All this talk of gardening reminds me of all the gardens I have built over the years but have had to leave behind - When my Mother was alive we lived in the Blue Mountains and because of the amount of land available I built different types of gardens in certain areas. In one area I built a Japanese garden with plants appropriate for such a garden. I focused on leaf shape and different textures of green. Azaleas are a very good option combined with Dwarf Bamboo and various small Maple trees. The feature plant was a weeping Japanese Maple which I had to buy when still very young as the larger ones were very expensive. It was brilliantly purple in winter but modest enough to not overly attract the eye as plants in such gardens should not do - Unfortunately its Botanical name was unashamedly immodest. It was 'Acer Palmatam Dissectum Atropurpureum'. Quite a mouthful. Fatsia Japonica was another plant that is well suited for a Japanese garden. I can't remember the names now of other plants that I used. Other parts of the land I used for other types of gardens. Philip.

BKYTH · ‎13-08-2015

Yes it has a rather ceremonial aspect to it. I haven't been to the kind of ceremony that you mention although that is something that I would like to do. I make many types of masalas to use in cooking as well as Chai and really enjoy the experience. I've been in Nambucca Heads now for about 2 years and find getting most of the spices I need impossible. Before moving here I lived in Liverpool in Sydney which has the largest number of Indian migrants there than in any other part of Australia and there were many Indian markets there where you could buy every spice that you would ever require - I was spoiled but that is not the case now so perhaps I may be able to access them through mail order in the future. I've seen coffee served the way you mention on TV but not personally. It must be something to witness. What a great teapot you bought. Now that is the way to serve tea. Philip.

Mangof · ‎14-08-2015

Hi Mary,

interesting about your pot mine has done the same except I don't have a friend the is a potter.

when we returned to Australia a few years ago we chose to live rural which I just love however I'd forgotten where I was and knelt down to weed our flower bed lost in the task at hand to find the clump I just removed had a baby brown snake under it oh my goodness scared the living daylight out of me! Let's just say I won on the day and that piece of the garden wasn't touched for over a year.

I love this country but it has taken a while to adapt to all the living creatures and re adapt my gardening skills.

stay happy 🙂

Doolhof · ‎14-08-2015

Hi Mangof and Everyone,

Oh yes. The snake in the garden! I grew up in a small country town where we had tiger snakes in the wood heap and we had a wood stove!

As a child I liked to look for lizards and other creatures and would often come across snakes. How I was never bitten I don't know. I think my guardian angel was working hard on keeping me safe! I also had a collection of red-backed spiders that I showed Mum. She belted the living daylights out of me when I showed them to her, all lined up in her jam jars!

Once again we are living in the country. We had been in the house three weeks and had three brown snakes come and visit us! We had a few scorpions inside as well! I'm pleased to say these creatures have not been around for the last two years.

My morning client has cancelled so I am hoping to do some weeding later on this morning if it is not raining too much.

Wishing you all a lovely day.

Cheers, from Lauren.

White_Rose · ‎14-08-2015

Hello Everyone

Snakes in the house! They terrify me and I have had more snakes inside than I ever wanted. Even the cat brought one inside. I disturbed a green tree snake in a bush while I was weeding a couple of months ago. It may well be harmless but it did nasty things to my peace of mind.

I really love living in Australia and would not return to the UK for anything. If only all the snakes would emigrate to somewhere I am not, it would be perfect. I am fortunate to be able to walk to the seafront in five minutes and still feel I am away from the city, even though I live on a small block.

Do any of you folk have pets? I have had pets all my life, usually cats and dogs. I have lived in my current home for 15 years without a pet, except goldfish, although I have been 'gonna get a dog' for a long time. Do you think you can be too old for pets?

Mary

Guest_2350 · ‎15-08-2015

Good morning All,

Lauren, have you investigated in using your time in the car? I have months of listening to audio books and often used the time to learn new skills. Lately I have problems to concentrate, so I tried my poems a couple of times, but have not even started the Italian course.

Philip, I checked online, and am amazed how much has been translated. It is different, similar to translations from English into German, but at least you can see the beauty and depth of German poetry.

My Bob Hope Camellia has just gone into flower, I love the deep red.

Lauren, Holland is a great little country, but very different to Switzerland as you mentioned. Are you planning another trip to Holland? Holland is very flat and Switzerland is all about the Alpes. I miss the Alpes. I also miss my family and friends, but I made a choice to live here and I am making new friends here.

Mary, people often get my country of origin wrong, as I have lived in many places and my husband is from the UK – so I have adapted. I had to look up what a ponytail tree is – wow that is amazing, I love trees! Recently I made a little planter with bonsai trees, so I can bring the forest to a room. I also have many different types of geranium.

Philip, I love the idea of a Japanese garden, it is amazing to create spaces around the house that have such a different feeling, we also have different little feature gardens at home and it feels like a little holiday chosing where to spend a couple of hours .

Creepy crawlies and snakes still make me alert, but I have learnt to spot the poisonous. Before I came to Oz I was told to check under the toilet seat for spiders - I did this for a year or so until I saw my first outback toilet - then I understood, that in my city home the likelyhood of having a redback under the toilet seat, was not really that high. Still makes me laugh, when I think about the things that spooked me when we first got here.

Mary, I don't think you can ever be too old for a pet - just consider if your pet may outlive you, like a large parrot, and make sure to have someone to look after them later in life. Recently my friend took over her grandma's Galah and I think this is important for the pet.

Have a lovely weekend!

Doolhof · ‎15-08-2015

Hi Mary,

I don't think you can be too old for pets unless you are unable to look after and provide for them.

For many years I have wanted a dog, but my husband does not like dogs at all and curses the neighbours dogs all of the time.

We do have a cat, chickens, goldfish, canaries and have "borrowed" 14 sheep to eat the 2 1/2 acres of grass at the back of the house. I like to go down and watch the sheep and am hoping they will recognise I am not a threat to them.

I care for the elderly in their home. One lady is 88 and she has tropical fish and a couple of tree frogs. She would also like to have another canary. She feeds live crickets to her frogs which I help her to purchase on a regular basis.

You are supposed to put the crickets in the fridge for a short period of time so they become more docile to handle before putting them into the frog enclosure. Sometimes she has a little problem with this and I find crickets all through her house! Ha. Ha.

I have dear friends in Holland who have said they will not come to Australia because of all our dangerous creatures! They must think we are infested by them like some people think we have kangaroos hopping down the main street of every town and city! Ha. Ha.

A lady I know has pet snakes. My nieces discovered a tiger snake in their stove one day when they wanted to do some cooking when their parents were not home! Somehow they managed to turn the stove off then went to a neighbours for some help and advice on what to do next! They never did see where the snake went!

Wildlife. Don't you just love it!

Cheers from Lauren