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Cymru am byth - launch of my blogblodwyn blog today cos I'll be in Adelaide for St David's Day on Monday:  www.blogblodwyn.blogspot.com

Signs of... Easter...

Not the Easter Eggs in the supermarket, not the Hot Cross Buns in the bakery, not even the plans for the Gang of Four to have their annual get-together but Easter Lillies.  I went to Portland for the weekend to visit the Southern Belle formerly known as Mrs History.  And there are Easter lillies all over the place between Portland and Warnnambool.  And water.  Of course, I had a fabulous weekend.  I don't have a camera but used my phone for a few pictures.

Upon arrival I was greeted by a koala bear.  Jill's (very large) garden also abounds in blue wrens and a multitude of other birdlife.  We went to whaleboat races at Warnnambool and had a perfect seafood lunch at Proudfoot's on the river.

 

Bit hard to see the whaleboats, I know, but there were 3 of them - including a crew from USA.
And here's Southern Belle at home:

 

  

  

Pretty special place eh?  And then there's another special place on the long drive home past the Grampians.

 

This is Cherrypool between Hamilton and Horsham - highly recommended for a pit-stop.

Yay Monday

Had a fabulous weekend.  Spent great time at the library on Saturday talking opal mining with members of the Wentworth Historical Society, then got myself a blind-date with a book for Valentine's Day.  It wasn't my sort of book but I've read it and learned from it - I was particularly interested in the part doodle-bugs played in London life during WW2.  My Mum and Dad have spoken about the fear when they heard the engine drone stop and knew the bomb was homing in.  It was the silence that was so sinister.
Sunday I went to the Captain Sturt pub for a ladies do to raise money for a local lady with breast cancer.  My friend Helen won some local Trentham Estate wines and kindly gave me one.  I won a vodka cruiser straw for my stirring rendition of Incey Wincy Spider - the things we do for community...
Then today - Monday!!!!! - I've been to the gym, then Varapodio Olive Estate to get some locally grown sultanas, then Isa Brown's Hens to get some free-range eggs.  UnfortunatelyI didn't have camera or work phone with me so no photos.  But I did take these a cuppla weekends ago...

 

  

Last year I took seeds from these sunflowers to grow in my garden, figured they must be drought tolerant...

Happy Valentine's Day

The beautiful Em and Hoov on the deck in Bellerive, Tasmania - humouring us as always in the lead up to George and Matt's wedding - a long, long time ago.

Happy Year of the Tiger

This is John Egge who became a riverboat captain, businessman and prominent citizen of Wentworth from the 1850s.  The National Trust under the presidency of Marg Whyte had this bronze cast as part of Wentworth's 150th celebrations last year.  He sits on the wharf at the back of our place looking downriver toward Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island.

Love and Marriage

Again, not the best photo but one I love.  As I recall, we were playing with a new camera and trying desperately to get it to snap all of us automagically.  It took us a few tries to get to this.  Perhaps not the obvious choice to wish George and Matt HAPPY ANNIVERSARY but a good choice nevertheless.  And here in Australia it is Saturday 13 February.

The road to Balranald

Last post (!!) I showed you sultanas in the making. This time it's table-grapes protected from the sun until it's picking time. This photo was taken just outside Euston, on the way to Balranald. I go to Balranald once a week for my job. Lake Benanee has been dry for about the last year but over the past 2 weeks some water has started to re-appear.
A dry lake-bed is a very sad sight (especially if you have bought a 'lakeside' property).
And here are my 'blog header' twigs as photographed today by Steve.
The river in a very different mood. It was 39C today with the promise of thunderstorms - just as it has been all week...

Monday Monday

Not quite sure what day it is in blogland. It's Tuesday here but, if I'm lucky, it may still be Monday according to this blog. I had a lovely day yesterday, including a cuppla hours work, and didn't get around to blogging. But I did take some phone photos. Steve went to Canberra on Saturday with the camera to see the Post Impressionist exhibition (Professional Development).
Anyway, here's a small record of my day. Started out with brekky in the garden - I opened the garage door so I could see out to the river.
It was very hot and humid so took dogs for a swim. Later in the afternoon I had to go into Mildura to feed the dog of a friend of mine who is away at the moment. On the way home I bought meaty bones from the Merbein Butcher (Sissi and Rose are on the Raw Meaty Bones diet - which I think is known as BARF these days ie bones and raw food), some figs from a roadside stall, some garlic from another stall and then I saw this
the first drying grapes I've seen this season. These will become your sultanas. The racks look fabulous lining the roadside.
Not bad photos given I couldn't see their image on the phone cos the sun was so bright.

Things that make you go mmmmmm

This is a very popular iced coffee / chocolate milk in these parts and you can see why I thought of it at the junction yesterday. The Darling is at the bottom of the photo and the Murray towards the top.
And here's proof that the water is flowing into the Murray downstream beneath the weir:
Rosie, unperturbed, searches for the ghost of picnics past. And so as to show no favouritism, here's a photo of Sis in our backyard taken on my work phone as an experiment.
That collapsed looking thing in the foreground to the left, is a market umbrella that I need to somehow ingeniously repair.

Happy Birthday Matt!!!!

Happy Birthday Sarah Mel!!!!!!

Happy Birthdays!!!!!

Happy Birthday Georgia!!!!! Have a wonderful day and lots of cake.
Hola. Happy birthday Spanish Rose!!! Not the best photo but I love it. It was almost like a prophecy. We were in a Spanish restaurant in St Kilda - Rosemary's last night in Australia before returning to UK. Now she lives in Espagne and has a gorgeous dog. Live the change you want to see...