Now you see them, now you don't

Yesterday was the last day of Summer down here in my little corner of the world. OK so I hear some voices out there saying "What Summer?" And they're right, this has been a really weird season but for me it was just 'luverly'. I find the heat torture and can be heard to make a thorough bore of myself with my whinging. This year has been so different and my agapanthus loved every minute of it. I've had to chop all the finished flowers off because in this area they are considered weeds and must not be permitted to spread. Even growing them is frowned upon but they're such a treat that I can't resist and take care to remove the dead flower heads before they can seed.
We took the rellies from Canada for a drive over the weekend and I was amazed to see how green the countryside is. Victoria's Summertime paddocks are usually the colour of sand, with dry grass as far as the eye can see but not so this year. I am really sad for those who suffered from the flooding that the rain caused, but so glad to see the thirsty paddocks thriving.
We are spending every moment we can with the rellies (Sister of the man of the house and her husband) as they won't be back in Oz for another three years or so and we will miss them when they leave.
Must go now. The man of the house has baked egg and bacon pie and I can't keep that waiting. Bye for now until next time.

A sigh of relief

Finished at last. I thought I'd never get through darning in those dreadful ends. Memo to self: Use a circular needle next time - far fewer ends. The sleeves look too short to me but I used the measurements found in a knitting magazine. It's a long time since I had a small person to use as a model. My beautiful grandsons are 14 and 16 now. I found a couple of marvellous knitting sites today. www.knittinghelp.com and www.knittingpatterncentral.com - free patterns, advice and videos. I'm sure I could get lost in there for a long time.
Gotta go now. I've sneaked a few minutes off from getting the woodworkers newsletter finished but it won't write itself so I'd better get back to it.
Bye for now until next time.

Unexpected visitor.

Don't ya just love it when you get this kind of e-mail from your youngest child, living far away at the other end of the country. "Look who we found in our dining room when we got up this morning." Yep, you guessed it, this python - youngest child fancifully named it Tiffanny Long.
Our girl and her husband have just moved into a bush property in Queensland and are loving every little bit of it. The python had aparently come into the house to warm up on the windowsill in the morning sun. Happily this is not a dangerous reptile (unless you're a mouse a small venomous snake or something else of that size.) They don't have fangs, their teeth being small and hooked so that they can hang on to their prey, so they're not usually eager to bite humans. This one was removed to the outdoors using a long stick under her front end and a hand to pick up the back end. She found another suitable spot to sun herself and our daughter has the comfort of knowing that Tiffany will be on the look out for the more unwelcome visitors that might happen along.
Our Canadian rellies are away for a couple of weeks doing the tourist thing and visiting friends in South Australia but we'll be seeing them again and this time I thought we'd take them to see the inner suburbs of Melbourne - vastly different from the outer suburbs.
Gotta go now as I have a newsletter to get out. Bye until next time.