General Chat

I arrived much too late to join in the conversation, so I have taken an hour to read from yesterday's posts. Yes! an hour! I think that GR must do maintenance after UK midnight, which is logical, I suppose, because that would be the quietest time on the threads. The response is painfully slow.
I heard about the quake on our Sydney news. Sometimes, people don't know they are living on dangerous ground. We have little quakes, but out in the densest bush where nobody lives. However, we did have one which struck Newcastle here about twenty years ago. Some people were killed and there was much damage to buildings and homes - mostly to brick- or rock walls. Nobody seemed to know that this was possible. On the day it happened, I was at work sitting in front o my computer and the keyboard seemed to rise up and go down again. I sat there wondering if 'something' was happening to me, but then the phones all started ringing. It was our Newcastle branch to tell us their computer was down and it was controlled by our branch (HO). When we learned that it was an earthquake, nobody believed it because it never happened beford. Newcastle is approx 100 kms north of Sydney.
Bougainvillae grows profusely here in Sydney. I had it in a garden of its own years ago, but I had to keep cutting it back, and when I decided to get rid of it, my OH uttered a few choice words as he dug deep to get it out. Even with gloves and long sleeves, he still suffered from the thorns. It's very invasive - but also very beautiful when in full flower.

Hello all,

I'm ok, thanks for all your concern:-)

We've had lots of rain, the pools nearly overflowing! Its very windy but that's normal in these parts and we're used to it.

I feel so sorry for those affected from the earth quake in New Zealand, thank goodness Persey you are safe. xx

Sue, I'm listening to Jeff Buckley, I bought his CD this morning "So Real" if you get a chance listen to "Forget Her" if you haven't heard it already, I think you will like it:-)) He's pure genius, shame he's not still around!!

Linda, Enjoy your holiday, I hope you both have a lovely time xx

Tec, Ive made my daughter a chocolate cake for her birthday today and haven't forgotten the candles, don't know if 17 candles will fit on the cake. thanks for the hugs xx

Where's Allan? Happy wedding anniversary for tomorrow for you and OH, hope you both have a lovely day.

Carole xx

The earthquake has well and truly made a mess - I amazed how no one was killed. Most were in their beds - some were dragged from theirs and one woman just missed getting hurt when someone dragged her out before the she ended up in the rubble along with her bed. Another young lad was asleep upstairs in his family brick home (it has been in the family since new in the 1880s) - there is no upstairs now and the new plasma TV they installed earlier in the evening is obliterated.
We are having extra news coverage of it all tonight. The quake went on for a long time and they will probably have tremors for several more days yet but tonight they are down to have 120kph winds in Canterbury - so some of that debris and power lines and trees will get blown everywhere.

They said that where the Australian Plate and Pacific Plate comes together there is a normal movement of 40mm and the quake registered a movement of about 5 metres.

Happy birhday to your seventeen year old Carole. Hope she has plenty of puff to blow out that many.

For my friend's 70th they got a 7 and a 0 candles. I was putting them on the cake - & put them around the other way and asked for the other 0 - to make her 007. She is one of a family of eleven - they are all living and they told some stories about her. Gosh she was a handful as a teenager.

Weather can certainly play havoc... sometimes wonder if there is anywhere safe to live.

Persey

Hello all,
I haven't seen the pictures yet but heard about the NZ quake this morning. As Perse said, Christchurch is a beautiful little city; stunning location and not too big. Sadly, in the south island of NZ west coast, opposite side to Christchurch a light plane crash has killed about nine people. Apparently it happened as the plane was taking off from Fox Glacier airport.

Coincidentally, the ABC Science Show today had a segment on volcanoes, specifically Rangitoto which is not far from Auckland in Hauraki Gulf. The scientist said that there were about 50 in the Auckland area. They are basalt volcanoes so not horribly dangerous, but Auckland has an emergency plan to act on, if there are warning signs (they think they would get a couple of days warning ...). The volcanoes include Mt Mangere, One Tree Hill, Three Kings and Mt Eden. Gosh- I've been up on a couple of those and didn't know they were volcanoes.
For us Aussies, NZ is known as the shaky isles, but we get them here, too. About 40 years ago one woke me up. Later that morning I asked a kiwi working with us whether she noticed it. No. But then, I didn't feel the Newcastle earthquake. I happened just as I was on the wharf or getting on a ferry. Denise felt it though-- her chair rocketed backwards across the room. It was about 150 km north of here.
Actually it wasn't a big one, and most of the deaths were in the one building, which collapsed.
Have been working today and gopt very muddy, so about to have a hot shower before thinking about dinner. Lamb chops, I think.
Sounds good to me anyway.
Colin

PS / edit- Victoria and South Australia seem to be getting some wild wather, to. Good to hear from you Carole. We had someone from Adelaide a while back, not sure if she is still contributing. The worst seems to be north and west of the city.
Colin

Hello everyone,
I haven't been on here a while.I'm sorry. anyway I'm back now!
Last week end i was in Germany for my niece's wedding. I was in aplace called Karlstadt which is about an hour and half 's train journey from Frankfurt.
I haven't seen the pictures of the earthquake in N.Z but luckily nobody was killed.
Pat x

Hi Patricia, good to see you. Now I must be off for that shower.
Colin

Hello Pat - as Colin said, it is good to see you here. I have wondered where you had got too, and assumed you must have found a very good book lol. Hope you enjoyed the wedding in Germany.

Carole I'm pleased to know that you survived the bad weather with no apparent damage. Hope your daughter enjoyed her birthday, and dinner out with the family. I expect she is quite the grown up young lady now, though will always be mums little girl to you. My grand daughter was recently 16 and just started sixth form. She gave up the visits to the stables and horse riding while studying for her exams, but now that's over I expect she will be back there again as often as she can.

Colin - lamb chops for dinner! I would rather have that then anything really, but they are very expensive here now. Ironic seeing as we're surrounded by thousands of sheep here - in fact I can hear them on the mountain as I type. I think the farmers have been chasing them again. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your dinner.

Perse, I saw pictures of the earthquake on the BBC News channel. I am amazed given the extent of the damage that more people were not injured, or worse. Sorry to hear of the plane crash too, seems South Island suffered a double catastrophe in one day.
We Poms are famous for grumbling about our weather, it's a national pastime, but we never get anything so severe as earthquakes or volcanoes. The occassional little tremor, but nothing serious.

Berona I laughed at your description of your OH digging up the bourgainvilia. We struggle to grow them in a pot, they definately won't survive our winter outside. I have one in a pot that I've nurtured for a few years, but it didn't flower this year. Only have to look at them the wrong way and they sulk.

Catch up with you all later hopefully.

Tec.

Hi Tec,
Yes the wedding in Germany was good. It was a bi-lingual ceremony.I don't speak a word of German. i can speak a few words of Spanish and French. German is a hard language to speak.
i can't remember the last time I had lamb chops!
i watched a clip about the earthqauke and I thought it was strange when I heard a lady saw this was the worst earthquake she'd seen. I've never been in one.
Pat x

Hi Pat,

The bi-lingual wedding service must have been a bit confusing for you, but I expect you managed to follow the proceedings. I agree German is a difficult language.
As for the lady saying it was the worse earthquake she had ever seen, well even in an earthquake prone region you would be unlucky to witness one, but more than one would be very unlucky. I think I would be terrified.

Tec.

Hello Tec - hope you've had a good day.

Pat - it's lovely to see you again. Persey said in an earlier post that you have both been reading the 3rd book in the Stieg Larsson trilogy. I really loved the 3 books - what a shame there won't be more.

I'm up early again this morning woken by strong winds. I hate wind more than rain or thunderstorms. It isn't quite light enough to inspect any damage except on the front verandah. Nothing damaged there because OH took down the hanging baskets and moved anything that looked to be in danger. We'll do an inspection later when it's lighter. At least we don't have the rain that Carole has had.

S x

Good Morning Sue,

Had a good day thank you - didn't do much, just fidgeted about doing odd things - had a heavy shower this afternoon, but apart from that it was another nice day. My daughter, SIL, and grand daughter have gone off to a pop concert in Manchester tonight - to see a group called the Mews, I've never heard of them, but then they've never heard of Billy Fury lol.

You're certainly having some rough weather there - is it winters last fling?
My OH hates the wind more than anything, it really seems to bother her at night, and she doesn't sleep if we have a storm. I actually find it quite soothing, and it sends me off to sleep. Must be something to do with being at sea, and used to the sound of the wind.
I have noticed cats go a bit weird when it's windy too.

Sue - Before I forget again, how is the childrens puppy doing?

Tec.

Hello Tec. Apparently teachers don't like the wind as it makes the children fidgetty and irritable. That's how I feel. I've just been outside and it's horrible. A plant under the back pergola has fallen over and the rim of the pot is chipped. Annoying as the pot is an old terracotta pot I bought at a garage sale. There are a lot of trees in our area so I expect there will be branches everywhere.

It's a shame the wind is so bad as today is Fathers' Day and there is a street fair in our town. Over the years it has become a big affair but I don't know if it will be called off today.

S x

Just saw your post about the puppy. She's growing at an alarming rate - all legs at the moment. Her colouring is beautiful. She's very clever and has picked up simple commands very easily and walks very well with a leash. It's very funny to hear 4 y.o. Joel call out "Bewwa (Bella) get down" whenever she jumps up at them. I'll get a couple of photos and send them to you.

S x

Happy Fathers Day to Mr Sue, Hope he enjoys his day.
And a big Welsh cwtch for you, as I know your thoughts will elsewhere.

What a shame the old pot is chipped. I had some very old terracotta pots, but the prolonged severe frosts of last winter cracked most of them. The new ones you can buy are just not the same. I wish now I had emptied the old pots for the winter.

Tec.

Glad Bella is turning out ok - it's great for the children to have a dog, and to learn how to look after it. I have had so much pleasure from owning dogs. My dog and I are inseparable, if I move, he moves. He is really showing his age now and can no longer jump in and out of the car, he's a bit deaf, and doesn't see as well as he did, but he's very well cared for.

Tec.

I will pass on your greeting Tec - and thank you for thinking of me. Yes my thoughts are elsewhere.

You're right about new pots. The old ones I have are slightly irregular and nicely decorated but the new ones are obviously mass produced. I'm always looking out for old pots at markets. What a shame you lost your pots last winter. Do you have to bring in many plants during the cold weather?

I'm sure your dog is very well cared for and much loved. I hate seeing the signs of old age in our little dog. She's just had a series of injections for arthritis that have put a bit of bounce back into her. They are such wonderful companions and love us unconditionally. I can never understand anyone hurting an animal.

S x

What annoyed me about the old pots was thinking how many years they must have overwintered outside, then to be ruined in just one winter. Mind you last winter was something else, even here on the coast where it's supposed to be mild.

No I don't have to bring much in really - just that bourganvilia we spoke of. Everything else seems to cope if I put them in sheltered places.

Tec.

We don't have to worry too much about frost here. Maybe a few times in winter when the windscreens are icy but that's not often. The plants don't seem to suffer. You certainly had a bad winter.

I'm watching the news and Christchurch appear to be suffering aftershocks that must be making the residents very nervous.

S x

Yes Sue the aftershocks must be very un-nerving - I wouldn't like that at all. I hope there's no more damage, or people hurt.

I expect Linda is dipping her toes in the Adriatic now - well I don't suppose she is, as it's dark there now - she's probably in bed after her flight.

Tec.