Bowral Tulip Festival 2011

I have just returned from my trip to Bowral in the Southern Highlands of NSW for their annual Tulip Festival which is held the end of September and early October.  It is Spring in Australia and the gardens are starting to look very pretty.

I went this time with my mother and sisters for a girls long weekend and we really enjoyed it in spite of the weather which ranged from raining to overcast to a few sunny periods.  Luckily we decided to go to the main garden, Corbett Gardens in the afternoon that we arrived and enjoyed the time there amongst the tulips.

We were fortunate we did as it rained on and off all the next day.  We spent the time talking and catching up though so we still enjoyed ourselves.  We stayed at a B & B and as one of the rooms was very large so we hung out there most of the time.  They also had a lovely common lounge room with a fire burning which was very inviting but we decided we were a bit loud for the other guests and had more privacy to talk in our own room.  You can see my review of the B & B called Strathbourn House (coming soon).

My Mum & Sisters (I am on the right)

We still got out and around the town the day it rained but it was more difficult for my elderly mother with her walking frame so we limited ourselves a bit and so we took her back to our accommodation for a rest and explored the town again ourselves.  We bought some lovely earings at one of the boutique type shops in Bowral.

The tulips were good this year but many had already flowered and after the rain a lot were damaged.  There were beds of tulips though that were just glorious and some were very big.  Overall they were a lovely display.  The only negative really was the admission fee of $8 which I thought was a bit much for a public garden that size.  I realize though that tulips are expensive but they do sell the bulbs off afterwards so that should recoup some money and the area does great business during the festival. Anyway that is my own whinge of the day.

We had a lovely time at the Bowral Tulip Festival this year but we would have had a great time anyway because we were all together to spend some quality time with each other which we did.  I treasure all the time I can get with my mother now as she will be 88 this Christmas time.

If you haven't experienced a Tulip Festival wherever you live then you must go next Spring.....you will love it.

The Melbourne Cup

Today is the running of the Melbourne Cup and most people in Australia will stop to watch the race which is held at 3 pm.  The Melbourne Cup is run on the first Tuesday of November.  Today as I was not working I took the opportunity to go to a luncheon with my partner and watch the Melbourne Cup.  People get dressed up at these functions and so I wore a hat.

Many people get dressed up even when at work by wearing a hat while watching the Cup being run and most businesses will allow people to stop work to watch it.  Some companies even have lunches or snacks so it becomes a fun activity for their staff.  In Victoria it is a public holiday but in other states we work, but stop for the race.

For a few years we would go to Melbourne the Saturday before the Cup was run on a day called Derby Day and I enjoyed that even more than the Melbourne Cup itself.  Here is a photo of me dressed up for the day. One year I would wear a hat and the next I would wear a fascinator.   It was a fun day at the races and I always enjoyed it whatever the weather was like.  This year the Cup was won by Americain watched by 120,000 people at the racecourse.

Another picture of my garden now its full into Spring

I really love Spring and its now much warmer during the day here in Australia while the nights are still a bit cool
 My garden has come to life and I have the most beautiful pink Azalea flowering at the moment that I would love to share with you. My orchids are still out but finishing now. 
Getting outside into the sunshine really lifts your spirits and I am so glad it is Spring here now.

Orchids in late Winter

I have some lovely native orchids out in bloom at the moment in my garden and I thought I would share one of my photos with you. Hope you like it.

 I hope to have some more lovely photos from my garden now that we (Australia) are approaching Spring.
All the best to you and your family from me and mine.

Happy St Patrick's Day

Image by Loci Lenar via Flickr

I wasn't born in Ireland but neither was St Patrick.  He was Romano-British and was captured by the Irish and taken as a slave for many years.  After escaping he returned to Britain where he entered the Church and as a Bishop returned to Ireland.

I am from Irish ancestry like many Australians are.  My great grandmother Bridget and her sister Catherine came to Australia from County Clare in Ireland and married my Great Grandfather Patrick (who was also Irish) in Brisbane in the late 1800s.  He was a Railway Fettler by trade. They had my Grandmother, Mary and she had my mother Eileen, all very Irish names.

Today in Australia many celebrate St Patrick's Day by wearing something green or a green ribbon.  It isn't a public holiday but the hotels/pubs serve Guinness and sometimes green beer and many restaurants serve an Irish lunch.  There is a street parade but for some reason it isn't held on the actual day.  We had green cupcakes for morning tea today at work to get into the mood of the day.

I will wish you "top of the morning" and hope you have a nice St Patrick's Day today.

Australia Day 1010

On Australia Day, Tuesday 26 January, a public holiday, many people have a tradition of the good old Aussie BBQ or as we call it a barbie.  We love this tradition so we invited the family around and fired up the barbie for a relaxing lunch. 

It is mid summer in Australia and today the temperature was around 30C (86F).  It was a perfect day though to sit outside and enjoy the garden, the company of family and have a nice BBQ lunch. We cooked lamb chops, sausages and onions on the BBQ and had assorted salads and herb bread.  I also made Anzac biscuits to have with coffee.

It was a great day, and we celebrated it the way we wanted, but many communities started with breakfast in parks all over Australia today.  There are many activities on all over Australia, for example there will be a concert in the Domain and Fireworks at Darling Harbour in Sydney tonight.  There is nothing like a fireworks spectacular over beautiful Sydney Harbour.

We celebrate today the landing of the First Fleet by Captain Arthur Philip although aboriginal communities have lived in this land for over 50,000 years.  People from all lands have come here to start a new life and today we also celebrate Australia as a great place to live and our pride in being Australian.

Please see video below which has lovely images of Australia and the song "We are Australian" explains perfectly what it is to be Australian.

My summer garden

It is summer in Australia and the garden is looking lovely with all the flowers.  I thought I might share some of the pics with you especially those who need a little color and light in their wintery, snowy lives. 

My partner has been working in the garden and has planted many pots of flowers as well as herbs this year.  Gardening is his hobby now he has retired, and the garden is thanking him for it. It really is a pleasure to sit out there now and we even bought ourselves a large umbrella so we can spend more time out there in the middle of the day.

We tend to spend more time in the garden now and enjoy having a BBQ on the weekends when we really can enjoy it and eating out of doors. My grandchildren love to go out and look and smell the herbs and pick flowers to take home to their mother.

The garden is a lovely place to retreat to, just sitting under a tree to read or just relax.  I hope you like my summer garden.  The only thing missing are some fruit trees especially a lemon tree and I will try and plant one this year.  The front garden is a disaster so that is due for a makeover before winter.

I work to travel

Image by Daniele Sartori via Flickr

I love traveling and I will continue to travel as long as I have the money so I keep working. I try and have a vacation at least once a year even if it is a few days away only. This year my partner and I have been to Townsville in northern Queensland for a weekend and three days to Merimbula which is on the south coast of NSW, Australia.

In November though we are going to the Cook Islands for over a week and I am getting very excited. We haven't been there before and I love warm climate holidays. We plan on doing a lot of snorkeling and swimming and generally relaxing on this vacation. The Cook Islands are Polynesian and it has to be the best kept secret of the South Pacific.

There are no high rise hotels, it's a real unspoilt group of islands, and we are staying in Rarotonga at the Muri Beach Club Hotel which is an adult only boutique hotel. This should be a real experience for us and no risk of being knocked down by kids at this resort.

Diving, snorkeling, swimming, fishing, kayaking and other water sports are the main activities to do there besides sightseeing. We are going to take advantage of this relaxing time to unwind and relax before the Christmas preparations get underway when we get home.

I am now counting down the time when I can sit by the pool or the ocean with a marguerita in my hand and my feet in the water.

Gallahs at the workplace

Hey, I'm not calling anyone a Galah, especially the people I work with, and in Australia that would mean I would be calling them a fool. I referring to the Australian parrots that are called Galahs.

I saw them around work eating the grass seed so I thought I would take some pics of them as I had my camera with me that day. They are lovely birds even if they do eat everything including any wood on your house and verandah. Not quite as special as a Kookaburra or a Rosella but they are nice looking birds all the same.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.