More tropical stuff:

I don't know what this is (anyone?), but it was really pretty.

the flowers (or clumps of tiny flowers) are about the size of my hand.

Coconut tree (obviously!)

Avocado seeds.

Which I would really like to turn into a tree.

Can anybody tell me how I do that (I'm guessing there may be more to it than just dirt and water to get them started)?

A masterpiece

Created by my beautiful neice, Shay. With assistance from my other beautiful neice, Zoe (who drew the hearts for Shay to paint, I am told). I have a room in my house that is rapidly (though unintentionally) becoming my purple room. But that's okay, it's my favourite colour. Shay was so clever to know that!!

I'm off now to go to dinner. Friends and I have decided to work through the alphabet of all the restaurants in town. Each letter represents a country. Sort of. Tonight is the first night - A for Africa. Now, I'm a little sceptical. Last time I was in Africa (in 1999), it appeared to be a continent of quite some size, with many different influences (not to mention being made up of dozens of countries). I don't expect it has changed greatly. So to incorporate all of these influences into one restaurant (and, let's face it: one restaurant in Townsville) should be interesting. However, I don't think there is an Austrian, Albanian, Algerian, Angolan or Afghani restaurant here - I ran out of countries starting with A off the top of my head. Oh, there is Antarctica - that's as much of a country as Africa is, though I don't really fancy penguin or krill tonight. We could go Asian (but would that mean we'd have to miss out on Thai? Coz I'm NOT doing that! We could do American - there's a McDonalds on every other corner... I'll let you know how it goes.

Smell the flowers

One gorgeous aspect of the tropics: frangipanis. Their smell is as amazing as their appearance. and they're everywhere right now. In all colours (well, ranging from white to burgundy to orange and every shade in between).

Ahhh, Queensland...

Sunrise over Ross River:

These pictures were taken while testing out the camera on the weekend. Mum, please note that I have never seen either a crocodile (thankfully) or a dugong (unfortunately) anywhere near this river - a five minute walk from my house. However, I have seen stingers (deadly box jellyfish) in the river, and that's reason enough not to go in the water in summer!

Slowly, slowly

Well, Blogger seems to want to take eight years to upload an image and I have better things to do than wait for it, so I guess the images will be posted gradually. This is more experimenting. One day soon I should read the instruction manual. Don't know what kind of plant this is, but it's in my backyard and seems to be growing everywhere. I'm sure I planted a few of them - but now there are many. Not that I'm complaining. Some parts of the garden I can't walk for plants, and other parts won't sustain anything for longer than a week. This is strange, as my garden is only slightly bigger than a coffin....

Well, look at this - the other image has just loaded. This is the baby quilt I just finished for a friend. The size, pattern and quilt design is all from my head, though I guess it measures about 1m by 1.5m. The baby isn't due until April, so I have time to make a new one because I don't like this one too much. Especially if the baby turns out to be a boy!! I think it's just the border I'm not that keen on. Again, it's machine pieced and hand quilted - which is such an insane thing to do when it's so hot. I would truly recommend machine quilting... if I actually knew how to do it!

Guess what arrived in the mail...

No, not a sunbird!! My new toy!! And to show it off, here is the fifth photo taken from THE NEW CAMERA!!! But it's the first I've uploaded to the blog. The sunbird (slightly bigger than a hummingbird) here seems to be appreciating my hedgetrimming near the front door (I'm glad something does, because I'm sure no human ever would). I think he and his mate are scoping out new nesting sites. I hope so, anyway. They're so much nicer than the noisy, ugly and very invasive Indian mynah birds that are taking over the tropics. Okay, I did crop the picture a little - the joy of the digital age....

I received the camera today at work (yay, eBay didn't screw me around!!) and then left work early - I wasn't doing anything productive and I just wanted to go home and play with the new toy. Ah, bloggers beware: there'll be so much more on this site (until I get bored with it, that is).

Quick update...

Still haven't heard about job #2 (permanent). Have signed up for job #1 (temporary for 4 years) in the meantime.

Quilts are coming along (baby quilt, that is). Michelle, yours will be done before you need it (next winter...).

Bought plants for the garden. Then scalded lisianthus and tomatoes by watering them too late. Basil and parsley, however, adore their new home. Did the dodgiest hedge trimming job on the hedge near the front door. I now have a pile of sticks growing there. Well, it was 6am when I attempted it.

My travel experiences have finally paid off - was asked to give a work colleagues' daughter travel tips. She seemed grateful and I think I told her a heap of things she'd never even considered. Maybe I should write a book. (Like that would ever get finished-!!)

Can't wait for next week... hopefully you'll soon see why.

A winner!!

Image taken from http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=321539&clid=&channel=&title=Diva+dashes+to+third+Cup+win (is not my own!!)

Guess who placed a bet on Makybe Diva in the Melbourne Cup?? Apart from the 10 million other people. Yes, it was I. And, though relatively meagre, I came home with more money on me, and alcohol in me, than when I left home this morning. I had no faith that she'd win the race, but thought that if she did smash a Melbourne Cup record (three straight wins in three straight years, plus carrying more weight than a mare has ever won with, AND being fairly old: read that as odds against the Diva) then I wanted to be a part of it. Reading back on that, it sounds like I may know some stuff about the horses, but I'm just repeating what a work colleague (a horse and dog racing fanatic) explained to me. The once a year gamble is always a joy - dress up, eat great food and drink copious amounts of champagne, pause for about five minutes to watch a race that I can make no sense of (a bunch of little men on horses running around a track, all looking the same, with another little man screaming about which horse is coming where, and that isn't audible over the screams of all the people around you who seem to think that the louder they shout (in Townsville), the better chance the horse will have of telepathically interpreting said screams (in Melbourne) and decide that instead of the Sunday stroll they seem to be taking, this is a race that they must WIN and then move faster; and then at the end of the race, everyone says simultaneously, "who won?"). Anyway, back to work tomorrow. So I have about 13 hours to sober up!! Anyone care to give me a foot massage??