[matina]

Bluey lol
Sherly no fair you should tell the newbie make her feel welcome give her an insight to all our antics.
Pj nice pics
Diva i live the first sharkicorn
Ada i do i do will visit links later I'm out for lunch and on mobile.
Nonny come back tell us about sharky losing his bet. Hmmm merry60 might help us out
Have a good day all

[pjmpjm]

Good morning, matina and Katy and Alessa and Star . . . Sunday in the eastern hemisphere and a bright and sunny day up here in the Blue Mountains.

Katy, yes, all the famous gardens are now opening and soon it will be time for the annual Leura Garden Festival. They're doing it differently this year . . . two long weekends instead of about ten days non-stop. I usually visit one or two of them, especially new gardens I haven't seen before. I love the ones situated right on the cliffs . . .

matina, Rishi's corneal eye graft is looking better and better. She opens her right eye all the way now, and I'm very hopeful that the graft will clear more and not be noticeable in the future. But whatever . . . she's using both eyes and I'm very happy.

Alessa and Star . . . have a great Sunday!

br bear and Ice and Stretton . . . I know you're counting the days until winter arrives . . . sorry!

Hi to Diva and John too.



Am still experimenting with my new iPhone camera, to get the best shots . . . above is maximum zoom . . .

[matina]

PJ awesome pic its like you are right in front of him a we all know how skittish they are although by now you have probably trained them
just got home it is a nice day but getting warm for me in the sun 19 degrees and the sun car felt like it was 27degrees had the air conditioner on the way home
time for nana nap

[johngriffen]

Evening or whatever All...
It's been a busy day
My daughter flew in from Guam unexpectedly... She did some damage to her ankle, and had to fly back to the states for treatment.
There was no way her company wanted her to have surgery in Guam. So while it sucks, it is nice to have her home for a few weeks since we though we wouldn't be seeing her again until sometime next year.

I've missed so much...
It looks like Ada has picked up the Kilt Porn duty from me... NICE!
But where were the women in kilts

Pj... Congrats on the Yankees. Mission Accomplished, get to the big dance.
If you aren't in the Play Offs, you can't win the play offs
The Cubs won today, and the Brewers lost, so we still have a 2 and half game lead... keeping the fingers crossed.
And you are having way to much fun with your new phone

Blue... CLASSIC

Hi Katy... I think some coffee and sweets are needed. My daughter is still on Guam time and is still wide awake. Maybe a few more glasses of wine will solve that "problem"

WD... I like the non cute version better

sherlockx... oh well, we will just have to find another way to get at the truth

Alessa... enjoy Mid-Autumn Festival and a "little" moon cake

Star... I've been enjoying the weekend so far since my daughter is home. I just wish it was under better circumstances
I Hope you are enjoying yours.

And Hello to all the other regulars/lurkers/newbies
At least one newbie has stuck around so far

Oh, and the bar is open

[kathlyn]

Hey john oh how lovely to have your daughter home tho I'm sorry she's hurt spoil her as I know you will so let's have coffee and some creamy goodness ,you may have to add the wine Take care . Matina coffees on made it home in one piece enjoy all



Hi alessa how are you, Star hope your well too
Pj I'm hoping my neighbor took some photos of the gardens she visited , the cockatoo is amazing you can almost touch it's feathers I love seeing them up close I'm signing off for the day have a goodnight all

[sr55]

John, I wish your daughter a speedy recovery! For her health, but not for her visit with you.

Matina, Katy, PJ, I hope you all have a lovely Sunday evening.

[pjmpjm]

A magpie closeup for those interested in birds. I've now learned to tell them apart from currawongs, but at a distance, they're rather similar.

John, that's a long flight to get medical treatment, but I'm glad to hear that you're seeing your daughter. It's 16,500 kilometres (about 10,250 miles) from my house to my brother's house in Maine. The last trip took me about 30-35 hours each way, with stopovers, etc. Hope your daughter brought lots of reading material . . . although planes these days supply lots of electronic entertainment, I guess. (I recall writing to you last year, while flying just north of Chicago.)

matina, I was out in the back garden this afternoon, sprinkling my usual organic fertiliser. Then I swept and washed the front driveway. After 3 pm it started getting rather cool, and we're supposed to get rain tonight.

Hi to Katy and Star . . . I'll keep the pictures coming.

Down to 9 degrees up here in the mountains now . . . after a warm morning and early afternoon.



Another version of this photo . . . without zoom . . .

[johngriffen]

Gee... the "without zoom" version looks more like the "with zoom" version

My daughter got lucky on her flight from Japan direct to Chicago... when they saw her on crutches, they upgraded her to business class at no charge. She slept most of the flight

You really do get nice detail with that phone. The Colors are pretty bright and natural as well...

Star... hopefully things will go good with WHATEVER they decide to do to her ankle
Either way, it's nice to have her at home, even if it's only for a week or two

Katy, thanks for the sweets, and while I'm probably too late...

[matina]

JG I'm so sad to hear about you daughter I hope she recovers soon. but I know she will be spoiled by you and her mum. at the very least pain relief will be good all the scotch she wants at dad's bar. lol;-) all jokes aside wishing her a speedy recovery.
Kat nice sweets
pj nice pics
time for this wolf to go night night see you tomorrow. god bless you all

[sr55]

John, I hope it goes well for her, too.
PJ, I might have missed it, but what phone did you get? I'm going to call vodafone and finally (hopefully finally!) upgrade my phone.
Matina, I hope you had a good weekend, and are keeping well.

Hello to everyone else, also! ♥

[matina]

goodmorning all
how is everyone? i am off tot he drs again today at 12 this cough goes comes back and it is really getting to me. hoping it doesn't become bronchitis.
whatever your up to be safe take care and god bless
hi star you sneaked in while i was posting goodluck with the phone upgrade.

[kathlyn]

Morning all hi star ,what phone are you thinking of getting, make sure you get a good deal Matina so not good with this cough take care of you hugs xo Evening bear and ice I hope you both enjoyed your weekend John how is your daughter is she having surgery Good morning Pj that's a big magpie ,we've had a pair of Magpies near our front yard ,Wires tried to move the nest with no luck so it's hats on and lots of people ducking hopefully they move on soon I'm waiting on my mechanic to come just a service on the car have a lovely day all

[pjmpjm]

Eastern hemisphere Monday again, and greetings to 'locals' matina and Katy and Alessa and Star.

We had a bit of light rain and mist up here overnight. Cloudy now and up to 7 degrees. I think it was down to 2 or 3 last night.

Had a quick phone talk with my brother, who has been on a day-long boat trip.

matina, please look after yourself. Bronchitis is no good at all. I remember having an acute case when I was five years old, and was in the hospital in an old-fashioned 'oxygen tent.' Keep us posted. Sending lots of get well wishes.

Star, Apple is now offering older iPhones (all the way back to 6 and 6 Plus) at reduced prices, so now is a good time to take advantage of any sale. I don't know what Vodaphone would do, but I upgraded from the 5C to a 7 with 32 GB capacity and am very happy with it. If I could have afforded it, my first choice (apart from buying an 8 or newer) would have been the 7 Plus with 128 GB. But if you buy with a plan, your options may be different.

Katy, I have magpies, currawongs, king parrots, crimson rosellas and upteen cockatoos surrounding my upstairs living room right now, on both front and back decks! A bower bird visits from time to time and I also like the topnotch pigeons. All the breakfast seeds are nearly gone now!



All the local photinias (South African natives, I think), including those near my house, are growing their bright red leaves for spring . . .

Diva, will be in touch later today.

Hi to br bear, Ice, Stretton and John too.

Off for a Lavazza now . . .

[matina]

just got back from my fill in Dr today he is giving me another round of doxycycline 2 tablets a day for 7 days and prednisolone steroid tablets 25mg 1 and a half every day with food hoping to kill of f the last of it. the torn muscle is healing slowly but whilst i am coughing it wont heal completely he said so hence the radical treatment in hope to give it a good kick in the pants. he called it "persistent bacterial bronchitis" apparently a lot of folks have had it as a nice thank you card the flu left behind to all of its patients.
so we shall see what the next 7 days accomplish then back to see him hopefully fingers crossed for the all clear.
time for nana nap

[pjmpjm]

Thanks for the update, matina. Those medications really should do the trick. Hope you can take it easy for the next week or so and let the meds do their job.

Am sending you a couple of the dozen photos I received overnight from my brother. He and his wife helped an old friend (older than me) take his large boat down the Maine coast from Deer Isle to Portland. They then had to rent a car and drive all the way back to pick up their own car! Was quite a trip . . . I think the friend is leaving his boat there at the marina for the winter, and flying back to Florida.