|
Post by Kimby on Feb 11, 2018 22:35:12 GMT
Lilacs, hydrangea and PEONIES!
|
|
|
Post by questa on Feb 11, 2018 23:47:17 GMT
The yellow flowering bush ...is this what Ozzies call wattle? It is an acacia...over 300 species in Australia...from snow mountains to flat on windy cliffs...Oz national flower is "Golden Wattle"...wattle day is Sept 1st and people wear a sprig...somewhere in Oz wattle is blooming all year round...shocker for Hay Fever sufferers.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 12, 2018 0:09:44 GMT
Yes ~ that's correct, Questa. See #4141.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Feb 12, 2018 6:41:43 GMT
Here we have both mimosa trees and albizzias, the latter blooming in the summer. Similar sort of leaves so indeed likely to be of the acacia family. We also have acacia trees that bloom with beautifully scented white flowers in early summer.
I have several lilac bushes in my garden here. And PEONIES are my favourite flowers. Unfortunately, when they bloom is usually when we have the most rain, so they last even less time than usual. But they are so beautiful while they last.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Feb 12, 2018 11:55:46 GMT
Acacia trees or bushes - truly African? So many species here. And of course we also have a huge Wattle tree industry so you can imagine hundreds of acres of bright yellow when they bloom. I did not know the Golden Wattle was the National flower of Australia!
|
|
|
Post by questa on Feb 12, 2018 13:58:58 GMT
I did not know the Golden Wattle was the National flower of Australia! Sometimes Oz VIPs will wear a sprig on the lapel for overseas visits. If there is a memorial service overseas (Bali Bomb, several ozzies killed in accident etc) the consul will place a wreath of Golden Wattle at the memorial. Many wattles ooze a sap which hardens like amber. It is called by the indigenous people "pitchuri". They process a bit with fire and crushed leaf and when chewed gives a burst of energy. We had a Golden Wattle in our yard and my son would chew a bit of gum when doing exams at Uni. The ash of several Acacia species was used to mix with the leaves of Duboisia hopwoodii to produce pituri. This was a highly valued trade item and the ash of A. igulata and A. hakeoides were amongst the plants utilised
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Feb 12, 2018 16:44:13 GMT
. We had a Golden Wattle in our yard and my son would chew a bit of gum when doing exams at Uni. Questa - did you ever try it to test the strength of the 'advantage' of the gum? If he were doing his exams from my house he would have bushes of 'weed' to choose as an alternative 'advantage'. My gardener, a Rastafarian grows it for his needs but now that it is legal to cultivate it on ones own propety for your own consumption, I think I need the space for more tomatoes... As far as I know, canabis is still frowned upon in Australia. I know were it's grown but not telling... Pee Ess: I have never tried it's medical cures and maybe when I'm bed ridden and cannot get up to nonsense, might give it a go, but for now my nightmare last night will suffice, where I was fending off an enormous bull rhino thundering down on me. This was enough to make me fall out of bed and after landing on my poor sore knees, I struggled to make it back into bed.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 12, 2018 19:53:31 GMT
Tod!!! That's rather upsetting.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Feb 13, 2018 16:53:39 GMT
You're telling me! Bixa, I dream an awful lot. I have related my tales of whacking my husband, biting his arm, falling on the carpet out of bed and when quiet...just jabber away. Since my visit with my Doc, I am wondering if it has anything to do with sugar in the blood.??
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Feb 15, 2018 12:12:28 GMT
The view out of this train window is quite bleak as we streak north towards Paris.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 15, 2018 15:30:59 GMT
Poor Tod! You must be pushing down some awful stress during the days that breaks loose at night. You've mentioned several times the rising crime rate in your area. That's enough to give anyone stress and nightmares.
Kerouac, you sound like Dr. Frankenstein's new bride riding through the ancestral lands for the first time.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Feb 15, 2018 15:41:15 GMT
And the train was 50 minutes late, but that's good news -- 25% refund. If only it had been an hour late...!
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Feb 15, 2018 17:17:39 GMT
Kerouac - you are going to have to fill me in about all this train failure! Makes me think we should have got compensation last year when our train was simply cancelled! Yes, they did re-route us but entailed buses and huge delay getting to our destination.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Feb 15, 2018 17:23:02 GMT
The site for compensation (for French trains) is g30.sncf.com -- any long distance train qualifies for a 25%, 50% or 100% refund. When a train is cancelled, the calculation is made regarding the originally scheduled arrival time and the arrival time of the replacement train that you were given.
Those of us who live in France only get compensation vouchers but you foreigners can get bank transfers to your account. I don't know what the cut-off date is for claiming compensation, but I will certainly help you if you need assistance. The important thing to have on hand is the six-letter reservation code. (For example, mine for this trip was UCGQFI.) But they are quite indulgent for people who have lost such things as long as you have specfic dates and times for the train and the names of the concerned passengers.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Feb 15, 2018 17:28:05 GMT
Thank you!
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 17, 2018 0:32:05 GMT
Well, I just had an odd experience. I left the house to take the dogs for their walk, crossing at the cross-street a half block from my house. There I encountered all the small business owners and their customers standing out on the sidewalks on both sides of the street. They were all tapping at their cell phones and also monitoring the overhead cables for shaking. I was informed that there had just that very minute been an earthquake. I did not feel anything! I passed by the house of a friend who lives on the slope of the big hill and she said it freaked out her and her cat, that she could feel the earth shift sideways. Huh! Back home, everyone around town is reporting their dramatic experiences on facebook. And indeed, it was a 7.5 shaker, so not nothing.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 17, 2018 0:38:41 GMT
Whoooopsie! I'm sitting in my computer chair and just felt a pronounced sideways shake. Uck.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2018 0:42:40 GMT
I just saw a "blurb" about an earthquake in "central Mexico" and now your post Bixa.
Glad to hear you and your beasts are safe.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 17, 2018 0:57:39 GMT
Thanks, Casimira ~ safe & untraumatized.
|
|
|
Post by rikita on Feb 17, 2018 8:04:35 GMT
it made the news here, too, but they say at least from what they can tell right now, no one was hurt. hope that is true and everyone is fine!
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Feb 17, 2018 8:22:33 GMT
Gosh, that must be unnerving.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Feb 17, 2018 8:52:20 GMT
Just on the main evening news in Oz. Dramatic video of inside an office with the walls bulging and bending and high cupboards exploding open and contents flying around people's heads. Furniture tossed in the air and workers diving for cover. I hope there are no serious injuries or tragic outcomes.
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 17, 2018 10:28:04 GMT
I was listening to The BBC Word Service in the night when the earthquake in Oaxaca was reported Glad you're OK Bixa dear X Only ever felt one earthquake here. Back in the late 80s...it was a tiny barely perceptable shake. I was sitting on a high stool in the 'Special Haematology' lab performing highly sensitive work (gel electrophoresis). Dispensing 5 microlitres of sample onto a thin gel plate prior to running the test...all of a sudden there was slight rumble and the stool shook. Only took a couple of seconds...everybody felt it tho. I doubt it would have registered on any sort of scale but it made the News (the mini quake, not my electrophoresis...which was fine)
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Feb 17, 2018 10:54:41 GMT
so glad you were hardly affected Bixa. I am still not very familiar with the pronunciation of Oaxaca so when news came through on TV it took a few minutes to realize it was your area.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Feb 17, 2018 11:11:08 GMT
Cheery, there was an earthquake in the Midlands early ‘80’s which came right down through Hertford and caused my daughter’s ceiling to collapse right on the play pen and pram. Fortunately it was 4 in the morning so boys were in bed.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Feb 17, 2018 13:34:27 GMT
Tod2...snap! I had no idea how to say the name of Oaxaca either until the newsreader pronounced it. I just read with my eyes. not my ears.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Feb 17, 2018 14:30:41 GMT
All it takes is a trip to London where there is a chain of Mexican restaurants called Wahaca and it doesn't take long to put 2+2 together...
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 17, 2018 16:34:32 GMT
Dramatic video of inside an office with the walls bulging and bending and high cupboards exploding open and contents flying around people's heads. Questa, the video might have been from Pinotepa Nacional on the coast, which had a good bit of damage. There is always confusion in reporting because the name of the state & the capital city are the same. Here is way more than you wanted to know: earthquake-report.com/2018/02/16/massive-earthquake-pinotepa-de-don-luis-mexico-february-16-2018-4/ Dispensing 5 microlitres of sample onto a thin gel plate And you said the plate came out fine. What steady hands you have, my dear! earthquake in the Midlands early ‘80’s which came right down through Hertford and caused my daughter’s ceiling to collapse I was shocked when I read what Cheery wrote about her earthquake, but then read this. Wow -- who knew?! no idea how to say the name of Oaxaca Questa, Spanish vowels are pronounced ah, a (as in way), ee, oh, oo. So the O (oh) and a (ah) at the beginning form a dipthong. Said quickly they elide into "wah". An X in Mexico is usually pronounced as H. The letter c follows the same rule as in English -- hard in front of all vowels except e and i, when it is soft. So, Wah hah cah. chain of Mexican restaurants called Wahaca anyportinastorm.proboards.com/post/270835/thread (2nd & 3rd pics in #38)
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Feb 17, 2018 17:31:04 GMT
Not “Oh, axe a car “ then?
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Feb 17, 2018 17:38:22 GMT
We’ve just had an earthquake in Wales! 4.4.
|
|