Three years in Adelaide
#1
Fighting my corner
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Three years in Adelaide
So, it's that time of year again: 3 years to the day since we arrived!
Let's start with some photos of the garden, to prove I do actually put the work in when there's no way to escape it.
Pruned half-dead bottlebrush out the front to assist the new growth coming up:
Brutalised bougainvillea to restore side gate access:
Mowed front and rear lawns to give superficial appearance of respectability:
The grapevine is bouncing back now. I'll have more photos soon.
Let's start with some photos of the garden, to prove I do actually put the work in when there's no way to escape it.
Pruned half-dead bottlebrush out the front to assist the new growth coming up:
Brutalised bougainvillea to restore side gate access:
Mowed front and rear lawns to give superficial appearance of respectability:
The grapevine is bouncing back now. I'll have more photos soon.
#2
Fighting my corner
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Re: Three years in Adelaide
Took these photos yesterday. The grass is drying out, but the vine has come alive!
Bottlebrush is feeling a lot happier now I've trimmed away all the overhanging dead wood:
I transplanted this tree from the flower box. It was little more than a bare 30cm stalk at the time, with a small horizontal twig on the side. After a few months, the twig dropped off! Great to see it flourishing now.
Will post a proper update later.
Bottlebrush is feeling a lot happier now I've trimmed away all the overhanging dead wood:
I transplanted this tree from the flower box. It was little more than a bare 30cm stalk at the time, with a small horizontal twig on the side. After a few months, the twig dropped off! Great to see it flourishing now.
Will post a proper update later.
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2006
Location: Riverland, SA - Beds/Cambs/Nhants was home in UK
Posts: 1,503
Re: Three years in Adelaide
Great work Vash! Garden looks very English!
#5
Fighting my corner
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Re: Three years in Adelaide
Thanks guys, it's been an interesting year.
In May I finally got around to removing the old oil heater from our lounge. We replaced it with an electric heater:
In May I finally got around to removing the old oil heater from our lounge. We replaced it with an electric heater:
Last edited by Vash the Stampede; Oct 20th 2012 at 8:07 am.
#6
Fighting my corner
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Re: Three years in Adelaide
From late May to early June I spent two and a half weeks in Sidney, Texas, where I had been invited to lead a weekend church retreat and a series of public Bible study classes. These were all well attended.
The congregation generously paid for my flight, and I was accommodated at the ranch of a local family, who raise beef cattle:
Highlights of the trip included a Texas Rangers baseball game in Arlington, where I shouted helpful advice to the players, such as 'Hit the ball with the stick!'
Sidney has a population of ~400. The closest population centre is Comanche, with population of ~4,000.
The congregation generously paid for my flight, and I was accommodated at the ranch of a local family, who raise beef cattle:
Highlights of the trip included a Texas Rangers baseball game in Arlington, where I shouted helpful advice to the players, such as 'Hit the ball with the stick!'
Sidney has a population of ~400. The closest population centre is Comanche, with population of ~4,000.
#7
Fighting my corner
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Re: Three years in Adelaide
Texans are famously hospitable, and always ensure your room is equipped with the essentials. In my case this included five firearms:
I used all of them during my visit, and even managed to kill a snake which was crawling up the driveway:
When a Texan asks 'Would you like a steak?' what he really means is 'Would you like me to cut the ends off a cow, pass it under the grill for 30 seconds, and whack it on a plate?'
In Texas there's no such thing as 'too big.' This is particularly the case with their cars:
My hosts have a tornado shelter, which looks suspiciously like something out of a horror movie:
I used all of them during my visit, and even managed to kill a snake which was crawling up the driveway:
When a Texan asks 'Would you like a steak?' what he really means is 'Would you like me to cut the ends off a cow, pass it under the grill for 30 seconds, and whack it on a plate?'
In Texas there's no such thing as 'too big.' This is particularly the case with their cars:
My hosts have a tornado shelter, which looks suspiciously like something out of a horror movie:
#8
Re: Three years in Adelaide
Crikey!
Did you have to check that you were invited to Sidney, not Sydney????
Did you have to check that you were invited to Sidney, not Sydney????
#9
Fighting my corner
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Re: Three years in Adelaide
Sidney is so small, most people have never heard of it. When I arrived in the USA nobody knew where I was going, and when I returned to Australia nobody knew where I'd come from. Saying 'Sidney' didn't help at all. The Americans couldn't work out why I was trying to visit an Australian city in the USA, while the Australians couldn't figure out how I had come from Sydney via an international flight.
It took some explaining.
#10
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2006
Location: Riverland, SA - Beds/Cambs/Nhants was home in UK
Posts: 1,503
Re: Three years in Adelaide
Love the pics! Would love to build a house like the one you showed with a Queenslander feel!
#11
Fighting my corner
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Re: Three years in Adelaide
In September we spent a weekend at Port Hughes with some friends. It was the first proper break we've had together since we arrived in Australia.
We stayed in a holiday house owned by a member of our friends' extended family. It has a great location, right by the beach!
We stayed in a holiday house owned by a member of our friends' extended family. It has a great location, right by the beach!
#13
Fighting my corner
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Re: Three years in Adelaide
Thank you.
#15
221b Baker Street
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Miles from anywhere, Victoria, Australia.
Posts: 14,125
Re: Three years in Adelaide
The usual high standard post and photographs Vash. Thank you. I spy with my little eye a stebel eletron on your back wall. Excellent!
Good luck to you. You deserve it.
Good luck to you. You deserve it.