Three years in Adelaide
 

So, it's that time of year again: 3 years to the day since we arrived! :thumbup:

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. :lol:

Pruned half-dead bottlebrush out the front to assist the new growth coming up:

http://smu.gs/PVZs7v

Brutalised bougainvillea to restore side gate access:

http://smu.gs/PVZxbi

Mowed front and rear lawns to give superficial appearance of respectability:

http://smu.gs/PVZHzi

http://smu.gs/PW07pt

http://smu.gs/PVZMD0

http://smu.gs/PVZUlX

The grapevine is bouncing back now. I'll have more photos soon.

:)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Took these photos yesterday. The grass is drying out, but the vine has come alive!

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Ho...IMG2887-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Ho...IMG2888-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Ho...IMG2890-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Ho...IMG2891-XL.jpg

Bottlebrush is feeling a lot happier now I've trimmed away all the overhanging dead wood:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Ho...IMG2897-XL.jpg

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! :unsure: Great to see it flourishing now.

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Ho...IMG2898-XL.jpg

Will post a proper update later.

:thumbup:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Great work Vash! Garden looks very English!

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Looking good Vash. Looks like you get fair a bit of rain over there.

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:

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http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Re...IMG1979-XL.jpg

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http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Re...IMG1991-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Re...IMG1992-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Re...IMG1994-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Re...IMG1997-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Re...IMG2001-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Re...IMG2552-XL.jpg

:)

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:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2290-XL.jpg

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!'

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2355-XL.jpg

Sidney has a population of ~400. The closest population centre is Comanche, with population of ~4,000.

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2437-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2438-XL.jpg

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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:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2269-XL.jpg

I used all of them during my visit, and even managed to kill a snake which was crawling up the driveway:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2307-XL.jpg

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?'

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2266-XL.jpg

In Texas there's no such thing as 'too big.' This is particularly the case with their cars:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2271-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2300-XL.jpg

My hosts have a tornado shelter, which looks suspiciously like something out of a horror movie:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2276-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2280-XL.jpg

:blink:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Crikey!

Did you have to check that you were invited to Sidney, not Sydney????

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

:D

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.

:confused: :lol:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Love the pics! Would love to build a house like the one you showed with a Queenslander feel!

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!

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2637-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Holidays...IMG2640-XL.jpg

http://s8.postimage.org/9fss9id05/54...58042886_n.jpg

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:)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Fab pictures Vash:thumbup:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Thank you.

:)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Great stuff Vash

I miss guns

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. :thumbsup:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Looks like the Texas Rangers were playing my team Toronto Blue Jays! Looked like a perfect day for baseball :)

Great pics

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Thanks guys. :)

Yes, it's a Stiebel Eltron and yes, the Rangers were playing the Blue Jays (I supported the Blue Jays!) It was a close game, but Rangers won after three and a half hours.

I asked why the game was so short, and the Texans were confused; they said it had been quite a long one by baseball standards. You should have seen the looks on their faces when I told them that a test cricket match runs for 5 days... :eek:

Here's Pup modelling a pretty handmade ensemble. It was a present from my Texan hosts:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/People/F...IMG2861-XL.jpg

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Still a little bit big for her, but she's steadily growing into it. Notice the Texas Rangers cap! :)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Wibbly Pig takes a business call during brunch:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/People/F...IMG2544-XL.jpg

Wibbly Pig helps himself to my dinner:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/People/F...5182235-XL.jpg

:eek:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

This was our bargain of the last 12 months: a Miele W830 washer for $290! :thumbup:

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Mi...IMG1286-XL.jpg

http://sporkboy.smugmug.com/Other/Mi...IMG1293-XL.jpg

15 years old, but still in fantastic condition. Incredibly economical and washes like a boss. :)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Fantastic update mate - always great to see how you and the family are doing and your pictures are mint:thumbup:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Thanks, this year was definitely a better one for us.

:)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Loving the pics Vash. Your kids are gorgeous :)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Thank you.

:)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Great update Vash

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Good for you Vash.You always look at the positive.You never seem to whinge.You take so much pride in what you have and in your family.Rightly so.:thumbsup:Long may nice things happen to you.:fingerscrossed:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Thanks guys, very kind of you. :)

Just keeping it real for the peeps! :thumbup:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Great thread Vash, congrats on the three years. Your daughter is going to be a heart breaker. ;) I love the big Texan house but not the tornado shelter ;) Hope your wife is still loving being here and hasn't had homesickness too much.

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Thanks MP. Mrs Stampede's brother visited us earlier this year, which helped a lot. We are hoping to visit the UK for her parents' 40th anniversary next year.

:fingerscrossed: :)

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Great pics mate but why did you kill the snake ?

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

I just googled mapped Port Hughes and then had a wander as you do. Next to the Kangaroo Island ferry line I found this. Any idea what it is?

https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Po...Australia&z=18

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

I assumed it was poisonous (having been born and raised in a country where most snakes are, this is a difficult habit to break). I later discovered it was harmless. My host thanked me anyway, because he has a phobia about snakes. :unsure:

No idea. Looks creepy! :blink:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Looks even weirder when you zoom out :scaredhair: Looks like a shadow from a giant squid. If it is it's freaking ginormous :scaredhair:

Maybe a whale about to breach?

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

Looks like it's entering Backstgairs Passage too :rofl:

Re: Three years in Adelaide
 

:lol: When I first saw it I thought it must be a bloody big boat considering the 'wake' but then zooming in, it became some alien and now I have no idea. :unsure::lol: