More
[ Up ] [ List of Roses ] [ Birmans ] [ Pedigree ] [ Desserts ]

Sitemap

Interests/
Hobbies

Photo
Gallery

Travel Tales/Pix

SURFERS
Paradise

Links

Email Me

Roses Glorious Roses

    Fragance, Health, Vigour and Colour

I wanted to have fragrant roses, I could not see the point in roses that did not smell.   However I do have a few roses because their beauty  is enough for me.  Love is an example of a non fragrant rose.

After a couple of years I came to the conclusion that Modern roses while nice, were not as nice as Austins (or English roses) and OGR (Old Garden Roses).  I was transfixed with beautiful photos of pastel, fluffy bloom packed with petals and oozing fragrance.   The second stage of my Rose fixation began.

Chianti, the first rose I bought, just happened to be an Austin and one of the first bred by David Austin.  I read what I could find and decided on my purchases.  My first roses bought were Constance Spry, Winchester Cathedral, The Prince, Heritage, Leander and Emmanuel.  These were planted in my first Rose Garden and carefully nurtured.  I had also purchased Sombrieul and Souvenir de la Malmaison and some modern roses in my selection.  I had a small problem with Powdery Mildew that Baking Soda spray took care of, and a touch of balling.

So impressed was I by the performance of my Austins I bought many more over the summer from Trevor Griffiths, mostly the dark reds.  A trip to Australia enabled me to find a lovely book on Austins and OGR's written by the man himself.  It had nicer photos and more detailed comments than my NZ version of his other book.  Between the two I decided I wanted to get more of the apricot and paler pink roses so put a huge order together and managed to get most of the roses I wanted.

At this stage they are in their first flowering and El Nino has been hard on them.   Still they are performing well under the circumstances, and I have won a couple of prizes with my Austins in local rose shows and other prizes with my HT's.

Please note that although I do not think of myself as an Organic Gardner, none of my roses are sprayed except for Baking Soda spray and very rarely Watkins Inscect Spray.   I live in Rose Growing Paradise, and see no point in useless spraying.

It was during this time I also discovered the Internet, and more importantly NEWSGROUPS, and most importantly of all "rec.gardens.roses"  I forget exactly how I found rgr, but after a couple of weeks of lurking I dived in and have been a happy member of the Virtual Rose Society (VRS) for nearly 2 years.  Recently my VRS T-shirt arrived!

Check out my List of Roses and Comments and Rose Photos in the Gallery and my Cultivation Tips

Beautiful Birmans

We bought our first house about 1991.  This gave me the opportunity to finally get the Birman cat I always wanted.  I found a breeder in Albury and went and visited, as she had a couple of kittens available.  I came home with Taj, a male seal Birman kitten and the rest is history.  Zen, a full brother from a later litter was to join us, but he took to wandering and was hit by a car when only a year old.

Shay was a Birman/Burmese cross and she was John's cat.  We had her for a couple of years but I didn't like her temperament.  When we shifted into our new house and had a couple of "Frog Incidents" John agreed with me.  Shay was given a new home with a friend and is very happy chasing birds and lying on their roof.

Back to one Birman, and not a good state of affairs.  John had decided the next Birman we got would be a Blue, after having seen them at Cat Shows.  Armed with a cheque book we trooped off to another local breeder who had two litters of kittens.   John made his decision and Java came to live with us some weeks later.  It was the weekend I was flat on my back with the flu and John was away doing MBA stuff, and he brings home a hyperactive kitten.  Typical.

Taj is a mature, refined and grumpy character but Java enriches our life in a special way.  He has a huge fluffy tail and it is very expressive, you can tell what sort of mood he is in by the state of his tail.  And when told off (a frequent occurance) he flicks it backwards and forwards.  He likes to climb and sit on Johns shoulders when John is reading the paper, and would be happy to stay there all day if allowed.   However he is heavy and soon gravity takes its toll.

"The Boys" as we call them are avid helpers in the Garden.  They always follow me on my inspection and watering trips in the hope I might play, and they always supervise when anything is going on, preferably in a cool shady spot.  New soil is christened ASAP, and lying in the path of the wheelbarrow is a favourite place to be.

Photos of The Boys and my Garden are to be found it the Beautiful Birmans section and also in Gardens Galore.  More information about Birman Cats here

Arabian Horses

Even a nearly fatal accident when I was 12 did not put me off horses.  I read all the books I could find and had resigned myself to never having one of my own.  Then one day I saw an ad in the paper advertising a share in a Stallion Syndicate for an Arab Stallion and it was a Christchurch phone number.  Well several phonecalls and a cheque later and I was an owner of 1/10th of Kandahar Ibn Kazra.  It was my doorway into the wonderful world of Arabian Horses and their people.

I found the people to be warm and welcoming, and remembered me even through the gaps between my infrequent visits.  David Marshall has my lifelong thanks for putting up with my enthusiasm and found the best way to wear me out was to put me to work as a groom.   I have been to many shows with David and always enjoy them (usually after a rest) and I learn much from watching, listening and asking questions of him and the many other knowledgeable Arab people.

Eventually the day came when I found the perfect horse, he was a grey foal by Saracen Karim, and out of Shaltaarah, who is my favourite mare.  Bentley (as he was eventually named) had the most quiet nature, he wasn't a perfectly classical type, but he was big and athletic and has nice paces.  After much midnight pondering I decided I could not pass up the opportunity and so Bentley became mine.  We discovered the joys of leading one afternoon and surprised David by walking together down the alleyway, towards David and his visitors.  Hopefully the rest of his training will be as easy.

NZ National Arab Show - we got 2nd in our class!!!!!!  Not bad for a first outing, I only hope my nerves will hold out if we enter again next season.  Bentley performed like a pro and appeared to enjoy his outing, he would have preferred to be out in the action all day, but was only entered in the one class.  I was a nervous wreck and totally exhausted once we got out of the ring, and the huge blisters on my feet were soothed somewhat by the shiny blue ribbon we had one,  Unfortunatley I could not find the photographer, so no picture available.

Our training has undergone some changes in philosophy, and I intend to work more on the ground, teaching manners and moves that will become useful when riding.  We are also going to the South Island Champs in Feb 99 which will be very exciting!

Sad Announcement

After nearly 2 years of unemployment, I made the decision to sell my wonderful Bentley.  He has gone back to his breeder, and is now currently reigning supreme as a paddock mate for a young stallion down south.  It was very sad but I could not afford to keep him as he needs to be kept.  The worst thing of all, is 3 days after he left, I got a job :(  Now of course, no time for a horse *sigh*

Check out photos of Bentley and Karim in the Arabs In Action section and see Bentley's Pedigree!

Desserts to Die For!

I had never made a cheesecake in my life when I found a recipe in a magazine which sounded to yummy to resist.  I made it on my day off, which turned out to be a good idea as it took the whole day to make.  What was it?  A doublelayered boysenberry cheesecake.  Base/cheesecake/boysenberry/cheesecake/boysenberry.  It was greeted with amazement and enthusiasm and ever since, if I go anywhere I always take a cheesecake.  I met one man at a party who had waited 8 years for the chance to try one, thats how popular they are!

Since then I have discovered the joys of chocolate cheesecakes that can be made in an hour, and I now make these most of the time.  But for special occasions I make the DoubleLayered whopper :-)

I have a couple of wonderful chocolate recipe books from America, "Death by Chocolate" and "Desserts to Die For" by Marcel Desaulnier.  I have tried most things in them but the are very complicated, and I have trouble getting some ingredients.  Still yummy eating though.

Scenic New Zealand

NZ has some of the most beautiful and unusual scenic places in the world.  John and I have made it our mission to visit the South Island ones whenever we can organise holidays.  So far we have been to Dunedin, Christchurch, Akaroa, Hanmer Springs, Hokitika, Greymouth, Reefton, Maruia Springs, Nelson, Blenheim, Te Anau, Milford Sound, Franz Joseph Glacier, White Heron colony, the Mackenzie Basin and Lakes and of course, Mount Cook.

NZ is still a rural based country, although the cities are lively and full of food, wine and culture.  We like living in the country, but a trip to Christchurch is only an hour and a half drive away, and we do this on a regular basis.  I am always asked about sheep, and I believe the last official statistic was 1:14, ie for every 1 person there are 14 sheep.  There are about 3.5 million people in NZ.

I have picked the best photos of these visits and you can find them in the Out and About section.

SF/Fantasy Books

Ah yes, books........especially Fantasy books.  I like a bit of SF as well, but Fantasy is my genre of choice.  Below is a list of my favourite Authors, in no particular order:

Note: text this colour indicates updates or addtions dated Jan 2000

My most favourite authors are Guy Gavriel Kay and Janny Wurts, with MK Wren, PC Hodgell, MZB, George RR Martin, Patricia McKillip and Lois McMaster Bujold following up.

Favourite books are as follows:

These are just a snippet of all the books I have and enjoy, however if you have read some of the books/authors in my selection, please try some of the ones you haven't.   I promise there are many enjoyable surprises awaiting you. 

If you have got questions about these books check out this newsgroup "rec.arts.sf.written"  or rasfw.  I have been subscribing to this ng for a couple of years and many of the books/authors in my selections above have been influenced by comments from other readers on this ng.  There is an excellent summary of favourite books as voted for by readers, the URL of which is posted every so often when updated.  Many authors also read the ng and some are contributors as well.

News @ Jan 2000

Last year I discovered the joys of email mailing lists.  I had thought that they were more of a hassle than they are worth, but an invitation into a private gardening one changed my mind.  What does this have to do with books?   Well I discovered Onelist, which is a website that runs a whole heap of mail list on thousands of topics and they have a HUGE selection on books, comprising different book topics, genres and authors. See for yourself!

If you have comments or suggestions regarding these books please email me at:

Fantasy Book Suggestions/Comments

Gardening Galore!

Well I admit to trying gardening as a kid.  We had a huge section, much of which was devoted to lawn which I had to mow :( and two very large vege gardens.  I have many happy memories of helping plant out seeds with the old string and two sticks method, or helping dibble in large seeds.  Carrots, Peas, Lettuce, Yams, and heaps of Potatoes came out of that garden. 

I remember for years Mum yelled at us because she kept finding chewed up pea pods on the lawn and she thought it was us.  We weren't silly, *we* threw our empty pea pods in the next door neighbours compost heap.  It was our dog, Niffy, who was eating the peas.  She used to pick the pod, take it on to the lawn, crunch it open and nibble out the peas.  Mum never saw her do this and we got the blame.  She never believed us when we said it was the dog, until, finally, several years later, she did catch the dog in the act!

When we bought our own house I was so disgusted by the state of the garden, I had to do something about it.  And that, short and simple is how I got into gardening seriously.  After pulling out the offending plants, I was left with a lot of space.  As usual when faced with a new challenge, I headed for the library and read all I could on plants and landscaping.  A whole new world opened up before me and with great enthusiasm I dragged myself and beloved (exhibiting far less enthusiasm) into it.

Buying plants is very addictive, and I found the delights of mail order plants even more so.  Soon I had a whole bevy of plants ready to go into my new designer garden, but........no garden yet.  This is where beloved found the part he could enjoy.  Building STUFF!  Nothing excites a man more than powertools and the smell of a hardware store.  So with the cheque book prepared for triage, we went SHOPPING.

A hardworking weekend or two later and the garden is beginning to take shape, and over time as the plants grew it got better.  We decided to sell and move closer to where we worked, and lo and behold, bought a brand new house that came landscaped in the fashionable  Bombsite style, bare clay, weeds and rocks.  Sigh, now we have to build a new garden from scratch!

Check out the photos of what we did achieve in our new garden HERE