Ruby Tuesday

Here's my entry for this week's RT. These are my chilies in the garden. I am not really a big fan of hot food but from time to time I use chili for our dipping sauce.I wanted it to be mild always and it's fine with hubby. It never occur to me to plant chili until a friend of mine gave a handful of chili from her garden and since I cannot use all of them before they get wrinkly and rotten, I spread some seeds in the vacant space at my garden without really paying much attention thereafter. After few weeks, I was surprised to see some sprouts coming out from the ground. I have about 6 chili plants at this time as some unfortunately died during hot weather.
I picked some to give to my friend who loves chili. She was so happy and told me that she is going to dry them and grind /pound them with some other ingredients to make a hot chili paste. Interested to join or want to see more pictures of Mary's Ruby Tuesday please click here.

Raining again..

It has been raining on and off today with moderate winds. A gloomy and dreary day as expected and a perfect time to sleep. But nope, taking a sleep in the warm cozy bed is far from my agenda today. I have many things to do and besides I promised myself to do more blogging today while the kids are at school.
It is supposed to be Dorothy's District Cross Country Run today which has been re- scheduled twice already due to the wet weather. And again it's obvious, Mother Nature doesn't want the event to happen today, not just yet. It is so wet and the ground is awash with puddles. Dorothy is a bit frustrated for she really wanted the event to be over and done with, win or loss, she really doesn't care. All she is looking forward to is the fun and excitement of being in the school team.
And here's our dinner last night, grilled marinated chicken drummettes with rice.

Today's flowers

These are my Zygos or Zygocactus. I bought them from a fund raising about 2 yrs ago. I have a red colour Zygos too but it is still small and thriving well, and this afternoon when I checked it out I saw few buds coming . They traditionally flower in late autumn and early winter here. They are easy to grow with stunning flowers in a wide range of colours. To see more Today's Flowers entries please visit here.

Camera critters

This was during our visit to the Chinese Garden in Darling Harbour earlier this year. The red dragonfly was resting on one of the lily pads in a pond when we saw it. I was just glad it didn't fly away when I focused my camera. We saw a few dragonflies while strolling there but they never give us any chance to take pictures and were just flying around except this one.
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Dorothy's tennis lesson

(image from tennsi.com)

I got a call from Dorothy's coach yesterday that her tennis lesson this Saturday will be held in a different venue due to the undergoing fence repair of the Tennis Center that until this weekend is not yet finish. The venue is not that far from where we live but the thing that Dorothy is not yet familiar with the place I was planning to stay until she finishes. Usually, we just drop her off to the Tennis Center and pick her up when the time finish and it's fine with her.
Unfortunately when Saturday came, it was raining cats and dogs. Hubby rang to the coach and left a message since the phone was engaged. Few minutes later the coach returned our call and informed us that the tennis lesson is canceled due to the rain, well, that was also expected but we just want to make it sure. It has been raining on and off since Monday here. Wednesday was the heaviest with non stop rain. Yesterday, we had on and off sunshine while today, it rains on and off again.
Since we don't have plans for the rest of the day, I took the kids to the mall, had lunch there and did our weekly grocery shopping.

Sky Watch Friday

These were taken last Sunday, 23 May 2010 between 7:30 t0 7: 40 am. The day was gloomy and rain had been threatening the whole day.



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Watery Wednesday

I took these photos last Saturday, May 22, 2010 when we attended the Medieval Fayre in celebration of Blacktown City Festival which was held in Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside west of Sydney. We took a stroll around the park before we headed home and I can't resist taking pictures of the beautiful views in this Autumn Season.
Please visit Watery Wednesday for more watery sites all around the world.

Our backyard this time

It's time to get ready again and arm ourselves with rakes and a muncher. A big clean up is about to occur soon at our backyard. Every year we have our share of fallen Autumn leaves and part of our backyard is covered with them. It is our big pecan tree that is responsible for the major mess but we don't want it to be cut down.It gives us shades on summer days and besides it produces yummy pecan nuts which we always enjoy during picking season.The tree hasn't finished shedding the leaves yet, and there are still a lot to come to the ground by the look of it . We have to wait until it is almost bare before we can start gathering the leaves and pile them ready for the muncher. We are going to munch the leaves and make a good compost out of it which is good both our plants and pockets. That's why I am not complaining about this tree. It gives us an excuse to get out in the sun and be busy together. It may take a day or so for us to finish the job depending on interruptions that comes along the way especially the unpredictable weather. I myself cannot spend my time the whole day cleaning the backyard.
While I was outside taking these photos I saw a bird perching on the branch of the pecan tree, a noisy miner.

Camera Critters

This is called an Eastern Water Dragon that we found during one of our bush walking trips in the Blue Mountains. It was my daughter who saw it first while we were walking back on our tracks. The moment she saw it, she called our attention and gestured to keep quiet. I was a little bit anxious thinking of what she may had found, a snake of something. When the water dragon gained all our attention, he moved closer to a spot where we can take a good glimpse of him and sit still. I was so careful taking these snaps for I was afraid he might run off.To see more Critters from all around the world please click, here.

Sweet Blog Award

A big THANK YOU to my dear friend Mommy Adin of itssewtasticmama for sharing me this wonderful award. So sweet of you for remembering and including me in your list. It is greatly appreciated.

Anyone who wish to grab this cute Sweet Blog Award can grab it. Please feel free to do it.
Have a nice day always.

Sky Watch Friday

Sunrise on May 16, 2010.Have a wonderful weekend!

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He found his lost hat

When I picked up David after doing his weekly After School Sport, I noticed that he wasn't wearing his hat which he usually does. So I asked him where was his new hat. He just answered, it's in my bag, but when I checked it out, there was actually no hat. I asked him again and he answered me, I don't know. He actually forgot where he put it and even forgot when was the last time he wore it. We checked around in the Community Hall where the After School Sport is being held, but no luck at all. I decided to check the school Lost and Found shelves with hope that someone with a good heart found it and put it there, but same thing, we found nothing. David started crying because it's his favourite hat. There was only one more place that we had not searched and that was his classroom but at that time it was already closed so I just told him that we have to go home now because it is getting late and we will just continue searching for the hat the following day which he agreed without arguing.The next morning when we arrived at the school, first thing we did was to find his hat in their bag room. It was good that his teacher was right in the classroom at that time and I asked permission to let David in inside the bag room to look for his hat. The teacher was so accommodating, opened the bag room and even told David to look around the classroom if it is not in the bag room. But once he was inside the bag room, there it was, his new hat lying on the floor with someone else jumper. He was so happy and told me that he will look after his new hat from now on.

Watery Wednesday

Here's my Watery Wednesday entry. These were taken from a creek in Hannam Vale in the Mid North Coast of NSW sometime last January 2010.And here are my kids with their friend enjoying the place.
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Yesterday

It was gloomy and chilly. All I wanted to do was to stay inside, snuggle up on the couch with a blanket and a cuppa, and watch my favourite TV show. But with few things planned before and need to be attended yesterday, I had to go out, pushed my butt a bit.
First up, I went to our local Library to return all the books we borrowed for it will be due the following day and borrowed books again at the same time. Even though they won't charge for any overdue items but I want to keep my record clean and pleasing to them.Then, I went to the shop to buy a new pair of shoes for Dorothy. She needed a new pair to be used on their District Cross Country Run which is today but unfortunately rain pelted down since last night and the ground is soaking wet. Obviously, Mother Nature doesn't want the event to happen today. I got a news while I was in school that it will be moved sometime next week.After buying Dorothy's shoes, I went to another shop where we usually get our weekly vegetables and fruits. Our fruit bowl and vegetable bin in the fridge were all virtually empty. I did get everything for our whole week consumption. I love shopping in the morning of Monday there for the shop is not that crowded yet.
And lastly, our dinner, a serving of baked salmon, vegetable salad and garlic bread.

Today's flowers

My Today's flowers for this week are these pink frangipani from Royal Botanic Garden While we were strolling around we came across to a frangipani tree.I like frangipani because of their sweet scent and beauty. I have one growing in my garden at the moment and it is a white one. To see more Today's Flowers entries please visit here.

Outing with my sister

These were taken sometime last December 2009 in the lower part of the Blue Mountains with my sister and her family. The place is called Wascoe Siding located in Blaxland, a picnic area with miniature train rides (Steam engine, Diesel or Electric Locomotive), run by the Blue Mountains Railway Society. It was our second time there and David can't get enough of the rides and still wants to come back there again He and hubby are both train enthusiasts, like father like son. The place has no entry fee and we have to pay only for the rides. It is open every first Sunday of the month.Hubby and David on the last carriage .
From left, David, hubby, Maddie (my niece) and Dorothy
And this time with their Uncle Greg (in stripe)

Sky Watch Friday

Last week's SWF, I posted sunrise photos which were taken on May 04, 2010 and the sunset later that day wasn't bad either. Here are the photos that I captured.
Have a wonderful weekend!

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