Hi ladies...I'm really enjoying your posts from all over the world. Here in Florida it has been very warm for awhile now and we had the rainiest April on record. Typically, our rainy season doesn't start until May and then it lasts through the summer. Hurricane season starts in June and lasts until Thanksgiving in November. The last few years have been uneventful but in 2003 we had three hurricanes go through the county I live in.

The Hummingbird cake mention made me giggle! When my daughter was little she spent a lot of time with my parents at their house in the mountains of North Carolina. They fed and observed beautiful hummingbirds. Well, when Lauren was about 5, we were at a church potluck dinner and one of the ladies offered her a piece of hummingbird cake. She had this horrified look on her face as she quickly said, "no thank you!" We were walking to our table and she pulled me aside in tears wondering why anyone would put those beautiful birds in a cake! I had to try very hard not to laugh out loud as I explained there weren't really any birds in the cake, just like there aren't dogs in hot dogs. Food names can be very confusing for kids!

THANK YOU for the recipe !!!

I will be anxious to try it, although I will have to get out my conversion table for the measurements! I am assuming you can sub the sunflower oil for any type of veg oil.

I think I will make this up for our ladies sew day this coming Thursday..... I will let you all know the reviews!

Hi Anne and everyone,

Rockhampton is sort of drought affected (outside of town) but the town itself is not so bad. We have plenty of water for the in the barrage (dam). In fact, so much so that other towns/councils are talking about building pipelines from the Fitzroy River to 'top up' their water supplies. We are about 45kms from the ocean.
As for exotic creatures I found a small goanna (type of big lizard) inside the back door last week. I managed to corner it and put it in a big container - then I released it into the front yard away from my dogs. I don't have big dogs, but little dogs can do as much if not more damage as the big ones. Then I sat there and wondered where Mum Goanna was. I have a blue tongue lizard that lives in the jasmine hedge out the front of my house too. At my mother's house (out of town) we find snake-skins and see kangaroos in her yard. Don't see many hummingbirds here - just cockatoos - both black and white - galahs and kookaburras. It is sort of tropical weather here. We still seem to have all the 4 seasons, but we also find that the summer is 'wetter' than the winter. It is still in the high 20's every day and gets down to 14-16 at night. Am not looking forward to winter this year. At least it is not raining and we never have snow here.

SNAKES !!!!! Oh my......I am terrified of snakes! That just won't do, yuck...no, no, can't handle snakes not even skins of snakes

Hi Mouse,

Goanna's - you lucky duck. Haven't seen any up here at this house, but we lived at a beach a few years ago and had a couple of resident goanna's - had a pair of labrador's then, and they all used to curl up on the cement in the sunshine together. Cockatoo's - have an enormous flock of wild white ones living down the gully from us - they make soooooooo much noise when they are flying around. Our neighbour has a nut tree of some description that must have been close to ripe a couple of weeks ago - it would be a mass of white cockatoo's morning and evening - looked unreal. Have our fair share of Kookaburra's too. Snakes - Mamu, I'm with you. I'm a Kiwi - of course, no snakes over there - and have to admit I am just ever so slightly terrified of them - ...........only one thing that terrifies me more than a snake and thats a ..............rodent - arrrrrrrrrrgh - can't handle mice and rats or guinea pigs. They make my heart palpitate something shocking - give me an enormous hairy spider to deal with any day!!!!!!!!!!!!! At the moment the cat's are bringing their evening catches in to show me of an evening.......problem is they forget to kill them first. Often have to get Michael out of bed to save me from the ugly grey thing running around the lounge room...................

Gotta go gals - its my quilting group night - last Tueday evening of the month. Let me know how you get on with that Hummingbird cake Mamu. And Mouse........glad you're holding your own with water. Rockhampton huh? Maybe one day (one century) we'll visit.............Hey guys, we've done gender and location - do we do the 'age' thing too?

Anne

Well.... I would take a guinea pig over a goanna. Something about repitles that is repelling.

I did see my first Hummingbird of the season yesterday! Practically flew into the house when I was walking out to my car. So, I had to hurry up and make up the sugar water for them. When they get here, they are exhausted and very hungry.
The last three days we have had beautiful weather, 70F clear skies. However, we are due for a cold front bringing rain/snow our way the rest of this week.

AGE hmmmmm...... well, all I will say is......hot flashes have been the plague lately. My husband usually tests the atmosphere by throwing a chocolate bar into the room before he enters...if I throw myself on it, (like one would with a hand granade) then he knows he can enter without bodily harm !!!!

we have had hummingbirds for the last couple of weeks. I thing they are a little confused though. He was visiting and it was snowing. I'm glad it didn't stick...they keep telling me this is normal for spring here. I can say I am looking forward to vacation -----12 days and counting!

We have had plenty of cold weeather for our part of the country...it is VERY windy today and very cool. I guess we will just wake up one morning and it will be summer...not much spring to speak of.
I just realized today...that we only have three weeks of school left. this year has gone by so quickly.....

Hi Gals,
Well, its Sunday night again - don't know how that came around so quick.........am filling in a couple of minutes while the potatoe bake bakes and contemplating what to cook after tea for the lunch boxes. Never ending. Have not touched a quilt or stitchery all weekend - intention has been there but the rain prompted a bit of a nana nap which was time I could have spent doing what I love to do - mind you, who doesn't love a nana nap?

It is pouring outside at the moment and the house is all warm and cosy. Kids are being noisy and I am glancing sideways at my two baskets of ironing thinking how much I don't want to tackle it tonight - no choice though!!!

Mamu - how was the cake? Hope it worked and went down well. And guess what - you're not on your own with the hot flushes - have you noticed how 'lady' things always start with 'men' something? Well, my man knows that when Anne flushes his 'men' gets to 'pause' for a while - hehehehehehe.

As for testing the water with chocolate - I have always managed to pounce on a lost choccy!!!!!!!

xoxoxoxx

Dreamer,
Tell me again where you live. I have forgotten. I live in the US in Kansas....I live in the western part which is flat and used for wheat fields and ranching. It has been dry for us the past year, in fact, it has been dry here since I moved here seven years ago....not very much rain....I am beginning to wonder if our climate is reverting to dry days of one hundred years ago.

Nevertheless, it is a nice place to love when the wind isn't blowing and I don't have to dust every day. There are many good people here and I think that is the main thing when one lives some place.

Tell us more about your family....