Monday 25th October 2010

We have had a very unsettled week of weather which has been frustrating for me as it is now time to work out in the gardens & play golf. Trying to find enough sunshine to get some sprays out on the roses has been a challenge.

Tuesday 19th October 2010 I was up very early to pick enough roses to decorate 14 of the luncheon tables at golf. We had an important visitors day playing for the Gosford Bowl & Bronze Salver where we were expecting 105 players. It started raining not long after I got up & continued to rain on into the afternoon. Our players were reduced to 77 which was disappointing and the golf was uncomfortable for the first part. During the match the weather did clear & it was not too bad at the finish. The course is in great condition so that made it easier. My golf was very ordinary with my only highlight being two pars in a row but I did bring home the winner of the Bronze Salver. My playing partners on the day were Yvonne Bean, Alice Diamond & Silvia Lee & our highlight was playing with Yvonne who was the winner on the day.

Wednesday 20th October 2010 I had a day in Sydney with Christine Drakeford, my friend from golf. Christine had never been on a QVB experience or to Sydney by train for shopping so I had a day showing her my stomping grounds when I choose to have a day in Sydney just for fun. We had a lovely day checking out the QVB shops, Myers, DJ's & everything in between. We came home with a few parcels tucked under our arms - a hat & gloves from DJ's (for the Melbourne Cup) & a salad keeper from Victoria's Basement for me. We had a lot of fun looking at the exclusive shops for frocks & shoes with matching bags of course - but just looking.
It was a full day & good fun.

Thursday 21st October 2010 we were up early & over at the Golf Club by 8 o'clock to pick up the trailer. We met with Duncan Dyer & Fred Middleton who bought a second trailer so that we could bring back two loads of Orchid Compost for the new orchid garden at the Golf Club. Fred is an expert Orchid Grower & he is helping me put the garden together. We travelled to Peats Ridge to the Royale Orchids farm (about 20 minutes from Gosford). It is an amazing place with the most beautiful orchids in huge hot houses. Royale Orchids export their orchids around the world & are expert growers - so it seemed appropriate that we get their advice on the right compost. They let us have some compost at the right price so we took it straight back and unloaded it at the Golf Club garden so we will be all set to plant out the orchids next week.

I spent the rest of the morning watering the gardens as it was a very hot day. In the afternoon we went over to West Gosford to look at some motorised Golf Carts. Peter's knee is giving him a lot of trouble so it is time to consider buying a golf cart. We were lucky enough to get a storage space at the Golf Club so that we can keep it secured there when we are not using it. We had choices of hundreds of carts & settled on a 2007 reconditioned Club Car that had new batteries which is the main concern with golf carts. We decided on a powder blue colour with beige seats. The cart is being delivered next Tuesday so we are looking forward to that. At this stage I would prefer to walk the golf course so I will most likely only use it on very hot days or for F-Troop work.

Friday 22nd October 2010 we had a morning catching up on household shopping starting at Aldi's, Bunnings and West Gosford. We stopped for a coffe at West Gosford & ran into Des & Yvonne Wilson who had just returned from an overnight stay in Sydney so we had a catch up chat with them. Friday afternoon I worked in the front gardens weeding & dead heading the roses.

Saturday 23rd October 2010 I did some early morning dead heading & sprayed all of the roses front & back which was quite a chore. I picked a bunch of roses from the garden to take with us tonight when we were going to dinner at Trevor & Margaret Andrews house. Peter was playing in the final round of the Club Championships at 11.30 so I went to the Club with him to tidy up for a 3 o'clock garden wedding. The weather was hot and sunny at that stage. By the time everything was set up for the wedding the clouds had rolled in with some very threatening weather. We had to pack up the carpet& chairs & put away the cushions as the rain was imminent. Fortunately the showers paused long enough for the wedding to take place but the golfers got very wet before the day was out. Saturday night we went for dinner when Peter got home from golf & had a lovely evening chatting with Trev, Marg, Carolyn & Garry Morris. We were planning the next Townies Xmas get together which we are having on the 4th of December.

Sunday 24th October 2010 was a miserable wet day. It rained non stop all day so our golf that we had planned with Graham & Rae Brown got cancelled as none of us were prepared to play in the rain. The daily competition was cancelled through lack of numbers so golf was a non event. Rod & Joel & Shane came for breakfast which was great. Anne was at work & Sam had a friend over so we did not get to see the girls. I had fun with Joel & they stayed until Anne finished work which was about 3.30 in the afternoon. We really appreciated having the covered verandah so that Joel could get outside. We had bought the Clam Shell sandpit for him for a Christmas present but it seemed appropriate to let him have it today & it kept him amused for a long time.

Monday 25th October 2010 was another showery day but we decided to brave F-Troop as there were so many jobs to be done over there. We did manage to get some jobs done between showers so it was a good day. We have been having trouble with the Hyundai this week and took it to the mechanics this afternoon for a check up. The bad news is the alternator has gone so we are down to one car until that is fixed.

Tomorrow I am hoping for some good weather for golf as we have an 8 o'clock shot gun start followed by lunch & the AGM of the ladies. We have got more wet weather predicted for next week which is not good for the roses. They are getting rain spoilt blooms which is s shame when they are flowering at their best right now.

Monday 18th October 2010

We have had a week of very weird weather having all the seasons at some stage. We have had more rain which has been spoiling the form of some of my roses that are all starting to bloom, hot sunny days, cool cloudy days and freezing cold with furious winds. Last Saturday was a miserable day with the wind blowing non stop all day and that was followed on Sunday & Monday by two very pleasant days.

Tuesday 12th October 2010 I played golf in good weather. I had a lovely day with my playing partner Joyce Bosley in a vets day. We did not win any prizes but had a good day.

Wednesday 13th October 2010 we had some rain overnight but the day was okay. I spent most of the day tidying up over at the Golf Club as we were having the Pro-Am the following day. Heavy rain had been predicted for the Pro Am so we were trying to pre-prepare as much as possible. In the afternoon I did some gardening at home.

Thursday 14th October 2010 the promised rain did not arrive and we had a good day for the Pro Am which was a relief. I had a shopping day with Anne to celebrate her birthday (a rain check from the previous week). We had a lovely day at Erina Fair shopping for some clothes for Anne, some other birthday presents that I needed to buy & I picked up a frock to wear for Melbourne Cup. Anne & I both selected a fasinator to wear on Melbourne Cup day which were fun to choose. We had a nice morning tea and lunch while we were shopping. We picked Joel up from Kindy at 3.30pm and had afternoon tea at home which gave me some spoiling time with Joel. After that I went over to the Golf Club to see the end of the Pro Am & to take some photos of the Presentation.

Friday 15th October 2010 I had some "time out from gardening" sort of a day. We spent most of the time household shopping, browsing Bunnings for some things that I needed for the garden & bought a "Clam Shell" sand pit for Joel for Christmas. We did a wander through Aldi to check out the specials which ended up costing us some money - as usual. I spent some time in the garden at home spraying the roses etc. The roses are busting out all over & I have some really lovely flowers out this week. The promised rain did not arrive.

Saturday 16th October 2010 the promised wind did arrive. It blew furiously all night and all day. I nearly lost a big branch off the Gold Bunny climber but managed to resue it before it broke. The umbrella and garden table in the back yard was blown over & almost decapitated my "Don Bradman" rose missing it very narrowly. I have about six roses to restake & sadly the roses that were fully open lost all their petals. The golf club suffered a lot of damage to the branches of the trees but fortunately we did not lose a tree & only had one broken pot. There was a wedding in the wedding garden which I thought would be cancelled as the wind was so wild. I did not go over & do my usual clean up as it seemed such a waste of time trying the keep it tidy. The wedding did go ahead & apparently the weather did have a small lull at the right time. Peter played in the Club Championships that day & did not have a happy day. Saturday night we went to Duncan Dyer's 70th birthday party which was held at the waterfront Chinese Restaurant in Gosford. We had a good night with a lot of the Golf Club members there. It was a very late night by the time we called into the Golf Club on the way home to pick up the results slip & it ws after midnight by the time I got the blog finished with the Championship results.

Sunday 17th October 2010 it was President Vs Captain day at golf which is always a very popular day. The President's side had to wear blue & the Captains side wore red. The day started well with a chicken & champagne breakfast at 10.30 followed by a shotgun start. Our playing partners were Duncan & Rosalie Dyer & they were great company - even though Duncan was suffering a hangover from his 70th birthday celebrations. It was a good fun day the weather was lovely. My highlight was scoring 38 points and winning a ball. We had dinner at the club after presentation so it was another late night by the time I got the results on the blog.

Monday 18th October 2010 we had an early 7.00am start with F-Troop knowing that we had a busy day ahead of us picking up loose timber around the course after the wild wind of last Saturday. It was another good weather day so that was helpful. We got some good support for F-Troop from our volunteers & managed to do a very efficient clean up.

Tomorrow I am playing golf with the ladies and we are having a big day with 105 players expected. I have to be up early to cut some flowers to decorate the tables for the luncheon. Rain has been predicted so I am hoping for a reprieve from that until after golf has finished.