Aussie Readers discussion

I hope the banana plantations haven't been wiped out. I suffered horrible after Cyclone Larry.

Forgive my ignorance suffered badly because it was in your area or due to the lack of bananas?

Laura wrote: "Forgive my ignorance suffered badly because it was in your area or due to the lack of bananas?"

I think Gail means the lack of bananas Laura..:)

Yes there were no bananas to be had, it was pure torture.

A young galah learning to fly found its way onto our top verandah. My daughter took this photo. We've been getting quite a few galahs this year

Oh, that is gorgeous Gail! They are such beautiful birds...:)

Gail "cyborg" wrote: "Yes there were no bananas to be had, it was pure torture."

I remember the banana drought. Thought I would never taste one again.

Gail you are so lucky where you live! You seem to be very close to nature, beautiful views and plenty of wildlife!:)

Carmel, I just thought I would let you (and anyone else who is interested:))know that Big W has a couple of specials on...one of the books Mandy has on our AR home page,The Indigo Sky, if you purchase that one, you get Stillwater Creek free!

@Velvetink: I was feeling a bit guilty complaining about the banana shortage, so many other people are now suffering. The next year or so everyone in Australia is going to feel the effects of these recent floods. Reading the Financial Review this morning, it looks like we're going to be hit with a flood levy to help rebuilt; combined with labour shortages; high prices on food, this next year is going to be tough.

@Mandy, Bendra & Carmel. I love living where I do on the outskirts of Sydney. Why would you want to live anywhere else? :)

@Gail-Ah yes, having a lack of narnies was hard :(

@Brenda- Ooo, another book sale..Mustn't go look..ehehe :3

Gail, Ahhh yep I was wondering when something like that would add to our bills. I noted fresh fruit and vegie prices have already gone up. A levy is going to cripple many people. :((((((((((

Mandy wrote: "With all the floods in the east and north and the fires in the west someone reminded me of the aptness of Dorothea MacKellar's famous Australian poem:

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of swee..."

That's funny, I've been thinking of that poem so much this last week too. It's one of my favourites.

Gail "cyborg" wrote: "A young galah learning to fly found its way onto our top verandah. My daughter took this photo. We've been getting quite a few galahs this year

"

Looks like a common pink/grey Galah, the male has dark eyes; the female red eyes. Gail, I used to love watching the antics of the 'Major Mitchell's' when I went out west.

http://www.gondwananet.com/australian...

Sign in Coles fruit and veg section here in a suburb of Perth "We are currently having problems with supplies. We apologise to customers. Every effort is being made to provide quality fruit and vegetables." ...something like that, anyway. Carnarvon has had floods, and of course we also are affected by shortages in other states. But for us it's nothing...no empty shelves like we've seen in photos on the abc website. In fact, bananas were plentiful and cheap, and spotty. Probably refrigeration was out in Carnarvon, and they've had to hurry them down here. Capsicums were twice the price of nectarines, and even more expensive than grapes...so I guess I'll have to eat a lot of nectarines and grapes this summer...this is not really a hardship. Love banana and walnut sandwiches too...sort of like instant cake. And still no rain here in Perth...last week we got three drops...not even enough to rearrange the dust on the car. Please be very, very careful all those who are in flooded areas. We are thinking of you.

Laura wrote: "@Gail-Ah yes, having a lack of narnies was hard :(

@Brenda- Ooo, another book sale..Mustn't go look..ehehe :3"

Just bought The Indigo Sky with Stillwater Creek attached for free!! :) Didn't realize The Indigo Sky is a sequel to Stillwater Creek They sound really interesting, so onto my TBR pile they go!! :)

Brenda wrote: "Laura wrote: "@Gail-Ah yes, having a lack of narnies was hard :(

@Brenda- Ooo, another book sale..Mustn't go look..ehehe :3"

Just bought The Indigo Sky with [book:Stillwater Creek..."
Sweet! A free book is a nice score as well.

If I purchase any more books my hubbie's going to cut up my credit card. He was a little surprised when the last lot arrived. :P

Oh, Carmel and Gail!!! Don't ban yourselves..:D

Brenda wrote: "Oh, Carmel and Gail!!! Don't ban yourselves..:D"

Me too but because we are running out of space!!!

Velvetink wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Oh, Carmel and Gail!!! Don't ban yourselves..:D"

Me too but because we are running out of space!!!"

Yes, I think we all have that problem!!! :D

Carmel wrote: "Ha ha Brenda, I think I have a number of other priorities to spend my money on at the moment - as my daughter got her first preference for Uni - in Bendigo - Psychological Science!! I'm setting mys..."

Sounds like you've got it all planned out! Congrats to your daughter Carmel.:)

Carmel wrote: "Ha ha Brenda, I think I have a number of other priorities to spend my money on at the moment - as my daughter got her first preference for Uni - in Bendigo - Psychological Science!! I'm setting mys..."

Congrats to your daughter, that's awesome! Wishing her all the best. (mine's doing media and journalism, so am hoping she writes a few blockbusters which means we can afford a nurse when I lose my marbles!).

Carmel wrote: "Ha ha Brenda, I think I have a number of other priorities to spend my money on at the moment - as my daughter got her first preference for Uni - in Bendigo - Psychological Science!! I'm setting mys..."

Oh Carmel, that is awesome!!! Super huge congrats to her!!

@Carmel, congratss to your daughter. She'd be pretty psyched (excuse the bad pun..lol) with that!

Hahaha,I've been thinking about cutting up my CC since I got my last bank statement :o! But then I remind myself, from Oct to Dec that is when crazy spending happens :P

GRACE AND ISLA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!

Fascinated by the sparklers while we all sang happy birthday!



Getting stuck into their own little birthday cakes!



They were both so super cute...love them to bits!!

So you should be proud. Congratulations Carmel.

@Brenda. Happy birthday to the super cuties.

Carmel wrote: "Thanks everyone, it's quite surreal, I can't believe that my youngest is going to uni! Also today, my lovely eldest daughter found out she was successful with the interview for a position at Royal ..."

Wow, congrats to your eldest too...not surprising you are so proud of them both! :)

Carmel wrote: "Oh Brenda they are the sweetest!!!"

Thanks Carmel..:)

Gail "cyborg" wrote: "@Brenda. Happy birthday to the super cuties."

Thanks Gail..:)

@Brenda- Awwwe, cute piccies! Hope they both had a great day :D

@Carmel- Woohoo! Great time to be proud of both of your children for sure..Bet they are both thrilled.

Hahaha,exactly! You are indeed :D

Laura wrote: "@Brenda- Awwwe, cute piccies! Hope they both had a great day :D

@Carmel- Woohoo! Great time to be proud of both of your children for sure..Bet they are both thrilled."

Laura, I'm pretty sure they were quite bemused by all the attention, and wondered what was going on! :)

I'm saving up for a Kindle ... then no one will know how many books I'm buying .... cheaper too. Ann

I have a kindle already Ann, I still find myself needing to buy the occasional book.

@ Carmel - congratulations for your daughter, I hope she loves uni and does really well

@ Brenda - what gorgeous little angels

It's a nice fine day for once so the nurses said I could sit out in the garden for a little while and get some sunshine - apparently I don't look so good, I'm not game to look in the mirror myself, with my hair currently dark purple I can't imagine how bad my pasty, pale skins going to look. lol

Tracey wrote: "It's a nice fine day for once so the nurses said I could sit out in ..."

A bit of vitamin D will do you the world of good. Are you able to tell us which hospital you're in Tracey (or send it to me in a PM). We want to send you a little Aussie Readers care package!)

Mmmm..I love the SUN! :D

WOW...Just attended an interesting meeting....Kinda shocked still O.O

Shocked good or shocked bad?

Laura wrote: "Mmmm..I love the SUN! :D

WOW...Just attended an interesting meeting....Kinda shocked still O.O"

What was the meeting?

Mandy wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Ha ha Brenda, I think I have a number of other priorities to spend my money on at the moment - as my daughter got her first preference for Uni - in Bendigo - Psychological Science!! ..."

It's an exciting time - my son just got the offer he wanted as well. Bachelor of Music at UWS.

Fantastic Cathy.

Gail "cyborg" wrote: "Shocked good or shocked bad?"

Mandy wrote: "Laura wrote: "Mmmm..I love the SUN! :D

WOW...Just attended an interesting meeting....Kinda shocked still O.O"

What was the meeting?"


I'm currently unemployed :( So I've gotta attend monthly meetings with my unemployment agency. I have a new person who'll see me monthly. She is very pro-active...More than anyone else has been. She is rather nice person overal but swore (f-word) which is just unproffessional imo. And made me apply for some job that is really outside my interest, kinda far away in terms of traveling time.

And she wants to make some 'group' type of meetings for job seekers which I'll probably need to attend. Where a bunch of ppl looking for work use their PCs and must apply for a job while there.

Guess shocked overal because it was SO different from everyone I've dealt with. I rather liked the other guy who used to take me for the meetings. We could just chat, he likes the arts alot which I've found many ppl don't.

But oh well..such is life ;p

That sounds bad Laura. I hope something comes up for you soon. How could you not like arts? There is something seriously wrong with those people.

Just bought The Indigo Sky with Stillwater Creek attached for free!! :) ..."

How/where did you buy this Brenda? Is it in eBook form? Got me curious with your "attached free" comment. Ha ha!

Sorry you have to go through that Laura. I know my hubby was unemployed for a lonnnng time. Partly due to him being unskilled in anything (was a shearer, now an ex-shearer with an unrepearable shoulder & elbow) partly due to his age (50 yo) and partly due to the location we live in. Anyway, short story long..... He *had* to accept any and every job they threw at him. Was not nice and some were ridiculous miles away. Cost more to get there than he earned. He finally got a good case manager and now has several licences and has been truck driving this past year. It's wonderful! So hang in there.

Carmel: Huge congrats to your DD. Glad you hear you have your physical and mental health well taken care of in the in future. Ha ha!

Brenda: Happy birthday to your cuties! They're adorable.

PS: I'm expecting my 2nd grandchild any day now. She's due this Saturday. :o) Oh and my son's St Bernard had 12 puppies last night. He he!

Dot wrote: "Just bought The Indigo Sky with Stillwater Creek attached for free!! :) ..."

How/where did you buy this Brenda? Is it in eBook form? Got me curious with your "attached free" comment. Ha ha!"

I got it from Big W, Dot. It was 'attached', cos both were plastic wrapped together, with 'only at BigW' on the plastic!! No, not ebook, just real book..LOL

@ Dot..thanks for my girls' birthday wishes..:)

Hope your 2nd grandchild arrives soon (Sat or earlier), and they are both well...mum and child!

Oh my, 12 St Bernard puppies....wow!!! Love to see a photo, Dot, they would be sooo cute!! :D

@Gail- People tend to snob the arts when it comes to job prospects...I'm a graphic designer/web designer by profession and no-one seems to know a thing about what they do for a job..uggh. Then when I've worked in animation people joke like it wasn't a real job. This guy didn't so it's why I enjoyed seeing him. Many think it's an IT job which it isn't. They all know about retail jobs but when someone is trained in a different field they are lost on what to do. I find it odd considering they are a employment agency but yeah.

Haha, if you couldn't tell it just gets me a little frustrated.

@Dot- Awe, sorry your husband had such a hard time finding work :/ And I know the whole deal of accepting 'every' job otherwise payments stop..Doesn't matter how stupid they are like you mentioned. The system for unemployed people needs a good shake down and revamp buuuuuut that will never happen. It's when you find someone who is really willing to work with you (like you husband did, which is greaaat :)) that you can feel at ease. Not someone who is there to just fill in their time. Sometimes I feel like I could do their job better..haha.

How exciting about a second grand child :D My mum got a text 7am from a friend of hers saying 'I'M A GRANDMOTHER!!' lol Her friends was thrilled..ehehe