Randomness

I went to the Perth Royal show today with my family and plan to do a big photo post for you about the day. However our net connection has been shaped (we've used up our ADSL quota of our plan and have been shaped to dial up speeds - blurgh) so that's going to have to wait for another day.

Instead I'll share some random stories with you.

I like stories :)

First of all, I was out shopping the other day at the large shopping centre where I work, looking about for a birthday present for a friend. I had in mind what I wanted to get him but I just couldn't find it anywhere (it was one of those novelty wine glasses that holds a full bottle of wine for those of you who care). So I was a bit distracted as I walked along, pondering what to get as a replacement present.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a Green Peace stand with active looking members trying to gather support. Now, I don't have anything against Green Peace in general, I actually used to pay my twenty bucks a month for membership, but these days I have more important things to spend my money on. So I walked on by as quickly as I could, trying to avoid eye contact and attempting to look very interested and distracted by the fruit and veg shop on my other side.
Now that tactic usually works. It's a rather polite way of pretending they're not there and showing disinterest.
Alas, not that day.
I was suddenly and abruptly brought to a complete halt by a girl who jumped right in front of me and demanded of me 'So, how do you feel about the whales?'

Whales?

Unfortunately I'm not one of those people who can come up with a witty comeback on the spot so I kind of 'errred' and 'ummmed' and using a dazed and confused expression I made a hasty getaway.
Looking back on it now I'd have loved to have replied 'Oh, very tasty' or 'They're a menace and have to be stopped!' or even 'Sorry, they're not my type, just don't do it for me'.
If only we could turn back the clock, eh?

Moving right along...
As most of you probably know by now, I'm not much of a gardener but I really give it my best shot. Once summer comes my little potted garden should be thriving and most of the plants will be flowering, filling me with a sense of fulfilment. I love it when plants that I've cared for and nurtured really take off and thrive.
And so I was extremely happy with the way one of my plants was coming along once spring had arrived. I had planted two seedlings last summer in an old shallow pot that I put onto of a birdbath stand, the plan to be that once it started flowering (a cute little flower in shades of purple and yellow) it would grow over the pot and hang down, with a curtain of flowers (don't ask me the name of the plant because I'm useless with stuff like that). At the start of winter they had died right back until all that remained was a few twigs sticking out of the pot. A couple of weeks ago though when the weather had gotten a bit nicer, I ventured outside and was amazed to find a thriving plant, already starting to overflow from the pot and small flower buds already developing.
I was so pleased, I made sure it had plenty of water and kept an eye on it, looking forward to the explosion of flowers I'd soon be seeing.
So, Mum comes to visit me and we went out the back and were chatting while I watered my garden. I told her all about how happy I was with this plant and she goes over to look at it. Mum turns around with a look of disbelief on her face and just stares at me.
'What's wrong?' I ask.
'Annette, are you serious?'
Huh? 'Uh, yeah. Why?'
'Because this is a fucking Bindi. Don't you recognise Bindi's when you see them?'

And yes, my mother does swear like that.

I couldn't believe it! The plant I had so lovingly nurtured turns out to be the same nasty weed infesting my lawn and planning on giving me nightmares all summer! And I had no idea!
In my defence I must say that this is the first time I've ever really had a lawn. At our old house we had a kind of clover ground cover around the washing line and that was it and at my Mum's the grass there is pretty much weed free. I had no idea what the heck a Bindi looked like!
Mum pulled the cursed weed out and underneath was the sorry remains of what was my little flowering plants.
The good news is that they seem to be recovering nicely and will hopefully make a spectacular comeback this summer.
The bad news is that I still have a nasty Bindi infestation on my front lawn that no amount of Weed and Feed seems to be able to eradicate.

*sigh*

Lastly, Bimpkin has returned from his trip across the US and is now with Alex again. Hopefully Ale...I mean Bimpkin, will update his blog very soon with photos of his adventures. He has spent the past month or so on a cross country road trip with one of Alex's friends, visiting graveyards and cemeteries. I'm looking forward to it!