Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.
Like River, I generally run with a theme. This week? Not so much. I am running with obsessions instead.
The garden is continuing to give me joy - though it is getting hotter by the day and we badly need rain.
I do love Columbines, aquilegias, Grannie's Bonnets. I picked up these two at Tulip Top Gardens.
Some of my green and white tulips - a joy.
As is this one.
The Snowball tree (guelder rose) is coming into flower beautifully. By the middle of next week those balls will be very, very white.
This cat lives in the lounge room window.
I do love our King Parrots - even when they chew the camellias. Which this one did.
And the next photos are of a present I gave myself. Our poor overworked toilet backed up. Eeeuw. A plumber charged us over $400 to NOT fix it. He also destroyed a garden bed, and committed a number of other sins. Negotiations with the company continue, but I am not going to go quietly.
Since the plumber didn't do the job, (and I refused to pay another one) a trip to the hardware store was in order. While picking up plumbing supplies I noticed they had coloured solar lights - at a price which worked out to less than $1.50 per light - with a years warranty. So I treated myself. I may go back and buy some more too. AND I have fixed the toilet too.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.
Like River, I generally run with a theme. This week? Not so much. I am running with obsessions instead.
The garden is continuing to give me joy - though it is getting hotter by the day and we badly need rain.
 |
Some of my green and white tulips - a joy.
As is this one.
The Snowball tree (guelder rose) is coming into flower beautifully. By the middle of next week those balls will be very, very white.
This cat lives in the lounge room window.
I do love our King Parrots - even when they chew the camellias. Which this one did.
And the next photos are of a present I gave myself. Our poor overworked toilet backed up. Eeeuw. A plumber charged us over $400 to NOT fix it. He also destroyed a garden bed, and committed a number of other sins. Negotiations with the company continue, but I am not going to go quietly.
Since the plumber didn't do the job, (and I refused to pay another one) a trip to the hardware store was in order. While picking up plumbing supplies I noticed they had coloured solar lights - at a price which worked out to less than $1.50 per light - with a years warranty. So I treated myself. I may go back and buy some more too. AND I have fixed the toilet too.
Great Sunday Selection EC ~ not good news about the plumber though :(
ReplyDeleteCarol in Cairns: Thinking about the plumber and his company still causes anger to rise. Which I am squashing until the next time I have to talk to them.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteBeatrix: What a little charmer you are.
DeleteSee...that just proves it....call on a women if you want to get a job done correctly!!
ReplyDeleteI love the pictures and I bet those coloured solar lights look wonderful at night...your garden will look like fairyland!
Have a relaxing Sunday and a great week ahead, EC. :)
Lee: They are all in the back yard - and do look like fairy lights. And I love watching them as they change colour...
DeleteColumbines are on my must have list for next year.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the plumber botched your toilet. Calling in a service man is the only way I get anything fixed here; I guess I would hate to lose my list of reliable people.
Joanne Noragon: I love them. And they happily self seed here too. Old fashioned flowers (a concept I neither understand nor adhere to), but right up there with my favourites.
DeleteYour yard has to be so pretty! Our's is fading into the sunset. Short days do not make great flowers. But I sure do appreciate waht is still out there. Can you get a picture of at least part of your yard? I know that I would like to see how you arrainged everything. How your beds look.
ReplyDeleteTeresa: I will post some long shots of some of the jungle for you. It isn't so much arranged - as thrown together...
DeleteI'd love to see some long shots, especially if they are a bit junglefied. Wonderful colours in your columbines - I think I have one survivor and must plant more. I have guelder rose envy, too. Next on my list. And curse that darn plumber! Of course you fixed it yourself, that's what women do when things get unbearable.
DeleteCarol: Long shots coming up. And they will certainly be junglefied.
DeleteYou girls and your pretty flowers are making me jealous.
ReplyDeleteDelores: I will be jealous of your cooler weather very soon. Very, very soon.
DeleteI like the window cat!
ReplyDeletedinahmow: We have three of them. It took the furry cats a while to get used to them, but now they don't give them a second thought.
DeleteAll your flowers are gorgeous, but the Columbines are my absolute faves! We had a wickedly hot and humid summer, I almost melted. I hope yours doesn't get too unbearable. Love your solar lights!
ReplyDeleteKaren: Columbines are great aren't they? As a child I loved sucking the nectar from their spikes too. Early signs suggest that summer is going to arrive early - and hard. I hope the signs are mistaken.
Deletesuch beautiful flowers...I am freezing right now, but they make me feel all summery!
ReplyDeleteHilary: Welcome - and I am glad to take some of the chill off your bones.
DeleteI love the snowball tree. Such delicate flowers. We have lots of them in and about our district. Not on my property sadly.
ReplyDeleteLove your new solar lights!
Oh, and I hope the loo gets fixed soon ... enough said...
Wendy: The loo is still working - after my ministrations. It blocked again, and I cleared it again.
DeleteAnd yes, snowball trees are a treat. I haven't seen any others around here though.
The flowers, the lights & the window cat--ALL BEAUTIFUL!! The toilet, I assume--not so much!!
ReplyDeletefishducky: How right you are - the toilet was not a thing of beauty. It is now though...
DeleteWhat is wrong with plumbers, they are mostly a bit lax when we put our kitchen in the plumbing was leaking and the electrician fixed it because the plumber wouldn't come back because he was too busy and he wasn't even a good plumber.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is looking wonderful but as with us rain is needed.
Merle......... ........... ........
Merlesworld: These plumbers say that they have been in business for over fifty years. My meaner self says by overcharging and repeat visits to fix up their mistakes.
DeleteAnd yes, rain please. Soon.
You are surely a jack of all trades ... you fixed the toilet? Too bad you didn't realize you could do that before you got taken to the cleaners by the plumber. If you need a pitition signed to have the plumber hung by his thumbs, I am all ready for you.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to tell you, I received my magnet in the mail. It is so exciting just knowing that it came half way around the world to my mailbox ... and it came from you. Thank you, Thank you. It has taken a place of honor on my refridgerator and I tell everyone who comes in my house where it came from and about my good friend who sent it. I do truly hope that in my lifetime I am able to venture to your homeland and take a walk in your beautiful gardens with you. I know the odds are against that, but I can dream ... Thank you again EC ...
Andrea @ From The Sol
Andrea: I am thrilled that your magnet arrived. After one post-office told me it wasn't legal to send them I did wonder whether they would be confiscated. So far, most of them have arrived. And I hope the others do too.
DeleteHanging that plumber by his thumbs seems too kind...
Aquilegias - SO beautiful. In our old house they had seeded all over the garden, in so many colour variations. I have planted one like your blue-and-white one here, but will put in others when I find some. That pink and white one is lovely.
ReplyDeleteInefficient tradesmen - grrrr. They are very irritating. Well done for taking matters into your own hands (so to speak!). I love your solar lights too :)
Alexia: We have rather a lot of aquilegias in the garden too - mostly self seeded. I didn't have either of these though - which was my excuse for weakening.
DeleteAnd the solar lights change colour too. Ooh. And ahh.
Your spring pictures are keeping my fall days cheery!
ReplyDeleteBirdie: I am so glad. They are brightening my world too.
DeleteI'm so impressed how you know the name of all those flowers! I wouldn't know this from that.
ReplyDeleteRe the plumber, I am glad to hear you won't go quietly. $400. Seriously - and don't even guarantee their work? Hope the best outcome for you, Sue.
wordsfallfrommyeyes: I am garden obsessed - which is how/why I know the name of some of the things in the garden.
DeleteNot only did he not guarantee his work he knew when he left that there was still a problem. But suggested we call him back and book another call. NOT a happening thing.
Your photos are always so stunning. That first one is glorious.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen coloured solar lights before. I have plain ones in the garden beds which I got one Christmas time and have kept, as I love them.
Jackie K: The daisies are a vibrant treat aren't they?
DeleteNot only are these lights coloured - they change from red to green to blue to purple.. and back again. Lots of fun.
You are woman; hear you roar! Good for you taking care of that plumbing problem. Necessity has a way of breeding results, doesn't it? Your flowers are gorgeous, and I really like those lights.
ReplyDeleteSusan: Hear me roar, and hear me say some other things too. The plumbing company is trying hard to pretend I don't exist at the moment. Which doesn't help their cause...
Delete$400 and they didn't even fix the dang thing? That is outrageous! Actually, even it they HAD fixed it, $400 would still be pretty steep.
ReplyDeleteGood on ya for taking care of it yourself.
Beautiful colours in your garden ...
jenny_o: I thought that over $400 was bad - and for a problem he KNEW wasn't fixed, it made me very, very angry. And I hope my fix lasts.
DeleteLOVE the solar lights and the lounge window kitty. He reminds me of the Halloween kitties I had in my previous home, I still have them somewhere....I have never seen a purple aquilegia before, it's very pretty. Most plumbers are worth their weight in gold (and charge accordingly), sad that you got the one who wasn't paying attention in toilet fixing class.
ReplyDeleteRiver: The solar lights (almost) make up for the plumber's incompetence. And the rudeness and arrogance of the company. I don't mind paying for a completed job - but he left KNOWING it wasn't fixed. Sigh.
DeleteWe have self sown daisies of various colours throughout our garden and my dear old dad used to grow columbines so they always make me think of him. Your garden continues to amaze me and those solar lights are a delight. I have several new ones I must get outside soon but it's not been really sunny enough to worry. I think I'd put up with those beautiful birds nibbling on the camellias just to have them visit me. Thanks once again for sharing all these delights with us. x
ReplyDeleteMimsie: Columbines trigger memories for me too. They were always in my mother's garden - as we daisies. Traditions I am happy to carry on.
DeleteAlways love your flowers, almost makes me thing of trying bulbs and the like myself (almost I say). Well done you on fixing the loo, woman power at it's finest. I love the coloured solar lights, might have to find some for our garden, we normally have the plain white ones.
ReplyDeleteKakka: I am proud of my plumbing process. I did one fix the day the plumber was here (it backed up less than half an hour after he left). That lasted for close to three weeks. I have since cleared another blockage and have my fingers crossed - which is much better than crossing our legs.
DeleteOh, I love those colored solar lights, just love the colors. I like plumbing and have replaced several toilets and even rooted out a collapsed tile drain line beneath a shack once. My worst plumbing problems came from dumping mop water down the toilet and forgetting there was a cleaning rag in the bucket, which would catch down in the bowl bowels. I became quick at draining the tank, removing it, unbolting and removing the bowl, from the floor, and fishing out the rag from the underside, then dropping it back down on a new wax seal. Or using the old one (allegedly a no no). I hope you get your toilet back quickly.
ReplyDeleteStrayer: I love the coloured lights too. So far so good on the toilet front. It was overworked when himself first got home from hospital - and indeed is still working harder than usual.
DeleteDelightful spring goodness EC.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I too love Aquilegias. Such a pretty old fashioned flower - simply charming. I used to be obsessed with the different colours and the doubles/singles one could get in the catalogues :)
Good on you for fixing the loo. Bad on the so called "professional" for not... and creating more mayhem than he should have.
I love your new solar lights. Did you buy them at Bunnings? I would like to get some solar lights this year, and those look lovely.
Vicki: Thank you. I really don't understand fashion. In anything - but particularly in the garden. A gorgeous plant is still a gorgeous plant next year. And the year after.
DeleteBunnings it was. And a very, very good buy.
Lovely,
ReplyDeleteCute Cat on your ledge.
Thank you for the card, dear.
My heart always does a little flip :) XXxxxx
My Inner Chick: Thank you - and I am glad the card arrived safely.
DeleteWe must have the same plumber! Ours managed to disconnect the "half flush" option and fail to fix the full flush either. And charged us a fortune to make the toilet worse.
ReplyDeleteI love your flowers! We acquired a garden in May and I'm in the process of planting it out. I thought of you when I ordered over 500 bulbs that I need to plant next week, so I hopefully have a blaze of spring colour in April and May. I've yet to tell the man that we need as many bulbs in spting that will flower in the autumn. I think I'll leave that little bit of news for the time being :-)
And I think I'd forgive the parrot just because he's so pretty, although I do remember being rather annoyed with the corellas who used to land in a big noisy flock and strip my almond tree.
As I told River, my son worked out why I suddenly could not comment on many Blogger blogs. It was some idiotic setting in Firefox that I never changed, but somehow activated itself in one of their updates. It only took me two years to work it out....
Marie: How lovely to see you. I have missed you and thought of you often. What has been happening in your world?
DeleteNothing terribly exciting happening here. Hubby is still sick with Lyme Disease, so we are getting the yacht ship-shape to sell her in the spring. Instead of sailing, we've bought a summer house (a cute little red and white Swedish cottage) with a garden, so we can potter around on land. It's a hive of activity for local wildlife, birds, insects, butterflies, so he's as happy as a pig in mud snapping away on his camera.
DeleteI'm okay, though still hobbling around with osteoarthritis on my left knee (isn't growing older fun?), but the gardening seems to agree with it, so that's good. And my son was over this summer from Australia, so we've had a lovely time with him (and he solved some of my computer woes). I don't write on my old blog anymore and closed it down. Instead I (try) and write in Swedish about our new little house and garden and the changing seasons.
It sounds as if your life has been very full - with the good and the bad. Hubby's photos are a daily delight - thank him for me.
DeleteAnd no, growing older doesn't have a great deal to recommend it - except that it is better than the alternative.
Maybe the pesky parrots will attack the Plumber. that'll fix um :)
ReplyDeleteYour flower gardens are looking mighty lovely. That's the thanks you get for all those bulbs you planted ;)
I hope you and SP are well n happy EC
Pam:): I don't want to poison the King Parrot - so I hope she leaves the plumber alone.
DeleteAll I've ever known about Australia has been bad advertisement compared to this blog. All I see is BEAUTY - not crowded cities, out of control fires, or killer spiders and scorpions. Tell me more!
ReplyDeletelotta joy: Thank you. Crowded cities we have. Fires we have. Spiders we have. Scorpions? Not a major problem. Snakes we have - some of the world's most venomous.]
DeleteBeauty we have. Lots of it.
And later today I am going kangaroo watching. Want some photos?
Well done on the loo fixing but poo to the plumber :(. Love the flowers and can't get over that you have tulips AND aquilegia flowering *at the same time*
ReplyDeleteGilllie: Pooh indeed to the plumber. Rather a lot of it. And yes, the garden is a tad confused (like me) and lots of things which possibly shouldn't and flowering together.
DeleteI felt JOY, just as I read the word on your post!
ReplyDeleteWonderful, my friend :-)
ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^= <3
Cloudia: Thank you. I am lucky - and feel joy often.
DeleteWell done you for fixing the toilet. The solar lamps look so pretty - but nothing is a glorious as the vivid splashes of your spring flowers!
ReplyDeleteladyfi: Thank you. The garden is a daily delight.
DeleteWhat a dumbfuck plumber. Don't go quietly!! Hiss and spit, as you would say.
ReplyDeleteChanging gears though, what a lovely bunch of flowers! You have quite the green thumb.
Riot Kitty: Believe me, I am hissing and spitting. The owner of the business is apparently overseas at the moment - but due back this week. When he will hear from me, since no-one else is prepared to take any responsibility.
DeleteI would like a green thumb, but luck plays a big part. As does growing easy things...
Your flowers are just gorgeous. I love the names of them - Grannie's Bonnets especially.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was confused and thought you had gotten a toilet that lights up (it's early yet.) :) Very cool lights.
And I'm glad you aren't going quietly - $400 for nothing??? I don't think so.
Lynn: And they do look like old fashioned bonnets too.
DeleteBravo dear EC for fixing the toilet that the plumber buggered up! Don't go quietly, they messed up your garden!
ReplyDeleteI love your flower images.
Mia McPherson: They do think that they have heard the last of me. And are wrong. So very wrong.
DeleteEnjoy your flowers, and the parrot is so pretty if he does eat some of the yummy things. The lights are bright, nice find when doing a chore
ReplyDeleteKim @ Stuff could...: I do enjoy the beauty. Every day. And am even happy to share the camellias with the king parrots. Mostly.
Deletethose flowers-- oh, the first ones, the daisies. How extraordinary! They're some of the most beautiful flowers I've ever ever seen. Your ways with plants and photography continue to amaze me.
ReplyDeleteRaquel Somatra: Thank you so much. The garden is one of my obsessions - and photography becoming one.
DeleteFlowers so amazing--what colors!
ReplyDeleteBad plumber! Bad, bad.
Susan Kane: Bad, bad plumber indeed. And they are still hiding from me. Which makes me more determined not less.
DeleteYou have the same spring flowers I have, except with a difference of six months. Amazing, when you think about it.
ReplyDeleteWorkmen, rotten lot.
When you find a good one, hold on to him. Or her.
Lovely lights, I’d love some for the garden in high summer. Mind you, they’d probably be drowned by our rains.
Friko: I love that I get each season twice (at least). The magic of the blogosphere.
DeleteAnd I am certainly not going to use, or recommend that plumber.
Such an array of beautiful colours once again. Bit of a bummer about the plumber. I wouldn't want my my flushed away. And solar lamps, love solar lamps. I know, solar lamps and England. How does that work.....
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week ahead, Sue.
Gary :)
klahanie: Lots and lots of colour - in the garden day and night now. Which makes me smile.
DeleteAnd a wonderful week to you and the wonderdog too.
Sorry to hear about the problems with the plumber. Hope you get negotiations resolved in your favor. The only right thing to do in my humble opinion. Your Sunday Selection is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: Thank you. Plumber's company is still hiding from me.
Deletep.s. to answer your question about my post on the dinosaur and the Union Jack, we were in an area where they find a lot of dinosaur bones and other fossils. On thinking about the flag since I posted, I seem to remember many flags in a line from several countries. As there are many tourists who visit Arizona from all over the world I guess it was their hook to draw people in. I think I was lucky to capture the British flag which was placed right next to the dinosaur.
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: Thank you. An interesting tourism technique.
DeleteYay for women who can fix toilets! And grow gorgeous flowers!
ReplyDeleteCarol Kilgore: Desperation is a wonderful incentive. As is anger. And pissed offness.
DeleteAnd the garden is a balm.
Dear EC, you are one talented human being! With an eye for beauty wherever you find it and a hand that with a trusty tool can fix toilets. Wow!
ReplyDeleteI, too, love columbines. They grew down by the creek on the farm where I grew up. Sometimes I'd dig one up and plant it beneath a pear tree in the orchard on the left side of our house. But it seldom survived my youthful enthusiasm. Peace.
Dee: Necessity. And frustration rather than talent.
DeleteIt seems that to know columbines is to love them. World-wide. Which is wonderful.
Okay, the plumber is an ass. But your flowers, black cat, and parrot are beautiful! I second the motion to see a wide shot of your garden!
ReplyDeleteMs. CrankyPants: Given the nature of our problem the plumber was more than an ass. And, wider shots are there.
Delete