No thanks, I'll have a Coke.

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Anyone who has seen Japanese games shows on TV knows that they are part of a different world.

But vending machines that doll out used (!) school girl's knickers?

A colleague at work said that he had seen them in Tokyo.  I took him at his word but, when I told Margaret, she demanded proof.

It wasn't hard to find and, for the sceptics, Snopes confirms it to be true too.

It is a different world out there.
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Up, down, whatever.

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Last year a a friend gave us a begonia in a plastic hanging basket.  Not having anywhere to hang it I put it in a tall pot on a ledge.

After a worrying dormant winter, where there was no sign of the plant in the pot at all, it reappeared and is growing beautifully on our front verandah.

Half wants to grow upwards and half wants to hang down.

But it is pretty even if directionally challenged.
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2011 - Sweet & Sour

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Well, farewell 2011.  We saw it out with a sweet & sour sauced pork dish.

Seemed appropriate for a year of many highs and a few lows. (No, not everything gets to blogs or Facebook.)

Looking forward to 2012.

Day one is bright, sunny, expected to be 35°C.  Fed the birds, watered the pot plants.  Some home-brew is in the fridge.  Off to a good start.

Ah, the clock chimes 11am - New Year in the UK.

Best wishes to all of you who wander past this blog.  I must confess I have not felt particularly bloggy for some time so full marks for persistence, if you are really there!
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Cracker of a joke.

Just being an atheist isn't enough to guarantee a better class of joke in the Christmas cracker.
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Christmas Wreath, Australian Style.

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I hope the Christmas season is a happy one for you all, whatever your beliefs.

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Vegetable Garden Update

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Haven't been blogging much but the garden has been growing in my absence.  Basil in the metal pot (had our first fresh pasta with pesto for the year last week).  The closest raised bed is an Aztec mix - corn, pumpkins and climbing beans.  A salad bed (lettuce, coriander, spring onions, parsley and others) behind that and raspberries along the fence.

My Granny always liked to have ripe tomatoes by Christmas - I may make it.  Time will tell. Another salad bed in front of the tomatoes, a tamarillo in the background.  The green bins have climbing beans in one and rhubarb in the other.  Various things in pots - sage, New Zealand spinach, normal chives, garlic chives, tarragon, savoury, chillies, perennial leeks, rocket, strawberries.  Front beds have zucchini and parsley, bush beans.

The worms in the farm seem happy.
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Some taxi!

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My mum, 78 year old, uses public transport extensively.

The other day she wanted to get to a particular plant nursery and walked down to her nearby bus-stop.  A bus was there already and she asked the driver if he went past the nursery.

"Yes" he replied.  He then looked at his watch and said "Look, I don't start my next run for 20 min.  Hop in, I've got time, I'll take you there now."

And he did.

There are some wonderful people out there.
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The need for a new word.

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I love the English language but there is one word missing that it needs:

A word to describe the emotion that you feel when you get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and realise that you have been given a sh*t haircut.

Massacre at the tree of Mulberries

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Our mulberry tree is in full fruit at present.

The reason why you wont see them in the shops is that they are very delicate and difficult to pick without bruising and, consequently, getting a very red-purple stain on your hands.

But you had probably guessed that already, hadn't you?

But they were ideal fodder for the saucy part of our 'traditional' Halloween dessert of 'Mud, blood & poached brains'.

For the prosaic, this is dumplings with red berry sauce and chocolate ice-cream.

◊◊◊

The tree overhangs the footpath and we happily let people pick what they want, if they want. Some even come to the door and ask if they can.

Saddest question: Are they strawberries?
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Keep your head still!

I have watched the doves on our powerlines and their heads don't move when the line (and their body) does but I was fascinated by the extent of 'head-stillness' shown by this chook.
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Disconnect to Connect - Commercial

Wholly smoke!

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Hong Kong airport, 5pm last Friday.

Surreal lighting, sunlight through smog.

No wonder Chinese people are amazed at the colour of the sky when they come to Melbourne.

Yes, it is meant to be blue.
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A Taste of Prague

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A beautiful city, this is just a taste of what we saw and did.



I knew Alphonse Mucha (pronounced 'moo-car') did art nouveau posters, this is a section of a church window in St Vitus Church.


Lots of Trams.


Um...some cafe.


For some reason, St George has a big following in Prague. Lots of statues to him. Certainly seems to have wiped out all the dragons.


Segway tourism.


St Vitus Church.


Lots of Art Nouveau decor about the place.


The astronomical clock - very pretty but couldn't figure out how to tell the time on it.


Lots of shops selling puppets.


Spit roast ham in one of the main squares.


Another doorway.


Bridges on the River Vltava.
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Off again...

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Off travelling tomorrow. Only for about a week and a half this time.

Nephew's wedding in London and then home via Prague. We have heard good things about Prague - Martin & Roni and Simon have been there - but, always the scientist, I felt the need to test the experiment for reproducibility.

I'll let you know how we go.

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Some things are worth more than money.

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