YES!!! The "I'm so happy" thread. 2009

[Lesley Cox]

And there, in my opinion, lies the answer. Wind. In its native habitat I would be very surprised if there were many days without strong air movement, and if the wind was a howling gale, so much the better for the calceolaria. The air would be cool or cold and the likes of aphids would never get near the plants. The soil would be stony and superbly drained, though probably very cool and moist a few centimetres below the ground surface. I'm saying this without having been in South America ever but from the experience of our own landscapes. Taken to somewhere like the Mt Cook National Park, I imagine C. uniflora would flourish.

The best one I ever had, and for longest time, was outside and in a too sunny place so that I had to water it every day through spring/summer/autumn but it remained compact and healthy, pest-free so long as my attention was not diverted by rubbish like a couple of days away from home. I returned to an almost dead and irretrievable calceolaria.

[Michael J Campbell]

The postman today delivered three books.

A Monograph of cultivated Galanthus,  by Bishop,Davis & Grimshaw.
The Crocus, by Brian Mathew.
Irises, by Claire Austin.

I am very happy.

[Oron Peri]

The postman today delivered three books.

A Monograph of cultivated Galanthus,  by Bishop,Davis & Grimshaw.
The Crocus, by Brian Mathew.
Irises, by Claire Austin.

I am very happy.

Michael can I ask your source of the second book?

[Michael J Campbell]

Oron,I have Sent you PM.

[David Nicholson]

The postman today delivered three books.

A Monograph of cultivated Galanthus,  by Bishop,Davis & Grimshaw.
The Crocus, by Brian Mathew.
Irises, by Claire Austin.

I am very happy.

..... and lighter in pocket too Michael I would think. The best price of recent through Abe books for The Crocus was £152 and the dearest was £1112, both from American bookshops with no copies showing at all from UK bookshops

[Michael J Campbell]

 

[Maggi Young]

Look at that grin! Michael's done a good deal, I think!! Well done, Michael 

[Lesley Cox]

a pair of chameleons, one of one berated his chum  with.. "you're a sick lizard, Louis"....
    ....  Louis, you are one sick lizard

This reminds me that I'm happy for a wildlife reason and I'd put this in the wildlife thread but I didn't get the camera quick enough.

We have had an explosion of lizards in recent weeks/months and instead of the few I see most days in the garden of the native skink Oligosoma nigriplantare (I think), I'm seeing dozens every day, often several at once. I've been chasing them under bookcases and behind armchairs in order to shunt them outside as I'm worried they may get quite lost and starve if they stay inside. I don't mind them in. Night before last I went to bed only to find a gecko (Hoplodactylus ?sp) sitting on my bed. It was the first one of this kind I've ever seen so was quite excited. When I went to catch him he darted along the wall, down, then under the bed at the end but fortunatately came out at the side where I was able to capture him (or her) and so take him out to the parsley patch.

[maggiepie]

Lesley, you are so lucky, I miss Australian lizards, there are none here that I have seen.

Did you see this article about a 111 year old tuatara becoming a father?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/henry-the-tuatara-is-a-dad-at-111-1516628.html

That should give a few people hope 

[Maggi Young]

Helen, t00lie,( our Forum Style Guru, Dave Toole) lives near Invercargill.... we'll need to ask him to visit Henry , Mildred and the kids for us to get some pix!

[maggiepie]

Helen, t00lie,( our Forum Style Guru, Dave Toole) lives near Invercargill.... we'll need to ask him to visit Henry , Mildred and the kids for us to get some pix!

Maggi, wonderful idea, I would love to see pics of Henry, Mildred and family...

[Lesley Cox]

Yes indeed, Henry has confounded his keepers and other admirers. As well as the initial announcement, we saw the babies on TV last night, all very cute, about 12cms long.

Somewhere I have a film picture of Charles, another inmate at the In'gill museum, sitting on my arm. He was very charming and quiet, and I'd expected him to feel horny (excuse me) and rough but his skin with all its bumps and the peaks along his back, felt like rubber.

[ranunculus]

Did you see this article about a 111 year old tuatara becoming a father?

... Well, what about the 111 year old buttercup who became a grandfather for the second time overnight?   

Our second grandchild (a cousin for little Oliver Thomas Seguieri) ...  one Milo Harvey Alpestris was born at 2.20 am today in Oldham Infirmary ... weight still to be determined, but a big one we believe.  No photos yet ... well, he hasn't got a camera, has he?   A son for the lovely Rebecca and Andrew Harvey.
Seeing him this evening for the first time ... can't wait!!!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Many congratulations to you and the happy family Cliff !!!!! 

[JohnnyD]

That must have taken a lot out of you Cliff.

I suggest a lie down a large sherbet.

Congratulations - and many more of 'em.

JohnnieD

p.s. Congratulate Andrew & Rebecca for Clare and Me.
J.