Hi Beth:

Glad to have you here. Putting out bird feeders for parrots - wow, that's cool! And your trip sounds wonderful. I've been to London a couple of times & loved it. I haven't been to Scotland yet, but DH & I really want to go.

Would love to see pics of your parrot feeders!

I'd LOVE to see pics of your parrots at the feeder too!! We don't have wild parrots here in Missouri. :-)

My DD went to Australia a few years ago, she loved it!

Add me to your list of people that would love to see pictures.

Ron

Hi Beth, I am sure we all would love to see your pictures. If not of birds then of the area where you live. We don't get to see many picture of Australia. If you ever get to the USA please let us know so we can arrange a get together. You are welcome to come visit my place anytime. There is lots to see and I have a nice guest room.

Hi Beth, I'm on the list of people who would love to see soe pictures of the beautiful, colorful parrots. I just wish you could make an audio describing them so I could hear you talk. I've only known two people from Australia and with both of them I asked so many questions just to hear them reply. I love that accent.

Linda

Me too. I want to see the pictures of the parrots even if they aren't that good.
Welcome to the KT. Hope we can meet you in person some day.
Leslie

Thanks for the replies. I just set up a Photobucket account and will see if I can work out how to post pictures when I get home this evening. Most of the parrots turn up in the late afternoon but if I am home in time I will see if I can sneak up on them. Otherwise, will post the few I have which I took through the window at a distance. They are very smart little birds and hard to catch. I am going with my DIL to a town 100kms away to do some shopping - we only have a small grocery here and another town about 35kms away which is a little bigger. Going to Bunbury is a once in a month trip- it only takes an hour because there is not much between here and there except some pretty scenery and farmland. Beth

Wow! Sorry that was so big!

Rest assured that if you ever visit the US, there will be MANY peeps here who will be willing to 1) give advice on what's important to visit, what's not, no matter the tourism hype; 2) take you to lunch; 3) take you to dinner; 4) take you sightseeing; and/or 5) even put you up for a few nights!

Nice to hear about other areas of Australia -- my BF (best friend) flies to AU frequently, but can only really tell me about Sydney. Anything else I (think I) know about AU is from The Thornbirds, LOL, and also a novel situated in an area with pearl diving off the west coast (?).

Oh...and I really do want to see those parrots!

A big welcome from Ontario, Canada. We also would love to see pics of your area. We are just coming into autumn, and soon winter. Your pics would be of the opposite. Wonderful!

Laurel

I was too late home to take more photos, so these from behind the window are the best I can do tonight. The purple and yellow breasted birds are immature and their colours will brighten soon. The golden wattle is loaded with blossoms and is one of our national flowers. Hopefully the link will work and I will try and learn how to post directly to the thread in the next few days.
Mtnwomanbc the novel you mentioned was probably about Broome in the north-west of our state.
Maybe one day I will take up the offers of hospitality - I have so many places I want to visit before I kick the bucket.
Linda, lol about the accents. When I was in Britain, many people thought I was English, not Australian. My Dad was Scottish and even though he died when I was 18, apparently his accent rubbed off on me enough that I don't sound typically Aussie. So many people who visit Australia do not get to Perth (the most isolated capital city in the world, I believe). It is only 5 or6 hours flying from Sydney but on limited holiday time most people seem to stay in the east, which is a shame. There is a lot of travelling time once here to get to some of the most interesting places. Well worth it, but time and planning is needed to get the most out of it. Beth

Here is a link that might be useful: parrots and golden wattle

Beth, the link sent me to Photobucket, but not to your pictures. When you find time you can go to your pictures. Beside each photo you will see four lines and spaces. Click on the string of letters in the space next to where it says HTML Code. You will see where the word " copied " shows up. Then you come back to KT and paste the string of letters into your post. When you preview your post the picture will show up. When you submit it, we will be able to see the picture.

Linda

Beth, welcome this is just so wonderful to have you on board.I have never been to Australia but my brother and his wife spent three weeks there and loved , loved ,loved it! Keep the camera close by a lot of us here love gardening and birdwatching so we will be most interested in seeing your photos.Oh and let me add to that list we also love sharing recipes.

June

Wow, that is so cool to hear from someone so far away. I'd like to invite you to visit us Yanks if you could. We can show you a good time.

You must have kids if you have a DIL. Tell us about them please. I have four grown kids. My youngest, only boy, still lives at home while he finishes college. The 3 girls are far away and don't get home very often. I have 4 grandkids, one girl and 3 boys ages 8-13. Gosh, I can't believe they are so grown up already. DH has 5 grandchildren. They live far away also, although we raised his special needs grandson for 5 years until this summer.

Thanks for joining us!

Welcome to the Kt! Would love to see your pictures too.

Hi, Beth and welcome to the KT. Your travels sound wonderful. I'd love to be able to do that.

{{!gwi}}

Beautiful tree and birds!! Thanks so much for posting these!

Thanks Linda for the photo instructions. I typed an explanation of the pictures but my message was rejected - apparently I should have changed the title of my follow-up. The flower is golden wattle, one of our national flowers. The green and gold of our Olympic uniforms are based on the colours of this tree, I believe.
Some of these parrots are immature - the purple and reds on their breasts will brighten - they are really lovely. The green with the yellow ring-necks are the most common and the bossiest. I must borrow my son's bird book and look up the proper names.
Dirt yfingernails - yes I do have 2 sons. DS2 lives near me with his lovely wife and boy 3, girl 20mths and boy 8mths. They keep us all on the hop. My DS1 lives in my heart forever - we lost him to cancer 3yrs ago when he was 30. His son is 10 and lives 220kms from me but will be coming to stay soon for the school holidays. He loves to be around his little cousins. There have been lots of changes in my life in the last few years. My marriage didn't survive the loss - it hadn't been good for a long time and we are both happier apart. So, I decided not to worry too much about the future but to do some of the things on my "bucket list". Living in the country was one dream and travelling another, so I rent instead of owning a house and save as much as I can towards travel. My first trip was in 2006 for a few days in Scotland, a 2-week cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest and a week in southern Austria at my friend's family village plus a day trip to Venice. This year was Scotland, London and Paris by myself. Not sure where next - thinking of Scandinavia or Canada. Beth

I would KILL for a golden wattle! What a beautiful yellow. The leaves remind me of our Mimosa trees, which have big puffy pinkish-red blooms.

Welcome, Beth! I am so glad you made this post, it was very informative and interesting. I am very sorry about your son and the resulting marriage breakup.

I collect stamps and one of the countries is Australia. Such beatiful stamps reflecting the entire country. A person can get a mini history especially the back.

I meant Outback!

Hi Beth,
So glad to see you join us.
I just love the flower you posted and I wish we had them here in the States!!!
The parrots look great also and thanks for sharing your pics with us.
Deb

Hello and welcome!! I loved reading your post's. And the birds are beautiful! Don't be a stranger now.
Judy

Welcome, I look forward to your posts and sharing your life with us.
I think you may be the only Aussie at the table ?

Enjoy.

Trin

Hi Beth!!
I'm Teresa from Northern VA (right outside Washington DC).
I'm glad you took my advice and posted! My education of Australia consists mostly of my DD watching the Wiggles! lol Those parrots are beautiful! I can't believe you see such colorful birds right outside your window!

Good Luck on completing that "Bucket List"-I need to compose one of my own!

I'm very sorry to hear about your son-very tragic at such a young age.

Welcome and thank you for the pictures, parrots and tree are both gorgeous.

Sorry about DS and glad to see that you are doing some things that you want to do. (((Beth)))

Hello and Welcome!
My Dh got to travel "Down Under" back in the 80's for some Army training. I of course, have never been. :(
After looking at the pics he had taken, I vowed I am going to take a vacation there someday.
Your pics are beautiful! Wish we had parrots here where I'm at.
Susan

So sorry about the loss of your dear son. Can't imagine your pain. My sister lost her only daughter 7 years ago to cancer at age 29. She was like my own baby girl. She was so tough. Made jokes about the cancer right up to the end. We used to have a heavy competition with games on her Atari when she was 9-10 or so. When she called me in to say her goodbyes, she said that whenever I see a blank TV or computer screen she would be playing Atari with me from heaven. I had totally forgotten about it, it had been so long. She left each of us with such personal goodbyes. She asked me to take care of her mom, she said mom will be busy taking care of her brothers and my niece's own little boys but mom needed looking after too. One of our favorite moments was after a month or more of not being able to keep down a single drop of water, she asked for a beer. So at 9:00 in the morning, her brother smuggled in a 12 pack. And my niece, her brothers, her parents, doctor and her pastor had their beers. Niece had 2! She didn't feel too well the next morning, but she felt triumphant at her accomplishment.

Welcome! I so enjoyed the pics you posted. I would be so happy to have parrots come to my yard. We do have colonies of Quaker parakeets that have gone wild and nest in this area, but unfortunately, not near where I live, so I have to content myself with feeding the cardinals, titmice, chickadees, etc., that do come to my feeders....and of course, the raccoons and possums that I feed.

beth you'd love canada...we used to visit vancouver bc when we lived in seattle wa...

loved the pictures..another aussie pal has written about the parrots but until you see them you really don't know how awesome they are...(i fowarded your post to her)

Welcome to the KT. That are beautiful pictures. I would love to visit Australia but just never could, despite that I have relatives in the Melbourne area.
On my table sits a book about Australian Birds which I picked up last week at a library sale.
Please write often, it's so nice to read about another corner of the world.

Oh, my what a beautiful tree. Having wild parrots is so cool. I can't wait to see more of your country through your pictures.

Welcome to the KT!!

Linda

My 7 yr old daughter wants to live in your yard with the parrots!! She's an animal lover, lke all kids are....but she adores all the big parrots. She talks and tickles them for hours at the pet store. SHe'll have to make due with her 2 budgies here at home in Vancouver, B.C. Thanks for the photos.