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Permalink Reply by Dr Caroline Wright on July 11, 2012 at 7:09pm

I have no idea what you said above Bob but I agree with it (sounds like something Bill S. would say about Julia G.). You have been in fine form all day today so I presume that you had another very early morning.

About the Bellows you said you make...Are they for home use, home decoration, or commercial use?

You also spoke about a tree that had brilliant red leaves. We have several Maples that we have planted on our property. My favourite is one that gets small red flowers in Spring which then form seeds in pairs with each one becoming encapsulated in an oblong coating. When you drop them from shoulder height they fly like little helicopters. Very difficult to propagate though. In May the olive green leaves turn a brilliant red and last on the tree for nearly a full month provided we do not get too much wind.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

My kind regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Bob Stewart on July 11, 2012 at 8:52pm

Jan will smile Caroline and yes I have been in form today because my 15 yr old son is here until Friday and we have been engaging in our usual verbal ripostes. He practices his French with me as a prelude to exams next week and as I write this he is dusting off the chess set.  This whole exchange has developed in "A Letter to Christine Milne" so it just shows how important we think she is!

However, firstly to the maple,  I dont think it  could be acer negundo and there is a pretty variegated version of that. All the maples have a winged seed pair, platanoides, the Norway Maple and the sycamore pseodoplatanus and the small Japanese Maple with very dark Autumn red are fairly common here.

The bellows are domestic and indeed no toy. With belled end copper spouts and leather diaphragms in two sizes, hisnhers and they are decorative enough to hang at the fireplace. I just asked Josh, my son, how many have I made and he said about 80 and they have been sent to Scotland, Sweden, Canada and UK  through eBay (Is there any other way?) and local, of course. I think there are about 40 or more locally. $70. Not too many making them I suppose but I think I'm getting the hang of it now with a set of cutting templates for the wood and a friend with an industrial sewing machine for the leather. I rather think that anyone with a fireplace will now change from the electric heater and as a result there may be an expanding demand. Waiting for the global warming to start the workshop again.

The tree I mentioned is an ash that was a sport from a batch of seed that proved to be something different and was grown on  at Raywood to become the source of a new variety. The younger Wollaston was brought up in the Raywood Nursery, then trained professionally in Hamilton NZ and I met him in my parents garden collecting cuttings when home recuperating after Korea. This is where my interest in plant propagation and my one  fraxinus raywoodii originated and each time I have moved I've dug it up and brought it with me. It is not as vigorous as the golden ash, a smaller tree that flowers but no seed. The leaves are bright claret, hence the Claret Ash. I wonder if I should claim carbon credits? Need to "break" dormancy for the seed to germinate. Hot, but not boiling water, then leave 24 hrs and sow in a pot , water it and place in the window for warmth covered with a clear plastic bag and dont water again until the potting mix appears dry.

Hell Caroline, this is more than I've written all month!

Dr Caroline Wright said:

I have no idea what you said above Bob but I agree with it (sounds like something Bill S. would say about Julia G.). You have been in fine form all day today so I presume that you had another very early morning.

About the Bellows you said you make...Are they for home use, home decoration, or commercial use?

You also spoke about a tree that had brilliant red leaves. We have several Maples that we have planted on our property. My favourite is one that gets small red flowers in Spring which then form seeds in pairs with each one becoming encapsulated in an oblong coating. When you drop them from shoulder height they fly like little helicopters. Very difficult to propagate though. In May the olive green leaves turn a brilliant red and last on the tree for nearly a full month provided we do not get too much wind.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

My kind regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Dr Caroline Wright on July 11, 2012 at 9:46pm

Hold up a minute Bob. You were 82 on the 28th and have a 15 year old son. There is certainly nothing wrong with your nether regions!!!.

Kind and relieved regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Dr Caroline Wright on July 11, 2012 at 9:58pm

The name of my favourite maple is Acer Rubrum or October Glory (for the Northern hemisphere).

Kind regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Dr Caroline Wright on July 12, 2012 at 7:21am

Bob I was looking at the Deciduous Tree Guide published by Fleming's Nurseries last night and I happened to see a photo of the Flaxinus Angustifolia 'Raywood' Claret Ash and I wanted to ask you if that is the one you developed. If it is it is beautiful.

Kind regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Bob Stewart on July 12, 2012 at 8:23am

Watch it Caroline! Ssssshhhh. Not so loud.That's the second time and If you keep it up...no..that's not right...If you persist, you will continue to remind me of one of the two same age little girls who lived next door to us in the Adelaide Hills about 1935 . We were minding them while their parents were away for the day.. The two girls rush to greet their parents as  they drove in. A bag of sweets changed hands. One ran over to me with 2 big size Freddo Frogs. She held out one to me. As I reached for it, she retracted, bit the head off, handed the now decapitated version to me and ran off. 

I have 4 daughters, the oldest 60 and the youngest 22 and 3 are mothers, 2 are grandmothers and one is a great grandmother. All but one has sown the first center run with a 28 row seeder in a 110 Ha paddock, dressed out a steer hung up in the tree and dug themselves out of a sand bog with a shovel. Their grandmother taught them to shoot and while I taught them about men, how to weld use fencing wire, cut up railway iron for the cattle crush,cure the ham and make brie and blue cheese, they were teaching me about themselves.

They all ride, with patience and are clever at it. One became the Studmaster at Caretta Park, a thoroughbred stud after study in England and the Aga Khan stables in France. Next, is teaching music at Sydney  Conservatory and is a bit of a star on her second invitation to the US in November. Next is the Bar Manager of a busy hotel in Sydney and Kathy, is at Uni SA to be a teacher and has been chosen with 4 others to attend the University at Montpelier in France for 7 weeks from Nov. 2.

...and they dress and present themselves as beautiful self educated women do without fuss, but they don't know how to make hot scones that melt in the mouth or the chou for the cream puffs.as I do.

Do you think Christine Milne  is reading this letter? Perhaps I/we should now bring it back to subject.

Cheers from Bob

Dr Caroline Wright said:

Hold up a minute Bob. You were 82 on the 28th and have a 15 year old son. There is certainly nothing wrong with your nether regions!!!.

Kind and relieved regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Bob Stewart on July 12, 2012 at 9:02am

If it has the "raywood" tag then yes that is the one and Caroline I had nothing to do with its origins. That honor goes to Wollaston and the Downer connection But I have one from the original and I am propagating them. Indeed beautiful as a solitary planting. Nothing else is quite so "claret"

Flemings? We met at the Nurserymens Conference in Hobart, I think it was late 50's. I was presenting  "Mist Propagation Control Techniques with an Artificial Leaf" at the invitation of Harold Kemp who was "Grevillia" the garden writer of the Sunday Mail at the time. Part of my "way out" engineering experiences.

Cheers from Bob

Dr Caroline Wright said:

Bob I was looking at the Deciduous Tree Guide published by Fleming's Nurseries last night and I happened to see a photo of the Flaxinus Angustifolia 'Raywood' Claret Ash and I wanted to ask you if that is the one you developed. If it is it is beautiful.

Kind regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Dr Caroline Wright on July 12, 2012 at 12:41pm

I must admit it is a nice looking tree which gives a great display. 

Kind regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Jan Courtney on July 12, 2012 at 4:28pm

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Permalink Reply by Dr Caroline Wright on July 13, 2012 at 12:36pm

Jan I think that Bob must be having a sleep in as he has been quiet for over 24 hours. Nice photograph of the shrub/tree he likes so much.

Kind regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Bob Stewart on July 13, 2012 at 1:19pm

You miss me! How nice. This the fraxinus aurea, the Golden Ash which looks a bit bedraggled because the lower branches have been the source of grafting stock.  If this selective taking of the tips continues it will expose how attractive it is with the density created. With this in mind I have planted one in the garden with the intention of taking its tips to create a dense golden dome 4 ft high and 6 ft around. The photo of the Claret Ash will have to wait because it is naked.

Dr Caroline Wright said:

Jan I think that Bob must be having a sleep in as he has been quiet for over 24 hours. Nice photograph of the shrub/tree he likes so much.

Kind regards

Caroline

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Permalink Reply by Bob Stewart on July 13, 2012 at 3:30pm

Letter to Christine Milne and Foreign Aid

"The United Nations stopped compiling figures at the end of 2011 in regard to casualties of civil war"

Hell, the UN stopped doing anything. Mogadishu and the warlords, Niger, the drought in Africa, Libya and the billions in aid siphoned off into Swiss banks before it reaches the cooking pots. Ausaid has no idea if all the aid money goes to where it is politically intended. The Other, " We celebrate this handsome gift from the Australian people Lets have a banquet, invite the world press. Later from Us; "The pancit with prawn was delicious and the wine from Barossa, an excellent civilized choice after the pulutan. The Other; A toast! To our mutual understanding of the basis of our long and enduring friendship. (The Other, to an assistant who is a member of the family, "Put this $50 million bank draft in account No.4 Buy two more boats for Christmas Island, 2 more boxes of rocket launchers and pay for the 10 crates of AK47's and the ammunition that we ordered last month. Give $100,000 to Akhmed for the job I asked him to do. Half now and half when the UNHCR complain about it")

To view comment online go to: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/more-than-100-killed-in-syria-massacr...

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