Sunday, August 30, 2009

A Bag of Lemons

True to form, Tom could not resist the large pile of lemons left in his staff room last Friday. A fellow staff member's tree had produced a huge harvest, and in this case, resistance was futile. We visited the town of Bendigo recently on one of the ITF weekends, and were hosted by Barb and Doug Jamieson. Barb's lemon marmalade was wonderful. So I am clear about his intentions! He's promised to chop them up, but I'm guessing the harder part will be standing over the pot of boiling lemons and sugar until it "sets". I'm going to call Barb for the recipe shortly.

The Bendigo weekend included a bush dance, out in the "bush", down a dark and winding road with many wildlife warning road signs, far away from the lights of the town. The Emu Creek Bush Band played, and took their time to teach us (kids and all) a variety of bush/folk dances. A very enjoyable evening, and a great way to catch up with fellow exchange teachers. We met a couple who will be in Winnipeg for 2010. She's a music teacher and got an acceptance on her first application. The Winnipeg counterpart has apparently been trying for a few years. Interestingly enough, and this is either a Winnipeg or a Mennonite connection thing, but I know of the new exchange person.

The day following the dance, we all slept in (a miracle for the Wiebe Roberts crew). We enjoyed a lovely breakfast with more of the lemon marmalade, and headed out for the town of Castlemaine. This is another central Victorian town with gorgeous architecture. Bendigo's buildings, more than 100 years old, are gorgeous. The newer suburbs just can't compete with the beauty of the older buildings. Much brick, iron lacework trim, restored buildings, and some in the process of being restored. Tom had a chance to visit a local potter in Castlemaine as well as the Bendigo Potteries (producing functional pottery for 150+ years). True to form, we picked up more pottery... now the big question will be how to get it home.
http://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/page/Images/Bendigo_Cottage.jpg

One of Bendigo's biggest industries is gold -- the town is built over a working gold mine, a mine that has been producing for more than 150 years. (There are reports of billions of dollars of undiscovered gold in central Victoria if anyone wants to start a search.) Another kind of gold for us is seeing the art and architecture of a place. The Art Gallery in Bendigo has a treasure trove of 19th century Australian art. When we were in Adelaide, we couldn't see the early Australian art in the South Australian Gallery because that particular section was being renovated, so this was wonderful. Early Australian (European-based) art from the late 18th and early 19th centuries derived from a European/English tradition. Artists made art the way they had in England and the work didn't accurately reflect the colours and light of the Australian landscape. The bush and eucalyptus trees appear pale green, or a lime green in colour, which is not near reality. There were also artists who were employed by the rich of the new antipodean world to paint portraits of important people and their estates, and the results can be quite amusing. Large bodied cows or sheep with tiny heads and legs. Very primitive in appearance. Anything to show off the newfound wealth.

A group of painters in the late 19th century changed Australian art. They became known as the Heidelberg group after a small town outside Melbourne (now a suburb). Their works were strongly reflective of everyday Australian landscape and life, and were influenced by the impressionist movement of the day. Artists like Tom Roberts (the other one), Frederick McCubbin, and Arthur Streeton are part of this group. The gallery in Bendigo has a wide range of Australian art, from the earliest to current works by people like Shaun Gladwell, a video artist. His piece is a mesmerizing slow motion film of a biker commemorating the roadkill of central Australia (Apology to Roadkill). Another piece by contemporary artist, Patricia Picinnini is of a strange maternal being, part human, part animal, part magic, suckling her young. We stood near this sculpture for quite a while, unable to tear ourselves away.

We ended our weekend at Hanging Rock, with our own picnic. I brought the Peter Weir movie home a few weeks ago, so we enjoyed the eerie music and sad and strange story of repressed finishing school girls off on a school picnic. Several disappear, most never to return. One of the teachers disappears. The headmistress eventually kills herself.





Somehow we tore ourselves away, although the rocks looming overhead are formidable.


A young kangaroo followed the kids around, especially when it saw them eating apples and sandwiches. We couldn't resist ... gave it some of the apple and some of the sandwich, even though we all know we aren't supposed to feed the animals.


Now I have to face that bag of lemons... I'll let you know how things transpire!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Wombat Poo

The aftermath of the big storm on Saturday night/Sunday was big. Trees and branches down in our yard, but not the huge trees. Three of the four roads in the area were blocked, and people coming to the working bee at FCPS had to cruise around for a way to the school. Took someone 45 minutes to do the normal 10 minute drive. Sunday continued with buckets of rain, and the warm wind turned icy and we were all chilled by the time we left.

I took a look at the big tree down across Mt Dandenong Tourist Hwy, just up the road from our place. When it fell, it took out another Redwood tree, a fence, and the power lines to the houses. Fortunately it didn't land on the house, as the people were home, and the children were watching with amazement as the tree slowly continued on its way down. The power lines erupted in a large explosion, but the tree didn't catch fire. Then the power surge hit the house -- blowing globes, and basically frying all their appliances and electronic equipment. I talked to the home owner, one of the moms at the school, and by the time we talked, she was philosophical. It was frightening at the time, and her kids were also scared. The people who came to fix the power line (3 days later it appears to be fixed, but the boxes bringing the power to the house were under the gigantic tree) were amazed her house didn't catch fire, as there was lightning shooting from the light fixture in the kitchen.

In the midst of the wind storm, a wombat must have made its way down Breen Terrace. We found 2 sets of droppings on the driveway -- at first I thought it was someone's dog leaving us a present, but upon closer inspection (? yes we have been known to inspect the droppings of koalas and now wombats) we saw it was dark green and squarish in shape (about the size of a big marble). There were a few more piles down the road, toward the gully at the end of Breen. The wombat(s) must live there somewhere. A neighbour filled me in -- there are 2 burrows there, but one appears empty. A wombat was killed at the bottom of One Tree Hill Road the other weekend (people really use these curvy roads as their own race tracks), so there are obviously a few around. She tells me there are also many wallabies in the paddock and along Clarke Road in the early mornigs or at dusk, so we're going to have to walk there once the weather warms up a bit.

And it is warming up. These huge wind storms are from the north or northwest, so the end result can be a warmer temperature.

We had another friendly visit one day when Roberta was here. Not that Roberta isn't a friendly visitor... as we were leaving for school one morning, 2 king parrots showed up on the branches above our heads and waited. Obviously looking for a treat. They hung around for a while, while we all talked to them, and they made every appearance of listening. Finally, they flew off. Enough is enough. All talk, no action. Apparently they stay as a pair, and are smart enough to "do the rounds" of the neighbourhood if there's food available. So I bought some bird seed, and the other day the male was perched on the bench at the back of the house eating out of my hand. Nicole took a pic, so we'll post it soon. The rosellas have appeared in large numbers, ready to pick up any of the bits that are on the ground. Once the cockatoos find you, though, the feeding has to stop. They are so well fed right now in the hills that they are wreaking havoc on people's houses. A friend told us about his neighbour whose house is built of cedar. The cockies love chewing on the cedar, and the poor "bugger" (in the words of our friend) is having his house chewed to bits.

Today is Friday, and there's another huge wind storm going on. We are leaving for an ITF weekend in Bendigo after work/school, so hopefully we won't be blasted all the way there. The Victoria branch of the International Teachers' Fellowship group sponsors these events once per month so the exchange teachers and their families can get to know different parts of the State. It's a wonderful experience to meet other exchange teachers and receive their wonderful hospitality. Looks like we'll be reciprocating when we get back to the Peg. They are hosting a bush dance on Saturday night and will do a walking tour of the gorgeous Victorian-era buildings in Bendigo.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

The Four Seasons

In one day, that is. We had a full day in Melbourne yesterday, leaving on the 9:00 a.m. train from Upper Ferntree Gully, heading into the City centre for the Pompeii exhibit at the Melbourne Museum. The kids and I visited this Museum on day 2 of our time in Australia, experiencing 43 C heat and gale force winds. Made a date to return in "winter" for the Pompeii exhibit. It was so packed you could barely shuffle through the small space that housed quite a splendid set of objects from Pompeii, Italy.

I saw the actual site in 1983, when we visited Europe. Got there the day after Christmas, as I recall, a grey, still day, following some gorgeous sunny warmth in Rome for Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was foggy, and I remember having a wonderful coffee somewhere near St. Peter's Square, standing at a little restaurant bar. The day after took us to Pompeii. So the opportunity to see the wonders again was an opportunity to remember another time of my life. And it's so technologically enhanced -- a slide show of the area around Pompeii; a 3D movie illustrating the eruption of Vesuvius; another film discussing vulcanology, all in gorgeous Italian accents. Of course some of the iconic casts made of people and animals were also on display.

It's too bad the Museum is happy to make a big pile of money, selling many more tickets than the space can accommodate. I bought tix on line, hoping we wouldn't have to deal with line-ups, but all we avoided was the ticket buying line. Tom was off to a plaster casting workshop at 2 p.m., so he had to sidestep people and read over shoulders. The kids and I had time, but were mentally drained when we got out of there 3 hours later. Museum brain, I call it. We did wander around the dinosaur exhibit, but by then we needed to be outside. Ran and played in the wind (near gale force). It was warm and gorgeous outside, not at all like a winter day. Again, I am being lured by the possibility of spring.

Found Lygon Street after Tom's workshop ended, and sat outside (it's winter, remember!) at a restaurant enjoying Italian food. Took the train home, and had to take the bus after a certain point as they are still working on the tracks out to Belgrave. That took longer, but we were entertained by a very drunk group of teenagers celebrating someone's birthday. The bus driver was reasonably indulgent, asking them not to "crack" the slab (case) on the bus. I think he was disregarded, which is too bad, as he was thoughtful and waited for some of them to use the toilet before we left our stop. And true to form, one of the guys phoned his mate to get him to hurry up in the toilet.....

This morning there were trees down in the back yard. For the 3rd time this year. The wind was blasting all night; even the possums were relatively quiet. We went to the school for a working bee, Tom hauling loads of dirt up the path to the Grade 5/6 area to create a new garden area; Gabe, Kai, Nicole cleaned up old bricks and helped plant; I cut out more fabric in the library. The power had been out at night, and was out for 3 hours this morning. A "fry up" followed, by which time it was pouring rain in huge deluges. Trees were bending in the wind. We hear trees are down on 3 of the roads in the area, so one of the parents had a 45 minute drive to get to school (normally a 10 minute drive), trying 3 of the roads before she got there. Now the wind is settling down, and the rain has stopped. Power is back on (cross our fingers). Tom is napping. Kids are watching Twilight for that vampire experience. And the sun is now poking through the racing clouds. (The movie version of Twilight, by the way, is an improvement on the book (that doesn't often happen)... we have an enraptured audience, who now want to read the books.)

Friday, August 14, 2009

Coober Pedy


I've finally got a lot of the Red Centre pictures uploaded. Not labelled yet, but you can view them. Tom took a lot of the Coober Pedy pics. He was more than fascinated by this town carved out of the dirt, and in many cases, built into the ground. The temperature underground is stable at 23 or so degrees Celcius. That way it's warm in the cooler winter, and cool in the hotter summer. Most of the activity in this area is tied to opals. People dig deep pits to discover the location of the "colour".


The inland seas left mineral deposits when they retreated and dried up. The minerals were then compressed into silica spheres which shine in many beautiful colours when exposed to light. (The explanation is much more complicated than that, but we could also find pieces of gypsum which show the long, slender spheres.) The rock has to be sliced and polished to allow the colours to be refracted.


Very recently, the town built gutters and curbs on the main streets, but other than a few main streets, everything is still unpaved. The kids were finding "colour" on bits of gravel that lay on parking lots. We spent the night in a hostel that was dug into the ground. Not good if you feel claustrophobic, but more than cozy, as the night cooled off significantly. David and Sonia prepared a delicious evening meal and hot porridge in the morning to get us going on our early start to make it to Yulara while it was still light enough to set up our tents.


Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Train Travel

Last week when Roberta and I were returning from the Vic Market, I had my gigantic 1.8 metre painting as my other companion. Had to hold it upright, because of its size. It will hang horizontally once I find a space in Canada. The cottage is where it will go, I think. We'll see. Tom's gorgeous aboriginal art work will need a space as well... probably need to add a huge blank wall somewhere. Perhaps we'll have to build up!!??? Anyway, that's for the future.

A few people smiled when they saw the wrapped painting. Curious. The tram and the entrance to the tram was crowded, so it needed manoeuvring around the crowds. That done, I stood there, hanging on to it. One woman suggested I put it down horizontally, but I didn't think it would fit. And someone would probably trip over it. Then there wouldn't be any more smiles. A beautiful young woman offered her seat to an older man who entered the tram. He grumpily refused to notice. Of course he didn't need her spot. But then he couldn't figure out how to push his ticket into the ticket reader device, so he accepted her assistance. He is truly one of the few grumpy people I've met on public transit in and around Melbourne. We're probably getting positive responses because of our accents, as most people are curious. "Are you from Ireland?" Or, "Where in America are you from?" Or.... "You aren't from here, are you?" The ones who've met up with Canadians before ask us about Canada, without assuming we're "American". It's too tedious to explain Canada is part of North America, thus we're "American" as well. Gabe and Kai try sometimes, but the subtlety is generally lost on people.

On to Flinders Street Station. Negotiate picture down the stairs. Fortunately don't have to use the loo, or else the one hour train ride to Upper Ferntree Gully (UFG) would be more intense!

Train is waiting for us. On we go. More looks at the picture. I take a seat near the back of the carriage, and hold my wrapped companion up against the rear doors. People come and go. It's mid-afternoon on a Thursday so things aren't that busy.

About 10 stops down the line, an argument erupts between a couple... the man, a smallish, dark curly haired, blue eyed, young looking, rough guy marches to the back, loudly protesting that he doesn't believe the woman he's with. There have been a few of these moments on the trains, but usually later in the day, with more alcohol involved. Most people do not want to engage and are looking everywhere but at the man. They are airing their differences across the train car. She has told him we have to get off at a certain stop to take a bus, as there's an accident on the line... instantly the rumours float around. Someone's lying on the track. They have to remove the body. Could be. I recall hearing a muted announcement somewhere back along the line, but I can't remember. Off we troop. A person in a uniform herds us back on... the line is clear.

He taunts her across the carriage. See, you didn't know what you were talking about. She then walks over to his side, across from me, and tries to reason with him. For some reason I jump in with a comment that I heard an announcement as well. This settles things a bit, but then they have another loud discussion about where they will meet after her doctor appointment. She pushes 4 cigarettes into his hand, and tries to kiss him... he doesn't want to kiss her back. Enough, she says. I don't want to deal with my family. You wait for me outside the doctor's office in 2 hours. I'll see you then. More discussion, more trying to kiss him. Finally he kisses her back. By now I'm quite intrigued, but trying not to engage any further. She leaves. He sits down.

Looks at me and smiles. Asks me which train we're on -- the one going to Belgrave or Lilydale. I know it's Belgrave, so I fill him in. Where are you from then? Canada, I tell him. "Are there black people in Canada?" I ask him what he means by black... there are still quite a few people in Australia who refer to the Aboriginal people as "black". He is surprised to hear that Canada also has indigenous people, but he was wondering about people from Africa or the Caribbean.

Then, "Are things more dear there?" he wants to know. Some things are, some aren't. I give him my surface answer -- food is more expensive in Aus. Water costs less. The transit system is excellent -- Winnipeg's sucks. We have colder winters, so it costs more to heat our homes. This raises a discussion about where they live in government housing with their 2 daughters -- one a two year old and one two weeks. Where's your kids, I ask. With my mother. The girlfriend is on her way to the doctor, no kids in tow. We talk more about government housing in Australia. They've got a place in Rosebud, a spot we've come to love. I tell him about my interest in that area and that my big object is a painting of the foreshore along Port Philip Bay. That is interesting and now he shares more about his/their life. He has a broken hand, and illustrates a finger that moves around in the skin of his hand. (I KNOW everyone near us is listening... it's dead quiet!) He was caught driving without a license, so he was sentenced to 5 months community service. Broke his hand 10 pin bowling with a group of disabled adults. The judge isn't happy with him, because he can't do his community service until the broken finger is fixed. So tomorrow he has a date in court. But the surgeon who was supposed to fix his hand left for Ireland, so the operation has been postponed. More wiggling of finger which isn't really attached to his hand under the skin. I ask him if he's sure he broke it bowling or was it broken when it punched something? I don't know why I asked, but he just laughed. Thought I was funny. Apparently he spent a bit of time in jail 10 years ago because of a graffiti charge, so now the justice system is not happy that he was driving without a license.

There is a lot of graffiti along the train lines, and often there's an eruption of tagging along the roadways... recently all the signs in Ferny Creek were tagged with ugly black marker. Nothing creative. Creative would be interesting, but the ugly black stuff is just like the crap that was all over the West End in Winnipeg. Boring. Nothing like the creative "Bring me the head of Pierre Trudeau" I saw in Vancouver in the early 80s... the West didn't half hate that man!

We chat a bit more, and then he realizes he's missed his train stop. By now I'm quite interested in his life story, but don't want him to get in any more trouble than he's in... He shows me a picture of his little girl, and mentions she looks like him... not "strong featured" like his partner. Indeed, the partner is strong featured, and the little girl is very gorgeous with curly hair and blue eyes. Another stop goes by, and he gathers himself together, but not before showing me the letter from the plastic surgeon. He's really hoping the judge will believe him. So am I. I hope the judge believed him. I hope he doesn't spend more time in jail. I hope he and his girls can be happy. They are in Rosebud. He's going to do more fishing he tells me. From the pier. We stood on that pier on Black Saturday and watched the fairy penguin zooming around. I tell him that. We are fortunate. I hope he will be a lucky man.

He leaves. Roberta and I look at each other. Another guy pipes up from a few seats away: "Is that your surfboard?" So Australian... again I tell the story of the painting. Then, "What's better? A New York pizza or an L.A. pizza?" I'm not sure what he's asking, so I reword. NY or LA? Pizza? I suggest a pizza from NY. Good answer. He and his parents travelled around the world about 15 years ago and he still remembers the amazing pizzas he had in New York. New York state, that is. Spent time near Niagara Falls on his travels, and upstate New York. We discuss my childhood, near Niagara Falls, Ont. Did he cross the bridge? Of course. It's the better side, I suggest. We laugh. Back to pizza talk. Then he tells me his father is now 80 and his mother, who is from Mauritius, is 55. Well, your dad got lucky, I say. Yes. "He's a 10 pound Pom. Met my mom when he was travelling to Australia." The 10 pounds refers to the cost of travelling to Australia for British subjects after WWII.

Australia had a policy in place to increase the population of the country, and they encouraged British subjects. That's also the time Europeans of non-British background were recruited. And that's when the first cappuccino machines hit the Melbourne area... I have this as a fact from a woman I met in the city. She was serving coffee from a company who had been in Melbourne for 51 years. The people who started the coffee importation business were originally from Italy. There was apparently no good coffee to be found.

We finally neared UFG, and his friend piped up -- where were we living? How long are we here for? I told him Ferny Creek... where, he wondered? Turns out he's just down the street from us, on Clarke Road. Our stop arrived, and we all got off. The painting fit in the car, and off we went. It's now resting in the house, waiting for some more packing up before I take it to Pack and Send in Rowville.

Thinking about spring (I may be pushing it)

Well, believe it or not, we regularly experience all 4 seasons in one day. I'm guessing that's the prelude to spring. Thunder, lightning, hail, rain, sun and clear sky, and back to some gigantic wind storms. Must be getting ready to move into another season. This morning we walked to school in humid conditions, and the sky was breaking into blue above us. An orange and green lorikeet greeted us along the way. Two of these birds visited us at home last week, inquisitively looking at us, almost as if they were trying to talk to us.

When I left the house at 10 a.m. to head to the library, I drove through a thick fog, especially at the top of One Tree Hill Road. I took Nicole's shoes to school so she didn't have to run around in socks. To diminish the amount of mud, they are asking kids to leave their outdoor shoes at the door. Some kids don't mind running around in socks, but others want their footwear. Glad to oblige! The grade 5 and 6 students were in the multi purpose room (reduced by about 1/3 in size because of the new construction), rehearsing for the production. Apparently there are surprises in store, but I'll have to wait until it hits the stage. I'm still sewing some costumes -- they discovered I am a whiz on the sewing machine, so I've been taken up on my offer to sew. Today's bag of sewing is a set of headbands for the mermen... nothing like equal opportunity in this production. I'm also working on a few quilt ideas, but they're waiting a bit as I finish the last few costumes that were handed to me. My other sewing exercise was to make some "happy bags" (or happy sacks, according to Gabe) for the kids. In Winnipeg, I made some cotton flannel "bags", filled with wheat grains. These can be heated up in the microwave and applied to any sore muscles, tired little bodies, or just to warm things up! Here I made some out of the fleece I've been using for the quilts, and they're now filled with bird seed. We are hoping to attract more of the colourful birds to the yard, so I bought some bird seed to scatter around. It makes a good filling for the happy bags as well. Smells a bit like some multi grain bread when you heat it up in the microwave.

One of the other things the kids did in the first 5 weeks of this term was take dancing lessons - called "First Steps", I believe. The woman teaching the course is a fabulous dancer, and introduced the Ferny Creek kids to at least 4 or 5 different styles of dancing. And they danced with partners as well, so I think we will be seeing some great dancing skills in the future! I'm wondering if the proposed 2010 Wiebe reunion at Vic Beach should include a disco??? I think it would be a great idea...

Things are really blooming, but most leaves on the non-native trees are not yet breaking out... I'm taking the camera out tomorrow or Friday to catch some of the new blooms. Tom's sister sent me a gorgeous slide show of images of Aussie flowers, which I'm going to try to add to the blog. Don't know if it will take a Powerpoint preso. Will have to figure it out.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Brussel Sprouts

I had to add a little comment about brussel sprouts (more on the food theme). Earlier this week we watched an Aussie show called The Farmer Wants a Wife. It revolves around a group of Aussie farmers who are looking for love. Being out on a farm, they sometimes find it hard to meet women. I guess they haven't heard of internet dating!!... or perhaps it hasn't worked out.

The first opportunity they have to find a possible date is a speed dating exercise where they meet with 10 women, and have a 5 minute chat with each. For some crazy reason, several of the farmers (all male this time -- in the last series, one of the farmers was a woman) mentioned brussel sprouts. Might make it harder to meet the woman of their dreams!

Margaret Atwood's book Curious pursuits: occasional writing is being read on ABC's Book Show by someone other than Margaret Atwood. It's painful at times, because I'm enjoying Margaret's wit and acerbic comments, but the voice of the reader is completely wrong. To bring the brussel sprouts theme back in, she did write about brussel sprouts in today's episode! I think someone is sending me a message... Roberta and I are just going to head down the hill to go grocery shopping.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Food, glorious food (and the end of winter?)



Winter is winding down. It's obvious in the blooming and blossoming plants and trees. Daffodils (obviously non-native) are poking their heads up all around. Snowdrops have been blooming for a while. The native trees are producing the spiky blossoms that are typical of the local flora. We've been spending a happy week with Roberta, enjoying a variety of sightseeing trips, recipes and market visits. Today's visit to the Victoria Market (following a trip last Saturday) was to pick up a painting I'd purchased on Saturday. Intimidated by its size and the packed trains on Saturday following several footy games, I decided to leave it with the artist, and return by myself on a less busy day to bring it to Ferny Creek.

The painting is bigger than I'd remembered, and today was windy, so a few times I thought I might sail away. Of course it elicited a variety of comments on the tram and train, and quite a few people had smiles on their faces as they saw me with the 2 metre long (it's actually the width) painting. It's a scene of the foreshore along Port Philip Bay, near Brighton. We are totally in love with the beach in that area and when I saw the painting I threw caution to the wind and wanted it. How we will get it back to Canada is another story that will happen later. Today's journey was to bring it from the Vic Market to Ferny Creek. The artist was singing when we got there -- troweling paint onto another picture. His week was slow, he said. So did the other merchants in the market. It's the cool, windy weather. Then Roberta bought a triptych from him and we acquired a variety of fruits and veggies from the market stalls. A new item for me is quince (see picture above). I've been hearing about it and want to try it. The smell of the fruit is intriguing -- something between and apple and pear with a layer of citrus or strawberry. Hard to describe. It's a lot of work to prepare, requiring peeling, poaching for 2 to 6 hours, and then it's ready to eat. We'll see how it goes!

Roberta has been intrigued by the great recipes and food ideas in the supplement to the local rag -- the Herald Sun. She suggested I add the link to the taste.com.au supplement that appears weekly. http://www.taste.com.au/ You might want to explore a few recipes on this site. The self raising flour used here is so easy. I figure it's basically a tsp of baking powder to a cup of flour, but if I find out a different ratio, I'll correct the information.

We tried another variation of the lamb shanks recipe last week, this time with Moroccan seasonings, which include paprika, cumin and turmeric. The idea came from a lamb tajine recipe in Moira Hodgson's book It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time. Ingredients for this slow cooked lamb recipe include cumin, coriander, turmeric, sweet paprika, onion, garlic, olives. We used lamb shanks instead of boneless lamb. Either would do just fine. And yesterday, wonder of all wonders, Tom suggested a quiche. Usually it's difficult to get him to eat quiche, but now the idea was his. Without questioning it, a quiche was produced for our evening meal! Now I just have to wiggle some creme brulee (burnt cream) past him!

When we were in the Barossa Valley a few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of visiting Maggie Beer's farm and kitchen for a cooking demonstration. This food writer and television presenter has some great recipes and resources on her web site as well -- it's worth a visit, even if it's in cyberspace: http://www.maggiebeer.com.au/home/

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Settling Back In












We're back in the misty Dandenongs. We were lucky to have 3 weeks off .. a bonus or side effect of Tom's private school schedule. Gabe, Kai and Nicole missed one week of school, and re-entering school when their Canadian friends were hitting summer holidays was somewhat difficult. They have settled back into school, their 3rd term here, and are preparing, en masse, for the big production scheduled for the end of this term. The school is planning to stage a musical called "Kids at Sea" (or Sinbad Sails Again as per Matthew, the principal). Nicole is going to be a sultana (in pink pajamas as the song goes), and Gabe and Kai will be mermen. Costumes are being sewed, and this is something I can do to assist, so have been sewing caftans for the background mermen. Every child in the school gets a role unless they don't want to be in the production. I was happily sewing away on Friday, listening to Valentina Lisitsa playing Chopin etudes (one of the bd gifts that arrived here in Ferny Creek) when the kookaburras started cackling away... must have enjoyed the classical music!
Mind you, the birds are quite noisy these days, so they may be nesting, or preparing to nest. Kookas are loud when they are defending their territory, and they are likely defending their territory prior to nesting. Many native plants are blooming. I saw a tulip tree in bloom the other day as well, so I'm thinking the longer daylight hours are having an effect. If you want to see how we ushered in the winter solstice, check the Belgrave lantern parade pics on the right side of the screen. We've also been enjoying some great Aussie movies -- check out the trailer for 10 Canoes on the right side. Yesterday's (Saturday) excursion was to the Victoria market in Melbourne. We joined Aline and Roberta on a shopping expedition -- great bargains were to be had, including Uggs reputedly direct from factories. And where there weren't bargains, we looked, considered and made a few interesting purchases. I purchased a painting which will likely prove to be a challenge to mail back. Let's see how Aus and Canada post handle this one. Roberta and I will go back on Tuesday to pick it up and give her some more time to check out this artist's work.

I've been uploading pictures to the photo album as fast as I can, and will provide the usual commentary. The first set of pics to view are road pictures from the Stuart Highway... from Adelaide to Alice Springs, a journey of approximately 1200 kilometres. The pictures of the Lasseter Highway, a side trip from the Stuart Highway, will follow.