The Good Life

Goodbye Whitney

2012-02-12T13:39:00.000+10:30

You were a true Diva. RIP Whitney, your magic lives on.

Wedding

2012-02-12T11:27:00.000+10:30

Ah! The joy of a family wedding! Delightful venue, beautiful couple and the day went smoothly and was full of laughter, tender moments and touching words.
What else to say? If you'd like more detail, you'll find it here at the heavy duty blog What are you planning on being? - be warned not all the words are pretty!
Today comes the Hindu Wedding, performed by the Pandit, which will form the solid foundation for the married life of this devoted couple.
The ceremony of the seven steps is the most important part of the ceremony. Prayers are recited as the couple walks the seven steps together, symbolizing that they are now lifelong friends who share the same thoughts, desires, and aspirations. They have become two bodies with a single soul.
1. The first step is about the household, nourishment, and food.
2. The second step is about physical, spiritual, and mental strength.
3. The third step is about preserving wealth and diligence.
4. The fourth step is about togetherness with the parents and happiness.
5. The fifth step is about children and the family.
6. The sixth step is about living together forever.
7. The seventh step is about mutual friendship.

Congratulations to the newly weds and a happy and blissful life together. Walking with you will be a delight and a joy!

Rain, frogs and joy!

2012-02-05T08:49:00.002+10:30

Here in the land of sunshine, which the former cricketer Ian Botham's wife once said was boring. because there were no clouds..it is raining heavily and has been doing so for some hours. Here at Poddler's Creek we have some minor flooding and how very welcome it is. The Summer has been a strange one, much greyness, humidity and lack of refreshing showers.By the end of this 'rain event' it is hoped the new babies will be full to the brim and ready to contribute!

We are predicting no more hot weather for the rest of the Summer since the lovely Cam arrived on Friday to install a new airconditioner to keep the comfort levels at a more reasonable level in 40C. What a joyous thing a semi-small appliance can be!!

Since the use of all rain water in the frog pond the water lilies have thrived, sending up a number of flowers at once, previously unheard off. The frogs are enjoying the damp and the Banjo frogs are calling as if they're auditioning for a Banjo orchestra. Joy!!

Thanks lyannweb, great photo on Flickr, it might have been mine if I'd been fast enough!

What? Only Two Hash Browns?

2012-02-05T01:02:00.001+10:30

6000 calorie breakfast a hit with customers : Jester Diner, a restaurant in Norfolk, England, is challenging patrons to eat their KIDZ breakfast in 60 minutes (with no help) to get it free.
The breakfast weighs over 4kgs and includes 12 pieces of bacon, six eggs, 12 sausages, two hash browns, sauté potatoes, mushrooms, beans, tomatoes, four servings of black pudding, four pieces of bread and butter, four pieces of toast and four pieces of fried bread.
We know it gets cold over there on the windy Norfolk Broads and the good people need their fuel...but only two Hash browns? What is food presentation coming to?

Green

2012-02-04T13:32:00.001+10:30

I've been known to describe myself as Deep Green and to become irate at some of the things environmentalists do in the name of green-ness. For instance in this highly bushfire prone area, our local Trees For Life Group planted several kilometres of highly flammable trees along both sides of a road that is the only exit point for residents at the top end of the road!! These trees are now mature and providing a disaster waiting to happen, with possible serious loss of property and life! It's not easy being green as our green friend has sung -

Life wasn't always easy for our other green hero either -

I love green, but you know there are just some things I would find impossible. For instance eating or drinking anything green for breakfast! Good luck to those of you who have the stomach for it!

Then there's a whole other area of food experience for the adventurous and those who are used to it, find it enjoyable and commonplace -

Green Tea-Flavored Kit Kat : It just goes to show that some flavors do and don't work based around social context. There's a reason Kit Kat doesn't market green tea versions of their chocolate in the States, and there's a plethora of fish and seaweed flavored snacks I encountered when I was there that would just strike most people here as strange.
Just as some of the things you dear Americans love, make others feel sick just to think about. We've heard rumours of burgers smothered in maple syrup! Marshmallows on pumpkin pie and other things we just can't get our culinary chops round at all. Like Starbucks! The franchise that opened near here had to close through lack of popularity, unthinkable for most of you devotees I know.

Iced cucumber tea I could drink, but not for breakfast! Very cold on a very hot day it could have it's refreshment value. Confessing I drank iced white tea with pear juice the other day and found it delicious. How does that make your stomach feel? Happy or discontented? Just goes to show how different people are in their tastes and what they find acceptable. Then of course we have The Raw and the Cooked............

Make Not A Bond Of Love

2012-02-03T15:33:00.001+10:30

Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone.
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together.
For the pillars of the temple stand apart.
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
Khalil Gibran

Here at Poddler's Creek we're getting into wedding mode. Just over one week to go now to a family wedding; a rare event in this small family and one which is bringing guests from all over the world. It will be in a delightful setting with trees and water, the ceremony performed outside, if the weather behaves.Two days later will be a very different wedding, a Hindu wedding with ceremony and tradition.
Your Blogger has know the bride all her life and is thrilled to see her happy and with such a wonderful man who is popular and well loved in his profession. The bride has chosen to wear Collette Dinigan....who wouldn't? She has chosen well, since the long-standing joke is that the first bride of the four girls around the same age in the family will choose a dress they can all wear when the time comes!

Gifts have been despatched and from Poddler's Creek a case of organic wine, specially chosen, packaged and delivered by the winery for a gift that will please and be enjoyed we hope.

Nothing left to do now but scrub up on the day, get the wedding finery on, dab on the Chanel No.5 and enjoy the day! Quite a change from cleaning out bird houses!

It seems Collette Dinnigan herself has had a secret wedding and of course the Bride and her Flower Girl both wore Dinnigan. Good wishes, Collette. Hope you will be as happy as this young couple are.

Agent Orange

2012-02-02T20:48:00.002+10:30

Please click the photo to check the information about Agent Orange, it's use and effects if you are not familiar with them.
America's farmlands to be carpet-bombed with Vietnam-era Agent Orange : A key chemical of one of the most horrifying elements of the Vietnam War -- Agent Orange -- may soon be unleashed on America's farmlands. Considered by world nations to be a "Weapon of Mass Destruction" (WMD), Agent Orange was dropped in the millions of gallons on civilian populations during the Vietnam War in order to destroy foliage and poison North Vietnamese soldiers. The former president of the Vietnamese Red Cross, Professor Nhan, described it as, "...a massive violation of human rights of the civilian population, and a weapon of mass destruction.
That this horrendously destructive chemical can still be in existence is very frightening, that it's use is being considered on a large scale is madness. Perhaps those who propose it's use, think only of the profits and do not know Vietnam Vets who suffer the results of exposure, who's children and grandchildren suffer genetic effects resulting from it's use so long before they were born. Perhaps they do not care; in an act of corporate greed and sociopathology. Let this not be approved, let common sense prevail and let memory inform.

Dots and the Essence of Things

2012-02-01T09:45:00.002+10:30

Dots and the Essence of Things : Now it occurs to me that, like so much in that world, Hirst’s spot paintings are fractal: The principal behind them repeats at several levels of complexity, like a triangle made of smaller triangles that are themselves built from triangles. In this case, the randomness of the dots in any one picture, whose colors are always arbitrarily chosen, is the same randomness that governs the whole project, whose thousands of pictures can be any size and shape and can be built from dots of any size. Hirst’s spot paintings have a profound triviality, and a grim meaninglessness, whichever level you look at them from. The same could be said of the universe we live in. That makes Hirst its portraitist.
Not usually drawn, excuse the pun, to Damien Hirst's work, despite him being a Bristolian, but over at Gwyneths Full Brew and at dot paintings I was lead to explore. My! My! Don't visit if you have a migraine coming on! I get it but I still have a problem with artists who conceive but don't execute. What do you think?

Happy Birthday Desert Island Discs.

2012-01-31T16:19:00.000+10:30

The Weaver has an amusing story over at the post Happy Birthday Desert Island Discs.

70 yesterday! Amazing how long it has been going isn't it? And it was all due to the late Roy Plomley who had the original idea in 1942 and as a freelance, submitted it to the BBC.

John Peel had his turn, another late great! Ah! Memories!

Obsolete Words

2012-01-30T15:19:00.001+10:30

20 obsolete English words that should make a comeback: DURING MY UNDERGRADUATE studies as a Linguistics major, one of the things that struck me most is the amazing fluidity of language. New words are created; older words go out of style. Words can change meaning over time, vowel sounds shift, consonants are lost or added and one word becomes another. Living languages refuse to be static.
The following words have sadly disappeared from modern English, but it’s easy to see how they could be incorporated into everyday conversation.
The joy of words and language!! There are some fine ones here and how lively it would be if some were revived each year to go with the newly invented ones. Any favourites?

Tour Down Under

2012-01-29T16:36:00.000+10:30

Who would have thought this time last year you'd see a post like this!
Gerrans seals fairytale deal for GreenEDGE: When I was told yesterday that I was getting the leader's jersey, I didn't feel any pressure at all, it was just a nice surprise. I knew it would give us a tough job for this last stage, but as it turns out, I can't be happier," said Gerran who two weeks ago won the elite men's road race crown at the nationals. "This is just fantastic. I can't thank the GreenEdge team enough for this victory.

More photos of the trophy and what a fine trophy it is! Here in SA we're happy to see the last of the lycra laddies but what fun it was and how much more interesting to be running a local team, especially a successful one! Your Blogger could quite become a fan after all her grumbling there may have to be a turn about. It doesn't help the Butcher's bank account though and it's time local businesses that loose heavily were compensated! 359 days to go!

Beryl Cook

2012-01-28T17:34:00.001+10:30

Oh Beryl how we miss you!!

Guaranteed to raise a smile, if not a belly laugh and still doing it, no matter how many viewings we've had. This search for Beryl's work turned up a blog on which there was a very tight-assed request, sorry prudes it goes with the post, not to lift the precious family photo in the header, but making free with Beryl's work without acknowledgement of any kind. I'm so dumbfounded at the hypocrisy I had to spit it our somewhere.
So thank you Beryl for all the pleasure you brought over the years, are still doing so and may you be in the great studio with a brush in hand, wherever it is! Growing old disgracefully, a fine ambition and one this Blogger is going her best to achieve. Happy Days!

Read The Riot Act

2012-01-27T16:17:00.002+10:30

If you have not had the great privilege of meeting Kaffe, here's an introduction.He has been an inspiration to your Blogger since the '60's; her own tapestry designing and work set free by allowing the work to run as it will in the same way Kaffe does.There are never mistakes, only fortunate opportunities which lead in new directions.
Hearing Kaffe talk about his life and works a few years ago was another one off the bucket list! Some things become possible in the most unlikely of ways. Enjoy!

Thanks Mirre great photo on Flickr!

Australia Day

2012-01-26T09:19:00.000+10:30

More than 13,000 people become Aussies : Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says 365 special citizenship ceremonies will be held around the country today.
These ceremonies have a hugely symbolic and a practical meaning for the many who take part. The ceremony is deeply moving, whether performed for one person or hundreds taking part together.
The last one your Blogger attended was private, performed for someone who couldn't wait for Australia Day to come round and had Mayor and Councillors present. When the solemn words were read and tears shed, the Mayor presented a champagne glass with the council logo on it and apologised for not providing the champagne to go with it!! That's living in a wine region for you!
Here's the song most Australians consider our unofficial anthem, straight forward and nothing about our continent being 'girt by sea' -

Congratulations to Maggie Beer for her award and to all those who have been recognised for their contribution to the lives of all this Australia Day.

Sticky Lycra

2012-01-21T17:23:00.000+10:30

Phew!!! There we go, that's all over for another year and didn't the green boys do well for their first attempt? Your Blogger has little love for lycra and less for it when it's adorning those who take over our roads, make it hard for workers to get to work and impossible for some businesses to open, thereby loosing a great deal of revenue for which they are not compensated. However, when the newbies put up such a good showing in their first year, you'd have to be a first class grouch not to cheer them on wouldn't you? So I did. The Dear Daughter and The Champ ended up in a VIP box, the full story yet to be told. The place has been alive with helicopters, so at least the bushfire lighters didn't have a chance today!
It has been very tedious here at Poddler's Creek, with strong winds which appear to be never ending and have gone on for days, roaring through the night, making the cats jumpy and your Blogger just a little testy round the edges. At least the washing gets dry quickly!

Tomorrow night the above mentioned will be here at Poddler's for dinner, a simple meal with a lovely bottle of a special, very local sticky named Clarence and a slab of goat's milk cheese, a second course of seasonal vegetables, perhaps a New Zealand Spinach Jalouise and then some beautiful, succulent nectarines and corellas pears blushed by the sun in their full deliciousness served quite unadorned. Simple's best!

Thanks to Beryl Cook , now there was woman who knew how to have fun!

RIP Etta

2012-01-21T08:19:00.000+10:30

Goodbye to Etta James, one of the great ladies of the music world, a true Diva! RIP and thank you.

'Secret Well of Quietness'

2012-01-13T12:57:00.000+10:30

Over at the excellent Blog In The Mists of Avalon: "Those who in youth and childhood wander alone in the woods and wild places, every after carry in their hearts a secret well of quietness and.... they always long for rest and to get away from the noise and rumour of the world." - W. B. Yeats
The beauty of this quote has struck a chord with your Blogger and has put recognition to something she has lived by all her life. That 'secret well of quietness' has carried her though some tough times, some hard places and has provided solace, a strong sense of identity and has been the solidity of firm ground. We all need those things, some of us have not been lucky enough to find them early and in the childhood formative years. I hope you, Dear Readers, have found your place and your very own 'secret well of quietness'............

Cherries & Kindle

2012-01-07T12:51:00.000+10:30

Twenty years ago, your Blogger was a fully paid up neo-Luddite. Living then with a fully paid up, almost original Luddite, it was even hard to acquire helpful domestic appliances, let alone the new PC's!
How life changed! The Luddite refused to own a car; rides a bike, even on a trip from the other Hemisphere, diligently saves foil and string and is obsessive about quaint and ancient practices which preserve the past in it's entirety, whatever the inconvenience and cost.
Here at Poddler's Creek, your Blogger has been described by the next generation as a computer nerd! Would describe herself as a bit more competent than she was twenty years ago and has embraced the changes that make her life full of interest, new learning, information and the improved ability to keep in touch with old and new friends.
One sister refused to go there, despite living alone, having time to fill and not enough to do. An ex-friend is very sniffy, regarding 'all this new stuff' as detracting from life, taking over and leaving no time for the good things! As a life-long student of life and observer of animal behaviour, it won't do for your Blogger. Who wants to sit and do cross-word puzzles, jigsaws and read a dozen romance novels a week? Certainly not moi, who as some of you know or might have guessed, has just purchased a first Kindle.
Trying not to be boring about it, but very enthused! It's an excellent adjunct to other activities, makes it convenient to read emailed documents and has enabled some of the books of youth to be obtained for free for new enjoyment and understanding. Think of the paper saved, and the cost has already been recouped in a few days. Downsides? None discovered yet.
So, if any of you somehow missed the works of Gene Stratton Porter, give her a whirl. Apart from being an early environmentalist, she's part of the genre of orphan literature, which also includes Anne of Green Gables and many books of the time about orphans, usually named Annie.

To something completely different; today saw the close of the short cherry season and the last bag was carried home tenderly to be consumed lightly chilled and with great appreciation. They are of course purely medicinal: -
Seven ways to end joint pain, arthritis and gout using cherries: Gout and arthritis have two things in common. Each condition makes the body hurt, and they respond to the powerful nutrients found in cherries that eliminate pain. But who needs an excuse?

Eve Arnold

2012-01-06T09:48:00.000+10:30

It would not be possible to let the day pass without a small tribute to the great Eve Arnold: A look back at some of the defining images of the career of the Philadelphia-born photographer, who has died aged 99. A member of the famous Magnum agency, Arnold was perhaps best known for her sensitive images of Marilyn Monroe taken throughout her career.
Her Guardian Obituary and one of the many tributes from those who knew her and learned from her. An artist with a camera. Vale Eve.

Pronunciation and Lamingtons

2012-01-06T09:36:00.000+10:30

A little smile for you if you haven't seen this from The Poke:-

Pronunciation :(think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!
You may like to check the link for the full version.
What a pleasant day it was here on Wednesday after the heat. Back down to a very comfortable 28C, with a small breeze and a relief for addled brains and from concentration difficulties. Pleasant enough to sit out for refreshments at a cafe, not once but twice during the day!

The second time, at a lovely old building, once a cottage, now a cafe and wood-oven venue for pizzas. The garden is old with a huge loquat tree ad an enormous carob, the only one I know in maturity, both the tree's and mine. Here at Poddler's we have a small carob plantation, very fruitful for the first time last Autumn and kilos of the pods were sold. The tree much admired yesterday was very old, with a sturdy double-trunk and providing welcome dense shade and coolth. Since the place changed ownership, the service has improved but the coffee deteriorated badly. No more visits sadly.

The cafe is in a tiny township I have known since childhood. It has grown a little, but not significantly and all the old, beloved buildings are in good repair and in use. The General Store I remember as a child and in all it's variations over the years, closed a few month ago and all were agog to see what would happen next.
Two and a half weeks ago it re-opened with a brand new life as a bakery which provides good coffee and is being run by a lovely young couple, he a proficient baker of many goodies, which he can't bake fast enough to meet demand, she with a smiling baby on her hip greeting the customers.
They have exactly hit the sweet spot, providing what was needed and in the right way to be successful, looking for feed-back from the customers, who all depart with big grins and bags of happiness. I believe our new baker is what is known as an artisan baker, so before long we should be seeing sourdough bread and all sorts of delicious and tasty treats. Country Bakehouse? Yes please!

Thanks jamieanne, great photo of delicious Lamingtons, our national cake on Flickr, we'll all be round for tea!

The Hermitage

2012-01-02T17:51:00.000+10:30

The Hermitage: Rima writes -
I HAD A DREAM a few weeks ago in which several symbols appeared before me. They had no context, just were there. One of them remained with me upon waking, and I became determined to discover its meaning.

From that came this, a gift to us all from Rima to spread far and wide - thank you Rima we'll do our best!
Here it's been the hottest New Year for 100 years and looks like coming to a close tonight with a spot of rain.What to do in nearly 40C?
Read a little, listen to music and the radio while in dedicated proneness, attend to personal grooming chores of the small variety, find excuses to play with water and the job that is saved for just such weather ---defrosting the freezer!! It almost makes it fun! What treasures there are to find in there amongst the permafrost and the UFO's. Best of all Colin the Rooster benefits from the clear-out and is highly pleased to receive such excellent offerings.Bon Appetit Colin!

Just another peek at his baby photo, what a little dot he was then!! Today he is big, noisy, bossy and takes no prisoners!

Earth's Heartbeat

2012-01-01T14:06:00.000+10:30

White Wolf writes here on The Earth has a heartbeat we can see from space: The strong heartbeat of a living being is a sign of life and good health and it turns out that the beautiful Earth we call home also has a heartbeat. In actuality the Earth pulses with a kind of resonant wave also known as the Schumann Resonance.
Whow! Who'd'a'thunk? Lovely photos too. Thank you White Wolf.
Happy New Year to you all, from all of us here at Poddler's Creek. We've rolled into the year with nearly 40C, clear skies and the slightest of breezes. Many will be on holiday and enjoying the sea, refreshing and therapeutic at our local beaches, one of them drive-on.
The Beautiful Daughter and The Champ celebrated New Year in Byron Bay with friends and will be home tomorrow. It has been strange to have them away, as we'd been seeing them daily over Christmas in the most relaxing and enjoyable of circumstances. Back to normal life this week, work for them and a new year of challenges.

Your Blogger has treated herself to her very first Kindle and it is, as you read, winging it's way across the big pond to land in the post box on 5th if she's lucky. It is eagerly awaited! The local libraries have lost their flavour, it has been so hard to find anything to read. The joy of holding a real book, beautifully produced will never die, but it's time for the new world of possibilities to be explored. Happy New Year! May it bring you new possibilities, learning and joy!

Sumptuous

2011-12-31T12:50:00.000+10:30

On Saturday afternoons, after a trip to the Farmers' market, your Blogger likes to pretend to be a real foodie and play about with some of the surprises or expected delights purchased.
This week, there will be some red pepper salsa involving mangoes and apricots, once the recipe has evolved in the grey matter. Already done is a batch of Spiced Pickled Cherries, now gleaming in the jars and filling the house with the spicy smell. Some will be eaten with cold meats, ham of cold chicken kievs and some given for presents, handy little gifts to take when invited for lunch etc.
This recipe is from the ABC, although the one used was from Sumptuous magazine and looks more interesting. I actually used apple cider vinegar made locally, black comet-tailed peppercorns, whole cloves and a few strips of orange peel with some orange juice added. So here we go: -
While the pickling process will infuse some flavour to the cherries within a few days, being patient and waiting a couple of weeks before opening the jar to sample them is well worth the wait. And just like Sara's Plums in Port Syrup, these make an impressive handmade Christmas gift when presented in a nice jar.
Ingredients :-
350g sugar
450ml white wine vinegar
20 black peppercorns
3 star anise
1 vanilla pod
3 bay leaves
1kg cherries, rinsed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Method
Heat sugar and vinegar over a gentle heat.
Add all other ingredients except cherries and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow syrup to cool.
Pack cherries into hot, sterilised preserving jars.
Pour cold syrup over fruit and seal. (don't forget to invert them to help seal)
Leave for a few weeks before eating.

Sumptuous Magazine : showcases the best of South Australian food and wine with recipes, stories and photographs to delight. A subscription to Sumptuous magazine will inspire you to create mouth watering recipes, gain wine appreciation and fill your home with stories of passion behind the best wine and food in the country. Food lovers, wine lovers, adventurers – Sumptuous will leave you craving nothing!

That's a grand claim, but it certainly keeps me up with local changes, provides some nice, seasonal recipes to try and I enjoy it being about things, places and people I know. It's a bit like viewing life in a glossy format or through rose-tinted glasses, except it's all true and accessible. It's a beautiful thing living in a wine region which is also a food bowl! What more to say but Bon Appetit!

Merce

2011-12-28T09:35:00.000+10:30

Merce Cunningham Dance Company Ends Its Legacy Tour : Yet he well knew that his work could prove an obstacle course. His company, founded in 1953, had consistently given performances that caused some members of the audience to walk out. His pioneering form of dance theater kept confronting people — even his admirers — with one challenge after another.
What a sad day when a significant era ends but how could it be otherwise? Merce has gone to the great practise room to join the other greats, where he will one day be joined by others whose influence will live on, but whose companies or stewardship will end, as seems only appropriate and fitting. We will miss you Merce.

Thank you to the photographers who captured these moments and posted them on Flickr.

Full Brew

2011-12-27T08:51:00.001+10:30

A Blog I'm rather fond of, Gwyneth's Full Brew wishes a Merry Christmas from Diane Von Furstenberg and the Full Brew: "Where on earth did you get that dress??" I exclaimed the minute Rachel walked through the door for rehearsal a few weeks ago. She was wearing an exquisitely cut, sleeveless cocktail dress in Sienna brown, patterned with bright white brushmarks, each with a dropped shadow beneath. If one of my painted cups had walked through the door, this is how it would look.
Check the link for some intricate work. These bright travelling companions will be making their contribution in 2012, they're nice to hold and cheerful to use. You can't ask more than that of a coffee receptacle!

Here at Poddler's Creek, coffee cups are taken very seriously by the coffee maker, who received a voucher for a barista course for Christmas. The Poddler's Creek Barista is delighted and looking forward to it immensely and your blogger will be on the quality control end of the deal! It will take the home coffee making up another notch and will mean a whole different level of experience, which will involve your Blogger in presenting little, tasty goodies to go with the coffee. Coffee out is on the decline, as it is often so much more pleasant at home, surrounded by the birds, cats and trees, all of which give life that sense of pleasure, joy and contentment. Nothing beats it, so why not enhance it?

Lettuce and Cocaine

2011-12-26T11:07:00.000+10:30

Phew!! Thank goodnes for Christmas and all the good, real, home-cooked food! These horror Studies show junk foods change brain chemistry and are addictive like cocaine: Since processed foods are loaded with synthetic chemical additives, they are technically drugs themselves. So it is no wonder that millions of people around the world are addicted to them
Frightening isn't it? It's enough to make you reach for a lettuce leaf instantly and without hesitation. We're very lucky here in the good life to have access to a good Farmers' Market, the first in Australia with a proud record now of excellence and productivity. One of the many stalls sells nothing but greens - baby spinach leaves, mixed salad leaves, coriander, basil and other herbs, keeping it very simple with style, quality and freshness. What a wonderful antidote to heavy, Christmas fare!

Our festivities went beautifully and tomorrow, another round with ham, salads, all the accompaniments and plenty of fresh cherries and a token gesture to the season with a mincemeat jalouise with brandy butter, cream and brandy custard for those who dare.
Such a simple recipe, but always well received, whether it is made with spinach and goat cheese or with fruit or fruit mince.You can make your own puff pastry or do as we do at Poddler's Creek, with the cheat's version, using two sheets of frozen pastry.
Slap one sheet on a baking tray, cut the other with lattice cuts, but leaving a 2" gap all round the edges.Spoon on the mincemeat, homemade, if you had done serious Christmas prep or out of the Robertsons jar, if you want an easy time of it. Cover with the latticed pastry and bake for around 25 mins. You can sprinkle with sugar and a sprig of holly, to give a sparkly, festive touch if you wish, or not, if you have a Dentist in the family. A nice change from mince pies and you can add chopped apple or pineapple for a pleasant variation on the basic.
Hope you've had an enjoyable Christmas so far with more fun to come!

Christmas Trees

2011-12-25T08:19:00.002+10:30

Christmas Trees: If you see a Christmas tree displayed in a church, chances are that that church also promotes false Bibles, immodest dress, rock and roll, entertaining over preaching, and other sins of the modern church. Bible believing Christians who stray into such places should be grateful to be given the warning.
So there you go, you have been warned, if you want to Rock'n'Roll under the Christmas tree in an immodest dress far be it from me to try to stop you! And watch out for chimneys, you never know what may emerge from them.

In my friend's case, it was a large and very irate Possum ! She didn't say whether it was a Ring-tail or a Brush-tail, but she did emphasise how irate it was when she lit a fire after a long Summer!
Here at Poddler's Creek, who knows what will happen over the Christmas break? There is a real deal meal today, the 25th, complete with cranberry sauce, crackers, silly hats, small kids and grannies. Will there be tears before bedtime? More than likely, but hey! it's all part of Christmas.
A very civilised day has been planned for 26th - it's the cricket!! Time out and then on 27th a meal with cousins, one of whom is about to marry her partner in a gorgeous, relaxed, laid-back wedding venue to which we're all invited. Then it's off on 28th to the holiday cottage of my Godson and his family for some fun, catching up and enjoyable food and talk. No stress, minimal preparation and maximum fun. I haven't even been allowed to make the turkey stuffing! Ready to Rock'n'Roll? You bet!
Happy Christmas everyone!

2011-12-23T12:08:00.000+10:30

Here at Poddler's Creek all will be peaceful and quiet apart from the honking of geese, the creaking of Guinea Fowl, all safe for Christmas, plus the insistence of cats. Christmas has been transferred to the home of the lovely Daughter who has taken on the mantle this year and once it settles is impossible to remove!
We are looking forward to a social time with family of all ages in a new amalgamation. Our dear cousins will be visiting on one day and that is looked forward to immensely, as it is always relaxed, enjoyable and full of lively and interesting talk. Then it's off the the opposite coast of the Peninsula for another relaxed day by the water with the young Godson and his family. More delightful eating and revelry!
May your Christmas be full of the same and the best of wishes from us all here at Poddler's. Happy Christmas!

The Entire Earth System

2011-12-23T09:02:00.001+10:30

A Proposal For Wellbeing Of The Entire Earth System: The proposals developed by the Plurinational State of Bolivia bring together and build upon the progress made in the World Charter for Nature (1982), the Rio Declaration (1994), the Earth Charter (2000), and the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth (2010):
The main challenge for the eradication of poverty is not to grow forever, but to achieve an equitable distribution of the wealth that is possible under the limits of the Earth system. In a world in which 1% of the population controls 50% of the wealth of the planet, it will not be possible to eradicate poverty or restore harmony with nature

Thought some of you might be interested in this if you haven't seen it.

Thanks NASA great photo!

Watery Stuff

2011-12-22T10:21:00.001+10:30

Just a few little highlights from the recent weeks - a streak of ochre earth along the side of one of the new tanks as it hit the ground running.

The business end, now with tap installed and water behind it to back up it's promises.

The pond that Misty will be feeding and the reasons why - frogs, fish, insects, birds and these beautiful scented water lilies, which are flourishing already, after being cut off from bore-water and fed solely on pure rain water. Who wouldn't?

The dam has now had a reasonable fill and will see the geese entertained through a few weeks.Their paddling pools are collecting rain and have enough in the bottom to keep the feet wet and unwrinkled. A goose with unwrinkled feet is a happy goose, especially at Christmas!

Enjoy the holidays!

A Nonviolent World

2011-12-20T11:28:00.000+10:30

Global Movement To Create A Nonviolent World: On 11 November 2011, the 93rd anniversary of the armistice of World War 1, a new movement to end human violence was launched around the world. 'The People's Charter to Create a Nonviolent World' was launched simultaneously in Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States and has already gained signatories in eighteen countries. Check it out!
And something with a little seasonal touch -

Have a very Happy Christaas or whatever you do or don't celebrate in this rich diversity we call life. Thank you all for yoiur following, your comments and insights and your company. It just wouldn't be the same without you!

Changes

2011-12-19T15:11:00.000+10:30

Those of you interested in climate change will know Plimer has brought out a new book; an article here tells all - How Plimer’s climate change book might just work: That will mean more kids being more susceptible to the scams of the anti-science lobby, more people believing that almost all the scientists of the world are corrupt. More disbelief in climate change. Less action.
Here at Poddler's Creek we are confirmed skeptics, we don't like the things the climate scientists have got up to with their hocky stick graphs and the bending of the stats. Most of those around us are not and like to think of themselves as environmentalists.Were we interested in being mean and grumpy, we could catalogue all the things they have done which prove they are not and mainly care at the 'look at me' level and not the micro level.
Our dear neighbour once pulled out all his almond trees to plant the more lucrative vines and bulldozed the trees into the creek! He damed the creek, starving the ancient River RedGums of water and so on and regularly fires lead pellets across our roof top to scare birds off his vines, thereby potentially poisining our water supply! Nice one! disputes with neighbours...no thanks, life has other things to do which are far more pleasant.
As our dear friend Kermit said 'It's not easy being green'

You know, it's all been about tanks and water lately. Even the bread loaves are starting to look like tanks these days! Time for a new perspective!

Decomposition

2011-12-18T10:52:00.000+10:30

Happy Meal resists in a six month experiment. As an old employer of mine used to remark "How very ghastly!"

No such effects for next Sunday, when the turkey will be country raised, the ham smoked with redgum chips in the Butcher's own smoker out the back and the food will be fresh and tasty.

Yours truly has been permitted to organise the puddings for the three family events. On 25th, there will be traditional plum puddin with brandy custard, brandy butter and cream. Tiramisu, and a bright little cherry filled domed centrepiece, dotted with foil wrapped cherry liqueur chocolates will give everyone in the party, choice and variety.

On 27th a fresh fruit platter with soft fruits - peaches both white and pink, strawberries and cherries, apricots, some local almonds, possibly a little left-over Tiramisu. On the 28th, a fresh strawberry pavlova.

Very little preparation to do and all delicious! Can't wait!

After all that delicious indulgence, pleased to report the end of the tank saga at last here at Poddler's Creek. Three new tanks are installed and yesterday's major rain event has filled them by one third already! Probably around 2,000 litres!

Even that has to top the excitement of Christmas!

Rude Names

2011-12-15T07:31:00.000+10:30

Living in a well-known wine region,actually on the conjunction of two regions, as we do here at Poddler's Creek we've seen it all in the case of Wine Stops Minding Its Manners : The newer, racier-sounding wines are unlikely to displace Barefoot, but they all chase the same dream. On the golden horizon, they see Fat Bastard, a line of wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon region that was introduced in the United States in 1998.

The stories behind the local labels, some of them assuming legendary status are always producing of a wry smile. My neighbour who keeps geese and has been known to be roped in to help in goose wrangling on occasions, has named his label The White Feather and a fine drop it is too; the vines fertilsed by the neat goose packages generously contributed daily.

My favourite wine moment however happened a few years ago during vintage, when we were visited by a young French couple, here to learn how the Aussies do it.There is much interchange these days and the traditionalists like to see the modern methods in action, take part in the learning and take their new skills home. It's great fun for the young of the area to have an influx of gorgeous young Frenchman and there are dedicated attempts at cultural exchange!

This young couple were, however, a couple and preferred the company of other couples, however ancient. They came to call bearing gifts -on one occasion a bottle of white named The Arrogant Frog especially made for the export market and named by someone with a broad humourous streak! We all had a good chuckle over it and any ice that might have been around would have melted in a moment.

It is a great delight to watch the flow of the seasons and see them marked so emphatically by the vines and what is happening in the industry. If you have to live near industry, this is the one to go for!

Rock'n' Rollin the Mouldin

2011-12-13T08:40:00.000+10:30

For those of you who like such things, Rotational Moulding - and what's not to like??

It's all excitement here in The Good Life, with another tank being installed - see The Dog Blogg for more info. There's Rick The Master Digger supervising his mate The Bobcat Driver, who gets the sitting down job and what an expert he is!
Running down the driveway is the sludge from the old tanks, a thick, rich mix of rotting leaves but unfortunately rather too acid to be good for much. It's a big day here at Poddler's Creek, one of the best improvements made so far and with the possibility of a companion tank being dropped in beside The Big Boy if required, for another 5,000 litres.
Progress is sometimes slow, some plans take a long time to come to fruition and this one has taken years. Living the good life often requires a change in thinking, the setting of long-term goals and the ability to let plans slide over into another year if the work load has got too heavy or not achieved before the heat of Summer. There is a skill in not fretting about it, learning to be laid-back and being able to alter priorities. That in itself takes time and sometimes conscious effort and when coupled with immense satisfation in things achieved makes for the best of a good life.

Misty Gets a Lift

2011-12-08T11:13:00.000+10:30

Right on track to tell you last nights adventures with Misty, when I got sidetracked looking for a version of It's All Over Now Baby Blue - who knew so many did covers of it? This little gem popped up for those of you old enough to remember Gene Vincent, ahh! those caps took me way back! Nothing to do with anything but it was too good to leave behind!
So, Misty! I am very happy to report that Misty is safely in place under the back verandah awaiting Ian's attentions.What fun and games we had! To make way a very heavy table and benches made from a fallen River Red Gum on the property had to be moved. Last time it was moved it was heavily implicated in the arrival of a hernia, so great care was needed. The Young'Uns did a skilled job.
Then it was up and over the gate for Misty, who of course was too wide to fit neatly through. Misty needed a bit more than a Fireman's Lift to get there, but it was done with humour, much heaving and laughter. Misty fitted into the space as if it was made to order, snug as you like, but not so snug the fittings won't work.

Just a tiny scrape but worth it for all that fun!

And the aperture for the Bib Cock Lockable.

The lovely daughter was very hungry on arrival, after a day at work with good news of a permanent contract being offered and a trip to the gym. She wanted to know if food could come first, before the tank wrangling. When told it was work first, food afterwards, she grinned and exclaimed "What sort of economy is this?" The joys of adult offspring!

Food was enjoyed, Coronas all round and hilarity over which bands and musos we'd see that we hadn't in our lifetimes. My list of course was topped by Jeff Beck and for another Jimi Hendrix. For the one who has seen Hendrix and the lovely daughter, it was Eric Clapton; who'd 'a' thunk? Who would you choose?

Misty

2011-12-07T11:12:00.000+10:30

Rachel has requested photos of the new babies, but I'll bet you guessed your blogger would bring you those in the fullness of time didn't you?
The Bib Cock Lockables may not prove be the suitable fitting after all, but today will see Misty in place and all will be revealed. Family and dear ones, lured by the promise of a roast chicken, will be here tonight to lift Misty over the gate onto the firm base of the back verandah.
Ian The Plumber will be here on Saturday to connect to the system - I won't go there it's complicated! Which is why Ian is doing the job. Any false moves could see the water from the whole system leak out onto the ground. I mean the whole system too, as all the tanks are connected so that one overflows into the next in times of heavy rainfall and also can be fed into the next by the tap system in times of need.

So, here's Misty; you can see the nooks and crannies, this one designed for the Bib Cock Lockable. Misty is relieved to be off the forecourt and taking a little country break before getting down to work.

Here's Annie, now nearly one year old, with a birthday on January 5th, welcoming Misty to the family.

The best news of all though, is that showers are expected over the weekend!! By Monday, Misty could be well-fed and content. I guess you know the magic formula - 1ml of rain on 1metre of roof produces 1litre of tank water. Fingers crossed!
Next time - news of how The Big Boy is faring now that he too is off the forecourt and taking a little holiday.

Tanks & Tiny House Movement

2011-12-06T12:26:00.000+10:30

At 84 Square Feet: Glenn Grassi, in building his prototype one-room microhome — 7 by 12 feet stem-to-stern, including a wood-burning stove, an antique parlor chair that also serves as a seat for the compost toilet beneath it, and a shower under the bed — is hoping it sounds, well, like shelter in the old-fashioned practical sense.
Whow!! Now that's a different concept from the teardrop caravan! What's not to love about these tiny homes, so moveable, so compact and so wonderfully efficient and pared down for a clutter free life; the simple life.
Here at the good life, simplicity is all where possible, but sometimes it gets complicated. For those of you who have been following The Tank Story, here's the latest. Two lovely new Poly tanks were ordered and to the amusement of our slightly incredulous Plumber Ian from Derby, are to be used for keeping a fish and frog pond alive and watering geese and pigeons! They will in time replace the bore-water supply, cut off so suddenly and effectively by our dear neighbour. Bonus to get them at a very reduced price due to the time of year too.
In the meantime, Ian has converted the toilets to rain water flushing and will be installing the new tanks when Peter The Digger Man has been in with his big, fun toys to pull out the two old tanks, crush them and transport them to the tip.We decided not to mess around with making them into garden beds, auxillary woodsheds or tool sheds, but just to save ourselves work and effort and get rid. Good decision!
This morning Wayne, as we say around here, rocked up, with the Ute and tank trailer and the two new beauties on board. Prior to this event there had been a quick trip to the supplier to change the order exchanging one 1,000 for a 3,000 lite. Another good decision and in time a further 3,000 litre will be dropped in next to the other. Plenty of roof space, gutter already installed and the space already prepared. Easy! The geese will be well provided for once we have had a decent shower of rain and are already showing their approval as their bucket numbers have been increased. Their rather worried looks have been replaced with contentment and noises of appreciation. Guess who will be doing the rain dance?
Prior to this event, also at bedtime, the unmistakeable sight of moonlight glistening on water was detected at the septic tank outlet. Horrors!!!!!! Our precious rain water and now only supply of water, running away! It was discovered that the new internals in one cistern were running on and litres of the precious stuff had flushed through the system.
In trepidation, the tank levels were checked and it was noted with great relief that only one ring was gone. All the old tanks are corrugated iron and can be tapped to give an indication of fullness or if you're a pessimist, emptiness. In case you're riveted by all this and wondering...a full tank feels cold and heavy and makes a dense sound when tapped. Otherwise it sounds tinny, lighter and hollow.
So today two beautiful new Mist Green tanks are standing waiting and the end of the water saga is in sight. Freedom and total independence look very attractive, but have been at a cost.That will be recouped from the money that won't be spent on replacing bore water pipes and fittings and in time digging holes in the heat of Summer.
Here for your amusement are the new tanks' accoutrements, those vital little accessories, without which they would just not be well dressed! A Bib Cock Lockable, one for each of course.

And the vital wire-mesh stoppers to keep out mosquitoes which breed enthusiastically in rain water tanks.

The Good Life - full of the unexpected, plenty of surprises and new experiences. Jigsaws and crosswords to keep the mind active in retirement? No thanks.

Wayfarers' Nativity

2011-12-05T13:09:00.000+10:30

Check out Rima's beautiful blog and her new range of cards for Winter at The Hermitage:
Night comes early these days, leaning up against our old rattly windowpanes, which ooze condensation and owlsong from four o'clock on. The long evenings afford us time to do Things Indoors by the fire, or at our dark desks. In the picture above, you might just be able to make out the image emerging on the paper below the lamp - but only in the reflection in the window.
It's a new winter painting - a ritual I've kept for some years now - to make a new snowy painting at this dark end of the year. No other time of year seems to call me to paint it so regularly, and these winter paintings always end up on my Christmas cards when I send them

Flying Avocado!

2011-12-04T13:06:00.000+10:30

It's been all fun and games here at Poddler's Creek in the last few days. It's cherry season and the good times will last for a few brief weeks until just after Christmas...six weeks usually. The first box came home on Saturday and a valiant attempt is being made to enjoy them to the max. Sitting in the sun drinking coffee and eating cherries has been very entertaining.
Cherry pips are made to be projected rapidly onto the garden, either by hand or mouth. It took the cats a few minutes to see what was happening and how, but being smart cats they quickly understood the game and played along, leaping, ducking and diving as neatly as The Harlem Globetrotters. The one that bounced of a stone and flew into the air proved a curly one, as did the whole cherry that landed in the cappucchino!! Simple things! None quite so unexpected though, as the avocado which flew out of the shopping bag, through the air from the back of the waggon and landed in the centre console drink holder!! Plop!! Neat as you like! It was very mirthful and as all witnesses agreed...you couldn't do that if you tried!
Have a fun Sunday!

Cranberry Preserves and Cherries

2011-12-03T13:26:00.000+10:30

FROM SCRATCH CLUB -real cooking with real ingredients? What a novel idea!
Any of you watch Grumpy Old Foodies and note the enormous array of ready meals? All apparently smelling like dogfood as they heat. I once lived near an Iceland, or whatever those vast caverns of frozen food are called. I remember being amazed to discover you could buy frozen baked potatoes and frozen cream!
Some things freeze well, some things not. Something very odd happens to a potato when it has been frozen and defrosted. The texture changes in a subtle but thoroughly unpleasant way.
Cherries are a different kettle of fish altogether, slightly different from fresh ones, but nevertheless very enjoyable and edible.Particularly on Pavlova or a real cheesecake.The cherry season has just started and will run until Christmas time or just after. It is anticipated with great pleasure and enjoyed with full knowledge that it will be short and very sweet.
This year two boxes will be ordered for Christmas; one as a present for the lovely Godson and his family and the other for the family gathering. Displayed with some brightly foil-wrapped cherry liqueurs in a sparkly glass or crystal bowl, what more could you need for a simple, delightful Christmas table centre-piece?

Grey Water Reuse

2011-12-01T17:26:00.000+10:30

Grey Water Reuse Systems in Australia: It's all that other 'grey water' that leaves the home with the sewage that offers the tantalising prospect of saving households tens of thousands of litres of drinking-quality water a year, if only we could use it. How much water is that? Thousands of litres and it's weighing heavily of the minds of the humans here at Poddler's Creek, right now, today, yesterday and the day before.
Our dear neighbour discoverd a leak in the shared bore water system during the Winter, but could not find where it was. Now that the grass has died off it is more possible to local because the grass around a pipe leak remains green. It's not rocket science!! However due to the size of the leak he has decided to turn off our access to the water all together.No warning, no preparation time and a little tricky in it's execution.
No garden watering is done here ever, but the bore water flushes the toilets, fills the frog pond and waters the birds twice a day.We have no mains water and rely on tank water with the water collected off the roofs.What comes down in Winter and before Christmas has to last through the next dry months of Summer. Anyone who lives in a situation like this knows the dread of waking up one morning, turning on a tap and nothing coming out!! It requires constant vigilance, much taping of tank sides to determine fullness and always paying attention. It becomes second nature and not paying water rates is a rather attractive bonus.
The current water supply, which has been more than adequate, now has to stretch to fill the deficit. Calculations have been done, some heavy duty thinking and planning. There will be alterations to the plumbing, a new gas water heater to heat only what is needed and some more tanks to feed goosehouses and pond. In the meantime water is being carried twice a day by bucket and the geese are looking very puzzled! The frogs and goldfish are happy so far and a few aged knees are playing up. It can't go on but plans are seriously afoot and the plumber calls on Saturday. Let's hope he's not busy until after Christmas! Happy days!!

4.74 Degrees

2011-11-23T12:55:00.000+10:30

Separating You and Me? I've written before on the way people in my big home town, officially called a State Capital can find a connection within three minutes.Here is is probably 2 Degrees, but the world average is very impressive don't you think?

Life is in the ideal, all about connection - connection to our community, family and the land we live on.Those things literally keep us grounded. Getting our hands into the good soil of where we live, growing our own, tending a local communal area, allotmenteering, volunteering to help kids at the local school to grow veggies, being part of a barter group and taking up opportunities, all keep us connected, productive and useful.
Those are the things that promote happiness, well-being, contentment and keep our sense of humour alive in a big old world that sometimes seems full of greed, corruption and sociopathic CEO's being given golden handshakes for stuffing up or shutting down a once productive airline or a business with an internal culture showing even less ethics than they have. The more we connect with real people in real situations, the less room there is for greed, lack of integrity and dishonesty.

Summertime

2011-11-20T14:39:00.000+10:30

Annie..................

Joni.........................

and the delight of the best strawberries in many seasons. Served with the finest Jersey cream, what more could life offer?

Granny

2011-11-17T10:08:00.000+10:30

A little something to give you a smile, hopefully to brighten that day if you are in the grey.If not, hope it will give you a laugh and I thank my dear friend Sarah for sending it to me - it certainly brightened my day!

Recycling Earth

2011-11-15T12:17:00.000+10:30

Recycling Earth By Abdul Basit an article of interest.
Hope you're all having a good day and that life is treating you fairly.The good life is certainly full of sunshine and showers at present, late Spring, on the cusp of Summer. The Hills have turned to brown and will not turn green again until the opening rains of Autumn whenever they arrive.
A quick trip down the coast revealed all is in serious preparation now for Summer and it is predicted to be a long one.Little to be done but grin, bear it and try to make the best of the good bits - swimming in the sea, beautiful sunsets, chilled Moscato, washing that dries in 5 minutes and not having to wear many clothes.
The downsides? Won't go there until and if they happen!

Sojourning

2011-11-11T17:24:00.000+10:30

Here in the Good Life we celebrated a rather special birthday....one of those with a 0 at the end. Naturally it deserved a strawberry pavlova, what occasion doesn't? This time it was the lazy cook's version -

take one pavlova base from the supermarket

whip the best quality cream and smother pavlova

add the best quality local strawberries

serve and enjoy!

What could be easier and there was a slice left for that best of all treats, after party breakfast.

All is beautiful in the good life.

A routine has been established on Fridays which is pleasant, relaxed and flexible.

Library first, then the new Supermarket with it's super wide, empty aisles and cut price tiramisu, visit to the Greengrocer, a bite to eat, a look at the sea and an amble home again bearing goodies.

Relax on the sofa with gleanings from the Library and before we know what's happening it's Saturday!

Of course there's work to do, appointments and the stuff of life, but this little sojourn, made as pleasant as possible is a break for essentials made as stressfree as it can be.

And it's mango and soft fruit season at last!

Stuff a Mushroom?

2011-10-30T17:43:00.001+10:30

Remember when Shirley Conran told us life was "too short to stuff a mushroom"? She clearly didn't mean one of these beauties! Rather than stuffed, they have been neatly chopped, fried in good butter, garlic and thickened to fill a monster size vol-au-vent, or if you wish, a mushroom jalouise, baked to a crisp deliciousness and about to be consumed with a little mixed green salad dotted with tiny cocktail tomatoes.
Followed by strawberries and cream, the first of the season and also huge, because of the excellent fruit filling out weather we have had. 1kilo of seconds for $4.50, about a pound a pound and the price will last the whole season from the Farmer's Market, grown a stone's throw away and full of flavour. Sunday night tea, a high point of the weekend! Hope you're having something easy and delicious too.
It is been a very mixed week, full of interest and unusualness and one off never to be repeated occasions. It has been family time, with fun and seriousness, coffee and delicious morsels of sweetness.How we enjoyed ourselves, sitting in the sun in a favourite pavement cafe and discussing the very serious piece of business we had just been about.
I was invited to give evidence as an adult adoptee at the Australian Government Senate Inquiry into forced adoption practices and my family appeared with me for support, but also to answer questions, as we were the only family invited. It was a time of validation, family significance and unity, for which I am truly thankful and grateful. Life is never boring here at Poddler's Creek!

Quake

2011-10-19T14:00:00.000+10:30

So there we go, we had our own little quake this morning at 2.22 and many probably woke, shook their heads and went back to sleep...your blogger for one, who has twice experienced the express train moment and witnessed a ceiling lifting off, only to settle back down quietly when it was all over.This was nothing compared with the destruction and mass devastation experience by many in other parts of the world on a regular basis.
Australia is often known for it's BIG events, our own particular brand of devastation; after which people put their lives, home, businesses and communities back together again with courage, mutual support and great displays of selflessness and community spirit from others who are often strangers.It's something we do well and something we get practise at.
Our bushfire season is upon us, suddenly and early.Time to support those who give their time voluntarily to train, attain expertise and put themselves at risk to protect our properties and lives.There is no limit to the admiration the community has for the Country Fire Service and the professional way it is organised and operates.These days women serve alongside the guys and we wish them all well for the season ahead.... keep safe!

Thanks to the photographers on Flickr.

Whatever It Throws At You.....

2011-10-19T12:37:00.000+10:30

Waking up this morning, windows open to the air, the house was filled with the scent of honeysuckle.

The day will be our warmest yet and seems to officially mark the end of Spring and beginning of Summer.

I'm predicting it will be a longish one and hotter than last Summer. Let's see how that turns out!

Here at Poddler's Creek all the roses are in bloom, delicious perfume everywhere and a riot of colour.It is the sweet spot of the year for your blogger; what making the garden was all about.

In the distance is the sound of the ride-on mower tidying up the front acre and making everything look spic and span.The smell of fresh cut grass adding to the heady mix.

Yesterday a new coffee grinder was purchased, which has brought a lively gleam to the eye of it's user. He's a bit of a coffee buff and there have been murmurings about coffee roasters.Your blogger's job as quality controller leaves a pleasant taste in the mouth, unlike some of the other happenings this week.

Sad to report five adult geese disappeared, unknown culprit, but human suspects a strong possibility.Great care is being taken to keep them off the front acre and restrict them to the back 11.1 acres for safety.One larger gosling has also been lost, possibly to the Brown Goshawk and several tiny goslings probably to the Raven.

Total losses - 8 geese this week. They are not happy chappies and are as you'd expect quite twitchy and watchful.

We hope for improvements today.News has come that Christmas...is it really so close now? will be spent with the lovely daughter, her partner and his family. This means your blogger has now officiallly retired from Christmas duty and will now be responsible only for the Tiramisu and trifle!! That is a big wind down and hooray for it!! There will be salads brought by one and all of the party of around twenty and a big turkey cooked in the Weber by the host, celebrating his first Christmas in his first house.

Relaxed, laid back and definitely something to look forward to.

Old? Who? Me?

2011-10-05T13:50:00.000+10:30

Old? Who? Me?: A New Adventure: Bernice Madeline Maria Sucha, 85, passed away Sept. 25, 2011 in Rochester, Minnesota. She was born in Chicago Nov. 16, 1925, to the Rev. Axel and Frida Eklund. The youngest of five children, Bernie began an early lifelong love for lakes while at her family cottage on Big Lake, Wisconsin

Wedding Day to her beloved Bill 1950

For those of you who never met Bernie or read her blog, you missed a great treat. Bernie was as far as could be ascertained, the oldest blogger in blogland. Her blog was consistently interesting, informative and revealed so much of her personality, her loves and enthusiasms and her nature. It was possible after a time to believe we had met, been friends, chatted and shared some jokes.She visited this blog regularly with her questions and her amazed remarks about Australian life and was a welcome and loved caller.
She never made light of life's hard choices but never told it with anything but honesty and optimism.The death of her beloved husband, her love of speed and her continued driving, the acquisition of a new dog - we were there for it all and we loved her for it. Bernie we will miss you so much. Vale, good friend.

Quondongs

2011-10-03T17:54:00.000+10:30

Remember I wrote about receiving a gift of beautiful olive oil grown 50 kms away but pressed at the olive press a big stone's throw away, by the same lovely family who grow most of my vegetables? Here's a sample and you can almost taste it can't you?
Olive oil is rated for all sorts of qualities apart from taste and I'm guessing this beauty rates high in all sections. It is delicious and will be treasured for use sparingly in the most suitable way. Great for pizza making, sauces, but too flavoursome and heavy for salads. Never mind there are other very local oils for that, some made by neighbours and others by the oil pressers themselves.

Here at Poddler's Creek where all water comes from the sky and is saved in tanks or pumped from the bore, vegetable growing is only economic of water if it happens in Winter, Spring or Autumn.
I confine myself to garlic, arthichokes, broad beans, herbs including parsley, sometimes peas, fennel and sometimes French beans along with edible flowers such as nasturtiums and borage.I leave the rest to the experts who have in their best interests economic water use and abundant crops and supply me with a box of surprises each week for $20. No work, no failed crops, a few challenges and happy eaters. Suits the cook!

The Quandongs are ripe here at Poddler's too and may be made into a delicious pie, some chutney or icecream? The flavour is quite sour, but deliciously heavy with flavour, a bit like a super peach. Chutney made with plenty of cooking apples, plump sultanas, garlic, red peppers, onions ansd cider vinegar will probably be on the agenda in the next few days. How bright and cheerful it will look in the jars with their cellophane tops popping as they cool. Delicious!

2011-10-02T18:18:00.000+10:30

What a fun day out!

A bit of this......

and some of this.......

Quite a few of these......

four of five of these........

and this little craft in the middle especially for Hazel.
She may recognise it as the one playing an important role in Storm Boy all those years ago. Mr Percival flew to the Pelican Sanctuary in the Sky in 2009 at the age of 33 years, but the little craft lives on, in good condition and still in use. Now that is encouraging!

Incas

2011-09-30T11:10:00.000+09:30

Here in the good life we've been wrestling with the Inca Paradox - what no arch, the hallmark of a civilised society? How did they grow their roses? The scene above would greatly benefit from a nice solid archway across that gateway wouldn't you say?
Plans here at Poddler's Creek for putting in a couple of four posted archways have been delayed, possibly until next year. The Spring weather and lack of rain dried the ground out, so plans were abandonned. Almost immediately the rains came and the ground is now sodden, the driveway a river and at this rate the Winter Creek will start to flow for the first time since the Winter before the one just finished. Oh! the capriciousness of weather!

Apparently La Nina is with us again and will be for a time. For those of you who are warming sceptics the above is a wry piece of graffiti as well as being a rather fine photo. Keep cosy!

Seasons Rolling Round

2011-09-27T16:32:00.000+09:30

We are moving very perceptibly from Spring into Summer. Today is 30C and the green is disappearing daily.The hills are now part lush green and part brown, where the sun hits hardest.The Easter Lilies leaves have collpased in a tangle of brown, gold and green ribbons, which in previous years were viewed as a mess. This year it's possible to see the beauty in them and appreciate all stages of the life cycle.These are the first flowers to appear after the devastation of bushfire; the flowers poking their pink and white perfection through ash and blackened earth. In country areas, they are often the last remnants of an old garden, surviving long after the settler's cottage has gone, the stone re-used and the fruit trees victims of old age.

Here in the good life, it has been a time of sociability, unexpected visitors, help offered and gifts given and presented. It has felt a life of abundance, good things, love and friendship and new beginnings, the cycle of life rolling on with the next generations very much in evidence.
We were visited by a small girl yesterday; one of those delightful poppets who are full of questions, fascinated by everything and are not shy to ask what they need to know. Life seems to have held many small boys in recent years, including the three lovely chaps who visited on Friday to help their parents clean out the goose sheds and mulch the gardens. What a joy to have some help and the boys loved every minute of it!
Poddler's Creek has always been full of surprises for the young and it lived up to it's reputation, producing goose eggs, guinea fowl feathers, a Red-bellied Black snake encountered at close and heart-stopping quarters and the other sundries beloved of small children - unusual leaves, strange flowers, sticks, pieces of quartz etc.

Items not used were passed on to those who will use them. A brass bed, a large fruit dryer on wheels, a collection of recipes made over decades. Presents were received with delight - a Tussie-Mussie, honey from a derelict hive which had not been touched in years, olive oil pressed a stone's throw away, made from olives grown 50kms away in the fresh, hill country air where your blogger grew up. A very fine 2005 red made it's way from the Barossa Valley and has been greatly enjoyed, the term rolling off the tongue like velvet invented for it especially. Don't you love effective recycling?

A Moving Time

2011-09-24T15:57:00.001+09:30

Here in the good life it's been a fun family time.
Two families coming together to be part of an important day - the purchase of a first house and moving in, to start a new phase of life.
First a relaxed breakfast and coffee out after a convivial evening. Then the hard work.
It went so smoothly, with good humour, lots of easy co-operation and some moments which seemed so silly and giggly at the time, such as this view of a '50's piece of furniture with very fine legs upended indecorously amd looking like an alien being with antennae and a command about being taken to the leader.
You had to be there but you also had to have co-operative imaginations!

Many hands make light work as they say and all hands were to the deck.

Once the new abode was reached with it's sea air and fresh breezes, it was possible to see that someone had already moved in!

The swallows arrived on 13th of the month and had not wasted any time checking out the old haunt and making good.

What a masterful piece of construction! You can clearly see the beakfuls of mud and count how many trips the whole nest entailed.

While all the old and new residents live peacefully together in harmony?

There is every likelihood.

It will begin once the busy day of moving is over and quiet reigns, apart from the soothing sound of the waves breaking, the gentle Spring breeze freshening the air and the human residents fall into the first exhausted sleep after such an exciting and significant day.

Bon Voyage Dear Ones, may this delightful house bring happiness, homeliness, comfort and all you require for a contented and fulfilled life.
The past has met with present and future in a new adventure for us all.
There is no better omen than the close presence of swallows.

Loose Goose

2011-09-18T09:10:00.000+09:30

The Loose Goose, home to a couple of winemakers and also of the cittaslowgoolwa headquarters.
Goolwa was the first place in Australia to be recognised as part of the Cittaslow movement, which is flourishing.
The coffee remains untested, but will be checked out on the next visit! The view is incomparable, across the end of the mighty River Murray, now happily full and thriving again after the drought and some hard times.

If you live in Australia you probably know that community radio stations are flourishing and Goolwa is home to Radio Alex on FM 87.6

Great stations playing what an afficionado referred to as 'music for adults' - jazz, folk,old rock and some very interesting covers of well known standards.

Radio Alex has an interesting home and what must be one of the prettiest cottage gardens for any radio station anywhere! A mix of traditional cottage plants with a few indigenous varieties thown into the mix, all in flower right now in their Spring finery.

Not shown at it's best here as the sun chose to remain behind a cloud at the crucial moment and took away the sparkle. Never mind you gardeners have got the idea I'm sure.

Leaving you with this weeks' goat cheese from the same producers as the pretty, flowery one of last week. This one has been tried and tested before and was originally made for the wine-makers at Coriole Winery to nibble with their fine products along with one named for them, Vingerons.

Rubi

2011-09-15T20:11:00.000+09:30

What have we here? Rubi Flower Goat Cheese,
made by one of the finest goat cheese makers this side of the black stump.

Use by 19th September!! Have to hurry then!

Won't show you the empty plate but it certainly was a delicious morsel and highly appreciated by it's consumers who made a valiant attempt to prevent it from passing it's use by date.
More next Saturday at the Farmers' Market?
Yes please! Like all lovely things at this time of year it may be transitory, a one off and never repeated.
Can't wait to see!

Sleeping with Soap

2011-09-14T15:31:00.000+09:30

If like this blogger, your good life involves some downsides and who's doesn't from time to time, it's what makes us appreciate the upsides and the challenges life throws at us.Like most of you I have had many, one of them no help to the others -restless leg syndrome!

I have suffered for 28 years almost to the minute!I can date it very precisely because it began not long before the beloved daughter was born. Over the years it has got worse, reaching a crescendo in the last few. Of course there is no cure,unless you want to take the same medication as for Parkinson's Disease and suffer the possible side effects of becoming a compulsive gambler and gambling away the family estate! Kidding about the estate, not kidding about the side effects.

It's a matter of scrabbling round for remedies that work.I have used Schuessler Tissue Salts to good effect but there are times when even that doesn't help.

If you suffer, you know how exhausting it is to lie away, one leg twitching uncontrollably for an hour or so only to have the other start up just as the first is calming down.Like other sufferers, I can get it in my arms also if I'm very tired and sometime feel a bit like a marionette. If only I could find out who's pulling the strings I'd take extreme measures!

The other day I discovered an old folk remedy. Buy a cake of unperfumed soap, unwrap it and place it by your legs on retiring; for the night that is, not from work, although the two may coincide.Believe it or not it seems to work!

Why?

How?

Total mystery, but who cares.

Just don't let anyone catch you telling the soap how wonderful it is!

And now for Spring........

Pomegranate leaves just coming out of bud.

Plum blossom

Nectarine blossom on the bough.

Running around full of the joys of Spring are seven newly hatched goslings.No photos yet, but I'll try for some today.They've just made their first appearnace in the world and been introduced to the whole flock who are happy and content. They adore having the next generation coming on to protect and care for.

Geese are so family orientated!

Catching Up

2011-09-11T16:32:00.000+09:30

Melbourne claimed the title of the world's most liveable city in the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest survey, with Sydney, Perth and Adelaide also making it into the top 10. But shh!!! don't tell anyone, we'd like to keep it secret really.The order is all wrong too, but you can't tell the Melburnians a thing.
We're in the full flight of glorious Spring, sunny, showery days, flowers everywhere and goslings bursting from eggs all over the place.Some of last year's newbies went to live in the Adelaide Hills on a wonderful property and have produced a hatching of seven goslings, already out and about in the world and charming all who see them we're sure!

The iris are wonderful this year and the beds are settling, they do like to take their time.The echiums are looking, well .....blue, as only an echium can and look very pretty in a vase with some perennial statice, both types. The daisies and lavenders are making a good show and their perfume divine after a shower of rain.
The bees are a'buzzin' and the hives have been seen to by their keeper and are doing well. Predicting a good year for honey but you never can tell. For those of you who are devotees of Miniscule, we're hoping the ladybirds stay away and don't upset the hives.

Otherwise we may not get much of this glorious stuff..........

Colin and The Granny are out and about also, scratching and clucking, with Colin letting fly with some mighty crows at the most inappropriate of times.They are delightfully happy and content and so far no visits from the Brown Goshawk. We will try to be vigilant. The Granny has prior knowledge, having narrowly escaped death on a frightening occasion a few years ago. It seemed to do her no harm as she is now around ten to the best of knowledge.

Life can be so full of challenges, there's seems to be a small breathing space to enjoy before Summer and it's harshness. It has it's compensations but they are not green!

Good Blogs

2011-09-08T11:46:00.000+09:30

Love all the blogs I follow and appreciate them for their very different qualities and the skills of the blogger, the expertise or just the sentiments and feeling expressed which resonate with this blogger or are so very different. I enjoy visiting those who live in different worlds but have a thread of connection, perhaps to something in a previous part of my life and experience. I also enjoy the art of a good blog, well put together, articulate and educational, with a very large dose of style.
For those reasons I am particularly fond of the following: -
The Textile Blog: William Morris Bullerswood carpet was completed in about 1889 and is said by many to be his most ambitious and most accomplished achievement out of all his carpet and rug attempts. It was created and produced within the Morris &Co establishment and should perhaps be seen as one of the high points of Victorian decoration and pattern work
Fashion is my muse - Ingrid on fashion history and check out her new trench!!
Into the hermitage - a beautiful and magical world of creation and mystery.

Click the links and check them out, hope you like them as much as I do. You might like to link them and select your favourite three blogs too. Enjoy!

Chocolate

2011-09-01T12:51:00.000+09:30

Welcome to Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere and what a great piece of news to celebrate with:-Chocolate is good for the heart Most of us chocoholics already knew that didn't we, but it's nice to have it confirmed?!
Chocolate, one of life's major pleasures and so neatly fitting together with some of life's other major pleasures. Here in SA we're lucky to have Haighs Chocolates a long established local business producing fine quality chocolates.An old school friend of the lovely daughter once worked there and used to regale me with stories of the machines and what they all did. I found it fascinating. Some of the machines dated back to the early days of manufacture and were still in good condition and still being used.
The stories too, were wonderful but the one that sticks most in my mind is about the day the truck came to deliver the chocolate they prepared on another site to the site where they put it into moulds and finished the products.It carried around 1 ton of top quality melted chocolate ready for pouring. There was a hiccup in the transference and 1 ton of top quality chocolate ran down the gutter!! Now if that's not a tragedy for chocolate addicts I don't know what is!
Spring is officially here but has been hovering in the wings for a time.The old orchard of plum trees looks like a group wedding, with a number of brides in their floaty veils enjoying the pleasant sunshine.Everything is flowering and the predominant effect is lavender with purple and pink.
Even the goldfish are increasing and now seem to be thinking about a fifth generation.Three were rescued from a tiny pond a few years back and set free in a much larger pond with waterlilies and all the accoutrements fish enjoy.Hard to count the numbers now but there are at least eight.
The geese are busily sitting, the ganders guarding them with great intensity and taking no prisoners.Barry, the white embden, bailed up their male feeder and 'stand-in-putter-to-bedder' last night and was taking his job very seriously. He's a big boy with a great voice!

The kittens went to the Vet to have their stitches taken out and all is well despite a few sternish looks about how much exercise it was obvious they had achieved.They are officially onto the next phase of their lives and what a pleasure to see them rolling in the Spring sunshine, chasing flies and running up trees. Life's good for them and for all around them - especially when there's chocolate for the humans! Especially a box of Haigh's or a box like the one below from another local producer Bracegirdle's....yum! Life has to be worth living when there's chocolate and Spring!

Liebster Fun!

2011-08-30T15:57:00.000+09:30

HAZEL DENE: blogging over at her fun, animally, good-lifey blog has kindly given this blog the liebster blog award Thank you Hazel!

Here are the rules:
Thank the giver and link back to them.
Choose 5 blogs with under 200 followers and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
Have fun!
Thank you Hazel for your appreciation and regular comments which are greatly enjoyed. Somewhere along the way, the number of awards has changed from 3 to 5, so like Hazel I will go with the original number.
I'm pleased to be passing the award along to the following favourites: -
Tattie Weasle - a blog about life, families and whippets!! I love Tattie's writing and her take on life.I adore whippets!
Palimpsest - sheer joy for those who adore all things stationary, but especially pens!
The Maine Thing - adore this blogger, he makes me smile, he makes me laugh, love the way he puts words together, but where is he lately????
Check out these three blogs, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Fonts and Poddlers

2011-08-29T09:58:00.000+09:30

‘Just My Type - A Book About Fonts’ : Is global proliferation of the very Swiss, clean, antiseptic Helvetica a welcome phenomenon, or is Helvetica the weedy, unstoppable kudzu of the design world?

Just in case you missed this, rather a companion for the book about punctuation out a few years back "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" was it's name I believe.

Here in Springtime Poddler's Creek, the poddlers are poddling, although not in the Winter creek, which has not been able to flow this year due to the lack of rain.When it does, it is a very special event and quite a spectacle to celebrate.The 450 year old River Redgums get a good drink too, but sadly not this year. They've seen it all before, nothing much bothers them at their age!

The geese are happily poddling daily in the dam, which still has water and was not emptied over last Summer, unheard of before, but possibly not happening this Summer. Water is such a constant consideration in the driest State in the driest Continent and is constantly assessed - how much, will it be enough, when's the next rain, how full are the tanks etc, etc.

Currently tank storage runs at around 14,000 gallons/500,000 litres which has always proved adequate even in the driest drought, so far.It is all collected on the roofs and filtered before drinking or using for cooking. Precarious it may be, but made without risk as far as possible and the satisfaction of not being partly responsible for emptying the mighty River Murray is worth it!

The Good Life

2011-08-21T07:24:00.000+09:30

Here in the good life all is well.The young tortoishell ladies have relished their freedom today; been out and about, even climbing trees! So much for keeping them quiet and not too active, as the Vet Nurse suggested.We could have kept them in, but they're country girls and used to lots of exercise and excitement and they were missing their lives.They have had a wonderful day, have done very well and are now resting quietly by the fire.
Much has been achieved today in the way of weeding and clearing an area that has been waiting for a tidy up for some years and always seemed to go to the bottom of the list. It looks wonderful, having had dropped branches chainsawed, the brush cutter put over it and weeds dug over and lavender bushes planted around two half tanks that were put in place when a new tank replaced them.
In time the tank beds will be filled with compost and planted up - a few years to go yet and work has been going on for a couple of years so far.All the area needs now is a rustic wooden seat under the trees, so that the view to the sea can be admired at sunset and it is finished at last.
The area has a rather splendid Hakea, a woody yate and melalueca forming a wind-break, blocking the cold winds from the South in Winter and the hot ones in Summer. Colourful and very prickly! Great protection for small birds and feed for honey eaters and the Black Yellow-tailed Cockatoos who love cracking open the Hakea 'nuts'.The lavenders will be popular with the bees and produce a nice crop of honey in time.

While all the work goes on, there is plenty of time for thought and contemplation. Hindsight is, as always, a wonderful thing. Some of the elements of a good life, for me anyway, rest in having had a job I loved, full of satisfaction and providing many memories and stories to reflect on. My job taught me a great deal about life and people, their sameness and differences and some of the lessons have stood me in good stead well into retirement.
It's also vital to to happily embark on the good life alone, or with someone who shares ideals, goals, principles and political beliefs. It's easier to walk alone than walk out of step. As I have remarked before, many who claim to be environmentalists or at any rate rather green, are capable of carrying out the most shocking vandalism and misuse of the land. I understand that first hand, from life on this land and the degree of setting right that had to be done before new projects could be undertaken.That was not because I was an expert and the previous owners were not, but about attitude to learning, to what is respectful of the land and the creatures who inhabit it.
The good life picks it's venue, reduces and eliminates as much stress as possible, lives close to the seasons and eats with the seasons, consuming only that which has travelled the least distance and grown with minimal water use.That is why production on this piece of land is only of what grows easily in Winter and Spring with no watering - garlic, artichokes, parsley, beans, carobs, plums, apricots, quinces, nectarines, grapes, nasturtiums.Growing your own is only economic if it minimises water use. Everything else is purchased from local producers, except pineapples, mangoes and bananas, which are so adored an exception is made, because who wants to make life a misery of rigid rules? The goal is to use the supermarket minimally for toothpaste and a few odd items and maximise the use of the local food co-op, orchards, farmers' market, shops and providores. Nowhere could be easier to live and to achieve that goal.
The other vital elements seem to be the appreciation of the simple things - a perfect avocado, a newly mown area of grass, a stack of wood in the woodshed, a glass of chilled moscato, a kitten seeing it's first kangaroo and hearing the blackbird singing the first Spring song. Nothing is too small, too insignificant to be admired, wondered at and enjoyed for it's very existance in our diverse life on the blue planet.

Thanks to Ron for a great photo on Flickr, a similar Hakea but more pink. Do check his others photos by clicking the photo link.You'll find some fascinating examples of the 'nuts' and the flowers coming straight out of the stems. A very curious plant!

Many Rivers Home

2011-08-19T12:43:00.000+09:30

A link to David Whyte and his site and poetry, in case you like this sort of thing.
In the good life there's a lot to like including poetry, but right now food especially!
Since I wasn't lucky enough to have a Nonna I've had to become my own. The other day vegetable and chicken soup with little chicken, parsley and pecorino dumplings. Comfort food of the first order!
When I gave a tub of it to my daughter I knew she'd become a cook and therefore a potential Nonna herself in decades to come, when she asked "Shall I thin it with milk, cream, stock or water?"
Considering she refused to let me teach her anything but how to make lumpless Bechamel Sauce, times have changed and like me, she mostly taught herself with a few dashes of inspiration from those close to her.
It seems we cannot avoid the cooking gene, it comes from two sides of my family and is impossible to suppress, should you want to, or should circumstances conspire against it, as in my case.
Today, oxtail casserole gently stewing away in a slow oven keeping the house cosy and fragrant.My excuse, should I need one, which I don't, is that the little ladies had their ops yesterday and need to be kept warm.All went well, peace is restored and their gentleman caller hasn't yet given up, but will soon be discouraged when they go out and about again tomorrow. Perhaps they'll become platonic friends? Ah! Life! It pull some ironic tricks sometimes.

Motorised Esky

2011-08-18T12:28:00.000+09:30

On a day when your Blogger is seriously at a loose end waiting for the girls to come home from the Vet after their ops, just had to bring you this story about the Drunk driver caught not for speeding, but for his mode of transport. Only in Australia would such a thing happen! I hope it makes you chuckle as much as it did your Blogger!
Life's far too short not to find something to laugh about every day. That was a lesson learned from my dear grandfather, a remarkable man, who outlived many friends and relatives and could even find something to laugh about at a funeral! I suspect he was laughing at his own, although the event leading to his rapid decline probably afforded him more amusement.
He had celebrated a big birthday and was sent home from the party with the remains of the cake. As he approached his abode, he tripped and ended up face down in the birthday cake! He might well have died laughing but survived for a few days to tell the tale, unwilling to loose the opportunity to pass on a good story.
He wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He'd spent his life performing in one way or another - he was a Sheffield Shield cricketer and played with a rather well known Aussie batsman, he spent time as a Vaudeville performer and singer of comic songs, of which he had an enormous repertoire and did more in his lifetime than three or four others would even think of. He was a hero to a small girl and remains one today, decades after his demise.
Here's another post on him from a different angle - old fool

Come home girls we miss you!

Crop Circles

2011-08-13T14:36:00.000+09:30

For those of you interested in such things Crop Circles & the Symposium presents some great photos on an interesting blog.Here in Australia we have been sadly neglected, having had very few crop circles to call our own.
The only circles we are seeing at present are to do with the circle of life, the gradual shift from one season to another, the barely perceptible change in day length and the signs of Spring. The mornings are cold, we even had a frost a few weeks ago and the afternoons are warm and usually sunny.

Perfect for a bit of gentle weeding, pruning and appreciation of the iris buds, the jonquils and snowdrops and the fresh green of the new almond leaves now the blossom has dropped it's petals on the grass like a fall of snow.The borage is flowering, the garlic green and vigorously growing and the arthichokes looking very meaningful in their purposeful growth.The lavenders are in bud or already in flower, scenting the air and providing a foil for the nasturtiums and perennial wallflowers.Daisies of all kinds are in flower, Winter ones alongside Spring flowering varieties and the geraniums are just beginning to show buds, although no colour.

The bees too are active and have come out of Winter mode, pollinating the almonds and busy with the lavenders.Unlike others who grown almonds in the area we don't have a truckload of hives delivered in the dead of night at great cost.These come courtesy of a good friend who looks after them and provides us with all the honey we need - the good life!

The geese are nesting. Already eggs have been frozen for later use, cakes made and plans made for how to control the population this year.Eggs are usually removed as far as possible and some left for incubating for the pleasure of watching the goslings and replacing any geese lost in the previous year to snakes or unexplained accident.The flock have done a wonderful job this year in keeping the grass down and in destroying the soursob plants which are such a problem. Hijinks are happening on the dam as ganders argue for the role of top chap and any fights resolve themselves quickly and without blood being drawn. Humans stay well out of the way and there is no need for intervention unless a broken nose is being sought!

The Revolution is in the Dirt

2011-08-07T17:10:00.000+09:30

Conducive Magazine: "While the dynamics are certainly shifting as more and more people around the world adopt consumerism as a way of life, historically those who labor to produce the food we consume do not have the same access to food themselves. Their labor and land are bought up by corporations and their products shipped to “consuming” nations. With most fertile land employed for an export economy, producers are left with little to no farmable land to meet their own needs" and so it goes, the rich get richer, the global economy gets greedier and the poor keep starving, subject to famine and war.
Here in the good life it would be possible to feel distant from the realities of the lives of others, the hardships and suffering others endure on a daily basis if it were not for being firmly grounded by the world wide adoption community where reports and true stories abound of trafficking in babies,both legally and illegally and the enormously profitable adoption industry which can put a price of $50,000 or more on the adoption of an infant.Babies as another market commodity in a world market.The reality of life for adoptees is not widely understood by non-adoptees and the common beliefs of it all being wonderful and about orphan saving are generally not true for many infant adoptees or for adult adoptees.
The good life, a healthy lifestyle with much good fortune help to bring sanity and balance to an insane world which appears to be getting less safe and more bizarre by the day.If you're not yet thinking about your bunker, your refuge and place of safety and sanity perhaps it's time to start making plans!

Russell's

2011-07-24T14:52:00.000+09:30

Russell Jeavons has for many years been an indispensable part of the good life here in wine making territory.He has sold on his business to a tried and tested young bloke, Gerard, who is carrying on the good work, not changing a winning formula and working very hard as you have to do when you run an establishment like this - quality local food, hand-made on the spot by a team of local young people learning the business.
Occassionally this place gets a snooty review from someone who doesn't like paying corkage but has been too stingy to go for the $30 meal deal, which includes corkage and cakeage, three courses and all you can eat or who doesn't like sitting in an old cottage or a tin shed and doesn't appreciate what is happening here. For those people, the message is, please don't come back and block up the two month waiting list. Leave it for those who appreciate quality, friendly service and a homely atmosphere without pretensions. That's how we like it in the country!
Had the very good fortune to be right there last night on a freezing Winter evening, where it was cosy, heart warming, candle lit and very huggy. A bottle of The Coro Shed from d'Arenberg to go with the family meal and there couldn't have been a better life!
Here's one of Russell's wood fired pizza recipe. His seafood recipe uses a thin layer of fresh, tender spinach under the seafood - octopus rings,fresh oysters in the half shell etc. If you haven't finished your wood fired oven, no matter, it will cook in an ordinary oven, but for longer than 2 minutes at 400 Degrees. Suggest about 30 mins at 180C although it won't taste quite as good. Enjoy!

Carnatic music

2011-07-21T12:19:00.000+09:30

Thank you to Pranavam Ravikumar for his comment on my last post and for introducing me to Carnatic music which had been a mystery to me for far too long.
It was a beautiful addition to a pleasant day, which included sunshine, almond blossom and a walk with cats and geese.

We know the first signs of Spring are in the air once the almonds come into blossom, this year quite early and possibly heralding an early Summer.

It is all so obvious too that the windows need cleaning, the cobwebs are beginning to make the rooms look like Miss Havisham's abode and the tiny pink flowering PigFace is trying to climb through the windows.

Shortly the smell of grass will be in the air as the ride-on mower does it's job, leaving an enticing residue for the birds to pick over.

The young lady in the photo has been up on the roof for the first time this morning. It has been expected and as always the way with kittens, she pleaded that she had no idea how to get down again! She was given a quick lesson and given her sharp intelligence, may remember it!

Winter Draws On

2011-07-20T12:33:00.000+09:30

Manifesto from The Dark Mountain Project: "This time, the crumbling empire is the unassailable global economy, and the brave new world of consumer democracy being forged worldwide in its name. Upon the indestructibility of this edifice we have pinned the hopes of this latest phase of our civilisation. Now, its failure and fallibility exposed, the world’s elites are scrabbling frantically to buoy up an economic machine which, for decades, they told us needed little restraint, for restraint would be its undoing. Uncountable sums of money are being funnelled upwards in order to prevent an uncontrolled explosion"
How many of you watched the crumbling of the Murdoch Empire, the pie in the face of the place where the buck stops? No-one likes to see an 80 year old assaulted, even by shaving foam, but it is easy to see why the very entitled and ruthless, who make money from the misery and ill fortune of others would finally be held to account in a neat piece of karma.The question now is , who is going to carry the can? Admit they knew and stand up to be held responsible and how much will they be paid to do so? It's not many things that keep me up at night, but this certainly did, it's the biggest Murdoch Press story ever and as someone in the household was heard to mutter - 'We're seeing history unfold.'
Here at Poddler's Creek life goes on, with the biggest excitement being the early flowering of the almond trees. In a day or two they will be a picture and two weeks early for the first time. It is a special moment in the year's cycle, we almost hold our breath as the fragile blossoms hold their petals through gale force winds, rain and the roughest of weather. This year has been calm, yesterday with dense mist and filtered sunshine - quite exquisite!
Rather like the wonderful collection of mushrooms and toadstools appearing all over, every year some different ones not previously spotted, all sizes and colours from the tiniest, barely able to be seen with the naked eye, to the largest.Those in the photo are from the South Australian Herbarium collection at the Botanic Gardens and are made of plaster, most from Victorian times. The collection also houses similarly made apples and pears in many varieties, looking good enough to eat!

Dark Mountain

2011-07-19T20:38:00.000+09:30

Wonderfully full and informative post here by Rima at The Hermitage, many links and all of great interest to me, I hope so to you too!

Photos all by your Blogger.

In The Deep Mid-Winter

2011-07-16T09:48:00.000+09:30

Here in the depths of Winter it is cold, around 6C, 89% humidity and sunny, chill but cheerful. Signs of Spring abound. Jonquils are flowering in abundance, the clumps carefully moved and divided for a few years and in need of doing again next year. Their perfume is exquisite, the sort you couldn't bottle, it has to be of the moment, caught in a tiny sliver of time, the right time of year, when the dew and morning sun mature it to perfection.
It's been a great week with some rain, plenty of mud for geese to slip and slide in and do the long-neck thing which let's us all know Mr Smudge is top gander and will be mating with all the eligible young ladies up at the dam.
The humans have been out for coffee a few times and for a delicious Indian lunch cooked by the wife of the new chef in town. She came out of the kitchen to inform us she was nevous because she had been left in charge and hoped the food would be acceptable. It was of course more than acceptable and was an expert blend of spices and quality ingredients cooked fresh on the spot. Afterwards a stretch of the legs to view the sea and the sight of a young ,male dolphin searching for his lunch very close to shore, along the reef. Is heaven any better than this?
Plenty of work got done too, paid work and what I think some of you call 'yard work' - chainsawing dead branches, filling the woodshed, collecting the residue for burning on an outside fire. It is the peak time for weeding and a start was made on the iris garden. Don't you love the ease with which weeds leave the ground when it is moist and in peak condition. I use spent bedding straw from goose sheds for mulching, never use fertilisers and find nothing more is needed except weeding out the sprouting weed seeds.They come out like a knife from butter and are very quick and satisfying to remove.
It is a joy to be back, getting my hands in the soil, doing some work at last. In one area of the garden, a small gravel covered patio, dozens of lavenders have self-seeded.They are supressing weeds and providing transplants for another bed, quite a bonus! Nasturtiums are springing up and will in time, produce their cheerful yellow and oranges faces. In the meantime their leaves go into leafy green salads, along with self-seeded parsley, chives and a dash of tasty local olive oil, lemon and some whole-grain mustard.
The magpies are singing all night for the full moon and for it being the beginning of the nesting season.They carol and burble, the sweetest music you could hear in the moonlight. In a while when the Murray Magpies have renovated their nest and are sitting on a clutch of eggs, they too will sing all night; singing their songs to the eggs and the growing babies. So much we do not know - are they teaching them the songlines, all magpie knowledge, while they grow or are they just talking to themselves, passing the long hours? I know which I prefer to imagine!

Eucalypts

2011-07-06T10:27:00.000+09:30

The Good Life holds many things, has many joys, all seasons and shades.
Over at The Lost Daughters I have been remembering my beloved grandfather, who died aeons ago, but has left a lasting legacy in my life. He was gentle, compassionate, quietly humorous and always a Scot, mindful of his heritage and connected still to his roots. His mother died shortly after his birth and he was raised by his aunts, his obviously nurturing spirit unusual in a man of his generation.
He loved the writings of Gene Stratton Porter, usually seen as 'a woman's writer' and was a Bowerbird with books, amassing quite a library, which he left to me.
I had the sadness of seeing it all disappear as a child because my father didn't want to move it to the new house, where there was no place made for it. I have one slim volume, held onto for dear life, "A Walk through the Zoological Gardens" which has a well thumbed photo of Fennec Foxes. It's poignancy almost too much to hold in adult hands.
I have a feeling he would have enjoyed Les Murray's poems and the way in which Les has led his life. Les too lost his mother when young and suffered for it.

From his "Eucalypts in Exile" :-
They've had many jobs:
boiling African porridge.Being printed on.
Sopping up malaria. Flying in Paris uprisings.
Supporting a stork's nest in Spain.

from Taller When Prone published by Black Inc 2010

Earth, Humanity n'all.

2011-07-04T08:06:00.000+09:30

Violence: Earth, Humanity And God By David Sparenberg: "To most, these words of pleading and passion are nothing. Denial will repress feeling and without feeling the words will not register. Many today are deaf out of loss, and lost in delusions of grandeur and entitlement."

2011-06-27T13:08:00.000+09:30

My beautiful daughter has just given me a wonderful gift....24 hours of her time, in which we sat in the sun, chatted, ate, watched a couple of TV programs and caught up after a busy time in which we had both had preoccupations. Chocolate was involved too, just to make it perfect!
How precious these times are in busy lives when our children grow up and leave us with an empty nest. During the teen years the nest was always jammed packed with teens and how quiet and contemplative life is these days! Some of the old gang are married with children of their own, mortgages, degrees and proper jobs.There have been the most surprising outcomes, with the ones who cared least about money doing the high profile degrees which have turned them into high wage earners.Their principles seem intact, their values the same, they just dress better!
We are very excited to have a wedding coming up in the family early next year.It will be the first in about twenty years! The bride has bought her dress and is making serious plans about venue and themes.It will be a most enjoyable day with no responsibilities, stress or duties for this side of the family. Pure enjoyment!

The good life rolls on; it's nearly goose breeding time with Mr Smudge becoming very hissy of late. The kittens are teens now and just as beautiful, fascinating and enchanting. The wattles are just coming in to bloom, the perfume fragrant and the colour brilliant against the clear blue sky.Winter!! Sheer enjoyment.

If like this family you are serious fans and/or drivers of the Beetle you might be interested to see the VW Beetle Gets a “Sex Change” - stylish!

The Joys of Winter

2011-06-22T12:16:00.000+09:30

Taking up Hazel's challenge to write a post on the joys of Winter here in the Soutern Hemisphere is not a great hardship. Winter is one of my four favourite seasons of the year, with it's own special characteristics and activities.

I particularly love misty mornings, heavy rain filling the tanks, the appearance of the River Redgums after rain, soup, crumpets round the fire, the green of the garden, the disappearance of the threat of bushfires, flannelette sheets and before Winter's end the emergence of goslings and new additions to the goose flock.

I enjoy the connections, like the sudden Winter appearance of Iris vulgaris outside the window. It grew beneath birch trees in the old garden of my childhod. I tried unsuccessfully two or three times to get this tender little delight to take and finally found the perfect spot; constant shade, a damp patch with plenty of leaf litter.It is multiplying, fighting valiantly against slugs and flourishing right under my nose.

Years ago in my second lifetime, someone I worked with painted a portrait of this iris for me and I have treasured it ever since. It was reframed a few years ago after the journey from the other Hemishere knocked it about a bit. It now hangs as a reminder of how life is a spiral, sometimes covering similar ground from a slightly different angle, everything we learn is useful and as that very wise person once said 'life is a tapestry'.

And if you want another type of Winter fun, what could be more amusing than Aussie Teardrop Campers! Those of you who are VW owners will covet, as I do, the one in the central photo no doubt. Enjoy!

Steam

2011-06-13T11:36:00.000+09:30

As I very small child I was often taken to the local railway station to stand on the road bridge as the steam train thundered through; clouds of steam, shrieking whistle and other terrifying noises. Sometimes we stood on the platform, which gave me a wonderful sense of perspective and a chance to smell and hear this living, breathing mound of metal up very close. Conquering the fear in time, I learned to love the age of steam. These days I have a firmly fixed sense of nostalgia when encountering a lovingly restored and maintained steam train, wherever it may be.
I had the great privilege yesterday of visiting friends who have recently bought a beach shack from which the boys can walk a short distance to go sailing and swimming and indulge their growing love of the good life...a nice cafe, good coffee, excellent cake and dark chocolate....we get on well!
Sitting upstairs eating a late breakfast, I looked up to find the Steamranger about to steam through the garden! The line curves round the garden edge and gives exciting views of the appearance and disappearance, with a bonus whistle in the middle because it has to negotiate two corners. For a steam enthusiast what could be more rewarding than the SteamRanger with breakfast? My lucky day!

sarail2009 thanks for a great photo on Flickr.Next time I'll be prepared and take my own shots!

Figs and The Mountain

2011-06-05T13:39:00.000+09:30

Winter has officially arrived. The fire stays in 24/7 and the wood is collected from the property from the dead trees. The tanks are full from the rain collected from the roofs and the cupboards are not bare. A beautiful box of produce arrived from the area where I grew up. The contents of the box were a delight...fresh figs, crystallised figs, brown fig jam, white fig jam, large lemons and quince paste.The bonus was the smell of the box! No-one would notice but a child of The Hills.It was so thick you could have bottled it; a mix of Autumn damp, rotting leaves, the soil, the clean air, with a hint of toadstools and woodsmoke.

From the top paddock that area I grew up in, roamed unfettered as a child, can be seen quite clearly on some days, over 50 kms away.Some days it's shrouded in mist or smoke, sometimes purple and an artist's delight.It sits unchanging, as it has done as the highest point of the ranges for 600 million years or thereabouts.It is 727 metres above sea level and in a cold Winter may have a dusting of snow.It officially became a peak of peace way back when these things were important.
At one time I could have told you the name of every plant and tree that grew on it and the names of all the people who lived in the houses you could see from it's flanks.I went away, time marched on and when I came back, I set up home within sight of it, but in an entirely different locality, where the wind blows warmer and carries the smell of the sea. It is somehow a comfort to be within sight, but not near, it keeps away dangerous memories and marks the transition from child and young person to senior adult. I can live with that!

Thank you to Barbara, the photographer on Flickr, for this delightful photo, not my figs but so like them.Thanks to "Not Happy Jan' for Amanita muscaria that magic toadstool of childhood.

The Colours of Autumn

2011-05-29T13:42:00.000+09:30

Here in the South of the South, Autumn is coming to an end. Looking round the vineyards, some vines are leaf free, but heavy with dark fruit. Others have no fruit, but are a mosaic of red, orange and yellow leaves, getting sparser by the day, but still looking colourful in the mellow sunshine.
Autumn is the season of artists, the colours are brought out by the rain and the softer light.Our bald hills are green, purple, blue with ochre at the far end where they drop into the sea with a foreground of vines, recently ploughed paddocks.Overhead the clouds come and go, blue sky, sometimes drizzle making every moment different.
In the big river red gums, the rainbow lorrikeets are busy with the business of eating gum-nuts, flashing their colours amongst the grey-green leaves and the fresh red growth.The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos are seeking pine-nuts in the pine trees and visit daily on their trail from one group of pines to another. Travelling the district it's obvious where they have visited and when, by the litter they leave behind; half gnawed cones and debris, usually scattered from one side of the road to the other.They're a delight to watch and here at Poddler's Creek we will be taking part in the Cockie Census, spending a day counting how many visit and for how long. We're predicting the population is healthy and not endangered in these parts, long may it remain so.
Life chugs along, a little slowly this year but is gathering speed at last.It is now possible to see that gardening might be achieved again in the not too distant future. It has been a time to sniff the roses, enjoy the sunshine, relish the kittenhood of The Little Princesses and watch old movies. Hugh Grant has had a good run and entertained and amused in exactly the appropriate way...not too many bellylaughs but plenty of gentle smiling and chuckles. Of course the favourite scenes remain the favourites - the solo dance scene in "Love Actually" and the poignant dinner party scene in "Notting Hill". An attempt was made to watch "Moulin Rouge" which althought impressive for it's effects, was so boring and dull it will be returned to the lender with gratitude.
Lunch was taken out today in a local establishment and very pleasant it was too.By chance the table was beneath a rather colourful poster for Molly Dooker wines, the winery owned and run by the family, one branch of which raised The Little Princesses to be such affectionate, people friendly felines. What lovely people, what delightful kittens and what gorgeous wines!

Into Every Life.....

2011-05-11T15:02:00.002+09:30

Cuties
Originally uploaded by eagoodlife
The Good Life has been strangely quiet.You may remember the departure from this life of the venerable Mrs Plod. A very suitable period of mourning was allowed and as is often the case when the elderly loose their faculties, it began before the blessed relief of death.
Cats and animals are blessed with being able to have their suffering relieved humanely and Mrs Plod, who's dignity had already been compromised, died peacefully, quietly and with her family around her in her favourite place on her front verandah.
There were no plans; you cannot replace a legend and it was decided to let whatever was going to unroll, do just that.
Several months on, two delightful tortoishell kittens, calicos as some of you know them, were brought home to share life here at Poddler's Creek.
They have proven to be wonderful in every possible way - affectionate, people orientated, easy to live with and very early starters in their mousing careers.
They have been the most charming of companions during down time after a hernia operation and have significantly added to the ease of recovery.
They have been named after a couple of feisty female singers and their voices are living up to their names nicely. Let's hear it for Joni and Annie!!

Ai Weiwei

2011-04-16T16:45:00.000+09:30

For those of you who adore sunflowers you might like to wander by Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds Installation at the Tate Modern. As you probably know, Ai Weiwei has been in the news recently, because of course artists are subversive and dangerous, particularly when they employ others in industrious activity and beautify our world.
Besides sunflower seeds are so pornographic and could cause an artist to commit bigamy at any moment! For those who believe in the repression of creativity and artistic expression please do not check the link Free Ai Weiwei

Thanks Loenneberga for this beautiful photo of Flickr.

Autumn

2011-04-06T08:36:00.001+09:30

Autumn
Originally uploaded by eagoodlife

Here in wine making land, it is vintage and the air is thick with the smell of the grape pressing. Some hand-picking is still going on and there are still jovial calls across the vines, one picker to another, down the rows. The sound echoes in a way that only happens in Autumn.
The weather is quite wonderful, mellow, chilly at night now, but sunny, warm days and plenty of 'mellow fruitfulness' with quinces ripe and the new apple and pears crops coming in.
It is a time of high activity for the wine industry but at the same time rather laid-back and taking it as it comes. We got through Summer unscathed and can relax now until next Summer when the threat of bushfires will be with us again.
It is a time of respite, relaxation of vigilance but hard work in the garden.
A young fig tree is going into the ground today. The sweet peas are up! Roses are blooming, loving the damp nights and the rain we have had.
There are birds about that have never been seen before and the Bell Magpies have arrived.Their beautiful calls will soon be ringing through the first mists, haunting and haunted with childhood memories.
On days like this Autumn could go on forever.....

Good Friends

2011-04-03T10:22:00.000+09:30

In The Mists of Avalon: Good Friends - check out for the wise words but also for the photo!
Have a slow Sunday!

threads of the spiderwoman

2011-03-30T17:19:00.000+10:30

Lauren writing on Incubating Circles, do read and enjoy!

Click on the circles to see more detail or more circles.The photos are your blogger's own.

Variegated Echium candicans

2011-03-29T06:29:00.001+10:30

Variegated Echium candicans
Originally uploaded by hortulus

For those of you who enjoy Echiums or live in droughty places, this is the perfect plant.They always look good, self seed and resist whatever the seasons throw at them.The flowers are magic and the leaves velvety and grey or in this example variegated.
What a treasure!

Thank you Hortulus in California.

Sweet Peas and Humpty Doo

2011-03-28T19:06:00.000+10:30

Since you all know how much your Blogger loves Ted Egan, here's his song about Humpty Doo where his daughter lives...yes it is a real place!
Much has been happening in The Good Life, mainly this sort of thing -

and a variety of other activities to do with small, furry beings who like to eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep, play and have been amazingly co-operative, loving and easy to get on with.In fact they have not been a moment's trouble, have fitted in to their new life and seem to have no downsides!
Their predecessors helped make The Citrus garden; these two are assisting with pruning, but mostly playing, stalking and exercising their intense curiosity.Having twin kittens is a breeze and so wonderful for them not to be parted.
Outdoor work has begun in earnest with the aforementioned pruning, the planting of sweet peas and now rows of peas and beans.Spring onions have been sown in a very business like vegetable box with an irrigation mat in the bottom, it's virtually self watering.
The gum trees have shed copious ammounts of bark this year, all of it will need raking up and a creative use found for it once again.
The paddocks are green, the tanks are full, there are even a few roses in flower and the salvias are covered in their tiny brilliant flowers, bringing memories of childhood. The days have been warm, sunny and delicious! There has been time to savour and admire with a cheese platter and a glass of wine on the front verandah. What more could anyone ask for? A line or two of Keats perhaps?

“Here are sweet-peas, on tip-toe for a flight:

With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white,

And taper fingers catching at all things,

To bind them all about with tiny rings.”

Palimpsest Post

2011-03-21T17:18:00.000+10:30

World War Two Pencils and Compasses for POWs appeared in this fascinating post by Palimpsest. Your blogger found it intriguing and the inventiveness a wonder to behold. Hope you do too!
And by the way

it's a week today! How life has changed! Life is full of high energy activity followed by peaceful, soothing sleep.Toys have been purchased, mountains of kitten food and the decks cleared to make them kitten proof.
These little ladies are twins, from a litter of 3 sets of twins and their brightness, fast learning and endearing qualities have made them delightful companions already.
Life is full of adventures and optimism! More soon.......

Building a Roundhouse

2011-03-20T13:55:00.000+10:30

Thought you might enjoy this, and the music! Happy Sunday!

Happy Day!

2011-03-17T14:12:00.000+10:30

To all my friends from the Emerald Isle or who's ancestors came from there, have a wonderful St Patick's Day.
Beautiful Ireland, where everyone you meet tries to claim you for there own, so heart-warming, so generous and inclusive.
And don't forget Gardeners, it's the day to plant the sweet peas!

House of Carobs

2011-03-13T13:05:00.000+10:30

It's been a delightful weekend. First a "House"fest, catching up on Series 2, which hadn't been viewed before.First thoughts are that the series has been so successful because Hugh Laurie is such a fine actor, but also because the structure of the episodes is such a traditionally successful one. Had Chaucer been alive today he might have written The Psychiatrist's Story, The Micriobiologist's Story and so on.
Then it was market day and the purchase of the sweet-pea seed from the commercial grower. He is a small time grower, but an expert and very experienced one. His crop this year was very unsuccessful, one pink variety wiped out altogether and the yield a fraction of what it is usually. It was the weather, rain and sun at the wrong times and in the wrong quantities, ending with a nasty dose of mildew for some. For the buyer used to a big brown paper bag, with a rich mix of varieties, sometimes around 30, to be offered a small white packet containing 40 seeds of around 10 varieties, was disappointing, but accepted gratefully for planting on St Patrick's Day.
Next, lunch with the Godson and family, who had left Ma at home preparing lunch and to receive the guests, while they went sailing.On their return, hugs from warm, sea smelling not so little boys anymore, was the treat of the Autumn! A wonderful lunch and conversation from the heart, produces a sense of well-being like nothing else.
Today, a glorious Autumn day, has meant a walk around the acres, assessing what the tasks are for Winter.The wood-shed floor has been laid, so beautifully neat, you could eat your dinner off it! There were no goose feet prints or Guinea Fowl trails, where they had danced sideways through wet concrete. All avoided by a row of strategically placed milk crates - one of the most useful pieces of equipment, next to baler twine, know to small property holders and large ones!
Up on the top paddock the Carob trees were in full fruit. The pods ripe and shiny ready for picking. It was the best harvest ever and kilos were picked; a pleasant and rewarding task in the warm sunshine.Hopefully they will sell well at the local Food Co-op, where they are prized and usually fetch $1 a pod. Since the trees were already planted on miniature swales some years ago, the varieties are unknown. A little research shows they are possible a mix of Cypriot, Laguna, Bath and the haemaphrodite variety Clifford, the best producer. That's definite and proven , unlike the Lady GaGa rumour! More on carob

Here's Clifford in all his/her glory, if you look closely you can see the new flowers on the right of the pods.

Sayonara Nakamura

2011-03-09T15:12:00.000+10:30

Those of you who have been coming here for a while know I am a big fan of Ted Egan thanks to my lovely Godson who knows the words to all his songs and has done since he was a baby.
We were very privileged to have Ted call by this way on Monday for an intimate little gig in a setting that's as familiar as a good friend's front room. Pop over to the Dog Blog to see Ted do The Man From HumptyDoo, a favourite around Poddler's Creek, naturally.
It was a wonderful afternoon and followed by another gift, the opening rains! We had plenty of fog and rain, full tanks and the pleasure of a stroll round checking that the policy of no tree planting is working.....

For every tree that dies off, mostly the Black Wattles, at least three seeds germinate and grow successfully, showing that nature does it best, chooses the moistest spots and ensures survival. Those above replace a magnificent specimen that had reached the limit of how long Black Wattles can survive in a droughty area where they are not indigenous. It's last flowering was it's best and it gave it's all to it's last season. It gave generously after death too, to keep the house warm all the following Winter. In a few years these will be fine young trees, flowering gloriously and making a cheerful splash when it's needed most.

Autumnal

2011-03-08T13:01:00.000+10:30

Here's some of the things happening around here lately!

A small vat of strawberry jam.

Quinces on the tree, six this year and bigger than last year.

This one covered in raindrops.

Yes!!

The opening rains arrived with around 50ml in this area.

The day is grey, there has been fog, the first of the season and rain all night.

The verandah is dripping, the cat is dripping, the geese are dripping and all the spiders' webs are adorned with jewels of raindrops.

Joy!

Autumn in it's moist beauty has arrived.

What a day of celebration, a triple whammy - opening rains, International Women's Day and Shrove Tuesday.

Other wonderful things have been happening too, more of them later........

Maaaaaaad!

2011-03-07T08:09:00.000+10:30

Hope you're all up to date on your PCness and have revised your Nursery Rhymes to suit the PC Police. Here in The Good Life we're much too busy. It's Vintage. All our neighbours are heavily engaged in getting in the harvest, grape picking and making wine, those good red drops the area is famous for.Some of the wineries have been trying out Moscato too, with not unpleasing results; perfect for a warm day, well chilled and drunk while watching a spectacular sunset.
Some of the neighbours are working through the night, the sound of tractors and the brightness of the lights distrurbing sleep, but hey it's only once a year and they have to make a living! It is said to be a promising vintage, not large but tasty, the grapes benefitted from extra rain, but not from less sun, as it was a strange Summer.
Life along with the weather is very mellow at this time of year.The Winter work hasn't started and the warmth of Summer hasn't completely disappeared.
It was time for trying out a new restaurant on Saturday morning and it came up tops. A cellar door, as well as a rather sleek smallish restaurant, run by a young woman and her brother; she, the front of house, he, the chef. The coffee was superb, the atmosphere relaxed and very Italian and the moscato looked promising! Made, I'm guessing, by relatives living not far away! Vilhara if you happen to be in the McLaren Vale area and enjoy sitting on a sunny verandah taking in the view, watching the world go by. One of our most well known food people, now a local, was doing just that on Saturday morning, a decided seal of approval!
Almost time for celebrating a family birthday in style...at home with a special meal, loving prepared for someone who feels happiest at home with family around and life in a good stage, despite the passing years.The Birthday Boy will be receiving an R.M.Williams shirt to celebrate the country boy he's become and the country life he loves so dearly. It will remain a secret until the day, as he never passes this way.

Vintage

2011-03-04T10:12:00.001+10:30

Vintage
Originally uploaded by eagoodlife

Autumn has arrived in the vineyards and it is time for the grape picking and the wine-making.There is a mellowness in the air, almost pickable too; a golden glow where the light strikes the vines. The dogs barking produces an Autumnal sound, one that can't be explained, but it sounds different and is definitely not a Summer sound.
Out in the garden at the Salopian Inn, the lunchers enjoy a last glass of wine, savouring the deliciousness of their meal, relishing the sunshine and the gentle warmth, Summer sting gone. The view is of laden vines, red roses on the hedges around the vineyards, distant hills, greening already.
The locals are beginning to relax into another season.The fire season is almost past, the risk of bushfire gone and tangible relief that we've been lucky enough to survived another Summer.There was one bad grassfire and the emergency services were impressive in their efficiency and speed of response.Now it's time off until next Summer and a sense of relaxation and not being on watch, scanning the horizon, being watchful and careful in what tools and equipment are used.
Not time off from the outdoor work though, which is just beginning, not only for those involved in vintage, but for land-holders who need to tackle fallen branches, clear them and burn the residue as bushfire prevention for next year.There will be grass to cut, maintenance, pruning, mulching once the first rains arrive.But for now, there is a short interval to enjoy the satisfaction of another year turning.
Not long before the boys jump in to the vats to tramp down the grapes after a days picking, sweat covered and filthy! Bet you didn't know that did you? Somerset farmers always said a dead rat added to the flavour of the cider, maybe it's the same principle!

Right Time

2011-02-27T10:20:00.000+10:30

Sometimes it's the right time for a good clear-out don't you think? I usually save any links I think might be interesting or a good start for a post and every now and again if I haven't done anything with them I delete the lot, this time 76! I have been neglectful! How much better it feels to see the drafts folder completely empty and ready for a fresh start.
Here at Poddler's Creek the same thing happens. Always before the end of the year. The house gets a good Spring clean, everything that has not been used or not wanted goes to the Op-Shop or the Lion's monthly Auction.It's a great pleasure to think of those things finding a home and being useful to someone who wants them and has a new use for them.Sometimes things that have been held onto for decades find their way to a new home and their absence is such a relief. Space is created for new things, new ideas and welcome change.
Occasionally, other people's unwanted items find their way here and are put to a new use, having been bought because their niche was already imagined. In that way a nice little stockpile of gates has been built up over Summer ready for work to start after the first rains in Autumn.The fencing project will continue, with one last lap to go, enclosing the area where garlic, garlic chives, broad beans and roses are grown.These things grow easily at the right time of year, without water or any effort other than that of putting them in. Two wooden archways will be constructed with gates in them and goose movement will be able to be controlled or restricted as necessary.
Work is mapped out already and the first signs of Autumn are here, cold mornings and the leaves on the London Plane trees by the vineyards are turning colour.The Easter Lilies are flowering profusely, nasturtiums are germinating, as are parsley seedlings. The chives, living in a shady spot, hardly died down and are showing fresh, healthy growth.The micro-climate is harsh, what grows in sun for others grows only in shade if the other factors are right.
The garden gets no water over Summer and relys on rain only to survive.It does amazingly well, with honeysuckles flourishing, lavenders, rosemaries, geraniums and succulents having a happy life.Spider plants grow wild in both variagated and plain form and ground covers like the tiny pink flowered Pigface never falter.Each Summer there are a few losses and many gains.
The trellises for the sweet peas are ready and waiting.It will shortly be time to mulch up and be ready for sowing on St Patrick's Day.The seeds come from a sweet pea breeder and are old fashioned, perfumed and colourful.A delight to grow and usually prolific. Fingers crossed!

Extraction

2011-02-22T10:03:00.000+10:30

Landscapes of Extraction and rather different from those shown on Four Corners last night in a program about gas extraction by AGL. Similar situations of exploitation.
In our country, farmers 'own' their land, but the Government owns the natural resources. Mining companies can walk in, drill wells, set up test sites and permanent gas wells, literally by the dozen, with the farmers having no say or control at all, even to the point of the businesses being ruined, the water source depleted and their lives affected irreparably.In addition toxic chemicals are being pumped into the artesian basin, which is being damaged to the point any sensible person could see will never be repaired. Can this be fair, right or prudent?
There were mumblings in the household about how much more proactive the landholders could be, how much more diffcult or impossible they could make it for AGL with a bit of imagination, some creative fencing and large padlocks, amongst other measures too subversive to reveal! There were mutterings of 'over my dead body' and other such phrases. When the ordinary people rise up against injustice, it generally means trouble. Let's hope it does in Queensland, they've had enough going on with natural disasters, without manufactured disasters on top. Fair's fair!
And to finish - the beauty of Queensland - so much to loose.

Pink

2011-02-18T09:47:00.000+10:30

It's a beautiful day here at Poddler's Creek. it has been raining all night, steady, soaking rain to help the Easter Lilies burst their buds and come into full and glorious pinkness. It's a pink even Barbie would be happy with! Not unlike the roses pictured.
Some years after bushfires, these lilies are the first thing to poke their heads out of the ash covered ground, a sign of hope and recovery.Their emergence means Summer is coming to an end and what a very strange one it has been, with lots of gray days, rainfall that seems above average and a dam still containing water. Lucky geese!
It's been an interesting week, full of the usual diverseness and spontaneity.Yesterday a visit to the other side of the Peninsula to the small seaside town where I was conceived! I guess many people are not lucky enough to know that information about themselves and I feel very privileged, as an adoptee to have that knowledge. I am a regular visitor, I feel closer to my parents there.
Yesterday there was a special purpose, apart from the excellent lunch taken at a favourite cafe.
Yehudi Menuhin's biographer and long term employee, came to entertain with some reminiscences, anecdotes and to promote the second volume of the Menuhin family biography.It was hugely entertaining and as a bonus, I was able to have an intermission chat with a resident of my town, who is an icon in his particular field of musical endeavor. He is now retired at nearly 100. I asked him if there was anything in life he hadn't achieved that he would have liked to have achieved. He paused, not something he does much and said "Well now, I did everything I wanted to do, even though they said it was impossible. I was like a bottle on a post, they all wanted to take a knock at me but I just pushed on through and did it anyway."

Pictured the Menuhin family home and how delightful!
I came home determined to seek out more Yehudi Menuhin particularly the Bach. Not many have the gift of playing like an angel, perhaps one in a century. Aren't we lucky?

Art and Stuff

2011-02-13T13:16:00.000+10:30

I've brought you some of the works of street artists before, but here's a new set of Stunning 3D Street Art for your enjoyment.
Are you a tab hanger? Do you listen to the conversations of others, eavesdrop and take an interest in the snippets of other people's lives? You do!! You are far from alone. It seems to be a popular human occupation, not just because most of us are nosey but because we have a very normal fascination for the others of our species. Some of us have a fascination for other species too, but that's another story.
So that being so, here's some snippets from the Farmers' Market - after a number of bruising squeezes of the very perishable stone fruit, customer enquires of grower "Are these any good?" In the melon department - "The melon I bought from you last week wasn't ripe." Another customer put her paws all over a melon, gave it a good sniff - and then put it back! Maybe I'm getting pernickety in my old age, but it seems that the etiquette in fruit buying is missing and how trying for the stall holders and growers, who seem able to remain patient and calm throughout.

Here in the land of Summer heat we have a compulsion to refrigerate everything; sometimes we need to, keeping them out of the way of flies, ants and marauding young boys. However, in countries where they know about these things; refrigerating melons, soft fruit, cherries and tomatoes, is know to cause them to loose flavour, not ripen properly and to be nowhere near as tasty, juicy and delicous, as they are when you leave them to ripen on a bench-top, maintaining a careful watch on progress and consuming at the peak moment. Why wouldn't you? What is more delightful than a properly ripened peach simply peeled and cut in slices, with maybe a dab of real mango yoghourt or a spot of proper cream or just on it's own, so you can enjoy it's deliciousness, full of the Summer sun, giving you a big hit of Vitamin C to help you through approaching Winter.
White peaches have been available this week and they are large and sumptuous, bringing thoughts of Peach Bellinis and relaxed afternoons watching the sea. Just peel the peaches, chop roughly, crush slightly by hand for preference and add some good quality Peach Liqueur. Add a few slices to a flute and top with Champagne, or as we have to call it in this country, Sparkling White Wine. We are no longer permitted to use the Champagne name, even to refer to the variety of grapes and who's to quarrel with that?
The week after next, to celebrate the 9th anniversary of our lovely Farmer's Market; Chef Simon Bryant will be visiting. To most cooking afficionados, he probably feels like an old friend. Many followed his cooking shows with Maggie Beer, who calls herself a cook rather than a Chef. They brought a more relaxed, 'real' style of cooking show into homes. He's a celeb, but in this neck of the woods, celebs are real people who pass the time of day with other real people. If they didn't, they'd be told they were up themselves and labelled a Tall Poppy. Got to keep celebs accountable, just as with the pollies!