Another uncle, aunt and lunch 28 & 29 March 2015

A rather social week for Justin and I.  Dinner on Wednesday with his Mum, stepfather, and the kids, a social/work dinner on Friday night, and then a good lunch on Saturday with Justin's uncle, aunt, her sister, and our/their friend Jill.

Anyway, the drive out of Melbourne was grey and drizzly, however once we were level with Mt Macedon, the sky ahead was bright and blue, while the grey clouds loomed to our left over Macedon. It was an extraordinary effect.  Unfortunately no photo was taken, however Justin said that if we were ever to buy a house on Mt Macedon, then it would be on the north/sunnier side.

Arrived in Inglewood in blazing sunshine just after 11.  Had to get the pizza dough started (in the bread machine), and then went down the street.

Given the lovely weather, and the fact that I had my uncompleted jigsaw on the dining room table, we decided to set up the table outside under the hoop pine,

I made up a salad, and once the dough was ready, prepared the pizzas.  We also had a pate and a red dip that I'd made at home

Miles, Mary and Elizabeth arrived 1st, and we showed primarily Elizabeth around as Miles and Mary had been there before.  I think that Miles disapproved of our removing the wallpapers....

Jill arrived soon afterwards, and Justin settled her out in the garden while my tour continued.

We eventually joined the others under the tree, and started the pate, dip and my own Inglewood olives - with of course some bubbles.  A curious baby magpie was watching us from above.  Jill kept an eye on him to ensure that he either didn't drop or pick up anything.

Justin slipped away and put the pizzas on to cook, and we washed them down with some red wine

lunch #1

lunch #2

The afternoon ebbed away pleasantly.  Our guests left after 5pm to go back into Bendigo to the opening of a Ned Kelly exhibition, and Justin and I pottered around.  The dishes were too daunting, so I watered the garden instead.  I was surprised that the artichokes were having a 2nd flush of fruit

Autumn artichokes

And the peppercorn tree at the back had dropped its pink seeds resulting in a lovely pink carpet all around it

pink peppercorn carpet

My peaches were pretty much ripe, so I picked a good bag full, and subsequently bottled them

ripe peaches on tree

picked peaches

Bottled peaches

sun coming through the front glass on the wall

Had a quiet night at home.  Watched the last of Jinx - wow, what a show. And then an old Rumpole.

The Jinx HBO series

On Sunday,Justin made us eggs for breakfast which we ate outside.  It had been pretty cool earlier, but the sun was out now, so jumpers weren't required

breakfast

Watered some more (it was very dry) and did more of the jigsaw. Justin thought I was getting a bit obsessive about it, and asked what was the difference between doing that and being glued to a computer screen.  Possibly not much.  But I wanted/needed to complete it before my young nephew and niece come over after Easter.  If I don't chances are pieces would get lost, and that would make me pretty cross.

work in progress

  

see I've done the umbrella on the left side now

It was Denise's birthday today (Sunday) so Justin and I walked down to wish her happy birthday. However the shop was closed, so we had to sms instead.

We did however see the posters up for the Inglewood Heritage day in May.  Denise had already told me yesterday that there was a lot of interest in the house. We'll have to put on a good show......

Kingower Concert 13 -15 March 2015

Once again, I was in an advance party of one.  Given that I hadn't got all of those bloody Bindi eye weeds out last week, I wanted to finish off the job - so came up on Friday again.

There were still plenty in the cricket oval/future vineyard side of the garden, and as you can see from the below photo, all traces of green are now gone from the "grass". It's back to dust bowl status.  That and bindi eyes that is.

a bucket full of bindis

And I found a few strays on the other side too.  In some perverse way, I was quite enjoying the hunt for the bindis, as they could be quite disguised/hard to see.  So when I found a less obvious one, it was strangely satisfying.  They were certainly easier to find/capture than yabbies.

Did a bit of tidying up in the garden also, - cutting back unwieldy branches, trimming a bush rose, pulling our escaped calendulas etc.  And it was while pulling out the calendulas in the pebble path that I found a crystal with the other quartz stones.  I've now unfortunately misplaced it, but hopefully it will show up again

my found and now lost crystal

Helen had given me a big tub of  Dynamic Lifter a while back, so I thought I'd give the fruit trees a good feed and then water.  This took some hours...

feeding the lemon tree

and by the time I'd finished I was ready for a nice cold drink.  There were no dinner invitations this time, and I didn't want to ask myself around anywhere either, so I had a quiet night at home and watched a couple of episodes of the Bridge

Saturday morning, and I was due at Terry's at 9am for the Kingower Concert community cook-up. On arrival the charming Terry made me a very good coffee, and the others arrived soon afterwards - Arlene, June, Chrissie, Bev, Damien, & Nicole.

It was a simpler yet more fiddly menu this time - ie 3 dips - hummus (which Terry had already made) a fresh beetroot dip, and a tzaziki which I was in charge of

chopped cucumbers draining for the tzaziki

.
Terry and I were perhaps gently teasing Arlene about the tzaziki.  She had said to take the seeds out of the cucumber as they produce too much water, and make the tzaziki too thin.  Initially I pooh-poohed this idea, but then recalled that sometimes my tzaziki was a bit thin and watery.  So I met her half way, kept the seeds, but salted the chopped cucumbers and left them to drain.  I was actually surprised by how much water came out.

In the meantime I chopped up heaps of parsley, and skinned chicken fillets etc.  There were a few hungry sounding young magpies out the front, so I threw them some chopped up skins.  Initially they flew away, but they soon came back

there is a magpie in the very middle of the photo

they've come a bit closer now

June made up the beetroot dip

big bowl of beetroot dip

Chrissie and Arlene marinaded the chicken fillets

marinading chicken fillets

And Arlene, Nicole and Damien organised the sandwiches.  One type of sandwich was made from a whole loaf of bread.  All the slices were taken out and buttered, and then the fillings added.  ie Chicken/avocado/mayonnaise, salmon/capers/lettuce etc.  The sandwiches were then piled on top of each other - ie the loaf re-assembled, and then put back in the bread bag to "set" until later this evening when they were cut into qaurters.  Quite a nifty method.

Arlene buttering the sandwiches

Damien photobombing the sandwich stack

Terry was in charge of the sausage rolls.  I was invited to also assemble these, but Terry's were so perfect, that I thought I might disgrace myself, so quickly found myself another job.  Terry thought I shouldn't have worried so much.

Terry's sausage rolls

 Arlene had made a sponge for the lamingtons, and she and June assembled them.  Other cakes were made off site.

 
As per last time, Terry provided us with a lovely lunch. There was a salad of basil, cucumbers, and capsicum all from the garden.  The basil leaves were so large that they were the salad leaf equivalent. And Terry had made up a eggplant(from the garden also) parmagiana which we washed down with a crisp white wine.  All very civilised

al fresco lunch #1

al fresco lunch #2

  
Given that we were just about done, I excused myself after lunch and went back too Inglewood to see if the guests had arrived yet.  Surprisingly, I was there first.  Justin, Chris and Yvonne had expected to arrive around 12.30.  They arrived around 1.40 and Justin and Chris rushed off to Michelle's to each get a haircut as she closed at 2pm

Karen and Mark arrived whilst the boys were having their haircuts.  They soon returned, and we had lunch (not me) under the hoop pine

After lunch the band - Justin, Yvonne and Chris practised some more - outside in the shade.  They had set up Chris' amplifier, so the guitars boomed out, while the voices were not amplified and so were overwhelmed.  We wondered what the neighbors thought....  During this time, Karen and I went off to one of the secret dams to catch us some yabbies.  Took a couple of chairs and our books too, but we just chatted while the yabbies filled our nets.  Or at least that was the plan.  Yep, we chatted and had a bit of an explore around the "ruins" but unfortunately no yabbies, not even one.  Michael had said that they were more active/easier to catch after it had rained.  But there hadn't been any rain for weeks.

Returned home empty handed, and no one was really surprised.  During our absence, Mark had been assisting with the jigsaw, and we got quite a bit more of it done.  Although the sky and sea will undoubtedly prove difficult.

Left for Kingower around 6.30.  The band in Chris' car, and us roadies/groupies in Mark's car.  Did some sound checks with Terry, organised a table,and mingled with the others

Justin with a couple of Damien's friends

me & Justin in matching black and white (unintentional) #1

me & Justin in matching black and white (unintentional) #2

getting started

Yvonne, Justin, Mark, Chris and Karen #1

Yvonne, Justin, Mark, Chris and Karen #2

Yvonne, Justin, Mark, Chris and Karen #3

The New Kingower Rangers kicked off the evening with a blistering set of old and new favourites

The New Kingower Rangers #1

The New Kingower Rangers #2

The New Kingower Rangers #3

The New Kingower Rangers #4

They were followed by Dave P - who had additional fans in the crowd as his son, daughter-in-law and grandkids were visiting from America

Dave P - solo

Karen enjoying the music

And then it was our band....I had recommended to Justin that they have a name, but he didn't think it necessary.  Now, most of the audience wouldn't have known who Yvonne and Chris were, and some may not have known Justin either.  So, I helped them out/heckled them by calling out and asking who they were.  That got me reluctantly dragged up to introduce the band.., But once there, I didn't mind the spotlight, and even got to christen the band with my suggested name -  The Inglewood Intruders.  Just snuck that one out, and no one was going to disagree with me...

They played a half hour set, and were well received (although there were some comments that we didn't hear enough from Justin)

Inglewood Intruders #1

Inglewood Intruders #2

Inglewood Intruders and Dave P

And although I didn't go to any of the practice sessions, I was invited up to shake a musical egg for a couple of numbers, and I also got Karen to accompany me - on tamborine.  we certainly had a good time!

And we even videoed it - as we'd dragged out our old video camera, attached it to a small tripod on the table, and had Mark operate it.  I think this worked better than using a mobile phone.  

for some reason I can't get the audio to work

Daniel came on and sang after our band, and then it was open mike.  Chris came back on afterwards also - and then basically stayed til stumps

The night finished up around 12.30, and we drove home slowly.  Remember I'd seen 7 kangaroos on the way from from Jill's the previous week.  Luckily we didn't see any tonight.

Pottered around for a little while once we got home, and I was in bed by 1am.  The others stayed up in the kitchen and sang and played guitar (the band that is) til rather late.  Justin came to bed at 3.45!

Needless to say, that I was the first one up in the morning.  Tidied up the kitchen, did the dishes, and then went out and watered the garden.  Yvonne was the next one up some hours later.  We went to the IGA to get some bacon and hash browns etc, (I'd already got some eggs from David the day before) and proceeded to cook up a big recovery breakfast.

Breakfast, or more accurately brunch, was eaten out under the hoop pine again

recovery brunch #1

recovery brunch #2

And I couldn't resist taking a photo of Chris's rather fancy cowboy boots

cowboy boot #1

cowboy boot #2

Chris and Yvonne left soon afterwards, and Karen and I drove back to Kingower to see if we could find Mark's missing sunglasses and a bag that we'd left behind.  Yep, we found the sunglasses, but minus a lens.  We also saw Terry who had collected the bag the night before and gave it back to us. We were glad that we'd found the sunglasses, but disappointed that they seemed to have been run over.

Returned to Inglewood and broke the news to Mark, who asked us if we'd looked for the other lens, as no the glasses probably hadn't been run over, but rather just been stepped on, and the lens if found could easily be snapped back in.

So, back to Kingower we went - the 4 of us this time. Karen found the lens in their wine bag, so all was good, the glasses were fixed and Terry invited us in for a coffee (he does make the best coffees in the district)  Stayed for a little while and chatted with him and his sister Carolyn and brother in law Sean.

Back to Inglewood, didn't really need lunch, and Karen and Mark left soon afterwards and I did more of the jigsaw puzzle - it is somewhat compelling, just one more piece.....

done quite a lot now

 Justin and I pottered around a bit, tidying up, and Gordon dropped in to say hello.  We hadn't seen him for ages, so it was nice to have a catch-up

7 Roos and a bunny :- 6 & 7 March 2015

A Friday/Saturday weekend this time, as Fraser had cricket semi finals on the Sunday, so I had to be there.  Ludicrous to have it in the middle of the Labour Day long weekend. Oh well, it was a good game, and an honorable defeat....but back to Inglewood...

Arrived mid morning, and planned to have a coffee with Denise.  However, she and Steven were already enjoying a coffee out the front, so I told them I'd come back and join them.  Only thing was, that I was waylaid at the Empire by Julie and Enzo.

I ordered my coffee from Julie in a takeaway cup, but then Enzo came out and said he wanted to talk to me....Sounded interesting...

He told me that the Great Victorian Bike Ride was riding through Inglewood in December and that he was charged with organising activities for the riders.  He wondered if they could possibly have a look around the house.  

Great Victorian Bike ride for 2015

map of where they will ride

Given that we will be doing something similar for the Heritage Day, I said yes, why not...Details to come.

Then we got chatting about drawcards for the town, and I said food was always popular ie longest lunch with the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival etc.  This lead to a brainstorming session about what types of food we could offer.  My suggestions were local ie Julie's tomatoes on Bridgewater bruschetta, some yabbies, and local cheese if we could find some for starters, Rabbit/kangaroo in red wine sauce with cous cous (from local wheat) and vegies, and then apple (from Harcourt) pie.  All washed down with local wines and cider.  It was quite fun talking about it all, Enzo was very keen, and we discussed catering for it in the Town Hall, how much it would cost a head, the logistics of serving all at once, and having a Glen Miller band for dancing afterwards etc.  I  must have stayed there for around an hour.

Needless to say, Denise and Steven had finished their coffees, and were back inside the shop by the time I got back to them.

Had a quick sandwich lunch at home, and then back to the bindis -as there were lots more to dig out.  At least it wasn't as hot today, yes, it was sunny but only mid twenties in temperature.  It was back breaking work though, and I managed to get blisters through the leather gloves.  I was also tempted to set them all on fire (not really) - there were just so many,  And the dried ones had escaped/loose prickles which I tried to pick up, but I wouldn't have got all of them.

a large rotten bindi eye plant 

bindi eye plant with many "branches"

After a couple of hours, I figured I needed some sort of reward to look forward to.  So rang up Jill Mc to see if I could go and visit her late afternoon.  She very kindly invited me to dinner instead.  I told her that I didn't want to invite myself, but she told me not to be silly, it was a pleasure.  Who was I to deny Jill a little pleasure, so I gratefully accepted. Kept pulling bindis out til around 5pm, and then swapped over to watering the garden.  Yes, although watered only a couple of weeks ago, the lemons were looking very thirsty and droopy

droopy lemon

I was also interested to see that one of the palm fronds had swept a depression into the hard earth out the front - powered by the constant wind.

sweeping frond

  

My cling peach tree has fruit that is now yellow, quite small, but hopefully nice and sweet.  I picked one, and will see if it ripens on the shelf

there are lots of yellow peaches on this tree

Although I didn't get any Flanders poppies surviving - one seems to have come up now - which is completely the wrong season for it

Flanders Poppy - maybe?

And I was also very pleased to see that one of the yuccas was flowering.  Fancy that!

flowering yucca

Although still warm enough, I was surprised to smell wood smoke in the afternoon - probably for cooking rather than heating.

Once I'd done enough watering - I went upstairs with the newspaper and had a lovely long gin and tonic.  Ahh, I deserved it.



And then onto Jill's for dinner at 7pm.  I had asked her what I could bring, apart from wine, and she said nothing, just my good self.  Well, I didn't want to go empty handed, so I took a jar of my fab fejoa chutney - which we ended up having with some of the cheeses that she'd laid out.  Main course was calamari and vegies char grilled on the bbq - very nice, and then pears poached in red wine with icecream.  Was a lovely night, chatted about all sorts of things - including how she & a friend  had put baby crocodiles in people's beds as a lark while up in NT on a scientific type expedition.  Also organised to have Miles & Mary come over for a meal to the house with Jill - before Jill departs Kingower for Hawthorn (around April)

I don't know where the time went.  I left for Inglewood around midnight, I saw 3 kangaroos between Jill's house and Terry's - so I (almost) literally crawled home at 50kph. And I saw another 4 kangaroos, plus a rabbit, thus 7 kangaroos all up.  I was really petrified of hitting one - luckily didn't of course!

Sunday, and I woke early unfortunately, and also unfortunately I couldn't fall back asleep.  I had an uncharacteristic headache, so I took it easy all day.  Although I felt that I should have been doing something useful.  I just didn't have the motivation - given my sore head, and the fact that I was also feeling a bit nauseous.

Mum and I had started sorting out the jig saw puzzle a couple of weeks ago, so set myself the challenge of putting all of the edges together.

jigsaw in progress #1

This was accomplished

jigsaw in progress #2

And then I wanted to fill some (easy) bits in - ie bits of tree, chairs etc.  But there is a lot of blue sky and sea which will be challenging.  I'm hoping that when the others come up next week for the concert that they'll assist, as I don't want to pack it up until it's been completed....

jigsaw in progress #3