Cut Flowers

One of the greatest joys I get from my garden is wandering around and cutting flowers to bring inside. I am spoilt for choice at the moment.  Today I picked Thai Lillies, Spider Lillies, Day Lillies, Zinnias, Ixora, Rose of Sharon, the heavily scented Tuberose and some grass flowers.

So much beautiful colour

As I'm picking the flowers I am already planning how I will arrange them.  My latest "vases" have been a couple of crystal decanters.  They were given to us as wedding presents but have rarely been used. They make a great vase for a simple arrangement.

A different way to use a decanter.

I nearly always have flowers sitting on the ledge behind the sink and the zinnias look lovely in these small recycled bottles.

The Thai Lillies are a little harder to have in a vase due to their shape but this watering can makes any arrangement look great and is perfect for the lilies.

Lastly I have a big vase of flowers on the dining room table.  This time I have used the Ixora, Zinnia and Day lilies.  I have to be very careful where I place a vase with day lilies because they do drip and the resulting stain can be very hard to remove if they have been placed on bare timber.  I have placed the vase on a table runner just to be safe.

I am very lucky to have so much colour growing in my garden.

Giving the new Cookware a good workout!

I was invited to a Chefs Toolbox Masterclass Cooking demonstration in December.  Being an unabashed foodie I was excited! As soon as I walked in and saw the display of cookware I knew I was going to be hooked.  The demonstrator, Marie, cooked us a Risotto in the pressure cooker and then a sticky date pudding in the sauté pan.  The food was delicious but the non stick of the cookware was, for me, the winner.  I booked a party straight away.  I needed to replace my ageing cookware and this seemed a great way of doing it.  I ended up having a "virtual" party.  What this meant is that I took orders via internet and email and one very kind friend booked a follow-up party.  Because of this I was able to purchase one item for $15!  I chose the Wok with Steamer and lid.  I also purchased the sauté pan, grill pan and two different size saucepans.  From the first party I purchased a small frypan, a set of silicon spatulas and the wooden chopping board.  I am so pleased with all my purchases.  The cookware reminds me of Bessemer that was around when I was just a kid.  I believe my mother still has a Bessemer pan.  I think the non stick has probably worn off but other than that it is still in good order.
Today I cooked up Chicken with Fetta and Zucchini Noodles - recipe HERE.  The new sauté pan made it very easy and the best thing is.....no pot scrubbing after!  Chefs Toolbox recommend that you don't put the pot in the dishwasher and simply wipe over when you have finished cooking.  It works for me!
My friends party is in a couple of weeks time and I intend rounding off my collection with the stockpot and hopefully the set will last me for many years to come.

Weaning

It's that time of the year again when we begin to wean our calves from their (hopefully) pregnant mothers.  We are going to do two weanings in the next couple of months.  The first mob are the cows that we have decided to cull because of age, colour or conformation.  The calves are being weaned a little earlier because the prices that the meat works are offering for cows are at record highs.  We definitely made the right decision because the fourteen cows that we sold brought twice as much money as they did last year.  Thank goodness for small mercies!
The weaners that we have in the yards are extremely quiet.  Their mums were trucked out the day after the calves were weaned so we didn't have the usual racket of the cows calling to the calves and vice a versa.  This can cause many a sleepless night.
I took these photos yesterday and it shows how incredibly quiet they really are. They never moved a muscle while I took these photos.

A week-end summary

Yesterday it started to rain.....heavy rain.  There have been places in the tropics that have measured over 250mm.  Here at "Kuramar" we have had about 120mm.  Beautiful, lovely soaking rain that has filled all the dams.  I found a new word on Facebook a couple of weeks ago....pluviophile.  It means a lover of rain; someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days.  I am most definitely a pluviophile and living here in Australia, one of the driest continents on earth, I would think that most Aussies are pluviophiles.

Raining Cats and Dogs!

Yesterday was the first photography group meeting for the year.  One of our members has a fabulous home at Rocky Point so we held our meeting there.  This month was mostly theory.  Our club mentor talked about the use of filters for certain situations and it was an interesting talk and I took a lot away from the meeting.

This morning we sat outside on the verandah and ate our breakfast to the wonderful sound of rain falling on the roof but by 9.30 am it had cleared enough for us to go to the Sheraton Mirage Country Club for a swim.

The garden is loving all this rain.

We love it there as it is usually quiet and we have the pool to ourselves, but not today.  There are five swim lanes and there was five of us there.  Not crowded by any stretch of the imagination but still not the quietness we usually enjoy!
After our swim we had coffee and muffin at a new coffee shop in Port.....Betty's Bohemian Beach Cafe.  It is a lovely little cafe and one that we will certainly re-visit.  We were home by midday and have now had lunch and are ready to sit down and watch a movie.  A perfect way to spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon.

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

This and That

Gee it's been hot.  I know it is the middle of summer but usually we have the rain to cool things down a little.  This has not been happening as often as we would like but we have had grass growing rain. When you drive through a paddock the grass is higher than the quad bike!  The dams are not full yet as there has not been any of the really large falls of rain that would normally fill the dams.  I was talking to an older farmer the other day and he says the same thing as Philip.  The seasons are going back to what they used to be.  The "wet season" was always February/March not December/January as we have come to expect over the past few years.
I have been a bit slack on the photo-taking also.  Since I bought the iPhone 6 Plus I have been using it for most of my photography.  The photos are really good and with the addition of a little app called Genius+ I also have the capability of complete manual control of my iPhone camera.  To get back my photography mojo I have joined a Flickr group that my DIL administers.  It is called "52 weeks with Camera Chick" and the idea is to submit your best photo every week for 52 weeks.  I have already submitted my first photo for Week 5.  What do you think?

I have been picking the spider lilies and bringing them inside to admire.  To me they are a fascinating plant with their large "spider-like" stamen.  I have also been picking the zinnias.  They continue to flower and I really would have thought that they would be finished by now but they are even self-germinating in our very fertile garden.....thanks again to my wonderful gardener!

There have been some amazing sunsets lately and the most glorious of all was just a few days ago.  Guess what?  I MISSED IT!  I was making Rosella Jam and completely missed it!  I was so disappointed that Philip and I have decided that we will endeavour to sit outside and enjoy every sunset from now on.  The locals call it "Sundowners" when you sit outside with a drink and nibbles and watch the sun go down.  So there you go.  You may just get some amazing sunset photos over the next few weeks.......or not...

We have changed our eating habits over the past six months or so.  We now eat our main meal for lunch and dinner is only a snack.  Philip has found that it helps his digestion and the amazing thing is that we have both lost weight without trying.  I guess it's because it is almost a "fast".   For lunch today I tried a new recipe by the New Zealand cook Annabel Langbein.  I wish one of the TV channels would broadcast her cooking shows.  I love her style of cooking and have several of her cookbooks.  This one was called "Sensational Spinach Pie" and it was delicious.  I served it with some smoked salmon and a salad on the side.  Yummy but not the lowest in calories!   Here is the link to the recipe.

Well that's a wrap for "This and That".  Stay tuned for the next exciting episode!

A bit belated.

I wrote a post early in December 2014 about the Photo Club awards night.  Belatedly, I have received a photo of Philip and I that was taken by one of our tutors.  We don't have many photos of the two of us as I am usually behind the camera but I thought this one was quite nice.

Dinner and Show

Philip celebrated has 59th birthday last week.  Hard to believe I know!  I wanted to do something special for him so I obtained tickets for "Legally Blonde" performed by the Cairns Choral Society, booked us into the Pullman Reef Hotel Casino and made a dinner reservation at Tamarind Restaurant that never disappoints.
We arrived in Cairns mid afternoon to check into the hotel.  What a lovely surprise to be upgraded to a suite.  As we walked into the suite I was so overwhelmed by the sheer size and luxuriousness of the room that I completely forgot to take a photo!  We quickly settled into a room, ordered a bottle of wine and relaxed in the coolness of the room.  In what seemed like no time at all we had to shower and dress for our dinner reservation at 6 pm.  The meal, as always, was fantastic.  We both ordered identical meals - that comes from being married for almost 37 years!  Roast Duck salad for Entree and Trio of Pork for Main with Lotus Flowers as a side dish.  Pork and Duck and are two things that we hardly ever eat at home so it is always a treat to have.  I always order the Lotus Flowers as a side dish.  I hardly ever get through a full serve but they are sooooo delicious!

Lotus Flowers with a side of mayonnaise

A trio of Pork

After dinner we were relieved to walk the seven blocks to the Civic Theatre.  The pork, although delicious, was very rich so the walk did us both the world of good!  Just before we arrived at the Civic Theatre the whole Cairns area had a black-out.  It was so strange to be walking the streets without street lights and I was relieved when the power was restored.
We arrived in plenty of time for the show and quickly made our way into the theatre. Right on 8pm the curtain went up for the beginning of what was to be a great performance. I would have enjoyed it more but because of the power outage, the Civic Theatre Air-conditioning took until the second half of the show to cool the enormous cavity.  It was very uncomfortable!  However the performance really was terrific.  We have been to quite a few of the Choral Society Performances and they never disappoint.
After the show we thought about calling a cab for the return to our hotel but once again decided to walk.  It was a lovely balmy night, as are most nights in the tropics so the walk was a nice way to end a lovely evening.

No performance is complete without a box of Maltesers!

It has been so hot....

Living at Julatten we never expect to have a heatwave.  We always seem to have a gentle cooling breeze coming from various directions but the last two days have been the exception to the rule.  We don't have any air-conditioning in our house as we have no need for it and usually the fans are all we need but I found that I was heading to the air-conditioned office/craft room downstairs - numerous times - for gentle relief from the heat.

Yesterday we decided enough was enough and made our way down the range to Port Douglas for a swim.  We swim at the Sheraton Mirage Country Club pool.  It is always quiet and the change room facilities are better than anyone could ever afford in their own home.  Pixie Skase, as head interior designer,  decided that the Sheraton Mirage decor should be marble and gold and that is indeed what you see....everywhere...even the pool change rooms!

The swim was fabulous.  The water just the right temperature for me although Philip found it a bit too warm for his "training".  I was happily lapping away in the pool before it suddenly occurred to me that I had a forgotten to put underwear in my swim bag!  I had a dress but nothing to wear underneath! Damn!  I quickly jumped out of the pool and laid on a chaise to try and dry off the bathers  as I would have to wear the dress over the bathers.  Philip did suggest going "Commando".  Typical male hahahah!   All I could think was that we were going to shop groceries after the swim and it would be freezing walking through Coles in wet bathers!  But fortunately the sun was so incredibly warming that my bathers dried in no time at all.  Thank Goodness.

Relaxing poolside.

A Sleep Over

Our "adopted" grandkids having been asking for ages if they could come to our place for a sleep-over.  Of course we said yes but finding a suitable time has been a bit of a problem.  Finally we found a night that was agreeable to all, so the grandkids, mum and nanna arrived for lunch on Sunday.  Philip and I talked about the things that we could do with the kids.  We knew that they liked mustering so we made sure that we had a mob of cattle to move and I really needed help to pick and peel the abundant supply of rosellas.
The family arrived for lunch laden with enough food to feed an army!  There was roast chicken, ham, lasagne, cream buns, cream donuts, a BOX of mangoes, packets of chips....I didn't have to cook a single thing!
As soon as everything was unpacked from the car Philip took the kids and mum out to move the cattle.  Nanna and I stayed at home to prepare lunch for the hungry tribe when they arrived home.  We devoured the delicious lunch and promised the kids that we would go and pick the rosellas after lunch.  The weather, however, had other ideas.  A large storm started brewing and before long we had the inevitable thunder and lightening.  We waited it out.  The adults enjoyed the wait with a nice glass of champagne and the kids, well the kids grew more impatient.  However it didn't take the storm very long to pass over.  We hardly received any rain but it did cool things down somewhat.
The rosella picking took quite awhile.  So many rosellas.  I wish I had weighed them but there would have been at least five kilograms.  I ended up with twenty jars of jam and three jars of "Hibiscus Flowers" for adding to a glass of bubbly.  Separating the rosella flowers from the seed pod is the tedious part but with six sets of hands it seemed to be finished in no time at all.
By the time we had finished with the rosellas it was almost dinner.  Philip took the girls for a walk around the garden to pick flowers while we popped the lasagne in the oven.  Thank you Kate and Jodie.  It was delicious with a capital "D".  However I really should not have had two helpings!
The kids were well and truly worn out after their busy day so we were all in bed by 9.00 pm with the promise that Philip and I would wake the girls for our morning walk with the dogs.
As promised we did wake the girls early the next morning.  Nanna and mum also decided to join us for our 3km - half hour walk.  After the rain the day before the track was quite wet but it is still an enjoyable walk first thing in the morning. We were all ravenous when we returned to the house so breakfast went down a treat.  After breakfast it was time to strip beds and pack overnight bags.
It was so lovely to have everyone stay over and we have promised the kids that we will try and have a sleep-over each school holiday.

Waiting out the approaching storm

A walk down to the pond to look for the goldfish.

Nanna and the girls picking Rosellas

So many Rosellas!

All hands on deck.

My laundry tub packed to the brim with rosellas

Rosellas have to have a very good wash to remove all the little insects that hide in the flower.

Time to Party...

What a crazy time we have had over the past couple of weeks.  Way too much food and wine has been consumed but we have been catching up with with friends that we haven't seen for quite awhile so that's a good excuse!
So, where to begin.
Our young friends from Townsville were the first visitors for 2015.  They were having a mini holiday in Port Douglas for Skye's birthday so they asked if they could come and visit us.  We hadn't meet their latest family member....Emmasyn....so it was a good opportunity.  Skye's mum was also with them so we invited them for a casual lunch.  We sat over lunch for hours catching up on each others news.  Their young son....Maddox....is a dream child.  He is just three years old but a real darling.  All he wanted to do was go and see our donkey and we kept him waiting, waiting, waiting!  First it was "after lunch" and then it was "when Emmasyn goes to sleep" and finally "when it stops raining".  That young fellow took it in his stride and when he finally saw the donkey he said "OK can we go home now".  Hahahaha.
On Friday night we had the long awaited 60th birthday party for my bestie, Lynn. All invitees were asked to dress Fifties style and it was wonderful to see so many that took the effort to dress.  I was a bit slack but hubby made a bit of an effort and wore braces and hat.  It was a great night at Sarayi, Palm Cove.  The music and food were excellent and the party went on until the week small hours.  Some did not even go to bed.

Fifties theme for Lynns birthday.

Family Snap

The Birthday Girl

The party continued the next day poolside at the Oasis Resort where we devoured brunch before making our way home.  It was wonderful to talk with friends that we had not seen for years.

Megan, Ada and Poppy Jack.

Wendy and Ada Elaine

Son and his "Little Sister" Nikki.

At brunch, Philip and I invited everyone to lunch at our place the next day.  We ended up with a group of about twenty at lunch and it was most relaxing to be able to sit back in the coolness of our verandah and spin a few yarns.

The "Boys" at Kuramar

and "The Girls" at Kuramar

We picked up our friends from Toowoomba on Friday.  They flew in especially for the party and then came home with us after the party.  They are with us as I write and we are thoroughly enjoying each others company.  We have not caught up face to face with each other for a couple of years so plenty of tales have been told.
Yesterday we decided to head for Cooktown for a seafood lunch.  We had been telling our friends about it being one of the windiest places we had ever visited, but boy oh boy we hit a doozy of a day yesterday.  It was a stinking hot day with barely a breath of wind.  But we persisted in our idea of seafood in the park under the treetops.  The prawns were hands down the best and freshest we have ever eaten.  We knew it had to be fresh because the seafood outlet has it's own trawler!  The only "bug bear" (excuse the pun) was the mosquitoes that ate us alive under the shade of the big tree.  We at our lunch in record time to get away from them.  However, the day was lovely and we all agree that Cooktown is worth another visit.

This is not what you want to see when you don't have much cash on hand!  Check the price of the fuel!

The fuel Monster!

Selfie at the lookout.

Looking out over the mouth of the Endeavour River.

Cooktown from the lookout

Fresh Prawns and a Seafood Basket.  Yummy

Lunch with the gulls.  Can you see the chips that we threw in the air?

On our way back from Cooktown I received a message to say that the Beach family were going to go out for dinner to celebrate Lynn's "real" birth day.  Of course we could not miss that.  Our friends decided to stay at home but Philip and I quickly showered and dressed and made our way once more to Palm Cove, this time to Pullman Sea Temple.  The meal was delicious but best of all was the time that I had to chat to my bestie.  We really did not have much time to chat at her party.  We sat over dinner for almost three hours and enjoyed every minute of it.

So that has been our past couple of weeks.  Busy but fun.

New Years Eve 2014

A very happy new year to you all and I hope that 2015 brings us love and joy PLUS a good wet season.  

We spent New Years Eve at our friends magnificent home at Bluewater in Cairns.  We arrived there mid afternoon and immediately settled ourselves into the coolness of the air-conditioning whilst sipping our PM Champagne.  What a great drop.  It was a stinking hot day....even for Cairns....but the men eventually made their way outside to take a dip in the sparkling pool.  When the sun lost most of its bite our hosts invited us to board their boat for a scenic cruise down the river to the breakwater and Yorkeys Knob.  The yacht club looked like it was gearing up for a big night of festivities and looking at the number of boats that were moored at the marina, it would have been a large crowd.

Once we passed the breakwater the sea became quite choppy so we quickly turned around and made our way back to the peaceful waters of Bluewater.

We cruised up and down the numerous inlets that make up Bluewater and were in awe of some of the magnificent houses AND boats moored right at their door.  It really is a beautiful place to live.

As the sun set we moored the boat and made our way back into the coolness of the home where the women quickly prepared the dinner.  We feasted on Lobster (all the way from Tufi in PNG), prawns, steak, baked rib-bones, sausages and a token salad (just because it's healthy!)  Once again I over-ate....well the lobster WAS sitting right in front of me and it was the best I have EVER eaten....and promptly fell asleep on the couch!  It was probably a good thing as I was the designated driver and I had indulged in a few glasses of champagne.  

After I had my little nap........more food!  This time lime cheesecake and a nice cup of tea.  

We eventually said our goodbyes, well before midnight I might add, and were nicely tucked up in bed just as the clock chimed in a new year.

All aboard with the necessities....Champagne, Beer and Nibblies

Captain Kate

Ooops!

Yorkers Knob Yacht Club and Marina

A look around Yorkeys Knob Marina

My goodness.  I wonder if this father/son know that this is crocodile country!

Voted Number One house at Bluewater.  Yep....I wouldn't mind living here..