30th December 2012

30^th Dec 2012

How was your Christmas, if it was anything like ours it would have been a great success I am pleased to say.

Twenty people sat down to a splendid setting for Xmas dinner around 1:30/2:00pm. Over the past few weeks Nancy and I have been doing a lot of preparation gradually and particularly Xmas Eve, the last minute things that could be done before hand to minimise the workload on Xmas day itself.

Even so my day started around 5:30am and was pretty constant all day but it was a good day and I for one, thoroughly enjoyed it.

I prepared a 10kg pre-cooked smoked ham, removed the skin, did the diamond pattern thing with cloves and baked it for several hours to coincide with lunch, basting it every 15minutes or so with a glaze concoction I developed from several recipes. I must admit I was bit nervous as to how it would turn out but it tasted fabulous and received rave reviews so it was quite a relief and I was quite chuffed about it all. At the same time I roasted a roll of pork in the Weber and Nancy did a Turkey breast with a mango conserve and roasted macadamia nuts once the ham was finished.

In the meantime Nancy’s sister and companion arrived from the Gold Coast followed closely by her family of Brett, wife Merl and daughter Dannie and Mark with his son Matt whom we hadn’t seen for quite some time. They were doing their own thing for Xmas lunch, but wanted to catch up for a bit of Xmas cheer before hand. I guess it was about mid morning so corks were popping and glasses clinking as we took the opportunity to have a quick swig between chores. We called our new neighbour (John) over to share a drink with us and meet folks and he arrived with a whole platter full of freshly cleaned sand crabs ready to eat, kidding that didn’t go over well so we added a few oysters to the spread which was basically morning tea and there may have been a few prawns in there as well.

By this time the remaining family members arrived and it was starting to become quite a gathering. By the time everything was ready for lunch our morning visitors left and niece Susan with her schoolteacher voice and skill managed to organise everybody to their particular seating arrangement. Lisa had organised the tables three in all, with beautiful linen table cloths and napkins, all the very best of cutlery, crockery and glasses and Xmas bon-bons, it certainly looked as good as any high class restaurant or hotel.

Once they were seated and for those that enjoy the gastronomic delicacy Crassostrea gigas (Pacific oysters), luncheon commenced with an entrée of a dozen delicious delights of this popular mollusc. Then the main course food was set out buffet style along the bench separating kitchen from lounge area so everybody could take what they wished and there was plenty of it, including potato bakes, special rice salads, various different green salads and coleslaw to name a few. This was followed by pavlova, sherry cake, ice-cream, Christmas cake, rum balls, home-made mini Christmas puddings and other delights including a large variety of beautiful fruit and here we all were trying to stuff as much as possible into already overloaded belly’s. I was eager to take some photos and managed to get a before shot and a shot of the glazed ham and then my pocket camera disappeared only to be told on boxing day that it had been put in the study because it was on a table and in the way!!  I’m hoping someone else had the presence of mind to take a few.

Late in the afternoon several of the family members had left, a couple of friends plus neighbour John had re-joined us and we remaining sturdy soles were relaxing downstairs having a quiet Xmas cheer, so as if we hadn’t had enough to eat we cleaned up the remaining oysters and prawns washed down with all sorts of things ranging from French Champagne to home brew rum, it was all very pleasant, no dramas and surprisingly enough no hangovers on Boxing Day (or at least none that were admitted to).

Lisa was to go sailing for a few days from early Boxing Day morning but the day started with quite a heavy downpour and threatened to set in for the day so social was postponed for a few hours and they eventually got away just before lunch, in the meantime we managed to get the place pretty well shipshape before she went (thank goodness) it did look a bit of a shambles when I ventured upstairs early in the morning. Lisa was lucky with the weather, as they had predicted showers and storms all week from Xmas, they actually had perfect sailing weather and only copped one decent downpour the night before she came home.

Saturday 29^th we went down the Gold Coast for the day to Nola’s (Nancy’s sister) to celebrate her birthday. Lisa came home from sailing in the afternoon and today we ran her out to Brisbane airport to fly down to Orange in central NSW, travelling via Sydney to spend a couple of weeks with her best friend and family. Nice that she is getting a holiday before she starts her new job later in January.

Well I think that is just about up to-date, over the last couple of days I have been feeling very tired and lazy, I haven’t been feeling too well either with pains in the lower abdomen and numerous visits to the bathroom, I wonder why? Must be the water.

Oh! Did I mention Nancy and I were deliberating as to what we would have for dinner the other night, when there was a knock at the door and John next door had sent his daughter over with a sand crab and mud crab all cleaned ready to eat, what a nice neighbour.

Happy New Year to you all

Cheers

Nigel

Ready for the onslaught Xmas 2012

Xmas 2012

Morning tea - sand crabs

Our 10kg baked and glazed ham

Christmas Post

20th December 2012

Christmas is almost upon us and it’s almost a month since my last entry.

We are having a family Xmas lunch at our house this year with 22 people so far, I say “so far”, because it could be 20 or 26, it is just as likely to change on the day. Seating is a little problem for us, Lisa ordered an eight piece dining setting recently and it has to come from Melbourne. It was guaranteed to be delivered by Xmas but they are cutting it fine as it hasn’t appeared yet, I’m sure we will manage.

We have our caravan back from the factory and back at the storage centre, hopefully no more leaks. The builder said he couldn’t find anything that would cause the re-appearance of water damage and thought they may have replaced damaged panelling last time before the dampness had been properly dried out. I guess now every time we have any significant rain paranoia will set in. Unfortunately it doesn’t look as if we will get the chance to empty our garage back into the van until the New Year so it will have to stay looking like a junk yard until then.

It looks like I have had some success with stopping the aircon leak in the Toyota. I pulled as much gear as I could off the area below the glove box until I could get at the back of the aircon unit. When I removed the back plate off this section I could see it had an obvious seal arrangement that was wet indicating it wasn’t sealing. So keeping my fingers crossed I was doing the right thing, I dried it, applied a sealant that won’t be too hard to remove and put everything back together. So far the newspaper I have put on the floor to show if any condensation drips down has remained completely dry, however I haven’t done a substantial trip of late, but it‘s looking promising.

The last few weeks have been quite busy; Nancy and I have been doing a bit of pre-Xmas prep, making goodies including pavlova, Scottish short bread, fancy chocolate meringues, rum balls, (potent ones) and mini Christmas cakes with liqueur and dipped in chocolate. Half way through one session I almost blacked out and ended up in the Redland Bay hospital emergency ward being monitored for 24 hours. After every known test to man and very little sleep they still didn’t have a conclusive diagnosis and decided it may have been a reaction to medication. Since then my GP has basically said bullshit all the symptoms you were de-hydrated, anyway alls well that ends well and I am scheduled to go back early in the New Year for some follow up tests, so at least I will know I’m in good shape when we travel.

In between Lisa’s work and studies, we have been landscaping front and back gardens and kidding that hasn’t been a marathon effort. The front garden was full of rock rubble and clay so it needed a lot of work and preparation prior to planting. Lisa with her usual enthusiasm was getting up at 0400 and collecting washed up sea grass from the foreshore, then spreading it out for drying and later washing it to remove any salt, she read somewhere that it is good mulch as it breaks down well and in our case we covered it all with Tea tree mulch which also helps keep the white ants at bay apparently.  

The centrepiece for the front garden is a large Pandanus tree (Breadfruit), to depict our coastal location, surrounded by two types of Jasmine one of which is the variegated strain, Cycads are featured in each corner and stepping stones to the letter box are bordered with dwarf Mondo grass. Outside the front wall between entry and driveway gates, we have planted Mock-Orange (Murraya paniculata), to be eventually trained into a tidy hedge. On the opposite side of the driveway to the main garden Lisa has planted Agapanthus that she purchased online from Sydney.

Establishing the Pandanus was a feat on its own. Lisa had contacted a nursery up north that grew them and wanted $1000 for an advanced plant. So Lisa used the internet and found an advanced plant on the Gold Coast for sale privately for $350. By using Facebook she organised a couple of volunteers from her sailing fraternity, booked a double horse float online and put a carton of rum and coke in the fridge. When we picked up the horse float my tow ball was much higher than the receiving part on the float so we hooked it on and towed it down the Gold Coast and return on the back two wheels with the front wheels off the ground. It must have looked quite odd but it towed like a dream. Arriving at the Gold Coast we discovered the Pandanus Lisa had booked was far too big for us to handle, we would have needed a crane to shift it so we settled for something that three men and Lisa could just skull drag and gradually manoeuvred this into the float, all of us bleeding like stuck pigs, I never realised how spikey these things are.  Off loading in Brisbane was a similar exercise and eventually we had it laying on its side overhanging the monstrous hole Lisa had dug the night before and as it turned out because we had purchased a smaller plant (thank God) the hole had to be backfilled quite a bit. Getting the depth right was critical we only had one shot at how it was to sit as we were never going to be able to move it once it was in the hole. We gingerly cut the huge bag away from the root ball and with us all pulling on rope or pushing it slipped into its final resting place absolutely spot on. Reduced price for smaller plant $250 + horse float $90 + carton of Bundy and coke $65 – Bargain, and the ice-cold rum and coke was like nectar.

Since then we have purchased Lilly-Pilly shrubs for the side boundary (back garden) and Tiger Grass for across the back. Tiger Grass is like a bamboo but not so invasive, fast growing and easier to maintain. The idea is to train it like a hedgerow so it breaks the starkness of the colourbond fence. Over the past week once the sun has dropped I have progressively dug fifteen holes to accommodate all of these shrubs which Lisa and I will plant over the next couple of evenings. Keep in mind all of the plants we have purchased to-date are advanced plants and need substantial holes to be dug for example the Lilly-Pilly is over a metre high and the Tiger Grass 1.5 metres tall, trouble is the ground is so dry and hard with the lack of rain since we have moved in it has to be dug using a pick axe. A big problem for us is what to do with the surplus material that comes from digging the holes.

We also planted three Frangipanis in the back area one pink, one white and the other red.

Our electric front gate is now working as it is meant to after the limit switch was finally changed and the out of line post in our side fence has finally been rectified although I wasn’t impressed with the mess they made and left.

We are certainly appreciating where we live during the humid weather being experienced lately, it is not often there isn’t a good breeze blowing across the bay and by opening up the front of the house we can enjoy refreshing air without air-conditioning.

Lisa has just submitted a big paper for her Phd, I watched her working late and early for the last few weeks and weekends averaging 4-5hrs sleep a night, I had the task of proof reading it and that took long enough. I hope it goes well for her she has worked hard and had to read something like 50 books for reference purposes.

Back to Xmas our menu will consist of oysters, prawns and salmon, baked ham, roast pork cooked in the Weber and a turkey roll which Nancy does with Mango conserve and Macadamia nuts, its delicious.

There will be potato bake and various salads and of course a variety of deserts.

I don’t think anyone will go hungry.

At this stage Nancy and I are still aiming to get away on our trip at the end of January providing everything is in place with the trust we are setting up for David.

For those of you that may read this pre-Christmas we hope you have a most enjoyable festive season without any drama. If you are travelling have a safe journey. Try not to over indulge (I know I will)

If it is post-Christmas I trust you had an enjoyable period with friends or family or both and that you were sensible with your intake of both food and alcohol.  

All the best

Nigel

Our temporary herb garden

Add caption

Lilly Pilly

Tiger grass across the back

Happy looking Frangipani now it's in the ground

28th Nov 2012

I've been practicing my watercolours lately, still struggle with it and not really happy with results but I'll keep practicing.

Getting pretty warm in Brisbane now still haven't had much in the way of rain, couple of storms a week or two ago, no doubt we will get our share shortly.

Took the caravan back to the factory on Monday to address leak problems so our garage is full of gear again it's a pain having to remove everything especially when the van is stored several kilometres from where we live, let's hope we can get it all back in before Xmas. 

Leaks are our focus lately with the caravan, two separate leaks being addressed in the house and now the cars aircon is dripping inside the car, it's never ending
Purchased two new steel rims to suit the caravan, one to replace the wheel I wrecked a few months ago when we lost a wheel on the return trip from Caloundra, the other to be an extra spare for when we travel in remote areas.

Our front electrically operated gate is playing up, every now and then it jams open, I disconnect it and we operate it by hand. The installer spent hours adjusting the tripout switch yesterday and no sooner had gone and it jammed again so they are going to replace it now !!

Pen and wash

At least he's the boss

Monochrome for tonal practice

Pen and wash an Edward Wesson copy

I felt the hull looked a bit blank so added the fishing sign and a name just to break it up a little, I think it worked.

5^th Nov 2012

We’ve just returned from a great week on Fraser Island. For those that don’t know of or where Fraser Island is I will give a brief description. As the crow flies Fraser Island is a couple of hundred kilometres north of Brisbane basically off Hervey Bay, it is 123 kilometres long by 22 kls at its widest point and at 184,000 hectares it is the largest sand island in the world. Now heritage listed it is a place of exceptional natural beauty with its long white sandy beaches, fresh water lakes and magnificent forestation. I highly recommend Googling Fraser Island or type in your browser - fraserisland.net for better info and some pics.

We got there by driving north from Brisbane traveling just over two and a half hours to Gympie where we turn off Eastwards to the coast at Rainbow Beach all up about 3.5 hrs, 4hrs if you stop for fuel and coffee en-route. Usually we fill up with fuel at Gympie on the highway, which for some reason or other is cheaper than Brisbane prices and then top right up again at Rainbow Beach to ensure we go onto the island with full tanks. Fuel can be purchased on the island at a couple of places but as would be expected it is pretty exy.

Having left Brisbane at 4:30am to get to Fraser Island on a falling tide we had breakfast at Rainbow Beach and then drove up the peninsula for a few kls to Inskip Point where the barge picks you up from the beach. Ten to fifteen minutes crossing the Wide Bay channel and we are at Hook Point on Fraser then the run  north up 75 mile beach to Indian Head (Headland), at this point the island starts to change to a more north westerly direction. We drive through the sand blow where some novice always seems to be digging themselves out of the soft sand, then on to an area called the Champagne Pools, this is as far as the Back Packers and tourist day trippers are allowed to go. We then head inland through the bush for a few kilometres on a very soft and rough sand bush track until we reach the Waddy Point, Orchid Beach area. Orchid Beach is a freehold settlement one of a few on Fraser and is situated about half a kilometre back from the beach on high dune country. In the last few years quite a few large holiday homes have been constructed all of them with the fisherman in mind and catering for large groups. Like us, families or friends come in groups to share costs and in most cases fishing is the main focus.

It is also home to a few permanent residents and these are usually the houses with a tractor and boat parked on their lot, the tractor being required for beach launching and retrieval. Most of the homes are built on sloping ground and the majority are of the pole house type of construction, in some instances to maximise views but it is also seems to be a practical way of construction on sloping ground. Keep in mind the nearest concrete plant is about 100 kls away at Hervey Bay.  There is no reticulated power on Fraser so the majority of homes are established with large solar systems, automatic generators and gas appliances, all very efficient. Tank water and spears provide soft water at good pressure and there is always plenty of hot water for showers at the end of a hard days fishing. All rental houses have good refrigeration and freezers and in recent years Telstra has established mobile phone coverage at Orchid Beach, also most places have satellite TV so you don’t do it tough. A light aircraft landing strip runs alongside the Trading Post, Orchid Beaches one stop general store, bar and fuel servo. I didn’t hear or see any aircraft movements the week we were up there, but a few years ago a plane flew in every day and when a young boy got killed by a dingo the place was busier than Kingsford Smith Airport.

We only saw a few dingoes on this trip, apparently they can still be a problem even though they have obviously been culled to reduce numbers. I may be wrong but I don’t recall any problems with the dingoes when there were brumbies on the island, but in their wisdom the National Parks people have eliminated them altogether stating they weren’t native to the island and were damaging the environment ???? I guess they know best!!!

On the fishing front, we had a little difficulty getting fresh bait in the first few days, relying on the Eugerie (Pipis) we had the presence of mind to gather on the way up the beach on day one. Eventually we got onto the elusive sand worm and fortunately Merl acquired the knack of getting these tricky customers so between the two of us we got enough for all of us to fish for a couple of days, the next time we went looking for them they were even harder to find. The first days fishing was the most productive but after that it was pretty dismal and on a couple of days we hardly got a bite, don’t know if it was the changing wind direction or full moon that did it but we ended up with three good feeds and the weather was magnificent so we were all very happy.

We still haven’t had any decent rainfall in Brisbane the grass is looking like hay and plants are starting to look very tired. We have an underground rainwater tank but there hasn’t been enough rain to put anything into it since we have been in the house. I guess it will start soon and then we will soon be whinging about the humidity and if it rains for more than a few days we’ll whinge about that too.

7 weeks to Xmas Yikes  !!!

I have spent the last couple of days sorting out our gear so we can start re-packing the caravan in preparation for our long awaited trip. I would like to get away around the end of January after all the holidays are over and a bit of sanity may have crept back into the travelling public again, but who knows a sudden wind change and we may be off sooner.

Surprise surprise, Nancy organised a picnic in the park for today with a few lady volunteers she worked with at Braille House and it’s raining and miserable. Months of dry and beautiful weather and Murphy has stepped in. Mustn’t complain though we badly need it.

Indian Head looking South

Another magic day ahead

An early catch

No fish around so we just relaxed 

Brett's contribution 6 of us had this baked for dinner

A harmless night visitor

My latest oil on refurbished canvas board