Finding some calm after the storm

It's the first day of December - it's Summer here in Brisbane. (still so, so wrong...!) The purple Jacarandas have all but disappeared and instead we now have the wonderful vibrant Royal Poinciana. They really do look fabulous against the backdrop of the blue Summer sky. 

Royal Poinciana

That blue sky that I quickly snapped on the way home from school drop off this morning was very different last Thursday....

It was about 4.30pm and all of a sudden everything went dark. There was an eerie silence, then the trees outside my office started to sway and within a few minutes the rain started to lash at the windows. Not long after that the hail started. When I say hail I don't mean little pea size balls of ice - I'm talking big! They got as big as golf balls and some people saw some the size of tennis balls! It was the strangest 30 minutes ever.  There was no warning as is usual with Brisbane storms.  We could only stare out of the windows and wonder at the damage that was being caused. Hail that size can make a car looked like it's been sprayed with bullets.  Windows and windscreens were smashed and branches were flying through the air. Water began to pour through the roof of a room and this kicked the evacuation alarms into action. Except no-one really wanted to leave...

Here's a bit of a clip at the start of the storm taken from inside.

Brisbane storm

Thankfully, no one was badly injured and apart from very wet feet and a delay in getting home I was unaffected. Some others weren't quite so lucky and the next morning I was checking in with a neighbour who told me that the roof of the warehouse of her business had blown off and her Summer stock had been damaged. Another work colleague knew someone who had to have stitches in her head due to a large hail stone landing on her. There were also numerous people that I know with trees on cars and damaged property. What destruction in 30 minutes! Mother Nature sure was having a bad day!

As Brisbane was shaken by a storm on Thursday, the whole of Australia (and further afield) was completely moved by the tragic accident and subsequent death of the young cricketer Phillip Hughes. It has dominated conversation this past week. Australians are so passionate about sport and especially cricket. It's very touching to see the cricket bats placed outside homes and buildings in tribute to him. We are not a family of cricketers but I did find the beach bat and as I placed it I had a moment of reflection on the fragility of life. Sibs got an extra long good night cuddle on Thursday.

In tribute to Phillip Hughes

I always need to find something quiet and soothing after an incident or occasion that shakes me a bit. The long bath didn't quite work so I got into my crochet zone over the weekend and managed to finish a baby blanket that will get the boy/girl colour trim added when my cousin decides the time is right to give birth!

comforting crochet

Then to start this week off on a slightly calmer note, I took myself off for 5 minutes just for me. (It was probably closer to 45 minutes, but who's counting?)

perfection....

This morning I went to re-stock on coffee beans and plonked myself on a comfy sofa with a coffee, some pear and raspberry toast (it's fruit ok!) and got a bit lost with Jane Austen. Funny how you can re-read a book and still absolutely love it.  'Persuasion' is my all time favourite Austen novel. Of course I adore the others, but there is something about 'Persuasion' that intrigues me. Maybe it's the simplicity of the story, maybe it's because it's set in Bath, maybe it's because it's Austen's last novel, written when she was ill? It's all of these things and probably just the fact that it's beautifully written. 

I have introduced my girl to the wonderful world of Austen and we have watched many versions of her books that have been made into films and for TV. Of course, in my opinion to appreciate her true talent then you need to read the books. Sibs started and struggled with Sense & Sensibility (her favourite TV adaptation) so for Christmas last year I found a box set of easy reading Austen novels. 

Each book starts with a brief explanation of the characters, then the novel is presented in a lovely mixture of original and easy to read text. The books end with further notes about the plot; the era and the author and some questions to think about. 

 I bought the box set from Amazon UK and they are published by realreads.co.uk
Real Reads also have a great selection of classic novels and plays.

on my mantlepiece

Wishing everyone a calm week,

Falling in love with Brisbane all over again

The other week I was chatting to a lady who said the most lovely thing. We were talking about the wonderful warm breeze that was floating through the open window, the sight of the purple Jacaranda trees and the sounds of the birds outside (it was actually quite a racket, but never mind!) and she said, 

"This time of year makes me fall in love with Brisbane all over again".

How very true....

It seems to be an annual recurring theme on my blog to mention the Jacaranda season. Each Spring the Jacaranda trees manage to surprise me with their bursts of colour. Each year, they remind me how pretty they are and how the days are getting warmer. I suppose it also makes me love this place a little more too.

It's been a particularly dry Spring here in Brisbane. The grass is rather parched and brown so the bright purple of the jacarandas appear even more vibrant.

There is a stretch of road that I often drive past that always catches my eye this time of year. The houses are set slightly low and there are jacarandas everywhere peeping through the rooftops.

The other morning I decided to stop and take some photos. I had to smile at the name of the street...

...of course, what else would it be called?

As much as I tried there was no way I could capture the beauty of the scene. Well maybe if I had access to a helicopter ! 

The shot below is of the opposite side of the road and gives a little bit of an idea of the type of view that is quite common in this hilly part of Brisbane.

There are brilliant street names in my neighbourhood. (Just as an aside there's a great book written by a local author Nick Earls called ZigZag street and this is the very street.) 

I was really in the photographing mood by now and kept stopping the car to snap away. I only just got to school pick up in time.

This is what the flowers look like close up. I think they're similar to the Bluebell carpets that I remember back home...except theses are purple....and they hang from trees! Oh well, there's a little bit of similarity I suppose!

 So as the Autumn leaves fall off the trees in one half of the world warning of the cooler Winter months, I'm watching the Jacaranda petals fall with their warning of the heat to come.

Happy weekend wherever you are.

Everyday stuff.

Today is a bit of a scorcher in Brisbane - it's predicted to reach 38 degrees this afternoon, that's a 100 if you work in Fahrenheit! That's pretty hot for October, so I'm staying indoors and catching up on a bit of house stuff which obviously means browsing through photos on the computer!

Here's a few visuals from a couple of weekends ago. 

This is the Bougainvillea that is on the walkway down at South Bank next to the Brisbane river. The flowers are such a vibrant pink above your head. Such a shame that it also produces the most vicious spikes! We have a Bougainvillea at the back of the house and we have tried to tame it back and contain it as it can also make a beautiful mess when the flower petals drop. 

I've just taken this photo a minute ago on my phone. The contrast in the colours is pretty stunning.

Twmff the cat is asleep somewhere behind that wall trying to shelter from the heat. He wouldn't appear for a photo....I don't really blame him today.

Talking of lovely colours, Sibs was so delighted that this year she had a 'real' ballet costume for a performance that she was part of at QPAC recently. Over the years some of the costumes have included a white leotard for a goat, a pink leotard for a flower and a red and white stripe outfit for a doll. It's all been very age appropriate but she's been desperate for a proper ballerina look. Imagine her excitement at being able to wear a tulle tutu? Yet another growing up step.....

I don't venture into the city too often at night, but each time I do, I always stop and admire how lovely it is. The river bank was full of neon clad runners a few Saturdays ago. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera or a phone with me to capture it. Let's just say it was colourful, noisy and spectacular.
This is a shot on the way home after a performance and the city is all alight.

Straight after this photo we luckily got a message from a friend advising avoiding our usual route home as the rugby game between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks had just finished and the roads around the stadium were blocked.  We didn't want to know the score either so went the really long way home up Mount Coot-tha. At one junction there was a taxi next to us and Sibs gave me strict instructions not to look at it as the people inside would have given the result away!

Quick shower later and the two of us - actually make that three as Twmff came to join us, watched the recorded game. From pink tutu ballet wearing girl to rugby fan in one swift move!

After such a late night the Sunday lie in was quite welcome. It's never quiet for long though and the much dreaded dismantling of the trampoline happened with Papa helping out. The trampoline is an Australian childhood essential. It seems that if you have a patch of grass then it will have a trampoline on it. Sibs got hers for her fifth birthday and has loved it since that day. It was showing some signs of wear though and we didn't realise quite how much until we inspected the underside and noticed that it was rusting away! Sadly that was it - the trampoline had to go.

Not much else has really been going on.

I've been dipping in and out of my crochet blanket.

I'm enjoying the challenge of the different stitches but it's not a rhythmic, getting lost in time, type of project. I have to concentrate! It does feel lovely and soft and I'm sure that I will enjoy using it in the cooler months. 

I've ordered my first lot of wool on line today. I'm planning a ripple blanket - now that will be something that I'll be able to get lost in time with! 

I thought the shades were a little more subdued....but now I see them next to my current blanket they look exactly the same! I still don't quite know who I am with all these colours! 

I've also got some wool ready to go on another baby blanket. That will be quite soothing as I don't know whether the bub will be a boy or a girl so that blanket will just be cream until I know. Just got to decide on the stitch and remember that babies are small! (The last baby blanket I made turned out bigger that I planned and the little sweetheart looked a little bit lost in it!)

Well, best get on with some of those things on my to-do list....

Have a happy and safe week,

On my doorstep

Do you know your neighbourhood and your suburb really well?
Do you know the houses and the streets around your home?

I thought I did until a few days ago...

...until I took a right turn instead of a left turn and ended up changing our usual Sunday walking route.

 All of this was literally on my doorstep - and I had no idea.

So for the benefit of all my non Australian friends, come and have a look at my little corner of the world.

This is a shot of some Golden Wattle that was flowering in abundance in the front gardens of many of the homes that we passed.. It's the floral emblem of Australia and is pretty striking.

Our walk took us through some woodland and bushland up a mountain and down the other side.
There were Kookaburras in the trees and lizards in the bushes!

It seems that every corner you turn here there's a play park, and they are all beautifully maintained.

Where there's a park there is usually some shelter and the good old Aussie BBQ. These are communal gas BBQ and you just bring your food, cook away, give it a wipe clean and you're done.

During the warmer months you'll often see families and groups of people around these BBQ enjoying breakfasts through to dinner. The shelters are decorated for birthday parties and celebrations and the best spots get snapped up at dawn! It was all quiet on Sunday - I must remember that it's Winter.

So after a couple of hours it was time to wander home. There were a few blisters so off came the shoes for the last stretch. The promise of a cup of tea and freshly baked chocolate and macadamia brownies on the front deck was just enough the keep the troops going.

We are enjoying a couple of weeks of Winter school holidays here.

Maybe we should explore what's on our doorstep a bit more?

Cawl & pice ar y man (soup & welshcakes) for St David's Day

Happy St David's Day

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus.
x


morning coffee and afternoon tea on St David's Day.

 



March 1st is Saint David's Day, also known as the feast day of Saint David.  Many Welsh people will prepare a traditional meal of cawl (soup) and pice ar y man (welshcakes) to eat. They will also wear a daffodil or a leek today to symbolise their Welshness. Leeks and daffodils are both considered national emblems of Wales. The story goes that some Welsh troops once wore leeks on their soldier uniforms to distinguish each other from enemy English soldiers. I'm not sure why the daffodil is considered a national emblem, perhaps it's down to some some confusion...?

The translation of the word Daffodil is very similar to leek -

Daffodil - Cenhinen Pedr

Leek - Cenhinen

This photo is from last year's blog post about St David's Day - (link here)

So yesterday the cawl was prepared by Gu (as it's better made the day before) and I cooked the first batch of Welshcakes on the bbq. I posted in the past about welshcakes and included the recipe link here and how we have adapted our cooking methods for Australia.

This year I'll share the other traditional meal of Cawl.



traditional Saint David's Day meal

Cawl (pronounced kah-ool) is a hearty soup made with root vegetables and a meat stock. There is no definitive recipe as it's an ancient idea of using what was to hand. Quantities of individual ingredients can vary according to supply and taste, so don't worry too much about precision here!

Here is a guide recipe to serve 4-6



2-3 lb. Welsh lamb (or equivalent)
1 large sliced onion
3 leeks
2 medium sliced carrots
1 medium parsnip
1 small swede turnip or 2 white turnips
6 small potatoes
salt and pepper
4 pints (8 cups) water

Trim the fat from the meat, cover with cold water, season, and bring to the boil
Simmer until the meat is very tender (approx 1 hour)
Once cooled, skim the fat
Add all the chopped vegetables except for the potatoes and leeks
Simmer for approx 1 hour
Add the potatoes and leek and cook for 20 mins

Serve with crusty bread, good quality butter and a hard strong cheese.

The above is a traditional recipe which is the one I use on March 1st. Any other time I cook cawl in the slow cooker. Just throw everything in and turn it on!

Welsh Gu (grandma) and Tadcu (grandad) are staying

so we will have an extra special St David's Day meal tonight.

Cofion,

Sunday Movember running.

It's hotting up over here - it was 29 degrees this morning before it even hit 9am.

Spring is getting a bit of a push to make way for Summer I think.

I've noticed that the gardens are starting to change and my lavender flowers are starting to die back.

The huge Jacaranda tree on the way to school is shedding it's beautiful lilac petals to create the most gorgeous looking carpet across the road.

On Sunday morning at some silly o'clock Sibs and I went to cheer on the brave souls

running up Mount Coot-tha for the Movemeber run.

As we were waiting for them to start we spotted a Jacaranda that was holding on to its flowers.

I will never get over how wonderful these trees look in bloom.

Shame it only lasts a couple of months.

This photo gives you an idea of the hill at the start of the race, although I don't think it looks as steep as it actually is in real life. Can you imagine starting a run uphill?

The person in red is the mascot for the radio station that was sponsoring the event and he started running with the runners, pretended to pull a muscle and came hobbling down the hill shaking his head!

 If you look closely Neil is in a bit of fancy dress.

He was dressed as a fairy last year and this year decided to adopt a hula-hula theme!

Here's a better shot of the grass skirt, necklace and bracelet.

All for charity....

Neil wasn't the only one to dress up. This gentleman was taking part in the 5km event.

He is 78 years old - what a hero!

Of course we had to do our bit to join in - all be it from the sidelines.



Then it was home for a leisurely morning to enjoy the glorious weather and to relax

- all of this before breakfast on a Sunday morning!

Well done Neil - proud of you.



P.S. Sibs wants her hula-hula skirt back!