Abundance

As we've mentionned in various posts, this year we planted quite a garden. Guess what... things are growing in such abundance that we can't keep up.

We planted 20 corn seeds which are yielding 4-6 ears per stalk. This must be the sweetest corn we've ever eaten. We eat as soon as it's picked. My favourite way is by leaving the last layer of leaves then cooking them on the barbie. I've even eaten them raw! Yesterday, Edith took the kernels off 11 cobs and pureed 3 for Philippe which then got put into ice cube trays for later eating and the rest ended up frozen in ziplocks for use this winter. A total of 2 kg of kernels...

Three zuchini plants which are simply out of control. We have made zuchini cake, zuchini and bacon quiche, zuchini soup, grilled zuchini. Plus we eat it raw in salads and put it on home made pizza. We've given heaps away to friends and colleagues, whoever will take them! Any other ideas of what to do with them?





Three cucumber plants which have yielded at least 15 kg so far. We've mostly eaten them raw on their own or in salads although I made a cucumber and red capsicum (Australian for Bell Pepper) relish using, get this, 3.5 kg of cucumber from a single picking! I used a recipe I found here with lots of extra spice. However, after having made it I'm afraid the vinegar content may be too high but we'll wait and see once its had a few months to rest up.


Making relish:
This gave about 3 litres of relish.










Three different patches of green beans which we just can't eat so we blanch and freeze in ziplocks. Edith also made some puree for Philippe which went into ice cube trays for freezing and use later. If we skip a day of picking they just get too big and the taste and texture is nowhere near as nice so those ones end up back in compost.




Eight tomato plants plus two which just spouted from compost added to the garden (unfortunately, we lost a large plant during a wind and rain storm). The wooden structure you see is a huge truss which I built with scrap wood. We've put runner strings up them and get the vines to grow up the strings. The first type of tomato to ripen were the cherry tomatoes - you have never tasted such fruit. We are starting to get the standard beefsteak tomatoes to ripen and next will be the roma tomatoes which we will mostly use for tomato sauce for the winter.

We planted something like 20 basil plants. Next weekend we will be making huge quantities of pesto which will then be frozen for later use. When we do this, we add only oil and garlic. When it comes time to use it, if we are after genovese pesto we add parmsan and roasted pine nuts. We also freeze them in ice cube trays so that we can have small portions if we want them.




Four aubergine plants in a hothouse which are probably going to yield around10 fruit in total. We'll be eating our first ones tonight. We've had so so success and for some reason the leaves seem to be suffering. Also, grasshoppers have been in the hothouse and chewd some leaves.

We started the spring season with 4 or 5 batches of radish, peas, and we've been eating various types of lettuce, including radichio and arugala (rocket) for months. I can't seem to find any pictures a the moment so you will just have to take our word for it.



We even had a rock melon (cantaloupe) which grew of its own accord from the compost. Its single fruit has been picked but not yet eaten.








There are also grape vines with tons of fruit, a peach tree with maybe 50 fruit, a fig tree and an apple tree.

As you can see, we have been fruitful! Please, if you are in the neighbourhood, stop by and help us eat our veggies!

New look

We've decided to change the "look and feel" of the blog by experimenting with different templates so don't be surprised if it looks different whenever you visit us. Please let us know what you think.

Nous sommes dans une période d'essaie pour le 'look' du blog. Ne soyez donc pas surpris de voir que le site est différent lorsque vous venez nous rendre visite. SVP, laissez nous des commentaires avec votre avis.

Oda the Mermaid Girlfriend

We've been going to the beach with Philippe almost every day in the last week. The weather (and the water) have been warmer than usual and we all enjoy being in the water at the end of the day.

Philippe seems to enjoy it more every day. He looks at the coming waves with eyes wide open and likes to feel them breaking on his legs. If the water is warm enough he goes as deep as his chest... otherwise we sit in the sand for a few moments. Quite calming after an exciting day of playing on the floor, rolling, screaming and talking in the heat of summer.

Hier, quand je lui ai mis son maillot, on dirait qu'il savait ce qu'on allait faire. Il s'est mis a jaser tout seul pendant que je mettait mon maillot a mon tour. "Oda, Oda, Oda, Da, da, da!" Peut-etre qu'Oda est une sirene de Halfmoon Bay et que Philippe en est amoureux...

After the beach, into the hot shower with Dad to rinse off the salt and sand, lotion on his skin to keep it soft, a nice pyjama and a feed. Makes a good start for an early night! Philippe a des journees bien remplies ces jours-ci!

Sur la photo (29 Decembre dernier) c'etait sa premiere fois a la plage. L'eau etait froide et Philippe n'a pas trop apprecie...

I am an Australian!

Yes, you read correctly. After just over 3 years in Australia, yesterday I became an Australian citizen. It took several months of waiting for the paper work to get through but I have now received the official phone call from Canberra saying I am "in the system" and that I should get my official certificate in a 2-3 weeks.

I have actually reclaimed the citizenship I lost as a child when my Father (an Aussie) took Canadian citizenship thereby giving up his Australian citizenship without knowing it. This means that I don't get a citizenship ceremony and I don't get to swear an oath which is actually quite disappointing.

The next step is to sponsor Edith and Philippe for their permanent residency. Philippe is not a citizen although he was born here because Australian law states that for a person to be a citizen by birth, at least one of their parents must be either a citizen or a permanent resident at the time of their birth. Because Edith and I were here on a temporary work visa (4 years is still temporary), he did not qualify. So, he is a citizen of Canada. After two years of permanent residency they will both be entitled to apply for citizenship.

I now get to vote, pay the Medicare levy (1.5% of my salary) and go on the dole. I am looking forward to the first, dreading the second and laughing about the third.



Here are some very interesting facts about Australia:

• The name Australia comes from the Latin Terra Australis Incognito which means the Unknown Southern Land.
• A little over 200 years ago Australia was sparsely inhabited by the aboriginal people. In 1788 the first European settlers arrived in the First Fleet.
• It is estimated that right now, there are 20,758,120 people in Australia. 73.9% were Australian born and of those born elsewhere, 36.2% came from the United Kingdom, New Zealand or Ireland, with the majority of the remainder coming from Italy, Vietnam, Greece, China and Germany
• Around 80% of the Australian population lives within the eastern seaboard or the coastal fringes of the continent. Australia is one of the world’s most urbanised countries, with about 70 per cent of the population living in the 10 largest cities.
• The smallest state is Tasmania
• It is the driest continent on earth with around 1/3rd considered desert
• Australia is the lowest continent in the world with an average of only 330 meters. The lowest point is Lake Eyre in South Australia at 15 m. below sea level.
• The hottest temperature recorded in Australia was 53 degrees celsius at Cloncurry in Queensland in 1889
• In 1832, 300 female Convicts at the Cascade Female Factory mooned the Governor of Tasmania during a chapel service. It was said that in a "rare moment of collusion with the Convict women, the ladies in the Governor's party could not control their laughter."
• In 1838 it was declared illegal to swim at public beaches during the day! This law was enforced until 1902.
• Australia was the second country to give women the vote. The first was New Zealand.
• Australia's first police force was a band of 12 of the most well behaved Convicts.
• In 1954, Bob Hawke was immortalised by the Guinness Book of Records for sculling 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds. Bob later became the Prime Minister of Australia.
• January 26, Australia day, is the anniversary of ships arriving in Sydney carrying a load of Convicts.
• Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason. Australia is the only country whose people eat both animals on it’s coat of arms.
• A monotreme is an animal that lays eggs and suckles its young. The world's only monotremes are the platypus and the echidna and are found only in Australia. Monotreme means “one hole” because they use the same hole to poop, pee, shag and give birth. When a specimen of the platypus was first sent to England, it was believed the Australians had played a joke by sewing the bill of a duck onto a rat.
• The box jellyfish is considered the world's most venomous marine creature. The box jellyfish has killed more people in Australia than stonefish, sharks and crocodiles combined.
• The Sydney Funnelweb spider is considered the world's most deadly spider. It is the only spider that has killed people in less than 2 hours. Its fangs are powerful enough to bite through gloves and fingernails. The only animals without immunity to the Funnelweb's venom are humans and monkeys.
• In 1977, Alan Jones scored a surprise victory in the Austrian Grand Prix. Initially officials were going to play the Austrian anthem but then realised that Australia and Austria were not the same country. Unfortunately, they didn't have the Australian anthem so instead a local drunk played "Happy Birthday to You" on a trumpet.
• Australians may refer to Americans as 'Seppos'. This is an abbreviation for 'Septic Tank' which is rhyming slang for 'Yank'.
• The name for the Australian marsupial Kangaroo came about when some of the first white settlers saw this strange animal hopping along and they asked the Aborigines what it was called. They replied with 'Kanguru', which in the native language meant 'I don't know' or ‘what are you talking about’
• Australia was founded by Convicts. Its homicide rate is 1.8 per 100,000 population. The United States was founded by religious zealots. Its homicide rate is 6.3 per 100,000. Almost 400% greater than Australia.
• For each person in Australia there are two sheep and over 16 rabbits, the latter introduced in 1859 by one enterprising man who brought 24 wild rabbits from England in an effort to remind him of home.

Brave petit Philippe

Il a eu son premier rhume dimanche passé. J'étais toute émue de voir mon petit malade... On a eu une nuit plutôt longue, alors que Philippe se réveillait toutes les demies-heures à cause de son nez bouché. Pauvre petit: les bébés ne savent pas qu'on peut respirer par la bouche!!! (Après 3 nuits, il a compris.) Il est venu dormir dans notre lit, ou on l'a installé sur un oreiller coinçé entre les nôtres pour le garder la tête surélevée. Le matin il se réveillait en toussant et en grognant mais après quelques minutes il était de nouveau lui-même, tout souriant et joueur. Le plus dur est passé, maintenant c'est Papa qui est malade (ah les hommes!).

What a great birthday!

I should have posted that a week ago and it's getting a bit old, but I want to share it so here it is!

January 25th was my birthday. Marc invited some friends for drinks after work. I was so excited: First time I was going out since Philippe was born, first time I intended to have more than 1 glass to drink in 13 months!!!! And so many grown-ups I hadn't seen in ages...

A lot of people turned up: Andrew & Selina, our first friends in Hobart and fellow bush-walkers; Mel, good friend and colleague and now neighbourg; Chu, former colleague and now good friend, Greg, Gerrard and Manny, 3 colleagues I enjoy(ed) working with; and Ruth, who made it from Canberra for the week-end.

I had a great time! The kir royal (plural!) certainly helped, but it was more the fact that I realised I made really good friends in Australia and I miss them when they're not around. It will be a birthday to remember. Marc, thank you for organising and driving. Je t'aime.

I miss my Montreal friends a lot too. I hope to see many of them in April... I should email them as it seems not many people read that blog!