birthday dessert ideas: out and about

Showing posts with label out and about. Show all posts

Showing posts with label out and about. Show all posts

Bric-a-Brac

What is your favourite kind of shop?

I love bric-a-brac or junk shops, those dusty, cluttered places filled with other people's cast-offs, where burnt orange 1970s lamps sit beside hand-made pictures frames on antique roll top desks. Every visit to such shops is an adventure - you never know what treasure you might find.

Proper antique shops that take themselves seriously are so much less interesting, despite their glorious smell of linseed and beeswax polish.

Friday Coffee with Friends

When we lived in Melbourne I had coffee with a group of friends every Friday morning. Most of us met when our eldest children were in the same class in their first year of school. We discussed relationships and kids, jobs and local events - all the things ordinarily discussed by mums over a cup of coffee. I still miss Alison, Sue, Margaret, Nada and Anne. I sometimes wish I had a time machine to go back to those wonderful times when our children were small.

When we decided to move to Adelaide in 2008 I wondered if I would ever make new friends as good as my coffee friends in Melbourne.

I remember entering my younger children's new primary school at the end of their first day of school in Adelaide. It was a cold, bleak August day and I walked into the schoolyard anxiously bracing myself to speak to someone, anyone, and introduce myself. I had encouraged my children to try to make friends, and I knew that I had to make an effort also.

The first person I spoke to was Chris, who introduced me to her sister Carly. They invited me to join a group of their friends who regularly met for coffee. I had heard that Adelaide people could be unfriendly and insular, but this was not my experience. This lovely group of women welcomed me with great kindness and generosity.

In the five years since we moved to Adelaide, Chris and Carly have become two of my dearest friends. We still meet for coffee on a Friday morning, along with Gill, Emma, and Andrea. Sometimes we are joined by Char, Amanda, Lisa and others.

I am so grateful to my current coffee friends and coffee friends from days gone by. They have smoothed my pathway through motherhood and and provided much-needed friendship and encouragement.

2013 Norwood Christmas Pageant

One of the great pleasures of moving to Adelaide was discovering the Adelaide Christmas pageants.

The most famous pageant of all is the Credit Union Christmas Pageant which has been held in the city in November every year since 1933. So prominent is the city pageant that its date marks the first day of the 'official' Christmas period, with many Adelaideans putting up their Christmas decorations on the same weekend.

This morning my son participated in the 36th annual Norwood Christmas Pageant. The Norwood pageant includes floats from numerous community groups including local businesses, schools, kindergartens, scouts groups, dance troupes, brass bands and choirs. Today there were vintage police cars and belly dancers, magicians and stilt walkers, Morris dancers and bagpipers, and of course, Father Christmas on the final float.

My son marched with members of his cubs pack and had a great time waving to the crowds and wishing people 'Merry Christmas'. Even better, after the pageant he was given a can of soft drink, an enormous chocolate doughnut and a bag of Christmas marshmallows by some of the organisers.

A thoroughly satisfactory morning for a young boy.

Just before marching (with lollipop)

With State Member for Norwood and Leader of the Opposition, Mr Steven Marshall

One Planet Market

Small community markets are a great way for locals to get to know each other and to purchase goods made or grown near to their homes. One such market in Adelaide's eastern suburbs is the One Planet Market organised by members of Sustainable Communities SA.

The market is held from 9am – 12 noon on the third Saturday of each month at Payneham Community Centre, 374 Payneham Road (cnr Arthur St), Payneham.

A unique feature of the One Planet Market is that while some goods are for sale, other items can be swapped, taken for free, or traded using the LETS economy.

Today's market demonstrated this diverse mix beautifully with the following stalls and stallholders:

Salma, selling home-cooked traditional Greek food
Fifth Creek, a small commercial producer of seasonal produce, fresh flowers and preserves. The owners of Fifth Creek have an orchard at Montacute
Marika, selling preserves, kasundi sauce, plants, and seasonal produce
Julie, owner of an orchard at Lenswood, who sells apples in season, flowers, plants and seedlings
A 'buy and sell' stall for those with perhaps only a few items who don't want a stall of their own. Items on sale today included organic sourdough bread, honey, olive oil, eggs, plants and garden produce
A freecycle stall where goods such as books could be donated and others taken for free.
A swap-and-share table for home-grown produce
a LETS stall
A local native plants stall, run by the Friends of St Peters Billabong. All plants at this stall are free and the stallholders provide planting and care instructions
A tea and coffee stall selling home made cakes and biscuits. The baked cheesecake looked delicious.

Each month a workshop is held from 10.30-11.15am on topics such as solar cookers, making soap, worm-farming and bicycle maintenance.

I encourage you, if you are an Adelaide east-side local, to attend the One Planet Market if you have the opportunity.

Jacarandas

I took these photos at the University of Adelaide where the jacarandas are in full bloom.

Jacarandas are the most regal trees, dressed as they are in purple, but while they lift the spirits of most people, for students at school and university they herald the arrival of end of year exams.

Earlier this year my local council chopped down the struggling, stunted trees on the nature strip in front of my house. I was delighted to be told they were to be replaced with jacarandas.

One November day, years from now, I will look out my front door to a glorious canopy of purple.

Science Alive!

A highlight of the weekend was visiting the Science Alive! expo at the Adelaide showground.

While my 10 year old enjoyed visiting all the stalls and loved the presentation by the Curiosity Show's Rob Morrison and Deane Hutton, his absolute favourite was the Daleks at the Australian Dalek Builders' Union stand.

Ex-term-in-ate! Ex-term-in-ate!

A Bike Ride to the Botanical Gardens

A gloriously mild and sunny Saturday afternoon seemed the perfect opportunity to go for a bike ride to the Adelaide Botanical Gardens with my husband and youngest son.

Photos were more difficult to take than usual in the gardens because I had to stay clear of all the wedding parties (we counted four, although there may have been more). And I bet each of those wedding parties was glad to have today's balmy weather rather than last Thursday's, when it snowed in parts of Adelaide for the first time in October since 1899.

I had felt rather out-of-sorts today until I went on my bike ride, but a visit to the gardens and exercise were the best medicine possible. My more usual sense of optimism has now been restored.

Flinders Ranges

Our family has spent the past few days enjoying a holiday in the breathtaking Flinders Ranges over 400km north of Adelaide.

The Ranges are both immensely beautiful and very, very dry, even in early spring. Empty, desolate farmhouses bear witness to the difficulties farming in this harsh, isolated environment.

A striking feature of the Flinders Ranges is the Aboriginal rock paintings on many of the cliffs. Also in evidence are many wild emus, kangaroos and parrots.

We only got a taste of the Flinders Ranges in our short holiday and I would love to go back to experience more.

Old Wilpena Station

Bushwalking

Aboriginal artwork at Arkoola

baby emus

And with their mother

On the way home we visited Port Germein, a small seaside town that was once the chief wheat port in South Australia. The town has the longest wooden pier in Australia, about a mile long. Walking along the pier was a great break from hours of driving.

Thrifty Tip #24: Holiday at (or Near) Home

Image is courtesy of http://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s-trains.htm

During World War Two, when petrol was rationed, the British government encouraged people to holiday at home.

Official attempts to dissuade people from making such trips led to the campaign for was ‘Holidays at Home’ in 1942 and 1943. The scheme encouraged local authorities to draw up a programme of events and amusements for the summer months, using local parks and local sports facilities. M-O’s Holidays 1937-51, in File E, deals with the ‘Holidays at Home’ campaign for 1942, and contains programmes, newspaper cuttings and reports on events in various London areas, including Beckenham, Willesden and Paddington. Open air concerts, dances, children’s games, swimming galas and other sports competitions were typical ‘Holiday at Home’ events. Other institutions added their own contribution, like Westminster Abbey’s historical lectures. There was a special cricket match at Lords over August Bank Holiday weekend in 1942, Middlesex and Essex played Kent and Surrey, attracting a crowd of 22,000. Local collections often contain programmes and publicity material about the arrangements, usually preserved with the Parks Department records. Among the records of the LCC Parks Department is correspondence about outdoor summer entertainments such as Sadlers Wells’ ballet season in Victoria Park in July 1942, LCC/MIN 9014. Council Minutes may refer to the appointment of temporary organisers for such schemes. East Ham, for example, advertised for one in Theatre World in 1943, offering £6 a week from April 12 to August 31.

Quoted from http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/War/londonLeisure.html

These days, holidays at or near home can save money compared to travelling a great distance. In addition, by visiting local attractions we support and strengthen our local economy.

Having only lived in South Australia for a few years, I'm keen to holiday near home for the next few years as there are so many beautiful places that I haven't visited yet.

Have you holidayed at home? How do you make such holidays memorable?

This post is part of my series, Thirty Days of Thrifty Tips.

Thrifty Tip #7: Get to Know Your Neighbours

Getting to know our neighbours and local community is a valuable step in the path to greater thriftiness.

By knowing our neighbours we can establish an old-fashioned bartering network. We may take care of each other's pets and mail whilst on holiday, or share tools and gardening skills, or baby-sit each other's children. Most importantly of all, neighbours can become life-long friends.

Wider community networks can be important too. On Sunday I attended the monthly Essential Edibles Urban Orchard at a local park. A group of us gathered together to swap home-grown produce and to share ideas for sustainable living. This month I brought home bok choy, marinated eggplant, a range of chillies, oranges, apples, Jerusalem artichokes and capsicums - all grown in local back yards.

I even used the group to brainstorm ideas for my 30 Days of Thrifty Tips series, and they provided some terrific input. (Thanks guys!)

I recently signed up for a new initiative of Sustainable Communities SA, called Our Urban Village. This group will work on:

identifying local green spaces to use for recreation, community gatherings and even some public gardening such as planting fruit and nut trees, a herb garden or suitable vegetable growing in consultation with Council
identifying the places at which we can gather for community events
identify local commercial businesses in the area that support sustainability practices
identify local professional businesses in the area that support sustainability practices
identify local tradespeople in the area who we can call on who support sustainability practices
put people in touch who would like to swap skills, tools and produce
assist people with surplus fruit at harvest time
find ways to improve sustainable transport practices in our area

Whilst our first aim in joining community networks should be to contribute rather than to benefit, active participation in our local communities can certainly enable us to bypass the money economy, develop new skills, and harness group wisdom in a way that can definitely lead to greater thriftiness.

This post is part of my series, Thirty Days of Thrifty Tips.

Thrifty Tip #6: Reduce Car Use

Image is courtesy of http://ffpkci.com/?p=284

The cost of car use continues to increase in Australia..

Petrol currently costs around $1.495 ($5.66 AUD per US gallon) in Adelaide, although it was higher until quite recently. This price is for basic petrol; the higher octane varieties are more expensive.

Annual car registration in South Australia costs $715. Car insurance is also expensive and can vary widely depending upon the size of excess and whether the car is being driven by a newer driver. In addition, the interest payable on a car loan will further increase the cost of running a car. Other costs include maintenance and repairs, and membership in a state motoring organisation. Larger cars are obviously more expensive to run than smaller, more energy-efficient cars.

It makes sense then, to cut back car use as much as possible, and if possible, to reduce the number of cars we own.

There are several ways to reduce car use:

Multi-task: only drive when you have more than one task to perform. For example, combine a school run with a trip to the supermarket
Join a car-share scheme: Visit Goget for a car-share scheme that operates in Sydney and Melbourne
Ride a bike: Cycling is a great way to commute whilst gaining fitness and losing weight
Walk: If you only need to go a short distance, why not walk?
Use public transport such as buses, trains, trams or in Sydney, ferries

But is it possible for a family with several children to manage without a car? I can't answer this from personal experience, however, there was an article in Sunday's Age newspaper about a Melbourne family who have done just that. You can read the article here?

Have you tried to reduce your car use? Have you tried to manage without a car? I would love to hear about your experiences?

This post is part of my series, Thirty Days of Thrifty Tips.

Art Gallery, Adelaide

Some days, when time allows, I walk to the Art Gallery at lunch time.

In my short break I have time to walk around one room.

Then I return to work refreshed.

Kangaroo Island

We have just spent a delightful week holidaying on Kangaroo Island. We were there with a purpose - our second son was representing his school in the 2012 South Australian Schools Sailing Championship.

Despite being fairly busy supporting - and continually feeding - our team of young sailors, we still found time to do some sightseeing. We visited a honey farm, a eucalyptus farm and a sheep dairy. We watched the fairy penguins, dodged the wild kangaroos on the road, did a spot of fishing (without a catch, unfortunately) and some of us even swam in the ocean (very, very cold!) Less pleasantly, we discovered that petrol sells for $1.90 per litre at Vivonne Bay - ye-ouch!

Here are some of the many glorious sights of Kangaroo Island.

Sea lions at Seal Bay: the dark ones are male and the lighter grey ones are the girls

The boardwalk at Seal Bay

Kingscote

Magical Mystery Birthday Tour

Yesterday was my birthday, a birthday filled with surprises.

For weeks my husband had told me that we were going out somewhere on the day, but he wouldn't say where. He said he wasn't going to buy me a present in advance, because there would be things to buy when we arrived at our destination.

As we drove up Main North Road I quickly worked out that we were heading for the Barossa Valley, although I didn't know which part. Eventually, the sign for "The Pheasant Farm" gave the game away - we were having lunch at Maggie Beer's famous Pheasant Farm!

This was a most wonderful surprise as I have been a fan of Maggie Beer for years. I thoroughly enjoyed my game terrine and the post-lunch walk around the lake.

After lunch, B told the kids that today was Mum's day and that our next activity was to go antiquing (their idea of torture). I had a lovely time wandering through a number of antique shops in the little Barossa towns we passed through. We also visited the Barossa Museum at Tanunda, full of fascinating artifacts from the early German settlers.

Throughout the day the sun shone gently on us as we passed vineyard after vineyard, the leaves newly emerging on the grapevines. In the orchards the stone-fruit and apple trees were in blossom or had delicate, new leaves. The entire landscape was green and lush after the winter rains.

Some birthdays pass by uneventfully, but this one was one I will never forget.

Essential Edibles Urban Orchard June 2011

Today is the first Sunday in the month, which means, for me, that the Essential Edibles Urban Orchard is on from 9 am until 11 am at Joslin Reserve.

An initiative of the the Joslin group of Sustainable Communities SA, Essential Edibles is an opportunity for backyard growers of vegetables and fruit, herbs, flowers, eggs and native plants to share and swap their produce, seeds and preserves. No money changes hands and nobody goes home empty-handed.

Today I contributed lavender, rosemary, thyme, green onions and some very late basil, eggplants and chillis.

I came home with two bay branches (I'm going to dry the bay leaves), a lot of mandarins, and some salvia and native hibiscus cuttings.

The convenors recently started a Facebook page which you can find if you search 'Essential Edibles Urban Orchard'. Please 'like' us to receive updates about group events and related issues.