The quilt which was an 18th birthday gift is now in the hands of the recipient.
Yesterday was the 18th birthday of our elder granddaughter. Her growth from baby to young lady is beautifully captured in the reel of photos below.
It has been an absolute joy to witness her transformation and watch her finish her secondary schooling. She is now poised on the threshold with exciting life and career prospects ahead of her.
Congratulations!!
Today is GMan’s birthday and coincidentally we arranged to go to Melbourne with the express purpose of going to the exhibition of French Impressionism at the National Gallery of Victoria. It includes over 100 artworks drawn from the extensive collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
However, the first thing that caught our attention was before we even entered the gallery. The bare plane trees on the footpath outside the gallery were adorned with a series of threads of paper cranes as today is the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. This modest yet powerful memorial was appreciated by many people passing by.
The exhibition is very popular so there were lots of people around but still enough space to view all of the paintings as well as the detailed information adjacent to each.
Here are a few photographs of some that particularly caught my eye.
Entrance to the village of Osny by Paul Gaugin.
Two peasant women in a meadow by Camille Pissarro.
There were 19 Monet works in the exhibition. Some were quite familiar subjects such as waterlilies, the Japanese bridge in the garden at Giverny and haystacks but here are a couple of less well-known pieces.
Road at La Cavée, Pourville
Boulevard Saint Denis Argenteuil in winter
Finally, a view from inside the foyer of the gallery.
After the gallery adventure we headed back the Elio’s Place, a small European bistro in Flinders Lane for a birthday lunch. Then it was a couple of errands before catching the train home. It was a full and fun day out.
I mentioned in my last post that I had been cooking.
We hosted lunch on Sunday for GMan’s birthday. There were 17 of us altogether and I did almost all of the preparation beforehand.
Here is a list of what we ate.
NIBBLES
Raisins
Spiced peanuts*
Dips – beetroot, tzatziki, hummus*
Cheese – brie
Biscuits – water crackers, GF crackers, pita chips
HOT SNACKS
Mini meatballs*
Kofta balls*
Potato wedges*
Sour cream
Tomato sauce*
MAINS
Green chicken curry*
Beef casserole*
Rice
DESSERT
Mulberry and apple crumble*
Ice cream
Cream
The spiced peanuts and tomato sauce are homemade pantry items and wedges were made on the day but everything else that I made was prepared in advance and either refrigerated or frozen. This made for relatively easy catering.
There are very few photos, however, here are a couple from when I was making the dessert.
I retrieved about 1kg of mulberries that had been in the freezer since December. I think we picked and froze about 6kg. It is great to have them to use at other times.
The mulberries and apple combined and ready to be refrigerated. I made the crumble topping and froze it. I assembled the crumbles and popped them in the oven on the day.
It is great to eat seasonal produce but it is fairly easy to store some things for a treat in the off season. It is difficult to imagine this mulberry tree laden with fruit but that is exactly what it will be like in another 4 months. It is in a public space in our town and the fruit is appreciated by many.
Meanwhile, there is abundance of citrus everywhere at the moment. These grapefruit were being given away.
So, I made more marmalade. That should keep GMan supplied with breakfast condiments until next winter.
Today has been a bit of a mixed bag.
We went to Bendigo after lunch. First up, I had an appointment then we did the shopping. We went to the supermarket, greengrocer, bottle shop and butcher as well as filling the car with fuel. Most of the shopping was for a special lunch I am preparing for Sunday.
You see, today is GMan’s birthday.
Tonight we went out for dinner and on Sunday we will be celebrating at home with a small group of extended family and friends. The festivities look set to continue intermittently over the next 4 months as we catch up with other friends and family who can’t be with us this week.
Today we went to the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens which is about 30 minutes drive from where we live. We had a family picnic to celebrate my mother’s birthday. It was a beautiful day and we took the opportunity to say hello to some of the wildlife and take a stroll through the Sculpture Garden after lunch.
This kookaburra kept a look out while we ate lunch.
A new friend?
So lifelike……..
A tranquil spot.
Magnificent trees
I made a cold chicken curry for part of our picnic lunch. This is a family favourite and I will share the recipe with you tomorrow.
We have carpet in the three bedrooms and I generally keep it clean by vacuuming regularly and a sprinkle of bicarb soda on any grubby marks. However, I get it cleaned every 2 – 3 years and today was the day.
We removed everything from the 3 rooms apart from the cast-iron bed frame in the main bedroom. The other rooms are completely bare.
Moving everything out of 3 rooms makes you realise how much stuff you have. Here is some of it stacked in the study.
The two chests of drawers fitted in the hallway just past the bedroom.
The mattress and base were in the bathroom and more stuff in the living room as well. Smaller items found temporary homes in the wardrobes.
It was a sunny day and I took the opportunity to wash and air all of the bedding.
The carpet is still a bit damp underfoot so we have re-assembled and made our bed and plugged in the alarm clock but other than that the rest of the furniture and effects will not be returned to their rightful homes until tomorrow evening.
I have cleaned all of the louvres in the living room (79 of them) and The Duke washed down the outside of the house and cleaned all of the outdoor furniture.
Blog posts may be a bit hit and miss for the next couple of weeks as we are really busy. In between full-time work, preparations for our overseas trip in 11 days ( who’s counting?), a milestone birthday celebration for The Duke, guests arriving on Thursday and preparing the house for the housesitters who will be here while we are away there is not a lot of time for blogging.
What’s happening at your place?
organised castle 