Another Birthday Missed

Yes, due to me being in Sydney Alyssa’s birthday was missed. Happy 8th Birthday.

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At Last the Adelaide Trip

It has taken a while, but a month ago (or two) Lee-Ann and I went on our first kid free holiday in years. The flight details were Canberra to Adelaide and return. We were gone from Wed 24 June returning Mon 29.

The flight itself was booked a good 10 months earlier, soon after Tigar Airways said they were flying to Canberra and just one of the days when they had cheap flights. The other part is being a Sydney Swans fan, when ever I can book cheap intersate flights I try to make it around a Swans game. This week it was to be Swans vs Adelaide Crows.

Anyway the flight was good and the plane OK . We took off 5-10 minutes late and arrived in Adelaide 5-10 minutes late. After finding our hotel (Rockford http://www.rockfordhotels.com.au) in Hindley St we headed out for a beer and a feed. With both of us being big fans of the Cook and the Chef, we headed off to the Hilton to Simon’s Brasserie (web link). Food and wine did not disapoint and recommend it to anyone, came back to the hotel stuffed.

The next day it was hire a car and off to the Barossa for a few days where we stayed in Tanunda, in a small self contained cottage (http://www.merlotcottage.com.au/). The cottage is on the main road of Tanunda but up an embankment so very little noise. On the other side is the caravan park, but that is down in the gully so again very little noise from it. The cottage was perfect, but I would not recommend for anyone over 170 cm – I am 168 and on one doorway smacked my head. The cottage itself is a 1 bedroom with kitchen, bathroom, longe and dining nook, Great for that romantic getaway.

Once there we only visited a few wineries, one which was really a shop front (Taste Eden Valley). This is a cooperative cellar door and wine bar in Angaston, the person in charge was Sarah Lehman (Daughter inlaw of Peter Lehman).

An hour and so later and a case ordered to be sent home we left.

That night we ate at another great little restaurant 1918 (http://www.1918.com.au/) who have local wines and a seasonal menu. Now I must say at this point I think I was going thru a pork belly moment as I ordered Pork belly that nite and also the nite before, two lots done completly different ways but both fantastic. Onve again we walked out stuffed.

The Friday visit was to Bethany Wines (http://www.bethany.com.au) had some of their stickes and bought a few bottles for the rest of out stay in SA. Also had to go out and check the Whispering Wall (http://www.southaustralia.com/9001624.aspx), slghtly overcast and the damn was full. A bit freaky for those vertically challenged. On the water side only a metre to where the water is, on the flip side a 40 meter (guess only) drop. But you can hear people from one side to the other by just talkling at a normal level. The last place we visited was Maggie Beer’s shop (remember I mentioned Cook and Chef earlier). We saw Maggie and Simon, filming their last episode. We also picked up goodies and took photos.

Saturday was time to head to Adelaide for the footy. I stuffed up with the game times as I thought the game was at  7.00pm, no it was a 2pm game.

Getting to AAMI Stadium was way easy, bus right outside the hotel we were staying in. Also I have to say that AAMI stadium is one of the best in Australia, easy to get a beer, lots of leg room and generally a good mood by all.

Sydney Swan Barry Hall, last Sydney game 2009

Sydney did loose that day and it will be remembered as Barry Halls last game for Sydney. Oh well.

That nite back in Adelaide we made a bee line for one of the cities eating precincts – Gouger St. It seems to cover all the eating styles and we settled on Indian (seeing in Yass we do miss Indian food) (Gouger St is also where the Central food market is open durinng the day).

Sunday we headed off to Glenelg via the ‘ol tram’ A nice beachside suburb, we had a few beers and a bit of lunch.

Andrew and Lee-Ann visiting Glenelg SA

Now this is where things got interesting on the way back to the hotel, walking down Hindley, which is a bit like a busy pub street/come never sleep 24 hour street (the other end is the Arundle Mall). We pass a quiet street and a cop van. We cross against the red light and two cops spring out and book us for walking against the red. Can you believe this. This is Sunday at 6.30pm and the only people out are tourists. This is nothing more than revenue raising. The street we crossed is a one way very narrow street. I questioned them why were they not doing this Sat nite when all the intoxicated people would have been out, the response being “oh no we are far too busy on Saturday nite” Of course that they are only fining tourists at this time and not educating the locals seemed beyond this police woman. Oh well up until that point I would recommend SA/Adelaide, but to everyone avoid it, the cops are dicks (or maybe just avoid Adelaide). The following morning back to the airport and home.

My mum had been looking after the kids but I think by that time she had, had enough, we got home (Once again Tiger Air were fine), her bags packed and varoom, straight out the door.

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Eggs and Chickens

Sorry have not blogged for a while, I will be doing some catching up next weekend. But there is something I do have to tell you about.

Chickens like eggs. I did know that from reading about this in magazines and books, but I have now witnessed it for the first time.

This egg eating by the chickens occured yesterday (Monday) and it has to do with the structure build and the location of the chicken coop.

Chicken coop structure. We have two small latches (one on each side) where we can remove the eggs, but at present the coop is located against some bales of straw (I use straw as the boundaries of my vege patches). The position of the coop is my future strawberry patch. So on Monday the chickens laid their eggs on the opposite side to where I could get easy access. Normally this is not really an issue as we just gently knock the eggs (using a piece of wood) across to where we can pick them up. This time we cracked one of the eggs. It was a free for all, the chickens raced to it and started to devour it. Luckily we got the other two eggs out.

Now my understanding is that the chickens should not get the taste for eggs, if they do they will start to eat them all the time. So today Lee-Ann is going out every hour or so and grabbing the eggs, so far she has two of the three we normally get. My thought being if we go a few days removing the eggs straight away we should be OK. Otherwise it may be stock for them.

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Cycling in Yass

As I back out of cycling advocacy in Sydney (Currently I am VP of BikeSydney (http://bikesydney.org and I was Pres for 8 years – and VP of Bicycle NSW for a number of years as well). I turn my mind to my new patch – Yass. Now the Federal Gov has been passing out Stimulis Packages for infrastructure. So far there has been a general one and one for cycling. Councils could apply for this money – well Yass has applied for nothing cycling related. Time they realised there is a cyclist in the village.

Looking at the Yass Council website I find this

Yass PAMP and Bike Plan

In 2005 Yass Valley Council engaged the services of Community Development Initiatives Pty Ltd to prepare an integrated Pedestrian Mobility Plan (PAMP) for the township of Yass and a PAMP strategic overview for the villages of Murrumbateman, Bowning, Binalong, Gundaroo and Sutton. The project included a review of the existing Bike Plan for the township of Yass and was funded by the Roads and Traffic Authority and the Motor Accidents Authority

Key aspects of the development of the PAMP and Bike Plan were:

• To facilitate improvements in level of pedestrian access and priority, particularly in areas of pedestrian concentration.
• To reduce pedestrian access severance and enhance safe and convenient crossing opportunities on major roads.
• To facilitate improvements in the level of personal mobility and safety for people with disabilities, older persons, children and other user groups, through the provision of pedestrian infrastructure and facilities which cater to the needs of all pedestrians.
• To ensure pedestrian facilities remain appropriate and relevant to the surrounding land use and pedestrian user groups.
• To link existing and planned road user plans in a coordinated manner, such as maintenance programs.
• To meet obligations under the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (1992).
• Increase bicycle usage in the Yass Valley Council area.
• Encourage alternative methods of transport.
• Improve community health.
• Provide safer routes for bicycle users.

A number of community consultations were held in each of the towns and villages as part of the development process. This also included individual meetings with representatives of community groups such as the Access Committee, aged care facilities, community centres and schools. In total 54 consultations were held, with 27 group/services and 27 individuals being consulted. For further information please contact Yass Valley Council Road Safety Officer on 6226 9249.

Nothing else, but pointsbelow are encouraging

• Increase bicycle usage in the Yass Valley Council area.
• Encourage alternative methods of transport.
• Improve community health.
• Provide safer routes for bicycle users.

As I cannot find anything else on the website regarding this or cycling. I quickly fired off an email this aftrenoon.

Hi there, I have noticed in 2005 that there was a Yass PAMP and Bike Plan. Could I get a soft copy of this as I cannot find it on the Yass Council website (obviously if it is on the website could you email me the URL).

Also did Yass council apply to any of the Federal Gov stimulus packages in relation to  cycling? There has been at least two packages that could be used.
Package: $40 million National Bike Path Funding as part of the Jobs Program
Package: Regional and Local Community Infrastructure (CIP)

If no request were made for the above, where is Yass Council up to in adopting the Yass PAMP and Bike Plan in particular in regards to the points mentioned on your website?

* Increase bicycle usage in the Yass Valley Council area.
* Encourage alternative methods of transport.
* Improve community health.
* Provide safer routes for bicycle users.

Andrew Dodds

Lets see what they make of this

Posted in Bikes, Yass | 3 Comments »

Off to Adelaide

Flying out on Tiger from Canberra to Adelaide this arvo (24th) and will be in SA to Monday when we fly back. While down there a few days in the Barossa, Swan v Adelaide on Sat nite, drive around Sunday. My mun is looking after the tin lids, good luck

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Fog

We get fog, and no this is not a new discovery. But when we have it, it is usually a pea souper. The other thing about our fog is that they usually do not lift until 12-1pm.

The reason for this is that our place is not at the bottom of the valley. The main street and township of Yass is at the bottom, but we are approx 2km from the GPO and up the ‘hill’. So as I type this at 10.39 am the fog is infact getting thicker as it raises from the town. So sometime around lunch (or soon after) we will see the sky.

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Some More Fruit

After a long layoff it is back to some fruit plantings. Last year we planted approx 12-13 fruit tree’s this year not as many. The plan for this year is mainly for plum & cherry (and a few others). So what has arrived so far, and what we have named them (remembering we name all the fruit trees).

• Presidents Plum (Obama)
• Angelina Burdett Plum (Angie)
• Nottingham Medlar (Un-named)

Now as the medlar is unnamed, any suggestions out there. The medlar is a fruit you only eat when rotten, also it has been referred to as a dogs arse amongst other names due to the look of it.

From wikipedia

“In the 16th and 17th centuries, medlars were also bawdily called “open-arses” because of the shape of the fruits, inspiring the presence of boisterously or humorously indecent puns in many Elizabethan and Jacobean plays.”

From Romeo and Juliet

I am still planning another apple, a sloe plum and a few more nut trees, but more on those when they arrive.

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Betula pendula (Silver Birch)

One of the trees we are planting is the Silver Birch (Betula pendula). Now if you had been reading this blog you would know that most plants here do have a reason for being planted. Well The silver birch is an amazing tree. It produces a sap which, like Maple Trees can be boiled down to produce a syrup (not as good as maple but a sweet syrup). You can produce a Silver Birch wine or beer and there is a ton of other things you can do with it. Anyway in a few years (I am hoping approx 5) I can start tapping them in spring.

I have 4 of them so far and I expect to buy another two. I think I should get a decent quantity of sap out of them and I will tap 3 per year. Wikipedia states “A small birch (trunk diameter about 15 cm) can produce up to 5 liters of sap per day, a larger tree (diameter 30 cm) up to 15 liters per day.”

As stated above you can either use the sap to make a dry white wine or a beer, in fact Queen Victoria’s Prince Albert made it his favourite drink when in residence at Balmoral.

And an old English recipe states “To every Gallon of Birch-water put a quart of Honey, well stirr’d together; then boil it almost an hour with a few Cloves, and a little Limon-peel, keeping it well scumm’d. When it is sufficiently boil’d, and become cold, add to it three or four Spoonfuls of good Ale to make it work…and when the Test begins to settle, bottle it up.

Anyway some other uses are

• Inner bark – cooked or dried and ground into a meal
• A tea is made from the leaves
• The bark is diuretic and laxative

And a bunch more.

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First Big Frost

well today is the first big frost of the season – everything is covered in frost -  buckets with water in them have frozen over, broccoli have collapsed with frost, haybales all have a covering of frost. I should have brought the lemon tree up closer to the house although I think it is ok, but I guess I better start paying more attention to weather patterns around here to protect the more frost tender plants. It is a beautiful morning sight to see.  I should take a photo but the sun is coming up and my hands are freezing and a bunch of other reasons why I don’t want to go outside again.

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Labels for Seedlings

One thing I am really bad at is labelling my seedlings. I always think I will rememebr but never do, and when you have quite few different seeds in the punnets it makes for a mystery surprise. So today at our ‘cheap’ store’ I bought two packs of over sized paddle pop sticks. Hopefully this will solve the issue and no more mystery plants.

Garden Tags

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