Altar Bistro Craft Lunch

Yesterday, Thursday 17th, was our craft group meeting. We usually meet at someone's house but we decided to go out to lunch instead.
Last time we went out to lunch together, we went to eat@the whalers in Victor Harbor which we all enjoyed. This time though, it was suggested we go to a local place to eat and one of our members suggested the Altar Bistro.
The building the Altar Bistro is in, has been many things but it was originally built as the Primitive Methodist Chapel and was opened on the Sabbath April 1868.

The outside still has that lovely, honest look of a little country church and once inside the feeling has been kept, by simple table settings with clean lines and great proper, tablecloths and napkins.
Chairs with backs that are actually comfortable to sit back in.
We loved how the owners have converted a doorway by making it into a wine and magazine display area all out of the old fashioned kerosine tins. In the depression of course these
tins were treasured and converted and used for all manner of things....talk about recycling.
We all arrived at about 12.30pm and caught up with each others news. We browsed through the wine list and decided on another local, the Minko Pinot Grigio.
I was fortunate enough to be taken to the Yarra valley last week while we were staying in Melbourne and I tasted a very good Pinot Grigio there. It was lovely and clean and crisp almost like my favorite Clare Valley Queltaler riesling which I grew up with.

The Minko Pino Grigio was a little on the sweet side .
We ordered our meal and then had to wait quite a while which was alright as we were not in any hurry and at least too, you know the food is being properly prepared and not just zapped in a microwave.
The cheese platter looks intriguing written up on the blackboard, it would be a lovely thing to have if you wanted to sit and sip wine all afternoon.....

I had ordered an entree, the House smoked Duck breast on a Celeriac Remoulade,and a Confit of Duckleg& Pistachio Croquette . It arrived looking scrumptious , the breast a delicate pink still and the croquette crisp on the outside and melt in the mouth inside...it was absolutely delicious and well worth the wait.
My neighbour had ordered a mains, the Slow braised Sticky Veal Belly on shallot port jam with Anna potato , wilted spinach and veal jus.
It looked great and she enjoyed it very much though she thought perhaps a little less salt may have been better.

My other neighbour had ordered the pan seared Flathead, scallop, lemon puree, home dried vine tomatoes& green bean salad. It was gluten free and she too, enjoyed her meal and said she would come back again. Unfortunately, I had ordered the triple cooked hand cut chips with Murray River Pink salt, not that they were not great, but it left me no room for the very well priced deserts that were on offer!! We finished up with coffees and a general consensus we would all come here again.All meals were very well priced indeed....

One of the patrons in the restaurant offered to take a photo of us all as I was busy taking photos, against all protests by my craft friends, but it left me out... a good thing some people may think
Anyway, here we all are ...
I intend to bring Brian here fairly soon, even next week...and why not?
I know we have Fino here in Willunga and Au Pear and about another seven other eating places, but I think that Altar Bistro will give them all a run for their money......we highly recommend them

St Kilda Botanical Gardens

Last Thursday we caught the tram on Glenferrie Road and went all the way on it to St Kilda.
It was an overcast sort of a day and we had brought along some wet weather gear just in case it rained.
It started to drizzle a bit just as we got off the tram and crossed over to the Luna Park side of the road.
We wandered along all the quaint little shops there and saw all the lovely food stuff these shops display and smelt the coffee as it was being brewed.

We came to the end of the street and noticed a sign saying  "St Kilda Botanical Gardens".
So we crossed the road to go and see what these gardens might be. We walked along Blessington street till we came to what looked like a very modest entrance. The Garden gate was open so we walked in and were quite intrigued to see some historic glasshouses.Walking in a bit further there was a lake with some ducks on it and then the Conservatory with pigeons all around. The moment I took my camera out they all flew up to the Conservatory facade to pose.
We looked through there and then walked across to the giant chess board. There are also benches around here so you can bring your own chessmen and have a game of chess.

By this stage unfortunately the drizzle was getting heavier but we persevered and took photos of some very interesting plants one of which is pictured here and I can't recall its name!!
It was on the edge of the rose garden which is the largest rose garden which pays tribute to the rosarian Alister Clark.
It is a beautifully laid out rose garden but as it is too early in the season there were not many roses flowering.
We think there were some Apricot Nectar in flower but they were not marked so they could well have been some other name.
It may be worth mentioning here that the St Kilda Botanical Gardens were created back in 1859 when the Council set aside 16 acres for the purpose of creating these Botanical Gardens. Baron von Mueller who was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, contributed several hundred plants and

trees and quite a few of the larger trees including the huge Moreton Bay trees are still in place.

We walked around the rose garden admiring its lay out and the lush green grass surrounding all the beds. It has been a wet season here too, in Melbourne and this would contribute to the overall fresh look of the gardens. It will be a delight to see this with all the roses in full bloom in a week or twos time. I hope many people will visit it then.

Who ever is looking after this garden is doing a great job and there were several men doing maintenance while we were there. I hope the council makes a generous allowance for this garden as many people would use this place as a refuge from the hectic pace that Melbourne and St Kilda seem to have.
The gazebo is just so pretty with its deep pink climbing rose and little blue ground cover.
By this stage the rain was settling in quite steadily and so we had to forgo looking for the interesting front gates which was a shame.

We hurried past the artist Albert Tucker's house and back onto the street with the little restaurants. Unfortunately we picked one which left a lot to be desired , the food was pretentiously named and not very nice to eat and the wine was outrageously priced.
However, seeing the Botanic Gardens made up for our disappointment in food.
We caught the tram back to where we were staying and hope we have convinced our family there to go and visit St Kilda again in the near future.

Victorian Family Gathering & Further Adventures

We flew over to Melbourne last Thursday late afternoon and were picked up from the airport by car and driven to Hawthorn where we would be staying with Brian's family.
There was a lot of preparation going on for Brenton's sixtieth birthday party on the Saturday.
On Friday we went with our host's  young son to firstly "Readings" which is a fabulous book store on Glenferrie road and then he took us to a quaint little Japanese lunch place where we had the most amazingly delicious food at a ridiculously low price. It is geared towards all the Swinburne uni students who live in digs close by.

 The new BBQ, which is standing like an alien creature in the back yard, was in full swing early in the morning as the charcoal has to be at a certain stage of heat for the meat to cook very slowly. It appears that a lot of men are now taking an extreme interest in cooking with their chosen BBQ's When we went up the street early Saturday morning to get some last minute boerewors from the butcher, the talk turned to lamb ribs and lamb shanks. I mentioned that we used to feed all that to our working sheepdogs, but that there were occasions when I would bone the ribs ( which were mutton in my day and home killed I might add) and put on a great stuffing on the resulting flap, roll it up and tie it with string, cook it slowly in the woodstove oven for dinner.

The father of the butcher was standing outside with a flatplate BBQ and was grilling various sausages for passersby to try.
What a great way to advertise their very good meat and other wares on busy Glenferrie road....I am interested too in getting a new BBQ as the one we have has deteriorated badly and there are some very interesting units available. I do like cooking outside and it is also a good way to have friends over for an uncomplicated lunch now daylight saving is here again.
I also love curved paths, and the one leading up to the front door here is very attractive. It is a lovely Villa style house and is beautifully kept. There is an old farmhouse around the corner on Lidyard street which was built in the 1860ies or there abouts ,  so this is an old area.

Yesterday we were taken to see the Melbourne Hills. We stopped at an interesting secondhand book store first and then drove through the Yarra valley where we just had to stop at a couple of wineries and sample their wares.
St Huberts were first and I liked their Pinot Noir but wouldn't buy any as we have enough luggage as it is.
We then went to " Oakridge  " who have just finished building their new premisses.The photo on the right is taken out of their tasting room window, just a stunning outlook. They only have a small acreage of vines there and seem to buy most of their grapes ,as does St Huberts, from local grape growers. I especially liked their Pinot Grigio which tasted flinty and dry with lovely citrussy overtones.

 We then drove to Healesville to the pub there as it had been recommended by several people for their food. I chose the quail which was on special and was absolutely to die for, hardly any bones and grilled to perfection.The men both had the fish and chips and of course I had to taste Brian's chips. They, too were lovely and very like the wonderful chips that "Eat @ the Whalers"do in Victor Harbor.
I wondered if CJ Dennis may have frequented the pub as he lived in Toolangi which isn't far up the road.

When we came out of the pub and walked towards the car, there was a juvenile Echidna snuggling up to the tyer of the next car. As he was inclined to want to cross the busy road it was decided he better be picked up and carted to safety. They are prickly customers of course and hard to pick up as they want to bury themselves in the ground so are amazingly strong. However he was wrapped in a towel and carefully carted to a creek nearby well away from the road....
We drove home via the hills and went through Kingslake which suffered so badly in the fires.
Getting back to Melbourne you realize what a huge,busy city it is.......

Tawny Chick Fledged Today

I came out to the studio early this morning and there were Dad Tawny and his youngster sitting on the Hills Hoist, not quite whizzing around in the wind but certainly moving a bit with these ferocious winds we are having at present. So, did it jump and glide or was it pushed  ,we will never know. It just shows that there is only one chick and not two, as I had so fondly imagined.

They were not perturbed by me taking the photos but the Murray Magpie, almost directly overhead in the gumtree , was not amused.

 Yesterday morning the black ducks were back, looking very attractive amongst the plants. I took the photo through the kitchen window and they were a bit perturbed by the flash that went off, so didn't stay for long. I have always hoped they would nest and breed here but so far they haven't done so.

 The White faced Heron has been stalking around as it has a young too and our goldfish seem to be on their menu. I am not fussed about that as there seem to be about forty of them now and of course they don't give the frogs a chance to breed up. I read an article which said this man had masses of tadpoles in his pool and he no longer used any chemicals as the tadpoles kept the pool clear, so it would be worth a try. I once had raised some tadpoles and when I thought they were big enough, let them go and watched in horror as the goldfish swallowed the lot!!

The Murray Magpie did stay on it's nest this morning and so got them in the frame but in my haste I didn't center them very well. Just remember to click on the photos to have a clearer picture and hit the escape button to go back to normal.
I am supposed to be cleaning up the house but could not resist letting everyone know the Tawny has fledged.......
This is early evening now and I just want to comment on the fact that the winds were so awkward and ferocious this afternoon that the adult bird had gone from the washing line and only the chick was left wobling on the edge of the spokes. I went out again an hour later and put a small upright log ready to put the chick on. I could not see it anywhere on the ground but at last saw it back up in the ashtree with one of the adults sitting against it...Whew, what a relief, I had been so afraid we had lost it!!

Knit-Weaving and the Tawny Frogmouth Chick.

We will start with the baby Tawny Frogmouth. On the left is the photo I took a week ago and under neath is the Photo I took yesterday, so it has grown a lot and there must be plenty of food around for the parents to feed it. There are a lot of moths in the evenings now on our windows and that is part of their food supply. I keep thinking there could be two chicks but it is hard to see as tree limbs are in the way and the old bird sits high up on the nest now.

The Murray Magpies in the next tree are giving their chicks the piercing warning call when they see me under the washing line so I cannot see them in the nest at all as it is too high and the chicks still small enough to hide. The Willy Wagtail goes his own sweet way and doesn't seem to be worried about anything but the big Magpies. The Magpie young have fledged and are hanging around the front gate which is dangerous as they seem to fly across the road when I come along the track.
I'll try and add the knit -weaving photos now.

 How amazing!! It worked! Before these photos were placed above the Frogmouth photos and I couldn't comment there so removed them and wrote up about the birds first.....Then found the photos still in the uploading and inserting page and Bingo! they got here when I clicked the right button.....
The top I knit-wove with three threads of fine cotton and cashmillon as background yarn and a ribbon yarn for the weaving yarn. I am finding this pattern too big for summer garments so have

reduced the pattern size and knit-woven the smaller top but with a round neck . The collar I added by picking up the stitch one at a time and then knit-weaving two rows and short rowing four rows to get the curve into the collar. It has worked very well and all I want to do now is add a plain strip under the collar to make it sit up more.One of my knitting friends suggested this and that makes sense. Don't forget to click on the photo if you want a closer look.
Another machine knitting friend gave me more weaving -in yarns today, lovely linen and viscose....lots of summer tops coming up?! The scarf is knitted with three fine yarns of different colours with needles out of work and every middle needle of the five needles in work brought forward for six rows then cancelling those needles and knitting two over all needles.
Have fun, won't you..........

Family Gatherings.

We had a family gathering here last Saturday.
Originally Gordon and Wendy were going to be over from Western Australia and it seemed a splendid opportunity for family members to catch up with each other.Unfortunately Wendy's bad reaction to a drug administered  to her last month, prior to her back operation, meant that it had to be postponed till, ironically , this Saturday.
We decided to still go ahead with the gathering as Julie came over from Sydney specially, Elsje all the way from Streaky bay, Yvonne from Clare

 and other members from Strathalbyn and the Northern suburbs.
Everyone contributed to the table and I couldn't bypass the massive bottle of Cab Sav and photographed it alongside a normal bottle.The food was wonderful and as usual a lot more than it was possible to eat.
The day had started off with sunshine and then deteriorated into rain and wind but by the time everyone had arrived the sun was shining again and it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. The children all exclaimed that the grass was green, as at other times the gatherings were later int he year and the grass had taken on its usual summer hue of straw.
The last time the children were here they had also been able to count all the big hay bales and this time of course the hay has not even been cut.

Jo's grandchildren are a delightful bunch and very good at entertaining themselves. They explored the our wild garden, climbed trees, found rabbits (I shall have to keep an eye on them, they seem to appear each spring time but then seem to go elsewhere, one or two in the pot of course....) and had a picnic lunch on the rug.
The five in a circle are home schooled and the two middle ones go to public schools. All are highly intelligent children and it will be so interesting to see what careers or artistic pursuits they will follow.

After lunch they decided to entertain us with a little musical soiree.
Alida plays both flute and clarinet (as well as the piano, though not all at once...) Gabbie the flute with Lucie on the flute as well and Jeremy and Susannah play the trumpet.
Joanna who is the youngest wants to learn the clarinet and will be able to join her sisters and brother in playing that instrument perhaps in a year or so. Monique is learning to play the piano
and her brother Benjamin is still making up his mind about what instrument to choose.

The audience in the background sat back with their beer or wine and thought they were so lucky to have "live entertainment", a beautiful afternoon glorious food and cheerful music, what more would you want?

On the right it shows Elizabeth ( a future violin player......) trying, without success , to distract her sister Alida , I think the wind was playing havoc with the sheet music and they had forgotten to bring the pegs to pin the pages down so Elizabeth is holding the page down for her.
I feel the whole day was a tribute to our parents who, at the instigation of our older brother, in 1952, when they themselves were middle aged,
brought us all out here to this wonderful country
where we have all thrived.......

At long last...Baby Tawny Frogmouth!!

 What joy this morning to see the Tawny finally has a chick! We could only see one clearly and you will have to click on the photo to see its little face poking out from beneath Dad's front. It has been a long and anxious wait for something to manifest itself. I had noticed the last week or so the old bird wriggling about a lot and wondered. But he has been sitting since early August and I was beginning to despair after such along time of sitting and not seeing a thing happening.

Right next door is a Willy Wagtail nest in the same tree only a few branches away.It is a beautifully constructed cup-shaped nest. It is made with soft fibers and lined with soft feathers. The Willy Wagtail is quite aggressive a lot of the time but even more so when he is nesting. We saw one attacking three magpies the other morning, it would be like us annoying three elephants or poking the stick in the lion's ear....

The Magpies too are nesting now and their nest is quite a large collection of sticks. They will also use binder twine and wire in their nests. One year I found a baby magpie with a malformed foot because some wire had wrapped itself around the leg.The adult magpies are busy feeding the babies with the Kalamata olives which are dropping off the trees. I have preserved as many olives as I can, but this year is a very prolific season for olives because of the excellent rains we have had and they are dropping on the ground.

In the gum tree to the east of the Ashtree where the Tawny and the Willy Wagtail are nesting , is a mud Lark nest. This too is a beautifully constructed mud nest, round and very solid.
The Murray Magpies, as they are also known, are quite alarmist birds and pipe and carry on if you get too close to the tree. Yet the nest is so high up there is no way a human could rob or damage the nest. This year at least they have not attacked the windows as they do other years, seeing their reflection and thinking it is another bird.

Two weeks ago I took this photo of the flowering peach trees, opposite the High School. They made a stunning display but unfortunately the blossom only lasts two weeks at the most.
In our garden the Quince tree is flowering now and the apple trees are coming into bud. The fig tree has the Christmas crop on at this stage, it never ceases to amaze me how large the figs are of first crop.