Taste of Farmer's Market

Every other weekend, there is a Farmer's Market across the river in New Farm. This isn't just any market. Believe me when I say that this market is superior. The vendors set up their booths with style. There's a French Patisserie booth that I love. When you walk into their 3-sided Easy Up, you'd swear you were in France. It's complete with a mini Eiffel Tower, Bistro Table and refrigerated cheese case. Not to mention the artistic pastries and fresh banguettes that are eloquently displayed on glass platters. This is the kind of attention to detail that each booth displays. It's a shame that the market is every other weekend because we really look forward to it.

Yesterday, Ryan and I were happy to have a break in the rain so that we could enjoy the market without having to squeeze under my umbrella. We not only bought our usual supply of fruits and veggies: tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, baby carrots, green beans, eggplant, mangoes and berries, but also we were able to pick up some fresh Tasmania Salmon, Porterhouse Steaks, free range eggs, Feta Cheese, organic soap and herbs for the garden. This was, of course, after we ate our customary Farmer's Market brekky of Spicy German Sausages on a roll,. Yummy! My point is that you can buy a wide range of products from this market. From fresh produce, seafood & meat, art, pet supplies, plants AND everything in between.






There are other Farmer's Markets around Brisbane. And, truthfully, we can find a market somewhere every day of the week. Aussie's love their farm fresh products. But, for some reason, it's the Powerhouse Farmer's Market in New Farm that we are drawn to. So, if it's the 2nd or 4th Saturday of the month...you know where you can find us : )

My Book, Some Bubbly, and the Bridge

I've been to Sydney once before. So, when we arrived yesterday, I knew right where I was headed, The Botanic Gardens. The Gardens are situated overlooking Farm Cove, directly east of The Opera House, The Harbour Bridge and Circular Quay. It's my favorite part of the city.





It's Spring in Australia, and the gardens were in full bloom.



My goal was to make it to the tip of Mrs. Macquarie's Point, said to have the best view of both The Harbour Bridge and The Opera House. I would have to say, I agree. The Garden's were established in 1816 by Governor Macquarie as part of the Governor's Domain. Elizabeth Macquarie, the Governor's wife, used to walk to the point and liked to sit and admire the view of the Harbour. Her husband has his workmen carve a special seat for her.





After walking to the tip of Mrs. Macquaries Point, I plopped myself down on one of the many lawns and read my book for awhile. What a view! I had the city and gardens to my back, Farm Cove in front of me, and The Opera House and Harbour Bridge off to my left.



After reading for awhile, I walked a short distance to the Opera House Cafe. It's a Bar and Grill type restaurant with outside seating at the base of the Opera House stairs. Another place with GREAT views. There, I had my first bubbly of the trip while enjoying the views of the Harbour.



Sydney is quite an active city. In Brisbane, I have never felt like a tourist. I realize that I am a foreigner here, but I've never felt like a typical tourist. In Sydney, it's different. Yesterday, I was surrounded by multiple languages. I heard German, Spanish, Japanese, English, Italian ...just to name a few. And everywhere I looked people were taking just as many pictures as I was with their Nikons and Cannons. I guess this is to be expected when you're in one of the World's Great Cities.

Pastures of Wild Flowers

Pastures of Wild Flowers, originally uploaded by images by cristi.

It's been a few days, yet I can't get this image out of my head. When I moved to "the city" a few years ago, I really thought that I was done with the country. I had spent 10 years on a farm, and it was my "been there, done that" attitude that was keeping me from getting back to the country and enjoying it. Being at The Homestead this past weekend made me realize that I really do like being in the country. There's something about stomping around in cowboy boots that I just love.

Engaged in The Outback

We celebrated Marg's birthday this past weekend by heading towards The Outback and staying on The Taabinga Homestead with Howard, Marg, Marg's sister, Lorraine, and her husband, Dietmar.

Originally, The Taabinga Homestead comprised 305 square miles of rural country. When it was first established in 1846, the homestead was mainly used as a sheep station. After a dozen or so years, they realized that the thorny grasses and the wild dingoes didn't make it a prime sheep raising area. So, they switched to raising cattle, and for over 100 years The Taabinga Homestead has not only been continually occupied by the same family, but also has continued the tradition of being a working cattle property.

Today, when visitors first enter the 2,000 acre Taabinga Homestead, they are greeted at the main house by the current owners, Colin and Libby.

After checking in, we were directed down the lane to Jack's Cottage, one of the Homestead's many surviving outbuildings that ooze history from every corner.



Jack's Cottage was built in 1909, and is said to have been used as The Men's Quarters. It has been beautifully maintained and/or restored. Stepping into Jack's Cottage, we felt as though we had stepped back in time. In the center of the house is a country kitchen with a large boxwood stove surrounded by an even larger stone fireplace. On one side of the kitchen is the lounge room, and on the other side are three cozy bedrooms and a bathroom. There are two verandas, each running the length of the front and back of the house. From every room there are two doors that exit onto the verandas, and from every window there is a superior view.















On Friday night, we sat on the front veranda and shared a Tapas Platter and BBQ ed Pizza. And there may have been some bubbly and beer shared, as well!



We woke up Saturday morning to the birds chirping and drank coffee on the back veranda while dozens of kangaroos and one very cute cotton tail rabbit hopped around.



For lunch, we decided to drive further into the bush and have lunch at a winery called Dusty Hill. It was on this day that Ryan and I learned the word "Bushwhacked", and we also learned that when you're traveling in rural outback Australia...DON'T trust your GPS.

We ended up seeing much more of the country than we had anticipated. Once we started driving off road and opening our own cattle gates, I knew we must not be going in the right direction. But, we pressed on....trusting the GPS. Once the 'road' got impassable without either a 4X4 or dirt bikes, we decided to turn around and call the winery for better directions. Wouldn't you know, we had passed the winery about 40 minutes earlier, before going 4-wheel driving in the Subaru. But, if you must know.... the Subaru did fantastic off road!





Once at Dusty Hill, we had an amazing lunch. Keeping with the theme of the day, we all ordered steaks, and they were delicious. There was some debate over whether we thought they were amazing because we were two hours late for our reservation and quite hungry or whether we would have thought that they were delicious anyways. My vote was that they would have been delicious anyways.











After our late lunch, we returned to Jack's Cottage and strolled around the property taking in all the beauty.


















Sunday morning, we again woke to the chorus of birds. Colin, the owner of the Homestead, gave us a tour of the main house, which we greatly appreciated. After that, we roamed the paddocks and pastures. My favorite area was where a field of purple wildflowers met with a rustic corral behind which were two extremely social horses who ran to greet me as I walked through the pasture. I could have stayed there forever!









But, it was time to say our goodbyes. And this is where it happened... As we were standing on the front veranda of Jack's Cottage saying goodbye to everyone, Ryan looked at me and told me that he had something to ask me. I thought he was going to simply ask me something. But, then he got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and proposed. I, of course, said yes and have not been able to wipe the smile off of my face since.





Our weekend at the Taabinga Homestead was already a special holiday, but having Ryan propose to me on the front porch of a century old building surrounded by 1000s of acres of wild country made our stay at the Homestead magical!!

**To see more photos click on the title "Engaged in The Outback"

Feeling a Bit Like Spring

I've always enjoyed gardening. There's something about planting a small plant and watching how, over time, it grows and changes that I just love. And it's even better when that plant provides food.

When I first moved to Oz, Ryan and I spent a small fortune buying everything we'd need to plant our patio gardens. We ended up with 3 fruit trees, 2 tomato plants, heaps of herbs and flowers. Unfortunately, our tomato plants didn't survive. We got one small tomato between the two plants. We figured out quickly that Australian summers are NOT the right time to plant tomatoes. So, now that spring is just around the corner, we've decided to give it another go.

Hopefully, this time our tomatoes will survive. Again, we bought two plants ~ one is a Big Beef and the other is a cherry tomato variety.



We also stocked up on some of the herbs that had died off over the winter ~ basil, mint, cilantro and thyme. And planted them along side the herbs that survived the winter ~ oregano, lemon verbena, rosemary, parsley and tarragon.




And I had to have this Snapdragon. We had an extra pot since I killed a house plant, and I knew that our back patio would feel more complete with another plant : )





Now, that that days are getting warmer and our patios are filled with plants again, it's feeling a bit like Spring in Oz.