Festivus, it's all going to fall into a big heap

This was the response from MDR when I asked him for a quote about the MB family's preparedness for Xmas Day. MDR then made MB repeat the mantra "Be nice to everybody, no matter how much they're annoying you!" MB, being the glass half full partner, is feeling rather smug, she's never been so ready for a Christmas day lunch. She's already made the Breton style crepes for the smoked salmon and creme fraiche appetisers, the potatoes are cooked and ready to roast (nothing like a twice cooked spud). The pudding is cooked and the egg custard is nicely chilled down in the fridge. A few non-drinkers will be in attendance tomorrow so a big pot of tea has just been made to put together a festive fruit punch. A first for MB this year is the making of a home made cranberry sauce from frozen cranberry fruit, MB has just consulted Margaret Fulton's excellent Christmas cookbook and found a suitable and fairly easy recipe.
The grand-kids will be over in the morning to tear into their presents, little LJ (3yrs) has asked Santa for an ambulance, he seems to be past the garbage truck phase now.
Oh for such simple pleasures, enjoy your Christmas Day.

Cacophony at Tongarra

Last Saturday Aunty & Uncle took MB for a visit to Annie & Steve's new digs just outside of the Gong, which is an easy 1.45hr drive from Manly. The first thing that struck MB was the cacophony of cicadas
in the bushland surrounding the homestead, very loud, but one becomes accustomed to the sound quite quickly.
Annie & Steve have found a real piece of paradise, off the grid, with views to the Illawarra Escarpment, hard to believe this rugged country is so close to Sydney.
Photo above is the amazing picture window view from the bathroom.

Pilgrimage to Newtown

MB has a few days in Sydney with a free day today so it's off to Newtown, home of funky shopping and great secondhand bookstores. Before leaving home base in Balgowlah she entered "Newtown" into Google Maps and came up with Black Star Pastry in Australia St, Newtown. As she was feeling patriotic she thought this would be as good a destination as any.
After a bus to the city and train to Newtown she found the cafe it quite easily, virtually across the road from the station, a little behind King St.
Black Star has some mouth watering delights on offer, too early for the Lamb Shank, red wine & vegie pie so MB settled for a strawberry, watermelon and rose gateaux with a flat white. The cake was sublime, coffee was pretty good but a touch too cold. The cafe is tiny, in a converted terrace house, very cute with lots of boy couples lolling around.

Last Night in Twisted River

MB has just received notification from her Library that the new novel by John Irving, Last Night in Twisted River, has arrived and is available for collection. MB will be the first borrower so she'll be able to caress this new book and drink in that crisp just bought fragrance. MB is positively salivating at the thought of burying herself in another of John Irving's spellbinding tales. Ever since discovering this author when she read The Cider House Rules, MB has sought out every book by John Irving and with the exception of The Water Method Man, has never been disappointed. Some of the recurring themes through Irving's stories are New England & Maine, bears, tortured relationships and of course very complex characters. His multi-layered story telling genius really makes you feel as if you are there inside the story and his humour has MB laughing out loud - to MB this is truly a marker for a great read.

Shinto Stool

Hot out of "The Shed", MDR's latest creation, a pair of Shinto style bar stools, a Christmas gift for PTA & his beloved Mamiko.
As usual MDR has lavished a great deal of time - and sweat - to craft these works of art and not one nail has been used. The timber used is Cairns Pencil Cedar, from a tree that was felled in nearby Kamerunga about two years ago. The stools are finished with a clear matt oil based seal, unstained.

Family Fun Day at the MRF aka The Dump

Cairns Regional Council opened up the Materials Recycling Facility today which was a great chance to take little Levi, the would be rubbish truck driver. This 3yr old is completely obsessed with rubbish trucks, wheelie bins and any other rubbish related item. He loved seeing the conveyor belts that sort the recyclables, and amazingly enough he even spotted some empty milk bottles from home that he had put in his recycle bin!

Banana Pecan Muffins

Mr & Mrs MB have been very lucky to share in their neighbours', John & Teresa's, bounty of home grown bananas. These bananas have been just delightful, so full of flavour they leave the shop bought fruit a million miles behind.
After watching Tony Bourdain today MB was inspired to make some banana muffins with a difference and here are the results, the muffins also have bits of dark chocolate in them as well, so MB could clear some lonely looking chocolate from the fridge. Bon Appetit!

6 Coffees a day to keep the Doctor Awake

The brains trust at Queensland Health have responded to their overworked doctors' complaints with the most novel of solutions, drink at least 6 cups of coffee a day. MB must remember if she needs to visit a Queensland hospital to take a few jumbo sized triple shot freetrade arabica beverages for the attending doctor. Of course after the lengthy wait the coffee will be stone cold - hope that still counts as a fatigue cure.
Better still MB could install a 24hr coffee vending machine at the entrance to the Emergency Department, could be a quite a money spinner...

$20,000 Toaster

If one spends $20,000 at Coles, KMart, Target and related merchants, within a 3 year period, one will be able to redeem with the points earned, 8000, for a Tefal 2 slice toaster using Flybuys points*. The toaster is probably worth around $40.00.
When MB first joined Flybuys in the early nineties the points per spend were much more reasonable but even then she could never amass enough points to redeem free air travel, which was used to market the program.
Every two to three years she was able to accrue enough points (11,000) for 12 x movie vouchers, but since the reduction to 2 points earned per $5.00 spend this is now impossible.
With points expiring after 3 years, it's well nigh impossible for MB to even reach 6,000 points, so she has taken the decision to cash in what she can (2 x $20 vouchers) and drop out of the program.
Flybuys is obviously a fantastic data collection tool for Coles but MB for one is no longer going to have her shopping habits logged for little or no recompense.
*Flybuys hot rewards August 2009

Whale Frolics Fitzroy Island

A work colleague of MB's captured this great pic whilst out fishing near Fitzroy Island last Saturday. This whale was one of a group of 3 whales frolicking quite happily near colleague's boat.

Chandler Markets, Brisbane

MB stumbed upon a huge market at the Sleeman Sports Centre in Chandler early on Sunday morning when she dropped MDR off at the Aquatic Centre for the Qld Underwater Hockey Championships.
She was just leaving and saw a vacant car parking slot near the entrance so decided to stop and do a walk through. The markets are a great mix of farmers market and second hand. One chap was selling a fantastic selection of heritage tomatoes which MB couldn't resist, so she bought one Black Krim & one Black Russian for a taste test with MDR. The Black Krim won hands down, a nice meaty tomato with lots of flavour.

Rocklea Markets, Brisbane

The dynamic duo arrived into Brisbane early on Saturday morning, the pefect time to visit Rocklea Markets with Hana.
After checking out some pretty heliconia plants and nice produce with Hana, MB thinks $2 for a lovely fresh cauliflower is amazingly cheap, the pair stopped by the Fromart stand where VT is moonlighting to sample some superb swiss cheeses, some made locally and a couple of imported ones - including a nice raw milk cheese.
MB was hoping VT would have the Raclette burner there so she could gorge herself on fondue, but not to be. Alas she'll have to wait for a dinner party invitation. She did however find a Hungarian food hero making fresh Hungarian donuts which were lovely, very light with a subtle taste of orange.

Cadbury Backflip

Readers may be aware that Cadbury recently "dumbed down" their chocolate products by replacing cocoa butter with palm oil and reducing the block size. The paper wrap packaging was increased to a cardboard package to disguise the 10% decrease in size - whilst keeping the retail price the same.
The inclusion of palm oil has infuriated conservationists, particulary those concerned with orangutangs losing their rainforst habitat in South-East Asia to palm oil plantations. Cadbury claims the palm oil is from some sort of "eco-friendly" palm oil source.
Cadbury's lame and insulting excuse for the reduced block size is that it reduces one's "DI" or daily intake of a calorie laden food.
Needless to say all of the above has whipped up a storm amongst Cadbury consumers and today's press reports that Cadbury has backed away from using palm oil.
Picture above is a scan of an old paper wrap.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

One of Marc's colleagues tragically lost his beloved pet cat this week. Due to the cooler weather the cat had taken a liking to climbing onto the roof of the house to sun itself. One morning colleague heard some commotion on the roof and raced out to investigate. He was completely taken aback to see a hawk carrying off kitty. Colleague was completely helpless and unable to do anything. Unbelievable but true!

Peter & His Droughtmasters

MB, plus 4 female friends who were visiting from Japan, were very lucky to visit Peter & Maureen at their sugarcane farm near Mossman on 23 July. Peter & Maureen are growing many acres of sugarcane not only in Mossman but also at their second property in Julatten, just up on the tablelands behind Mossman. After a lunch feast prepared by Maureen, Peter took the 5 girls on a tour to the Julatten property, over one hundred acres with 3 creeks and a beautiful rainforest backdrop. Peter also has a herd of Droughtmaster cattle there which he started in 1979. When the cattle realised Peter had arrived they bounded up quite happily to the gate and Peter gave them all a treat of molasses to slurp on.
Peter is a great racontuer and had the girls giggling all afternoon.

Food Hero Discovery

MB was pretty chuffed when she stumbled upon a stall at the Cairns' Rusty's Markets selling locally grown organic vanilla. She had quite a chinwag with the grower, Russell Spanton, who with his wife, Mary, grows the vanilla in Port Douglas and are the first commercial vanilla growers in Australia.
Russell has had the vanilla tested by the CSIRO and was told it has 4 times more vanilla content than any other beans tested, including beans from Tonga, Tahiti, PNG and Madagascar.
Russell also shared some of his colourful experiences with other local vanilla growers, lots of argy bargy going on. Up until encountering Vanilla Australia (vanillaaustralia@bigpond.com) at Rustys Markets MB had no idea any vanilla beans for commercial sale were even being grown in FNQ.
MB did of course purchase some beans but as yet hasn't used them. She's planning to make some crème brûlée soon and will report back.

Cairns - New Ukulele Capital

If Val has her way (Mayoress of Cairns) her city will be the festival capital of the world with a film festival to rival Cannes.
The similarity in names may just work in favour of Cairns. If the Cairns Film Festival was convened on exactly the same dates as the one in Cannes, MB could easily imagine some literacy challenged travel agents booking travel for festival goers to Cairns, rather than Cannes.
The gutsy 10 year old MB spotted busking with her ukulele at Redlynch Shopping Centre recently would no doubt be happy to hear about a possible ukulele festival in her hometown.
The festival would have real credibility if Val has lined up Jake Shimabukuro, ukulele virtuoso, to perform. He is a true master of the ukulele.

Atherton Poultry Show

After visiting the Atherton Orchid Show at the Atherton Showgrounds MDR spotted another event in the nearby poultry pavilion. Turned out the local bird fanciers had also put on a show of their poultry. MB is a bit of a closet poultry fancier herself so the pair decided to inspect Atherton's finest.
This show was just wrapping too, so the pair did a quick tour. MB's favourite was the White Pekin which the owner happily took out of his cage so she could take a photo. MB thought this lovely looking bird with silky feathers was a "she" but the owner, trying to hide his smirk, told her the fowl was a "he". MB asked how did he keep him so clean, apparently Dynamo does the trick, as does keeping the fowl on clean wood shavings.
MDR is pictured above next to a cage containing two of the biggest fowl the pair had ever seen, unfortunately couldn't find out what breed they were. The diversity of poultry is truly amazing and never fails to fascinate MB.
Where would mankind be without such an easily and quickly raised source of protein?

Atherton Orchid Show

Queen's Birthday long weekend saw MDR & MB make their annual pilgrimage to Lake Tinaroo for the Wooden Boat Assoc. of Cairns' annual "Tinaroo Raid".
This is a fun event which is beautifully organised and very relaxed. Weather was superb and the company great.
After the Raid finished early Sunday afternoon the pair made a dash for nearby Atherton to visit the 44th Tropical Queensland Orchid Council Conference & Show at the local showgrounds. The conference was just wrapping up but the floral displays were still in place and MB wasn't disappointed, the orchids were enchanting.

Lake Tinaroo Terraces - Thumbs Down

MB & MDR were really disappointed with the 2 nights in their 2 bedroom lake view lodge at Lake Tinaroo Terraces.
On arrival they report to reception, which looks like a radioactive waste dump, but it's unattended. Eventually a slovenly looking man who bears an amazing resemblance to Jabba the Hutt, waddles in, apparently from a house across the road. He grunts, we supply our name and he can’t find the booking, even though MB phoned twice and emailed once (no reply to the email). Jabba swipes our visa card and with a huge sigh, forces himself upright & waddles out to show us where the lake view unit is.
The "lodge" turns out to be a tiny painted corrugated iron tin shed that shakes & groans every time you walk in it. The "lake view" is actually the back of two tin sheds immediately in front of the tin shed.
Not long after arrival MB boils the jug for a cuppa. MDR had bought Danish pastries from his favourite patisserie in Redlynch so MB grabbed a plate. When she picked up the plate it was stuck to the plate beneath it and on closer inspection she noticed it hadn’t been cleaned. She checked the crockery and noticed many items were dirty, so of course she had to clean all of the dishes! There was not a drop of milk in the fridge, not even some little UHT packs.
One of the light fittings on the lounge wall was missing its cover and didn’t have a light bulb in it. Great if you have kiddies with you!
Cleaning and upkeep of the tin shed was rudimentary to say the least, filthy crockery, musty soft furnishings, coating of dust on everything and grimy windows. God knows when the bedding was last washed..
The master bedroom was in a loft and was the most spacious room. Only 1 light bulb missing there. The bed lamp was a doozy, looked like it had been dropped as the base was cracked and a large opening revealed internal workings. The clock radio was helpfully switched off at the power point
First night in MB & MDR settled down to watch a DVD (French Classic Cinema bought from home) but of course the remote didn’t work, checked the batteries and find none in the remote, just a rusted out cavity where batteries are meant to be go.
The second bedroom had a bunk bed squeezed into a room not much bigger then the bunk itself. Again the clock radio was helpfully switched off at the wall.
Any chance of a hair dryer in the bathroom? No way, that would be far too generous.
On day 2 when MB walked past the unattended reception there was a sign advising the office was closed as there were no vacancies. No details on how one can contact the manager and no emergency contact details.
Also in the tin shed there is no information and no way to contact the "on-site" manager as there are no internal telephones, just a bare phone point on the nano-kitchenette wall. Can't have pesky guests bothering the management.
Of course one could just call Lake Tinaroo Terraces on the mobile. That is if there is mobile phone coverage. MB has a Vodafone and MDR has a Telstra mobile, both of these did not have a signal there. MB is sure Jabba would gleefully let guests know there is a public phone booth about one kilometer away, if you could track him down that is.
Needless to say hospitality at Lake Tinaroo Terraces is absolutely zero and it was one of the most unpleasant stays MB has ever experienced. Accommodation standards do not merit the tariff charged by a long shot.
MB's advice - give this place a very wide berth.