A social butterfly

I’ve been a bit of a social butterfly.

Good job we’ve had some rain so that the allotment can struggle along without me. Thanks however to Di for removing the shade cloth from my carrot bed now they have germinated.

Enjoyed a lovely couple of days with friends Simon and Lisa at Mt Tamborine who took me out for a celebratory Birthday Dinner and the next day helped me understand the settings on my new camera. Then off to the flower bed to get some macro shots  and this is what happened next ..

Scruffy gets in on the act

Back to Brisbane for a wonderful party hosted by son and daughter-in-law. Thank you Jenny and Steve, you thought of everything and really went the whole hog!

Up early on Sunday to catch the coach to the Carnival of Flowers at Toowoomba. This is an annual event which runs for a week when the spring flowers are out. The camera got another work-out and it’s been hard to decide which pics to include from the 100 or so I took. Here is a tiny taste.

A visit to the Clivia Society

One of the floats from the carnival

Just one of the private gardens on display

Monday morning and the start of another week. Enjoyed sharing the first day of the school holidays with grandsons.

Back to the allotment tomorrow. Better take a couple of big buckets with me – there’s going to be plenty to harvest.

Retirement can be great fun. (I think I’ve just found the name for my next blog.)

A Sunday Drive up to Toowoomba

I took a drive up to Toowoomba yesterday, a picturesque city at the top of the Great Dividing Range with wonderful views over the Lockyer Valley.

This was a treat organised by my friend Tatiana and the idea was to travel through the beautiful Lockyer Valley and visit the wonderful farmer’s markets on the way.  The Lockyer Valley is the fruit and vegetable farming area that was absolutely devastated in the floods of January 2011.

Tatiana picked me up at 7am and went on to collect Judy who made the third member of our party. And off we set. The day was perfect for a drive out, warm and sunny and we tootled along enjoying the wonderful scenery on the way.

We had a great time filling up the car with plants, fruit trees (yes, trees), bags of fruit and veggies all at a most amazing price. $1 for a beautiful cauliflower. And it was wonderful to be buying locally from the folk who grow the stuff. I couldn’t resist a red cabbage, so solid and heavy and just waiting to be turned into pickled cabbage!  Also couldn’t walk past a huge bag of beetroot just asking to be pickled. (It’s Monday morning now, guess what I’ll be doing in the kitchen all day?)

It has been years since I went to Toowoomba, it’s such a pretty city and at the end of September it’s the annual Carnival of Flowers so the blossoms were already out. The last market we visited was in Toowoomba itself – by the time the car was packed up to the gunnels I don’t know how the three of us fitted back into the car.

But then it was time for lunch. There are some great pubs in Toowoomba (I’m sounding like a travel guide) and we found one right next to the market that served a grand steak. And time for a glass of wine for the lucky passengers as the driver looked on!

A relaxed drive back to Brisbane and then it was the opportunity for me to check out Tatiana’s veggie garden. I had heard all about it as she worked on setting up her raised beds and establishing fruit trees. The plants were bursting with life. Naturally, out came my camera.

Raised beds in Tatiana’s garden

It was a grand day, thank you Tatiana.  I really should make the effort to get out of town more often, but I suppose then it wouldn’t be a treat.

So I’m back to the kitchen now to get out that vinegar and the pickling spices.