Mullaloo Beach

While it's never crowded at our beach, it was absolutely vacant yesterday. It was a hot day too! Today there were a lot of families enjoying the waves. Us too!

Life in OZ

Yesterday we had late afternoon thunderstorms come through, even though the temperature stayed warm. When John saw the sunset developing beautifully, we grabbed the camera and ran to the beach. We stood on a dune to get this shot.

Then we walked down to the sand and took some more photos, like this one of a dad night-fishing with his son. Later the kid caught a nice herring.

I'm a Little Vegemite! (almost)

I applied for Aussie citizenship today! I'll be a dual citizen of the US and Australia. I'll have two passports. I'll travel in country and out at will. I will be cool. Hurrah!

Valentine's Day

Our usual beautiful, sunny Perth was overcast and humid yesterday so instead of heading to the beach for Valentine's Day, we headed to the hills. Just 45 minutes from our house, we were on the Chittering Valley Wine Trail, a winding loop through the Darling Ranges. Of the eight wineries available to us, we made it to three. Our first stop was Stringybark Winery where we were disappointed as the cellar door was shut, the staff readying for a crowd of Valentine's Day diners at their restaurant. Our second stop was at Western Range winery. We briefly visited with the server and tasted several nice whites, including a late harvest white which we enjoyed enough to purchase a case. It was not too dry, not too sweet, but just right for pairing with Thai, Indian, and seafood, three of our favorite indulgences.

Our third stop was at Briery Estate. The owners Christine and Ron met us at our car, welcomed us onto the veranda of their 90 year old farmhouse overlooking their vines and fruit trees and started pouring wine for us from their broad selection. We tasted 12 wines and they have five reds which we didn't taste. The one which caught my attention was a varietal I have never tasted, never even heard about, furment. Furment is a late harvest Hungarian vine producing a white grape which is an excellent host to botrytis, the noble rot, hence the pure, slight sweetest of the wine. Briery sells it under the label Fermento. Cheese tray pairing will be sublime. We also bought the Briery 10 Year Old Muscat Liqueur, of course. We never taste a great muscat that we can pass up. To complete the case, we bought several light rosés and a heavier velvety rosé, a dry grenache, a viognier, and a chenin blanc.

We arrived home in time to walk to the beach for the sunset. It was a perfect day for us.

The Bridal Train

Vikki Thorn of The Waifs wrote this wonderful song in celebration of her grandmother's experience in WWII as an Australian war bride. I ripped the story of Grandmother Betty's recollection of the time she was summoned to the bridal train from West Australian newspaper The Wagin Argus:

Betty lived in Perth with a lady who entertained many Americans.

"I walked down the corridor at 9pm one night and there was a party going on. There was this very good looking American man in uniform who said: 'Where did this flower come from?' I thought what a silly comment and put it out of my mind. Later he sat beside me and we talked all night. Bob was a chief petty officer; he had a lot of commendations. He had been stationed in Hawaii for two years. He watched Pearl Harbour being bombed. As the war effort moved closer to Australia his ship the Anthedin was transferred to Fremantle. He was 26 when we met and when we were married he applied for a shore job."

When Bob was transferred to the Philippines, Betty, expecting her first baby went home to Mum in Wagin.

A telegram was delivered in Wagin on a Thursday at 1pm. Betty and her 11-month-old daughter had to be at Dalgety's, the shipping agents, in Perth on the Friday, to be prepared to travel to the USA. There was no telephone and no taxis. Betty did not even have a suitcase. She and one of her two brothers, who had both returned from prison of war camps on the Burma railway, cycled into Wagin and brought two suitcases back on the handlebars of their bikes.

"I had half a day to pack. Time to see three friends, have a big cry and catch the midnight train to Fremantle."

She left Perth station one year to the day after her husband left Fremantle, with a daughter he had not seen.

"There were about 50 brides from Western Australia. Perth Station was awash with tears. I had Sue, but she was a good baby. We were joined by girls from all over Australia, more got on the train in South Australia and Melbourne."

They traveled on a large American luxury liner, the Monterey, which had been taken over by the army during the war as a troop ship.

"We were naval wives, but traveled under army regulations. Three of us and children had a first class cabin with big windows and a bath tub.It took three weeks to get to the States, we went as war brides."

She travelled to Colorado where Bob met her and there she met his family.

Another bridal train continued across the US dropping off brides.

That Great Aussie Holiday!

Lunch with friends in the park beside the Swan River

Garden Update 2

growing basil for bruschetta

our prolific tomato plant

cute tiny green bell pepper.

Garden Update: Our Tomatoes

We have tomatoes coming off everyday, all from one big plant.

It Was a Beach Afternoon!

It was over 100F today, so, yeah, the beach beckoned! All the neighbors were there. At first,the ocean was flat, then the seabreeze came in and the waves came up. Still the water was so clear that we could see the white fish against the white sand as we swam.

Hand and Foot Canasta

John and I like to play cards together at the end of our day. We have a wonderful outdoor setting and by 5pm the seabreeze is in, so we can be outside with a glass of wine and a deck of cards...

Or 3 decks of cards, as that is what it takes to play a two-handed game of Hand and Foot Canasta.

There are almost as many sets of rules to Hand and Foot Canasta as there are people who play it. Here are the rules we play by:

Object of the Game:
The aim is to get rid of cards from your hand (11 cards), and then from your foot (11 cards), by melding them. A Meld is a set of three to seven cards of equal rank placed face up on the table. A Meld cannot have fewer than three cards. After a Meld of three or more cards has been started, you can add further cards to it until there are seven. Then it becomes a Book. You can meld cards of any rank from A, K, Q, ... down to 4. Deuces (twos) and Jokers are wild cards and can be used in melds, as long as there is at least one more real card than wild cards. You can not meld wild cards alone. 3s are special cards. Black 3s freeze the discard pile and, if left in your hand or foot, cost you 100 pts each. Red 3s add to your score 100pts unless caught in your hand or foot in which case they count against your score by 500pts.

There are two types of melds:
A Clean(Natural) Meld has no wild cards and may become a Red Book.
A Dirty(Wild) Meld has wild cards and may become a Black Book.

A Meld of seven cards is complete and is called a Book. While melds are laid out face up for everyone to see, completed Books are piled up and the card placed on top shows the type - a red card for a Red Book, a black card for a Black Book. Cards of equal rank can be played on completed Books. Wild cards cannot be played on Books.

You score points for cards you have melded and for each Book. If you did not go out, you lose points for any cards left in your Hand and/or Foot at the end of the play. The round ends when someone gets rid of all the cards in their Hand and Foot, by melding/booking or discarding them.
In order to go out, you must:
1. Have reached your Foot and played it completely.
2. Have at least one Red Book and two Black Books.

Card Values:
Jokers = 50 points (Wild Card)
Deuces = 20 points (Wild Card)
Aces = 20 points
Eight through King (8-K) = 10 points
Four through Seven (4-7) = 5 points (unless minus threes are used)

Deck Options:
Players+1 - decks equal the number of players + 1 (2 players = 3 decks)

Round Points Options:
50/90/120/150
Round 1, cards points must total at least 50 to play
Round 2, cards points must total at least 90 to play
Round 3, cards points must total at least 120 to play
Round 4, cards points must total at least 150 to play

Book Points:
300/500
Red Book = 500 points
Black Book = 300 points
Player going out gets 100 bonus points

Play Discard Option:
5 - Pick up last 5 discards (top card and 4 previous)

In order to pick up the discard pile the following criteria must be met:
1. You must have 2 matching cards in your hand
2. You must meld the top discard
3. You must have the required round points
The top discard may not give you the required round points

You receive two scores per hand. One for the books, then the combined face value of all cards played on the board, booked or not. Once your books have been counted then all the cards you played, including those in the books, are added up at the card point value.
This applies to all players, not just the person going out. If you did not go out, and are caught with cards in your Hand and/or your Foot, those points count against you. If you did not go out and you have books and or cards on the board, those points count for you.

The person with the most points at the end of the rounds, is declared the winner.

The Play:
• Draw two cards from the deck.
• Meld your cards. To meld, your board points must match or exceed the points required for that round.
• Discard one card (any card).
• As the play comes back to you, continue to draw two cards, play on your books as you draw cards that play, then discard one card, until you get rid of your Hand.
• Picking up your Foot can be done two ways:
1. Going straight to your Foot, means all the cards in your Hand play without a discard. You may pick up your Foot and play out of it immediately.
2. You play all the cards in your Hand except one, then discard. You will be able to play out of your Foot on your next turn.
• Play continues until a player goes out. You can not go out until you have at least one Red Book and two Black Books
.When going out, you do not have to discard.

Australian Open

Begins January 19th...I'll be blogging the interesting stuff...outfits...odds...early losers...surprises.

Winners? Anyone but Sharapova!

Gotta bet on Nadal, but Murray is really looking promising.

Hewitt...he'll be fine in the early rounds, but fade inside the sixteen.

My favorite, Marat Safin, of course. He came to Perth for the Hopman Cup with two black eyes and a stiff right hand...bar fight...gotta love this guy!

Our First Squash

We'll report on the taste after dinner tonight!
UPDATE: Buttery and delicious

Innaloo Fish Market

Photo of the whole fish at the fish market. We didn't photograph the octopus, squid or cockles. Maybe next time...

We bought one of these nannygai for the grill tonight.

Orion

(click to enlarge)

Orion or The Hunter is our summer constellation. It is barely visible in the eastern sky in October and disappears in the western sky in April. Orion is oriented differently in Australia than in the US. In the US the major stars in the center of the constellation are referred to as the belt and sword. In Australia those same stars are thought of as the saucepan.

Garden Update

We finally had a hot day so one of our tomatoes changed from green to reddish, still not ripe though.
Yellow squash is coming on like crazy. We'll have lots of squash to eat and give away soon.
We love how the leaves form a protective canopy over the fruit.

We've added a passionfruit vine, capsicum plants, some vine tomatoes, and basil to the garden. None of it is doing much as the weather is simply not warm enough yet. We've just experienced the coolest, wettest November on record. Also some creature is eating the basil leaves so that's not good. We put out snail pellets. I am looking forward to insalata caprese from my own tomatoes and basil so I hope the pellets do the job.

Leanne

Looking beautiful on her wedding day!

Look Up!

Tonight is the perfect night for looking up! Venus is so bright in the western sky that it's clearly visible at sunset. Orion is up in the eastern sky. The Seven Sisters (Pleiades) is clearly visible in the northern sky. The Southern Cross is low in the southern sky.

The sun will set at 8:18 and the moon will rise at 10:11. The air is warm, but not hot. There's a light breeze with no humidity and not a cloud in sight. So it's perfect for a night in the back garden on our banana loungers under the stars. What will happen? Satellites, for sure...Meteorites, maybe...

UPDATE: We saw dozens of satellites travelling through every part of the sky in every possible direction. No meteorites...but a bit of space junk came plunging from above and burned brightly overhead for several seconds. Also the ISS was visible for a long time as it came from the NW and continued across the sky until it disappeared in the SE. Venus was extremely bright, clearly visible before the sun's light disappeared from the sky. The moon was full and bright, rising just as we folded our loungers to return inside.

Cutie with Fish!

Here is my friend Kimberley with her fish. She moved to Port Hedland recently, and she caught her very first fish with a pink rod that her dad bought for her! The family says the fish was yummy!

Joint's Jumping

It's 35C (92F) today with a hot easterly wind blowing like crazy, and it's heating up all the creepy-crawlies who have been hiding out around the house in the cool weather we've been having. Today spiders, cockroaches and assorted other unidentifiable bugs joined us for lunch on the veranda. John's spraying now. Gotta get them before they get you! It's survival of the fittest here in AUS!

Tim Winton's Dirt Music

Tim Winton's wonderful book, Dirt Music, is in the works as a film. "In pre-production", they say in the biz. Evidently, Rachel Weisz is playing Georgie Jutland, but there's a lack of clarity about the part of Luther Fox. First, Heath Ledger was announced. Even before his death, Colin Farrell was announced, but Farrell says now "that project didn't work out for me". According to imDb, Russell Crowe is "rumored", but that site still lists Farrell for the part of Fox. Confusion!

I've no doubt that the film will find its stars. What interests me more is when will shooting begin and will shooting take place on the Western Australian coast where the book is set? I have nightmares that shooting will be moved to the east coast because Western Australian shoots present expenses and inconveniences that shoots in the Sydney or Melbourne do not.

If the film is not set in Western Australia, I don't see how its story can be told. It's not only a love story between two people; it's a story about love of place as well. And that place is the red dirt and the blue Indian Ocean and the cloudless skies of the west coast of Australia.