off to the market again!

Yesterday we were back at THE BALLAN FARMERS MARKET!

If you live close by, do try to get there soon ... its on the second Saturday of each month.

The day was perfect and the crowds soon turned out in force.

We didn't stay so long this time, we met up with friends, purchased a few vegetables, a bunch of wildflowers and of course some yummy Ginger Biscuits!

..... and the protea's look superb on our dining table.

Now I am off to prepare the fresh vegetables we purchased for dinner.

Oscar's visit to Blackwood.

It's been a busy week, but on Wednesday we took some time out to go up to Blackwood, an old historical village on the Lerderderg River.  Blackwood is 89 klms from Melbourne in Victoria, Australia and where we have a small holiday place. It is also where gold was discovered on Jan 4 1855

Blackwood is only 20 minutes from Ballan, so it was a quick trip there to pick up a few things. It was very cold and wet, but we still had to go.

On our arrival we let Oscar out of the car to 'explore'.... this is where he and Pokey chased lizards nearly every weekend and after doing that all day long they were exhausted, so they lazed in front of the fire with Zac (Janines dog).

above: Zac, Oscar and Pokey at Blackwood on March 13 2005.

But we watched Oscar running around, sniffing here and there and we wondered how much he remembered of previous visits so many years ago?

above: Pokey and Oscar looking for lizards in January 2007 at Blackwood.

below: Oscar running around the front area of Blackwood in May 2012

His nose was "working overtime" while there, did he know where he was?  Can he remember Pokey or Zac at all?

We are happy we got to take him to Blackwood again.

He has settled in at Ballan very well, he is still on medication three times a day and sometimes has difficulty breathing, but overall he seems to be happy. The vet says he is in no pain, but to just watch him closely.

We had a 'doggie door' installed into the laundry door on Thursday and already he uses it. We thought it might take a week or two for him to get used to something so 'new'. But with a little encouragement he was in and out of it within the first hour and now takes himself outside when ever he needs to.

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

We are happy that he got to "come home" and also that he has now been to Blackwood as well.

No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but with loads of love and care, we hope he is with us for sometime yet!


postnote: Oscar passed away in John's arms at 6:10am on 23 May 2012


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settling into Ballan .....

We can now say we have fully moved into Ballan - well just about!

Still have the lounge furniture to arrive and a few other bits we need to purchase, but the renovations are coming along nicely and our shipment has arrived from Singapore ..... so yes, we are starting to feel quite settled into this friendly little rural village 74klms west of Melbourne.

The kitchen renovations hopefully will be finished at the end of next week.

The stove top is in, but I was so happy when the oven was installed earlier this week and by yesterday the drawer and cupboard handles were fitted.  Can now continue stocking up on basic food items, still do not have 'everything', but slowly getting the basics like flour, spices, dried fruits, herbs etc.

Also I can get back to baking and cooking ..... something I have sorely missed in the 5 + years we spent in Singapore.

On Thursday we had visitors, they did not leave till just after 6.00pm and I had yet to start dinner.  As soon as they left I had to think of something that was going to be quick and easy and also to use what foods I had in the cupboards.

On checking the cardboard boxes I was using for storage up until yesterday, I had a can of red salmon, a jar of Cabonara pasta sauce, a packet of pasta, a packet of frozen mixed vegetables and parmasan cheese.  Yes, I could do something with that!

Added a pack of pasta to a pot of boiling water on the stove, then threw a packet of frozen mixed vegetables into the container in the microwave to cook with just a smidgen of water, turned the oven on to 180 deg. While the oven was heating, the vegetables and pasta were cooking, I greased a glass ovenproof dish with butter, added the can of red salmon, squashed most of it with the fork,  added the pack of now partially cooked vegetables, poured the cabonara sauce over the top of it all and added grated cheese and a sprinkle of dried parsley.  Placed it in the oven for 20 mins.

The following was on the table 30 mins after our visitors had left:

then last night for dinner we had the leftovers as an entree. I took three sheets of frozen puff pastry out of the freezer and cut each sheet in to four.  Folded the edges slightly, brushed with olive oil, added a tablespoon of the leftover salmon, vegetable, cheese mix, a sprinkle of McCormicks "Lime and Chili" mix......

topped it with extra Parmesan cheese and popped it into the 180 deg oven......

left it in the oven till it looked a crispy golden colour .....

Next time I would add more of the salmon / vegetable mix. But these really were a very quick and easy entree and tasty too!

Not bad when you consider they were made from 'leftovers' that was a quick and easy meal in the first place!

Might even do more baking over the next few days as it looks like we are going to have a cold spell as seen here:

Have a great weekend folks!!