Blue Crane

Today a Blue Crane landed on the roof of our home. It had come to eat the tadpoles and insects around the frog ponds. It lives locally on the intertidal flat and trees. The other birds were making a fair racket as they attempted to persuade it to leave their territory. It was very shy and only allowed me to see it on the roofline. Each time I came near it in the garden it spread its beautiful wings and moved to a higher perch.

Ancestors

The footsteps of the ancestors grow fainter with each passing generation. We can follow them only so far before they become trackless. Leaving us to manage our own lives in their absence.

The forefathers and mothers of both sides of my family originated in England and Scotland. They came from the London dockyards and the pastoral workers of Scotland. They were experiencing economic hardship and sought passage to the Australian continent. Terra Australis the Antipodes. A land ten months journey away by sailing ship.

I can only imagine what that ten month journey was like for them and their families. The rationing, the lack of clean clothes and bedding. The patience of being part of the shifts of a sailing boat. The men separated from the women and children. The people who did not make it.

The world would have seemed an incredibly large place to them with its changing horizon, shorelines and peoples. Seeing the West Australian coast line for the first time would have been exciting. Sailing across the Great Australian Bight would have made the Cliffs of Dover seem miniscule. Then the journey up the east coast to New South Wales and Sydney Harbour. Is it any wonder that Australians are magically attracted to the shoreline. We have never left the saphire beauty of its waves and rocks.

Summer Holidays had me a blast

It's the official last day of the kids Summer Holidays. We went to the surf beach and boogie boarded. The sand was a deep ochre colour and small white shells had washed onto the tide line.

The life saving sign said that small children were advised to remain at their parents side due to the onshore rip and crashing waves dumping onto the beach at low tide. N stayed right next to me and even remained on the towel while I had a quick dip under the waves. The water temperature is even at 22'C in January, the water washes up over your head and embraces your pores. T and A were in their element, catching the breaking waves and spinning around to head back for the next set.

Tomorrow its the first day of school. We head back to Grade 6 and Grade 3 and finally two day a week pre school for N. It's new lunch boxes, a full set of colour pencils and lots of news to catch up on in the playground.

2kg Flathead from Sydney Fish Markets

Recipe for our Baked Fish from Australia Day

Purchase a large Flathead from the market - at least 2 kg, get the fish monger to scale, gut and clean the fish leaving the head and tail and fins on.
2 lemons
2 cloves of garlic
Herbs - parsley, basil, corriander,chives, dill, rosemary
Foil
Olive oil
Maldon Sea Salt
White wine

Set oven at 180'C

Prepare a baking tray by lining it with foil

Rub fish with sea salt and olive oil.

Place lemon, garlic and herbs in fish.

Wrap in foil and pour in one glass of white wine. Seal and bake for 25 mins per kilo.

Accompaniments: potato salad, green salad, insalata caprese.

Fishbone Fever

It's the end of the Summer Holidays. Our skin is touched by the sun, the car boot is full of sand and the fridge is taken up by mineral water, fruit juice, lime cordial, and last night's salad. It's still daylight savings and we are taking post lunch walks down to the harbour.
This week school starts and we get back to homework, music lessons and scouts.
My dream of a writing desk overlooking the Reserve is coming closer to reality now that I will have two days a week to work at it. Bliss! A desk with a view.

The Australia Day Lunch was beautiful. The weather superb, the company gorgeous. The boys energetic and charming. Kookaburras at dawn and sunset. Eastern water dragons on the rocks. A possum at the backdoor at night for some apple.

Fringe bush in Sydney suburbs

One of the best things about Sydney is the access to the environment from our homes. You don't have to walk far to find native plants, sandstone formations, and usually some water.

This means that the geography we live in is fragile and ancient. Here are some photos of the bush near our home.

Home on the Range

Welcome to life on the East coast of Australia. The home of one couple, three sons and many possums, geckos, birds, lizards and frogs. It's 2008 and everyone is looking forward to the commencement of the school year, not least of all me. This Summer we managed to fit in a special New Years Eve celebration on the harbour with fireworks and a trip to Lithgow to experience the Lithgow Zig Zag railway.
The weather has been warm and mostly fine, the torrential rain in the north and the floods that I know the northern rivers have experienced not withstanding.
This blog is going to be about stories, poetry and recipes, so take the journey with me from 2008 onwards as I post and enjoy.
T.