March Miscellanea....

Each month I seem to have a number of random things that I want to share, so I thought that I would have a monthly Miscellanea post.  Here is my Miscellanea post for March (which shouldn't be too long as for at least half of it we have been in Iso - lol!) - Ooops, I was wrong - still managed to write a long post - lol!

More Foodim + Soical Isolation = Even More cooking and Food photos

In January's Miscellanea post, I told you all about the food posting app Foodim, well, it is certainly inspiring me to plate up my food nicely just so I can take a pic of it - lol!  UPDATE:  The fabulous Nigella herself "Liked" some of my food posts on Foodim - I am so chuffed!

So, here are a few of my recent efforts in the kitchen.... From an Eaglemont Kitchen....

Frehs figs from our garden....

Fish pie....

Fish and chips....

Coffee made on our

wonderful coffee machine....

Pizza ....

Roast pumpkin, garlic and chickpea soup ....

Old-fashioned rissoles ....

Breakfast for dinner ....

Roast potato and tuna with burnt butter anchovy sauce....

Fettucine with mushrooms ...

Quick sausage stew with rice ....

Pumped up noodle cup...

Potato and Leek soup with grilled cheese....

Foccacia rolls ...

Blueberry and Lemon muffins ... (the best muffins I have ever made, I think)

Stewed rhubarb with orange and ginger.....

Pre-Social Isolation - a weekend away...

Once upon a time, in a land far far away (or so it seems now), way back in mid-March - before we went into Social Isolation - TraderVic and I went away with some friends for a long weekend at Rye on the Mornington Peninsula. We had lots of fun - a visit to the Peninsula Hot Springs (the ladies), golf for the men (all three days!), lunch at a brewery (all of us) and on the last day we ladies went to visit the gardens at Heronswood House.  The gardens are so very pretty, so that is what I am going to show you today. [Warning: this section is pic heavy.]

The sea, the sea....

Look at the roots on this Moreton Bay Fig....

My dear friends - Marie and Sandra ...

Morning tea ....

More of our morning tea....

Grand Designs_Eaglemont ...
Luckily, the building industry is still able to work despite Iso, so our Front House is still on the move. Here are some progress pics.....

It is so exciting to see it progress.

IsoTV Viewing ...

Like so many of us, TraderVic and I are spending a lot of downtime watching TV.  Here are a few of the programs we have been watching...

Ozark Season Three:

Tiger King:

                                     

Love:

                                     

Sex Education:

                                    

Deadwater Fell:

                                    

Peaky Blinders:

                                    

Jesus Christ Superstar:

                                    

Prodigal Son:

                                   

Survivor: Winners at War (Season 40):

                                   

My Brilliant Friend Season 2:

                                   

To name just a few - lol!

Have you been watching any of these?  What are you currently watching?

Thanks for visiting and please don't forget to leave a comment as I do love a good chat,

hugs, 

February Miscellanea_Part Three (and last part, I promise!)

Well, here we are at Part Three of my February Miscellanea - finally!  I didn't think that I had been up to that much over the past month but obviously I was wrong!

I hope that you enjoy this post and I must warn you - there is a pop quiz at the end - lol - but there is also a prize!  So keep reading.....

Grand Designs Eaglemont_Front House

After the demolition which I showed you in this post, we now have a totally empty block with some digging done for the garage - boy, do these things seem to move slowly.  Not sure how the builder thinks he is going to be finished by mid-December!

Old Treasury Building

 A couple of weeks back, I "shepherded" a group of History teachers through a tour of the Old Treasury Building (it was part of the History conference that we were giving - for those of you who don't know, I work two days a week at the History Teachers' Association of Victoria).

"The Old Treasury Building is one of Melbourne's finest 19th century buildings. Visit this exciting museum, showcasing the history of Melbourne and Victoria.

The building is located on the land of the Kulin Nations. We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians, past and present."

We had this wonderful guide who was so knowledgeable and made the visit really interesting.  Here she is holding a copy of the front of the newspaper when Victoria became a separate colony from New South Waleson the 1st July, 1851 (amazing since Melbourne was only founded in 1835!).  Then Gold was officially discovered on July 2nd, 1851 (the theory is that the powers that be in Victoria delayed the announcement of the discovery until after Separation was declared) and Victoria became one of the richest places in the world.

So, building a treasury became a must!

"The Old Treasury Building was constructed between 1858–62, and is considered one of Australia's finest Renaissance Revival buildings, constructed in palazzo form and built from wealth accumulated during the Victorian Gold Rush to house the state gold vaults"

The highlight, for me and I think for the other teachers, too, was visiting this room and sitting at this table.  It is not normally part of the tour but it is the room where since 1862 every single bill has been signed into law by the Governor of Victoria - this still occurs today!  According to our guide, this makes the Old Treasury Building the most important extant building in Australia.

 The  architectural details are impressive.

The First Governor of Victoria, Governor La Trobe.

The Museum also has a number of exhibitions such as Wayward Women? About the unenlightened way that women were treated in the late 19th century - just click on the pic if you would like to read more.

 There is also a replica of the Welcome Stranger, a 66 kg gold nugget, worth about three to four million in today's money.

 So, that is it with my Miscellanea for February.  Now for the Pop quiz and the Giveaway!

Pop Quiz and Giveaway

The Giveaway prize is this cute design by Les Grille de Maryse.

The Rules of the Giveaway

1. Open worldwide.

2. Read each of the three February Miscellanea posts and answer the three questions given below.

3. Give your answers in the Comments Section of Part Three of the February Miscellanea posts. (Comment moderation has been turned on to avoid anyone inadvertantly giving the answers away).

4. If more than one person gives the correct three answers - the winner will be chosen randomly.

5. The Giveaway ends at midnight on the 15th March, wherever you are in the world.

6. Best of luck!


The Pop Quiz

1. Which of my relatives grew up at Montsalvat?

2. On what date was Gold discovered in Victoria?

3. Which native bird visited me on my deck one evening?




You can read Part One and Part Two by following these links.

Thanks for visiting and for playing the quiz with me, best of luck to you all, 

hugs,