Bananas at Last

When I came home from the supermarket with bananas, my daughter said, "we must be rich, we have bananas".

It's felt like that this year, hasn't it, with bananas often $13-$15 a kilo since the cyclones last summer.  Like most Australians, I suspect, we had gone many months without bananas prior to this recent splurge.

My brother, who moved to Sweden mid-year bought Chilean bananas at $1.95 per kilo and wrote on his Facebook page, "Finally, affordable bananas."

While I am overall opposed to the importation of fruit we Aussies can grow ourselves, I'm not clear why we protect the banana industry when we don't, for instance, protect the apple industry against cheaper imports.

Thankfully, prices are now dropping and should hopefully be normal in the next month or two - that is, until the next cyclone season.

Spring Roses

Freshly cut; waiting to go into the house.

Magical Mystery Birthday Tour

Yesterday was my birthday, a birthday filled with surprises.

For weeks my husband had told me that we were going out somewhere on the day, but he wouldn't say where.  He said he wasn't going to buy me a present in advance, because there would be things to buy when we arrived at our destination.

As we drove up Main North Road I quickly worked out that we were heading for the Barossa Valley, although I didn't know which part.  Eventually, the sign for "The Pheasant Farm" gave the game away - we were having lunch at Maggie Beer's famous Pheasant Farm!

 This was a most wonderful surprise as I have been a fan of Maggie Beer for years.  I thoroughly enjoyed my game terrine and the post-lunch walk around the lake.

After lunch, B told the kids that today was Mum's day and that our next activity was to go antiquing (their idea of torture).  I had a lovely time wandering through a number of antique shops in the little Barossa towns we passed through.  We also visited the Barossa Museum at Tanunda, full of fascinating artifacts from the early German settlers.

Throughout the day the sun shone gently on us as we passed vineyard after vineyard, the leaves newly emerging on the grapevines.  In the orchards the stone-fruit and apple trees were in blossom or had delicate, new leaves.  The entire landscape was green and lush after the winter rains.

Some birthdays pass by uneventfully, but this one was one I will never forget.