Australia Day 2020

Australia Day 2020.

Australia Day is the offical national day of Australia.  Its celebrated annually on 26 January and it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the raising of the Flag of Great Britian at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip.
While its been 10 years since we have been back in AU to celebrate our National Day we enjoyed the day with dear friends.   Its also a day where new citizens who come to our country receive their citizenship.
In Canberra our National Capital, 29 people became Australian citizens.  They were presented their certificates by our Prime Minister, The Honable Scott Morrison.  The cermony was held on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin. This same ceremony was held all around the country in many cities and towns around the same time.

We started off with rockmellon draped with prosciutto and drisseled with a balsamic reduction, warm croissants with home made apricot jam.  A cheese platter with salami, ham, fruit and nuts.   Following this we had BBQ sausages with scrampled eggs and a peach salad.  We also had a dried tomato and blue cheese tart topped with rocket.  Sadly I forgot to take some photos of the remainder of the food.

We enjoyed champange, wine and a good time was had by all.

 A small sample of the fine wines we enjoyed.

Cheers,
Beverley and Ross 

Weather in Australia

Australia is know for its droughts, floods and fires. Whilst bush fires still rage in many parts of Australia, on Monday we experienced one of the worst hail storms we have seen in our area.  We were returning from the gym when it started to hail and rain.  We just got the car into the garage when the hail truly started to batter our home.  The wind was so strong that the haill was blown to the back of our garage before the roller door shut.  This is a view from our front door.  Visibility was very poor.

Very quickly the hail was apon us.

This is a view of the side area of our home.

 The back yard.

This was just when the hail just started.

The hail shredded all of our greenery.

 Ross's grapes took a hiding.

The rose garden also got a haircut.

As did the Holly trees.

The Olive trees lost all of their fruit.

 A few days later we experienced a dust storm.

Following all of this it was time to give our car a makeover.  Thanks to Capitol Detailing at a cost of AU $300 we have a clean car once again.

Tomorrow we celebrate Australia Day so more to follow.
Cheers,
Beverley and Ross 

New Year 2019

Debbie and John joined us for New Year dinner and we had a wonderful time mindful throughout about the dangerous bush fires raging in our country.  Debbie and John have a holiday home down the coast at Bateman's Bay which they were rightly to be worrried about as the highway down their home had been cut off for days and the fire was heading their way.  Fortunatey it was not damaged.

This photo is taken outside of our front door around 7.30 pm and the smoke was getting very thick.

 We can still see our next door neighbours roof top.

This photo was taken at 9 pm and we could not see our neighbours roof.

We ended up with smoke in our house.

Instead of having music playing we were glued to the weather channel.

Whilst in Sydney the fireworks were in full granduer.

However, in other parts of the country people were fearful for their lives and properties.

At the time of writting this blog the temperature in our area is 42C/107 F.  There is still lots of thick smoke in the air and we are seeing more people wearing masks.  There are people still missing, the death toll continues to incease with many homes destroyed, wild animals killed and thousands of hectars of land destroyed.  Towns have been wiped out and the ADF continues to work with Fire Service and several countries have come to our assistance with their Fire Fighters.  Our prayer is for the safety of all in the path of the fires and for rain.
Cheers,
Beverley and Ross 

Christmas 2019

We celebrated Christmas 2019 with our dear family. Debbi, John and their family.  It was a wonderful day.  This is what an Australian Christmas is like.  The weather is hot and there is lots of food to consume.  All home made and delicious accompanied by fine Australian wine, cider and beer.

 Debbie and Shannon busy in the kitchen.

Shannon is ready to start eating.  Its hard to see but in the middle of the table are delicious tiger prawns our contribution to the lunch.  We bought 3 kilos and they were well received served with a creamy cocktail sauce.

After the main course of ham, turkey, prawns, a variety of salads it was time for dessert.  There was trife, terramissu and plum pudding which was our contribution.

Its been 10 years since I have made a plum pudding and it takes 6 hours to cook.  Its wrapped in calico and boiled for 4 hours initially and when the calico dries it can be stored for some time.  On the day it is to be eaten it boiled for another 2 hours.

Here the plum pudding is being covered in brandy and then ignignted.

It flames up and tastes delicious.

Debbie who is a fantastic cook also does cake icing and this was part of her gift to us.  It has been many years since we enjoyed a real Christmas cake as these are not avaiable in Texas.  It was delicious.

It was a wonderful Christmas spent with dear friends, delicous food and drinks.  We are so fortunate to be part of this family.
Cheers,
Beverley and Ross 

Back Home

We arrived home on 14 th November 2019 after a long trip home from LA.

The long stop over was made more pleasant by spending time in the Delta Lounge.

We were back in time to attend the 1st birthday of Frankie, the daughter of Kayla and Dan.  The cake was delicious and made by Kala.

Dan, Kalya and Frankie.

The party was on their property and it was very dry.

We also caught up with some of folks I deployed with to Rwanda in 1994.  Some of whom I have not seen for 25 years.  It was so good to see these folks once again.  On 22 Feb 2020 we are being presented with out Mertitorious Unit Citation, in Canberra.  Hopefully many more of those we deployed with will be in attendance.

We also have our kangaroo which is a frequent visitor in our front yard.

More to follow.
Cheers,
Beverley and Ross 

Out and About in San Marcos, TX

San Marcos is a pretty town and is the home of Texas State University . It is located around a square which is similar to many smaller towns in Texas and it has an impressive Town Hall.

It's an historic area with everything fom the El Camino Real which was the trail route used when Mexico owned the territory to the Chisholm Trail which was also a cattle route in the pioneer days.

 Bricks are situated around the square witch recognise citizens whose names are  printed on them. 

There is something for everyones taste.

A nice name for a Lane.

Some of the shops around the square.

You can even get warm cookies deliverd up until 3 am.

On Saturdays they have a Farmers's Market which has lots of good looking fruit and veges.

Lots of home made cakes and many more goodies to be enjoyed.

We enjoyed brunch at the Root Cellar Cafe and Brewery which our friend William mentioned to us. Its been in exisitance for 14 years and is a market to table restaurant.  On Sundays the wait to get in is about 30 minutes and its worth the wait.

It has a cosy feeling inside.

With lots of art work on the walls.

Apart from coffee they offer a variety of mimosa's.   This is the traditional orange one.

This is a blueberry mimosa which Ross had to try.

The food was delicious.

If we get the chance we will go back for dinner.

Cheers,

Ross and Beverley