The Snow Pea Championship

 The competition was intense but it looks like Brett came out the clear winner.

His are taller and they have flowers while ours are looking emaciated by comparison.

The New Normal

 Things are changing.  Now when we emerge from our isolation into the outside world, if we see someone approaching without a mask, they are given a wide birth.

Adam's Birthday

 The pandemic has intruded on yet another of the family celebrations as Adam had his birthday yesterday.  We had to make do with a video conference and hope that the measures being taken will enable real family celebrations in the near future.

Emptying the Drawers

 When checking the supplies, Claire found a neglected bottle of morello cherries.  There was only one solution.  Mr Google suggested a sour cherry and almond torte so that became the plan.

The result looked impressive - 

and it tasted just as good.

International Cuisine

 In lockdown, experimentation is the norm. The first course you go Japanese with home designed sushi.

Then for afters, english scones.  Variety is the spice of life!

Coronial Cooking

 The viral infestation has resulted in a masssive uptick in the level of culinary experimentation being undertaken.  Lisa has been trying Dumplings.

She gets a thumbs up all round on the first attempt!

Jack In Year 8

 Jack managed to have his school photo in and around lockdowns.  A great result!

Peter and Jill's 50th

 Peter and Jill celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Monday but in this Covid riddled world, no one can visit.  The best we could do was a collage of 50 years and a presentation from the Egg Board. (Reids, Russells and Inchleys).

Morning Light

In changing weather, morning walks always come up with interesting light.

James Gets Booked

 We were finally able to produce the book we intended to mark James' eighteenth birthday.  As usual these days it had to be presented in a video conference.

Plant of the Past

 Orchids are amazing plants.  Around 1982, a colleague gave us an orchid in a pot.  It spent many years forgotten, then was put under the lemon tree at Efron St and then to the front garden.  Eventually we split it up and planted it along the drive in the new house.  It seems to be thriving.

Travel Dreaming

As we while away our time in isolation we can still dream of the travel we had intended for this time.  In preparation we are trying to make sure that when we do go, we will have good coffee.  We have the steamer covered but the expresso has been a problem.  This may be the answer.

Mitchell Gets His Book

It had been our intention to produce a "This is Your Life" book for Mitchell for his 18th birthday but in this Covid controlled world things did not go according to plan.  We finally got to produce the book and present it to him remotely using FaceTime/Zoom.  Lessons learned:

1) You can't always get what you want.

2) Better late than never!

Now For The Portcullis

The Donvale wine cellar now has a new gate,  The portcullis and moat are still works in progress.

Masks Aplenty

We are all going to have to get used to looking at each other differently!

The Mat Mangler

Our local magpie population have decided that it is time to build a nest and that our mat is an excellent source of materials.  By the time she is finished, a new mat may be required.