Berala Patch

Sunday Update

Sorry to say, but NO FISHING again this Sunday, as the skipper says that all the repairs have been carried out, BUT he had not been able to get the inspector to inspect the boat, to verify that all the required repairs had been carried out.

On Friday night, again I came away without a prize from the weekly Raffle. So I'm including three photos of a variety of TOMATOE called "Ox Heart" growing in my garden at different stages of their growth, as you can see they started as young seedlings, and now they have number of fair size tomatoes.

But as the saying goes," Every cloud has a silver lining". Today is the start of daylight saving, and it is raining meaning that I did not have to get up early. Going to bed at the old time and getting up at the new time, meaning one hour of less sleep. It would have been a wet day out on the boat anyway, but it is a good day for the garden, as we still need a lot of rain!

Gardener on excursion

Today, Sunday 23rd October, my youngest son who is a teacher thought it would be a good idea if I went on an excursion to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney to see some different techniques that other "Gardeners" use. After some discussions as to which train we should catch, we caught a fast train into Circular Quay and walked across to the gardens. On the way we stopped to get some pictures of the famous sights. (That’s the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the left and below is the Opera House.)

The main purpose of our visit was to see the exhibition of "Wollemi pines" which were to be auctioned later that afternoon. The Wollemi Pines were thought to be extinct. Click here to find out more. (I know you want to.)

Unfortunately the "Berala Patch" is not large enough to place one of the trees so we decided not to wait for the auction. This was a lucky decision as one group of 15 sold for $120,000 Dollars.

Anyway, that’s all for today. You can click the pictures to enlarge them and don’t forget to leave a comment.

Dahlias from USA

There you are, if it does not work the first time, try again.
I'll be planting my dahlia bulbs sometime in the next few weeks,
but I'm getting short of space to plant things.
I like your flowers, and also the picture on the wall!
Keep the good work up.
Regards
Joe

Flowers Reach Across the World

Today I'm posting for you, Frank's Dahlias from the USA and some of the Gardener's own Cactus plants, the way they were some 6 or 7 weeks back and how they are now.
And also Natasha with a special Scarf.

Frank and Aileen,I'll try and the Dahlias on by themselves, as the picture would not go on!
Maybe I tried to put too many pictures.
Still learning.

The Life Cycle of Broad Beans

From plant to the table

Ricotta Pie

Some of the ingredients used to make the Ricotta Pie. Ricotta cheese,Peas,2 Eggs, Sugar and 2 sheets of pre rolled Pastry.

After mixing the ricotta with the eggs and the sugar and peas,placed the lot on one of the pastry sheets and placed the second sheet on top and sealed the edges.,then placed in an hot oven (175 degrees ) and baked for 45 minutes.

As the oven was already on, I also baked an "Eye fillet together with potatoes, onions,and pumpkin-Quite tasty!

Shoes 4 You

Which ones would you like ?

Sardinian Lunch

A get together lunch for some of the Sardinians living in Sydney.

The food was good, as was the wine and the company, but unfortunately cannot say the same about the photos! But at least the nice looking people are visible.

See you all on the next Blog

CHEERS

Home cooking

This is a Southern Italian recipe made up of mince meat, bread

crumbs, eggs, pepper, salt,parmisan cheese and parsley. Polpetti (Meat balls) can be served either hot or cold and can be incorporated in a Salsa (Sauce) to be used as condiment on pasta or consumed on their own.

For 1 Kg. of mince meat,you'll need 2 eggs, approximatelly 10 slices of day old bread,with crust removed,soaked in water( squeeze excess water ) mix all the ingredients together,to form a fairly firm
mixture,(dry bread crumbs can be added) if mixture is too soft. Place a spoonful of mixture in the palm of your hand and shape it to your liking,place them in a tray and placed in your refrigirator for 10 or 15 minutes (they'll be easier to handle) put 4 or 5 tablespoons full of oil in a frying pan, and cook the Polpetti, turning them over a few times,so that they cook evenly,put a couple sheets of kitchen paper,in a dish (to drain excess oil) and then put the cooked Polpetti in it. If preferred the Polpetti can be further cooked in Salsa to absorb its flavour, and then used as condiment on a pasta dish or used as a second course on its own.

Cooking Free Friday

Two of my grandaughters came to visit me this afternoon, but only Kirsten asked to have her picture taken, Natasha was too busy watching television!

Also went to the Club, and had dinner there, whilst waiting for the drawing of the raffle to start,
had a little bit of luck...I got one prize, not a great one, but it was a prize nevertheless! An "Eggs & Bacon" tray with some sausages included! All I'll have to do now, is finding someone that likes Eggs and Bacon. 'Till the next episode. Have a great week.
The Gardener

More Flowers

Just a few more flowers to look at.
The Mango tree in bloom,a Cactus with flower and a shot of the front garden
I'll try and get more material to publish next week!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to CECILIA! Only TWENTY ONE ! Have a nice DAY.