'Smoker' up the backyard ...

After a lot of research, thought and work, from an old wardrobe to a trendy smokehouse, Dave has fashioned this beauty.

 Intended to mainly smoke excess fish, it also serves to smoke other meats such as chicken, hams, venison or maybe eel. The first experimental dish was a chicken and it was smoked to perfection – it was soaked in a brine overnight and smoked in a mix of sawdust infused with star of anise and cinnamon sticks.

The arrangement under the smoker is just a temporary, experimental setup. It turns out that the boxes under the legs hold it at the correct height - So something more appropriate and permanent will installed - It'll eventually look a lot tidier...........

There's a gas ring arranged to heat an old wok full of sawdust (this produces the smoke) The wok is capped, or covered, by an old cut down twelve gallon drum (to contain the smoke) then a chimney from the drum directs the smoke into the wardrobe  - and (eventually) smokes whatever tucker is in there.....

Slots for the shelves on are one side of the wardrobe. The other side is the 'hanging' side of the wardrobe. The smoke migrates through to that side so I can probably hang stuff in there if I want to smoke something a little larger - God know's how long it'd take tho' - The chook took about ten hours!!

Half a chicken done in the smoker - The other half had been demolished by this time - It turned out really well and I'm encouraged - Tasted lots better than it looks.

Backyard bounty ...

Bananas ... beautiful fruit. Currently we have 4 bunches in the making and many stems at varying stages of growth. We began with two plants, courtesy of the Sherestons and with lots of loving attention from Dave and with regular doses of urea they have responded accordingly. Our last crop has been dried for a camping trip. 

Potatoes are also being harvested and we are getting good returns, roughly a kilo of spuds per plant.  The rhubarb plant is also providing some great breakfast meals.

Our chicks ... crested pigeons Ocyphaps lophotes

The chicks were discovered when Dave heard something fluttering over in the Lillipilli trees... lo and behold a pair of them.  Obviously they'd been there for a while cause they were beginning to exercise their wings.

Nesting chicks

The next day I checked on them and they had progressed considerably, moving from the nest to above but still unable to fly.  However, I suspect we'll experience another 'empty nest' soon!

Elaine, the birthday gal!

L-R Jean, Elaine, Judes and Evelyn

Tuesday was a cold rainy evening in Gympie but Raffinatis Restaurant was the place we joined Elaine in a lovely birthday meal. She was celebrating an amazing seventy years on this planet so it was a special occasion. Elaine's secret to looking so good is to 'carry on exercising' – Elaine's list of activities would make an 18 year old tired just thinking about them. This occasion, attended by Judes, Evelyn, Elaine and myself was the first in many other celebratory nights for Elaine, her family and her many friends. Good on you Elly!

Perth Visit - 22 – 29 June 2012 - Angel's birthday

It had been ages since I visited relatives over in Western Australia (Darryn and Tuyen's wedding in 2008) so I decided to fly over for Angel's (grand daughter) 2^nd birthday.

It was lovely catching up with family and friends – Mother Peters, Myvanwy and Shane as well. I stayed at Darryn's place for most of the time and was spoilt with some of Tuyen's superb Vietnamese meals. Angel was a great source of entertainment, she was very active, very talkative and very much the centre of attention. ... quite delightful but a bit wary of me. I was lucky enough to watch the two boys Kyle and Marc play their weekly games of rugby. Marc managed to score a try in his game. Kyle played a very good supporting role in his game, a smaller prop but equally as effective as the larger lads.

 

Mother Peters has been battling a bone infection in her leg for a while and when I caught up with her she was sporting a very cumbersome external frame around the affected area. It's very heavy and uncomfortable and quite painful when bearing weight. Anyway she was great company for the couple of evenings I spent at her unit ... we indulged in a couple of vinos too!

 Mother in her contraption!

Also whilst over there I met up with an old friend from over 55 years ago (our families were neighbours in Mangamuka). I discovered Urlys was living in Bunbury about a month before I went to visit so we managed to coordinate a short reunion. We met up in Mandurah over coffee reminiscing, refreshing memories and catching up on one anothers current situations. It was beaut to reacquaint with Urlys again.

Anyway the main aim of the visit was to celebrate Angels birthday and she did so in style. Not one party but two – the Sunday night was for all the relies at a lovely Vietnamese restaurant. On her actual birthday Wednesday 27 June, the family and I went to another restaurant for a steamboat meal. There were lots of different ingredients I sampled for the first time ... various mushrooms, different tofu, even some different offal and some amazing seafood. It was a smorgasbord of culinary delights and thanks to Candy (a cousin) she dished up reasonable portions for a novice.

It was a happy birthday Angel.

Princess and her Dad

Family shot

Tasting the cake!

The sparkler!

 Some interesting ingredients in the steamboat ....

Angel and Tuyen