More bad weather baking …

At first it was just a session of Bad Weather Baking, I’ve done it before, and it’s designed to take my mind off the sound of torrential rain and the damage it does to the garden.  This time, I made a couple of jars of candied cumquats and an experimental jar of pomegranate syrup.

Candied Cumquats & Pomegranate Syrup
Candied Cumquats & Pomegranate Syrup

As I “baked” the storm raged and the rain pelted down, but I hardly noticed, so engrossed I was in the process. The idea of the Pomegranate Syrup was to use it later in some sort of dessert, but later in the evening when I realised that the rain hadn’t stopped, and that a flood was imminent, I turned to my second favourite thing to do in a storm – make exotic cocktails !

Champagne Pomegranate & Mint Cocktail
Champagne Pomegranate & Mint Cocktail

The rain continued unabated, sometime during the night our bridge went under, cutting the town in half, and spectacular waterfalls closed the Dorrigo Mountain Road.

Thankfully, although the river broke its banks, it stopped short of flooding the shops in the historic Old Butter Factory where tenants spent most of yesterday preparing for a flood.  As usual, we headlined the television news, but it does appear that this time, no serious damage was done.  Today, the sun is peeping through the clouds and the clean up starts …

A glimpse of Margaret …

Before beloved Australian artist Margaret Olley died, she requested that her home and contents be offered to the Tweed Regional Gallery. After being recorded, documented and carefully removed from her Paddington (Sydney) home an estimated 6–10,000 items were stored and later placed back in the re-creation which now forms part of the gallery.

It’s an amazingly colourful and almost indescribable collection of the inspirational objects that she used to create her paintings.

A sufferer of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder might have an immediate meltdown at the sight of this exhibition, but it’s definitely worth a detour if you are anywhere in the Tweed Valley area.

The Yellow Room

There is a great café with spectacular views of the valley and Mount Warning.  My tip would be to go on a weekday (Wed-Fri) , arrive soon after the gallery opens at 10:00am and immediately book a table with a view for lunch.  Then you have a few leisurely hours to absorb the exhibits.

View of Mount Warning from the Café
View of Mount Warning from the Café

Indoor Funghi …

We’ve had a lot of rain this year – nearly a metre, which is ironic really, after one of our driest ever Springs.  There’s mould growing on some of my clothes and shoes, on the architraves and even on the dining table.  But I really wasn’t expecting this …

This is my one and only houseplant, and as pretty as the fungal growth is, I think perhaps it’s time to switch on the de-humidifier before the house is taken over by them?

Chasing teddy bears …

I’ve been chasing a Teddy Bear Bee around the garden for weeks.  It is probably the most manic bee so far, in that it seems to spend all its time hovering and darting around the rock wall near my garage and no time collecting pollen.  Of course this can’t be true, but I’ve yet to catch it on a flower.  The result of my efforts is a collection of fuzzy bee photos … can you spot the bee in this photo?

In desperation I resorted to chasing after it with a big white plastic jar – luckily out of sight of my neighbours who would surely have thought I had lost my remaining marbles !!

So here it is, my one and only and still not quite in focus, photo of a Teddy Bear Bee. You can see the bald spot on the top of its thorax indicating that it is an “older” bee.  It’s a solitary native bee which nests in a burrow, or sometimes under houses, which could explain why I see it hanging around the garage rather than the garden.

Footnote for Manuel who thinks that strange and wonderful creatures lurk outside my door just waiting to be discovered …  I have been trying to confirm a sighting of a  Domino Cuckoo Bee for over two months.  Watch this space!