Meredith Visits Tanunda

We were delighted to have our daughter Meredith visit us recently for a fortnight while she had some dental work and laser treatment for her eyes.

The laser treatment couldn't be done at Alice Springs, so it was an excellent opportunity for us to get together.

Dental work is much cheaper in the Barossa than at Alice Springs.

Meredith flew down this time instead of driving the 15-hour journey and her dog Max had to remain at home.

Although we were busy driving between Adelaide and Tanunda for several trips, we also had time to shop until I dropped and had a few decent meals at lovely restaurants including the nearby Chocolate Factory. (The meal contained no chocolate!) It's a bit like Monkey Mia Resort in Western Australia - there's not a monkey to be seen anywhere.

After we picked up Meredith at the Adelaide Airport, it was lunch time, so we visited one of her favourites, Fasta Pasta at Gawler enroute to Tanunda which is where I took this photo of two of the three most important women in my life.

We got to Fasta Pasta at 6 pm just after the doors opened and bought some food to take home with us.

Meredith also cooked a few meals using our Thermomix while staying with us and we swapped recipes.

Meredith's birthday is on 1 September and Father's Day on 3 September, so we had joint early celebrations for both which was nice. For many years I stated that Meredith was my Father's Day present.

Meredith bought me a fragrance called Paco Robanne for Father's Day as well as a swag of lollies I could well do without. We bought her a couple of pairs of jeans and a few other things.

Shops at Tanunda and Adelaide are beginning to bring out their Christmas products which I thought was a bit early since it's only Spring this coming weekend and Christmas Day is four months away. The next time we see Dale, Meredith, grandson Tory and Max will probably be around that time if we can get together.

Tory is due to have his "Capstone" tests in December and if he passes, will be a qualified electrician. Despite my many years as an educator, I had never heard of the term in relation to education or training. Whatever it's called, it will be wonderful to see him pick up his piece of paper and be able to register in the trade.

I could have done an electrical apprenticeship at Peko Mine when I left school, but my father, who was Chief Engineer of the mine said I wasn't smart enough; well, he didn't say it in so many words, but that was the nub of it. So, I spent three years of a boilermaking/welding apprenticeship and I must say, I enjoyed being able to fabricate metal products and repair underground equipment that had been damaged. Such is life. It tends to lead us where we need to go.

Stay well.

Robin

About time for an update

Robin's recent selfie

The last two years have been the least travelled of our lives (I think), if not, certainly of our later lives during which we have done a great deal of travel.

We have been keeping a low profile and neither of us has had the annoying and disruptive C19 bug but during the last couple of weeks we have had annoying coughs that have been harder than usual to shake off. Maybe it's something to do with age and the depleted immunity one suffers as one ages. 

We've both had four C19 innoculations and our annual Flu shot, but the cough still persists. Such is life.

Otherwise, Christina is heavily involved in craft and keeps busy travelling to and from this or that craft spot. I can never recall if it's embroidery, quilting, knitting, or something else. She's also treasurer of the Tanunda RSL sub-branch which provides a half day or so of financial processing most weeks. Then there are the barbecues and fundraising activities in which we are both involved, so it's not that we get bored - I often wonder how I had time to work - but we spend too much time at home and locally and not out and about our beautiful country.

My life is less busy but I do attend a Men's Shed Thursdays where I turn beautiful pieces of timber into ... other things, sometimes less beautiful. But I am improving. As you'd expect from an ex-training and education guru, I'm teaching myself to do stuff with wood using all the new tools that were never part of my existence all those decades ago when I welded underground machinery together at Peko Mine. And of course, I employ competency-based training methodologies. (Yes, my memory is still intact)

When I watch Anika on YouTube or read her Anikasdiylife blog and see what she's capable of, I wonder why it takes me 12 attempts to join two pieces of pine together with the same degree of accuracy she achieves. What makes it even more frightening is that she is a qualified electrical engineer, the farthest thing you could imagine from a wood butcher worker. She's brilliant.

Then there is the very attractive Korean girl Yang who, without saying a word, produces lovely pieces while incidentally displaying her stunning figure and providing a little entertainment. She's a true artisan and I hope she's a qualified tradesperson, otherwise she's a much more gifted amateur than you know who,

Other than the woodwork, I'm also heavily involved with the RSL Tanunda Sub-Branch as a committee member responsible for membership, grant applications and management, running the internet, being a barman, and doing a range of other things from picking up our Friday evening meals to vacuuming the floors of our hut. It's the usual 80/20 situation; 80% of members do nothing and the rest do everything.

Having said that however, Christina and I are among the younger people in the group. We have a WWII Founding Member of the sub-branch turning 100 years old in August 22. Many others are in their mid-late 80s or 90s, so we can't expect them to do too much of the heavy lifting. Our youngest veteran is 58 and has just retired from the Australian Army.

Unfortunately, younger veterans from the Middle East wars aren't joining the RSL so eventually our organisation looks like it will fizzle out.

As was to be expected with the Sun currently in one of its very low activity cycles - Solar Cycle 25, it is a colder than usual winter here in South Australia and we've also had an inordinate amount of rain on a too regular schedule. One positive is that we've been able to pull out some pullovers and jackets we've had for decades but never needed.  I think we are beginning to climatize after four years plus in the Barossa Valley.

Next year we have two Princess Cruises scheduled which are replacements for the 2020 trip we had planned up the Alaskan Passage that was cancelled when C19 became a pandemic. Before then, we'll probably take a trip to Alice Springs in November for grandson Tory's 21st birthday and may do a few trips to some local places just for three or four days.

Son Dale is commencing a new job at the Alice Springs Hospital in late August and is taking two weeks off, so we hope he'll visit us for the first time since we moved here. He's getting a second Cochlear implant sometime either late this year or next year but due to the C19 demands on the Darwin Hospital, elective surgery has been put on hold.

Meredith and Tory both seem okay and we hear from the former several times per week with updates on what is happening in their lives.

To conclude, we are all well and living the dream and forever mindful of the fact that despite the many people trying to destroy our history and corrupt our civilisation, Australia is still a great place to be.

Stay well.

Robin

Our 49th Anniversary Lunch

Robin and Christina - 18 Feb 22

When 49 years have passed and you've lived with the one person for all of those years, it's time to have a celebratory lunch.  There's no point buying a present because both of us have everything that shines, opens, shuts, buzzes and rings. Every previous birthday, mother or father's day and, Christmas has seen to that.

There's only so much bling one can have in one lifetime. Unlike many billionaires and other over-wealthy people who can find a reason to buy a couple of airplanes, a few launches, several houses and dozens of cars, we only need one house and one car. We're simple people.

So, the only thing to do is have lunch and perhaps reminisce about all the lunches one has shared during those many years, many at much lesser venues. Think Mcdonalds!

We did that today, the day after our anniversary by heading to the Monkey Nut Cafe at Kries Wines, Lyndoch, not far from Tanunda in the Barossa Valley.

Christina chose a Drunken Chicken meal (?) and I had a Salt and Pepper Squid and a glass of delightful Kries shiraz, labelled as a "Soft Wine" on their drinks menu. Both meals had plenty of food and the time it took to get served after we ordered pleasantly surprised us.

The venue has excellent ambiance as you can see from a couple of photos below and is well set out with both inside and outside seating available.

You can arrange a wine tasting before or after a meal, or simply do a tasting without eating. Several people who attended at the same time as us obviously did a tasting and bought a few bottles of Kries wine.

The Barossa Valley has around 72 wineries, many with restaurants, so there's plenty to choose from here. We decided we'll probably do one a month just to see what's out there and then when friends visit, we'll know the best places to take them.

I rarely do any tastings, usually because I don't imbibe during the day (except on rare special occasions) and I don't drink and drive. Christina doesn't drink alcohol and is always happy to drive, but wine tasting alone during the day doesn't appeal to me, so I don't do it and I don't want to rely too much on Christina.

When daughter Meredith visited over the Christmas-New Year period, I drove and she tasted at a few different places including a gin distillery. It's always lovely to spend time with our daughter.

Occasionally, I buy a couple of bottles of red wine without tasting because I know that the quality of wine produced here is excellent. You won't get a bad drop of wine here.

The truth is, I'm more interested in the architecture, surrounding gardens, and character of the wineries than the wine. Some of the wineries are hundreds of years old constructed from stone with beautiful polished hard wood and blacksmith shaped metal fixtures such as gates and door fitments.

Wineries that have been built more recently or consist of old and new are also fascinating. Some of the architecture and landscaping is excellent as is that at Barossa Valley Estate as you can see from a few photos on their site.

Next year of course will be our 50th anniversary - half a century of happily married bliss. For our 50th, we plan to have a much larger celebration with some of our friends and hopefully our son, daughter and grandson.

Keep on keeping on.

Robin

for both of us

Meredith Visits for Christmas

Meredith and me at Rehn Bier

Meredith drove off at 5:30 am for the 15 hour drive back to Alice Springs after visiting us for a week or so during Christmas.

Max, the camouflage dog came with her and had a couple of nice walks in Tanunda between being spoiled with special foods and plenty of attention from Pop and Nana.

As usual, he had to be drugged to cope with the trip but after worrying all day - as parents do - both arrived home safely at 10 pm and we were relieved.

During her stay Meredith shopped until WE dropped. She's 30 years younger than us and therefore much more energetic and resilient. Not only that, living at Alice Springs, she's deprived of the variety of shopping we have in nearby Adelaide and Ti Tree.

I have a psychological distaste for shopping; I like to know what I want, go get it and come home. None of this swanning around. However, being the great parent I am, I stuck it out although towards the end, I waited in the car listening to music while Christina and Meredith shopped on.

Meredith also likes fine wines - especially sparkling wines and what better place than the wine capital of Australia to do some wine tasting?

We drove to Rockford Winery, 1847 Chateau Yaldara Wines, and Saltrams and gave the other 69 a miss on this occasion. At Yaldara we visited the Vintage Chef Company cafe for lunch which gave Meredith a 20% discount on her purchase.

As "Bob", I resisted the temptation to imbibe so we could get home safely but that was fine, I rarely drink before 5 pm anyway.

Meredith tasting a sparkling white

The old vineyards and wineries are worth visiting if for no other reason than to view the beautiful buildings, wooden furniture and surrounds.

Gardens are well developed and gorgeous in the case of 1847 Chateau Yaldara having had 173 years to be established.

The buildings are largely constructed from bricks or rocks plucked from nearby fields. They'll all be standing well after we're gone.

We also visited Rehn Bier on her last night and each bought a carton of mixed beers. Rehn Bier is conveniently located 200 m from our house and I've become friends with the owners and staff as I visit every so often - but not that often.

Unfortunately, this year, son Dale wasn't able to visit as he had work commitments and grandson Tory decided at the last minute to stay at home.

We had a pleasant Christmas Day lunch with smaller amounts of food than usual, but still sufficient. With only the three of us and Meredith being a vegetarian, there was little point cooking up a whole restaurant full of food.

Next year we plan go all go somewhere together for a family Christmas.

Stay well.

Robin

Barossa Valley - Blessing of the Vines

Barons at the rotunda address the crowd

According to the Barons of Barossa,

"Every year on the third Sunday of February, the Barons come together in Tanunda and declare the vintage. The first picked grapes are blessed in the historic Tabor Church, paraded along the main street and crushed and the juice sampled at Keil Garden. The Winemaker and Vigneron of the Year are also announced."

Christina and I attended Keil Garden to watch the proceedings and taste the grape juice.

Example plaque

On this day, new Barons are appointed by their peers. Two were selected for 2019 and awarded a ribbon with medallion. These are people chosen because of their inordinate contribution to the wine industry. When a Baron dies, a plaque is placed on the footpath lining the Keil Garden.

Needless to say, you need to do much more than just imbibe on wine to make the grade.



Strangely, the National Anthem wasn't played by the band, but the presentations took place, the two recipients of the awards then used an old wine press to press two baskets of grapes into a barrel - see photo.

Some lovely wine maidens from the local Faith Lutheran College then decanted the grape juice and presented anyone wanting to taste it with a sample.

It was very sweet and I commented that it was good enough as it was without the alcohol.

Everyone present seemed to enjoy themselves and it was just another example of the numerous festivals and other events that happen here. It really is a lovely part of Australia.

Robin

Settling in to Our New House

Concrete block laid for pergola

We've been in our new house three weeks and are still unpacking.

There's no hurry as both of us have all the time in the world now that we are retired.

We've had to buy some metal shelving from Bunnings and other shelving from Ikea in which to store our seeming oversupply of "stuff". (Where the hell did we get it all?)

Each day we go through a few boxes and have a charity box into which we put things we no longer wish to keep. The rest go into our shelving or get moved from table to desk to floor or somewhere until we work out where to put it.

We are waiting for delivery of a wall unit into which some of our heritage crockery will go. At present, it takes up space on an old coffee table.

Two of four Bunnings metal shelves 

 We've had a concrete slab 5.5m by 3.0m laid adjacent to the back verandah which one day will have a pavillion roof, table and chairs and a barbecue in-situ.

Hedge trees are to be placed at our rear fence providing privacy from the main road towards the pergola, but we still hope to be able to sit outside drinking wine and watching the many parades that apparently travel along Murray Street to or from Nuriootpa.

Part of the garden will have lawn and at each side of the pergola we plan to put pot plants with daisies or other annuals to pretty the place up. But not today.

Ikea shelving

Today we continue unpacking and finding places to put stuff.

Christina's "Sewing Room", which I prefer to call OUR "Multifunction Room" will be adorned with two new Horn cabinets by end of the day if they are delivered as promised. One will support her sewing machine and have a gas lift so the machine can be lowered below desk level when not in use and the other is for an overlocker.

Every day we make a little progress. One day hopefully, we'll wake up in the morning and think, 'What will I do today?' and not have to entertain the idea of unpacking and storing.

Then there will be time to visit one of the 72 vineyards, or perhaps do some volunteer work helping others. There's plenty to see and do here and we are just beginning the journey.

Robin

Our Last House

New house - Garden will appear front left square

Two years ago we sold our house at Alice Springs. It was a lovely, comfortable house with four bedrooms, a spacious multi-purpose room and outdoor area, and a large garden. It needed painting and new carpets and some work done on the garden, but we were fortunate enough to sell it without having to do all that.

The new owners were happy to do the painting and lay carpets and also wanted a swimming pool, so we negotiated a price adjustment and placed our goods in storage while we waited for a new house to be built at Nuriootpa, South Australia.

It suited us well. We planned to do some travel overseas and in Australia while our new abode was being built. Unfortunately, the house we had in mind wasn't going to be completed until late 2018 after an earlier estimate of Christmas 2017. We were disappointed, so we decided to make alternative arrangements.

Now, we have paid a deposit on a newly completed house at Tanunda, South Australia, only six kilometres from Nuriootpa and also close to Angaston. The three towns form the centre of the Barossa Valley which many of you will know is one of Australia's largest wine producing regions.

Our new house is conjointly owned by the Barossa Village, a retirement village organisation that provides three levels of aged care; independent living, home care and residential care.

The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms (both roomy), a one car garage, and a combined kitchen, lounge dining room. We would have liked a two car garage, but none was available. Such is life.

By Australia Day (26th January 2018) we hope to be settled in but will probably still be unpacking our personal effects as they will be delivered the day before.

We are getting excited as the days pass.

Robin