MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

A label from a delicious chicken from Brittany, October 2011 (taken by the author) I am having a day in which I am missing Europe. Particularly France and Switzerland.   For the past five years I have visited a friend there and the visit itself, the expectation of it, and the time spent reminiscing about it once I returned, have defined how each year evolved.  The coast of Brittany (photo the author October 2011) I miss the planning of airline schedules, accommodation bookings, hire car reservations…and clothes packing.    For many people, these things are tedious and worthy of immediate memory rejection.    But for me they were the cornerstones of my anticipation...of looking forward to sharing time with my friend and my enjoyment in experiencing other cultures, cuisines, fashion trends, languages, and even the weather. My visit in October last year included days in Paris but we had chosen to spend the majority of our time in Brittany......

You Have to Be Taught... “You've got to be taught to hate and fear,  You've got to be taught from year to year,  It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made  And people whose skin is a different shade You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught before it's too late  Before you are six or seven or eight To hate all the people your relatives hate You've got to be carefully taught” (Rogers and Hammerstein) I wrote about immigration in Australia and The White Australia Policy   recently   and it has been interesting to receive feedback...and to reread my emails following the Census release this week. When I was a child of 7 my father, as an exchange naval officer, attended   Fort Queenscliff Army Staff Colle ge .   It was a magicial time.  One of open eyes for a young child, wit...

The Birthday Invitation It has been a frantic family week with a birthday party, an engagement and a funeral. Last weekend I hosted my daughter's 30th birthday celebrations.  She and her partner flew in from Sydney to Perth for the long weekend, to catch up with our family and her friends, and to party on Saturday night.  The theme of the party was  taken from the invitation which she sent...Art Deco'ish in style. I researched about the music, cocktails, food and floral arrangements of the period...it was great fun, and quite enlightening. The color theme of the period was typically black, white, silver and red so those colours featured in the table linen, the vases, and the flowers. A decorated table The cocktails were made by my son from lists of typical cocktails...and he chose The Brooklyn and The Sidecar.  They were delicious but lethally alcoholic and so I restricted myself to one cocktail and then enjoyed the French champagne provided by...

The Moore River, Guilderton...it flows into the Indian Ocean Ruby exploring among the vines Last weekend was spent with my son at my beach house at Guilderton.  The late autumn is a wonderful time of the year;  the countryside is slowly turning from burnished beige to tentative green;  the vine leaves are dropping;  the  summer wind has gone somewhere else to wreak it’s fury;  the sun is gentle but persistent after about mid morning;  and the chilly awakenings are conducive to enveloping clothes and warming cups of tea and coffee.   The part of me which almost continually thinks about things culinary turns to slow cooked meals, dredging up recipes from past and also recent European adventures . St Luke's Anglican Church, Gingin, 1860 We went exploring in the region of Gingin.  There is a wonderful old church in the town, or at least old by Australian standards! We took the dogs for a walk through the ...