April Randoms

Hi everyone, it has been a few weeks since I last posted and it seems like life has been speeding up for me during April, and doesn't look like slowing down over the next three or four weeks. There has been beautiful sunny days but with a slight chill in the early morning and late afternoon air as Autumn comes on us in the south west of Western Australia. Perfect for getting out and about.

Before the busyness descended on us we went camping and bush walking for a couple of days at Potter's Gorge at Wellington Dam near Collie. It is a WA Department of Parks and Wildlife campsite. So peaceful, especially if you go early in the week (not school holidays or public holidays). Autumn and spring are the best time for bush walking. More about Potter's Gorge in a future post.

A couple of weekends ago visited my sister and her family in the wheatbelt, where they have started seeding their grain crops.

 And visited the resting places of my mother and father, and a quiet country church

On our last night we enjoyed the yabbie catch fresh from their farm dam.

On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon the first weekend in April we enjoyed the Ferguson Valley Music Trail presented by Philharmonic South West. We watched their performance at Green Door Winery along with lunch and wine tasting. Nicole and Susie from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company joined in their piece Boccherini's Fandanco for Guitar, Strings and Castanets. 
A perfect way to spend a sunny autumn afternoon.

Over the last month or so I've been experimenting with eco-dyeing with Australian eucalypt leaves inspired by my friend Jane Flower from Folios and Fibre. I am starting to get some good results. So exciting when you unwrap the bundle after a couple of weeks "curing" and see this!  I'm sure there will be more of this as time goes by.  These are printed on silk scarves.

Six things you should know about eucalypts

 We also were invited out to a friend's vineyard in the Ferguson Valley to pick olives last weekend. This is a first for us. So now the long processing begins. Wish us luck! Does anyone have a good recipe with the "preserving" after the salt and water process?

 In between all this I am reading Stories from a Suburban Road by T.A.G. Hungerford. Stories from his childhood in the 1920s-1930s in semi-rural South Perth. I am really enjoying the read, as my parents lived in South Perth for about 40 years and it certainly wasn't semi-rural with bush, gravel roads, and cows and horses in suburban blocks!

 He mentions buying vegetables from the Chinese Gardens and here is a pic I found on the net at Picture South Perth collection

 That is Perth city you can see dimly in the background on the other side of the Swan River.












Especially I am grateful for precious time spent this Easter weekend with family, and the welcoming of my sister's first grand-daughter. After three sons and three grandsons for her and two sons and two grandsons for me, it's a girl! 
 

How is your April shaping up? Perhaps you'd like to tell us about it in your comments. 
I hope those of you who celebrate have had a very happy Easter. And for all I wish for peace in the world. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday  
Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
The Weekly Postcard 

Grapes are not just for wine

We are blessed to live in a Mediterranean climate in the stunningly beautiful South West corner of Western Australia, and not far from three prime vineyard, grape growing, and premium wine making areas - Geographe, Margaret River and Pemberton. 

According to my preserves book, Australia's Home Made Jams & Preserves, compiled by CSR -  The history of grape growing in Australia goes back to 1791 when Governor Phillip (Australia's first Governor who lead the First Fleet to Australia in 1788) provided grape cuttings and granted 140 acres of land on the north bank of the Parramatta River at the farming settlement of Rose Hill (as Parramatta was then called) in New South Wales to Phillip Schaffer who started what must have been one of the first vineyards in Australia.  Ten years later, two Frenchmen also began producing wine at Parramatta and the Australian wine industry began. 

For as along as I can remember my family have always had a grape vine in their backyard. When my mother and father moved to live in a retirement village nearer to us, I brought a piece of their vine with me. My son also took cuttings to grow in his garden. You can see our grape vine in this picture. We put net over it to keep out the birds, however they still seem to find a way in!

A few months after Mum and Dad were married Dad became Depot Supervisor with the Vacuum Oil Co at Goomalling (a country wheatbelt town in Western Australia). They moved there on 15^th February, 1952. In the backyard of their rented house there was a grape vine with grapes hanging on it. Dad went to the store and bought a preserving pan and they made their first grape jam. Ever since, up until they moved to our town, they have had a grape vine in their back yard and made grape jam every year in that same preserving pan.  

 Dad still makes grape jam. In fact he made some this weekend from grapes which came from the vine in my yard.

Here are some stages of the grapes. 

My son and I carry on our family's grape jam making tradition. I fact, surprisingly, considering we live in a grape growing region, I have never seen grape jam anywhere else! Perhaps it is the huge job of taking out the seeds that is the problem! But I think the result is worth it.

The basic recipe is half the amount of sugar to weight of grapes. We always pluck the grapes off the bunches the night before, weigh them and put them in the pan ready to cook the next morning. Squish up the grapes with your hands to let the juice out. (I have great memories of helping to do this as a child out on our back patio. I loved the squishy feeling of the grapes between my fingers)
You don't need any water as there is plenty of juice. I usually throw in a couple of halved lemons and take them out later, as the pectin in the lemon peel helps the jam set. Cook the grapes for about an hour before adding the sugar. The seeds will rise to the top during cooking, and you will need to scoop them out. A seedless grape would probably make great jam as the seed removing is a huge job!

The scones you see in the bottom photo where made with unprocessed ground wheat flour straight from my brother-in-law and nephews farm at Bruce Rock.  The jam jar with the brown lid is a special jar with unusual cut sides. My mother gave me this jar and I always use it for grape jam. 

When I was a child and Mum was making pastry for a pie if there was any left she would roll it out in a rough shape, bake it and then spread jam on it. I still do this - I guess it is one of those childhood memories I hold on to. I am sure we all have memories we cherish from our childhood.

 

The last few weeks I have been doing a Lightroom e-course with Kim Klassen. Below you can see some different versions of the scones. I rather like the bottom right hand one - sort of an antique rustic country look.

 When the autumn comes I still enjoy photographing my grape vine.

To close, a little quote from Ruth Tearle.

 Do you make jam? Have you ever tasted grape jam?
Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to hearing from you.Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up with  Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. And also Our World Tuesday  
Please click on the links to see the offerings of contributors from around the world.

To learn more about some of Western Australia's wine growing regions you can visit the websites of the Geograph, Margaret River, and Pemberton wine regions.

You can also learn more about the Geographe wine region at Jo Castro's fabulous Western Australian travel and lifestyle blog - Zig-a-Zag -  click on the link here - Wineries in the Geographe Wine Region 

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