Mona Lisa

guess how this was done ..

3,604 cups of coffee which have been made into a giant Mona Lisa in Sydney Australia. Each filled with different amounts of milk and coffee to create the different shades.

Crumpets

look at all those bubbles as the yeast goes to work!!

used my various egg rings.

I always thought crumpets must be really difficult to make, but how wrong I was. Really only take a few minutes (if you don’t count the time for the yeast to rise the batter)  I am going to try making the batter in the evening and having hot buttered crumpets for breakfast next time.  Click on the recipe tab above for directions.  Why not give it a try?

straight from the pan and ready for some butter

Mornington Peninsula Meanderings

Had a great Sunday drive with the Melbourne kids. We set off for Redhill on the Mornington Peninsula.  On the way little miss twoandahalf and I sat in the back joked about wanting to go to Bluehill of Pinkhill!!!.Then when she heard her Mum say we had to take the Moorooduc Highway she said no "donald duck Highway"!!! On the way we passed some roadside sculptures.  A bit of fun, but “art” …. I am not sure??? I dreamed up my own contribution and mused upon a computer generated soft pink Fairy Floss made of spun fibreglass, on a stick about 20 metres high designed to wobble in the wind.

Desiring Machine by Simeon Nelson (above left) – resembles a fallen tree or tower and is made from galvanized steel plate. It stretches its branches 36  metres                                                                                                           Public Art Strategy (above right) by Emily Floyd  13 metre high, 19 metre long panted steel sculpture depicts a giant blackbird with a wing span of 7.5 metres, overlooking a yellow worm.                                                                              Hotel by Callum Morton (below right) –20 metres high, 12 metres long and 5 metres wide Some of its windows will be lit at night with solar power.

The entire collection cost a mere $5.5 million
Roadside distractions/attractions, constructed in the name of art?  Sarcasm apart I am beginning to like the Westgate Bridge approach to Melbourne with the giant yellow slab angled over the road. It is a pretty impressive piece although it didn't involve endless hours carefully chipping away at a slab of marble.

We live in a world of extreme contrasts. I reflect that only a few months ago I was sleeping in a very basic bamboo house on stilts in a very poor part of India.  The artists there didn’t create expensive edifices like the one above.  They produced beautiful masks depicting mythological creatures using the freely available materials of a slurry of cow dung and clay

Redhill
Well we did get to Redhill and stopped for morning tea at the Redhill Kitchen.  A very unassuming little cottage set amongst hectares of cherry trees (picking season finished…never mind).  The little sales counter boasted some delicious edibles including breads, pickles, prune tart, and a quiche like potato tart with the shortest most crunchy mouth-watering wait-line expanding pastry imaginable.     There were also some hand turned rolling pins and other hand crafted items and a few antiques on display. We sat outside under the shade of a silver birch tree alongside the charmingly overgrown vegie garden to consume our purchases. Meantime the bees were working hard on the blue comfrey flowers and the cabbage white butterflies were seeking out suitable egg sites.  All very rustic. Can’t find a web site to show you this one but here are the family looking relaxed.

Next it was time to move on for our morning coffee (iced chocolate for me) at Vines of Redhill.  Well everything about this place was superb, and if I was getting married in style this would be the location.  Great outdoor eating area overlooking the vineyard and shadowed by giant red cedars. The walkway down to the restaurant is through a very Mediterranean garden with abundant lavender bushes.  Little Miss K enjoyed sitting up in the crook of a cedar tree,,,she also enjoyed her baby cino. ( a little espresso cup filled with frothed milk, sprinkled with cocoa and served with a spoon. There is no coffee in a baby-cino. They are made to keep babies happy while their mothers are drinking coffee.)

		Flowers at Redhill VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I could have spent another happy hour in that garden but was whisked off to visit the Gordon Studio Glassblowers.  Some of the most creative glass I have ever seen.  The colours and effects were just amazing . I wasn’t permitted to photograph in the gallery but took some shots of pieces in the garden. (the web site doesn't do justice to what is on show) What a joy to find a place where fragile pieces can be left out doors without being damaged by vandals.

On the left a cheeky view through the window of the gallery where you can see a little of the splendid jug holding these hydrangea blooms.



Next port of call was Sunnybank Strawberry  Farm.  Now suddenly there were heaps of tourists, and little wonder when there were strawberries galore and wonderful strawberry deserts to be had as well strawberry wines and liqueurs. We purchased around 4 kilos of very ripe fragrant berries for only $10, and started eating them immediately with large serve of vanilla ice cream made on the premises.   I see on the website it costs $8 to pick 500gr of berries so we struck a bargain and no backache. A strawberry Sundae was $12 and this temptation had lured many customers.  I settled for a photograph of these 4 little seductresses.

Thus fortified we set of for our final stop.  The Enchanted Maze Garden.  Now this place must surely have won some tourism awards.  20 different gardens ranging from the Potager and Cedar Garden, to the Adult Maze and Succulent Garden.  Each immaculately presented.  One approaches the Garden through a 3 metre high topiary hedge, surface sculpted in many shapes.       We really enjoyed the children’s maze with delightful surprises at every turn.  I particularly loved the shady little grove of shady silver birch trees with a tiny arched bridge over a little pond.  This place has something for everyone – even teenagers were having an adrenaline rush on the tube slide set off to the far side of the park.  There were shady spots to picnic on amazingly soft green grass, hectares of natural bushland with tracks passing huge carved wooden sculptures,  also little farm petting  area with  friendly goat, sheep, ducks and chickens.  A family could easily spend several happy hours here. I was treated so I have no idea what it cost but definitely worth every cent (lol!!!)

		the Enchanted Maze Garden VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After this it was time to head home taking the road overlooking the long stretches of beach.  Somewhere to visit next time.  This was just one of the very best days sharing with the little Melbourne family…lots of memories to take back to New South Wales with me.