Family, Recipes, Travel

A SPIKY PERSONALITY

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Dad through the leaves, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Echidna hiding behind dried gum leaves, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Dylan looking into the gum trees, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Bush tea preparations, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Purple and pink leaves on the ground, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Dad taking photo of Pimelea Linifolia wildflower, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Riceflower (Pimelea Linifolia), Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Dylan jumping in the bush, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Running through the bush in Nadinoo Fleur's Penna Dress, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Foliage of Grey Everlasting (Ozothamnus obcordatus), Taradale, Victoria, Australia

In the bush wearing a black and white striped cardigan, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

The ground crackled with purple and pink gum leaves underfoot just the thing to fire Dylan’s bushman’s stove. He has become quite the expert  at making bush teas and after a hot cup we decided to hit the road. After frequent wildflower stop offs  we decided we better  get going if we were going to see Fryerstown by sunset. However a little prickly fellow  had other ideas and stopped us in our tracks by making a delightful but slow waddle across the road in front of the car. He then tried his best to camouflage himself as a spiky ball that just happened to be sitting on the side of the road, tucking his little snout out of sight. We decided it would be best to leave him alone as he obviously wanted nothing to do with us, and preferred us to move along, and the sooner the better if you please.

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Family, Travel

A WILDFLOWER FEAST

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Dad climbing the embankment to take photographs of wildflowers

Purple hardengergia climbing up a tree trunk, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Wandering through the wildflowers in Nadinoo Fleur's Penna Dress, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Lichen on dead branches, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

White fluffy wildflowers of Beard Heath, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Raspberry muffins for afternoon tea, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Fairy Wax-Flower with pink buds on the side of the road, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Watching the trees, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

At one point my dad disappeared into the bush only to reappear nimbly balancing on a steep roadside embankment taking a photo of a prize wildflower find. We must have been quite a sight to see scrambling through the bush, ducking down to take photos noses to the ground. Pretty purple hardenbergia rambled cheekily over trunks and tin cans alike.

My mum’s lovely berry muffins were a delicious sweet finish to our picnic lunch.


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Family, Recipes, Travel

FATHER’S DAY ADVENTURES

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Dad going for a bush walk, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Old glass bottle stuck onto a tree, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Prickly Wax Flower (Philotheca pungens), Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Rusted, lichen covered metal, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Pink bells (tetratheca ciliata), Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Rusted metal and purple tetratheca flowers

Dylan bush walking, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Rusted cans on the bush floor, Taradale, Victoria, Australia
Mushroom and parsley quiche, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Salad with beetroot leaves and blue borage flowers, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

Mum looking at wildflowers, Taradale, Victoria, Australia

 

Last Sunday we took my lovely parents on a day trip to the country. The last time we had gone through Taradale we drove past this little bush glade and though it would be a sweet place to have a little picnic of quiche and tea brewed in Dylan’s trusty bush buddy stove. When we stopped we hadn’t anticipated such yelps of delight from the back seat. My parents are members of the Australian Native Plants Society you see and we had inadvertently taken them to a place brimming with pretties for them to discover. It was much like a treasure hunt and the mood was contagious, I soon found myself trying to find different flowers species to report back.

On venturing deeper into the bush we found an odd assortment of burnt and rusted tin cans, shredded rags hanging from trees, old twisted straps of metal and an old vacuum cleaner. Iwas a little bit eerie and unsettling and I was glad we weren’t caught out there on a dark and stormy night.

 

Mushroom and Spinach Quiche Recipe

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Family, Travel

WINTER WILD

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Nadinoo's Fleur's Penna Dress, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Nadinoo's Fleur's Penna Dress, beautiful blue sky

Seaweed on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Gracie the Border Collie, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Playing chasey with Gracie the Border Collie, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Nadinoo's Fleur's Penna Dress and sandy feet, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Dylan relaxing, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Nadinoo's Fleur's Penna Dress and rock pools, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Shell scewered by dune grass, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Nadinoo's Fleur's Penna Dress and Gracie the Border Collie, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Gracie the Border Collie rolling in the sand, on the beach in the Otways, Australia

Nadinoo's Fleur's Penna Dress, amongst the rock pools on the beach in the Otways, Australia

 

Sunday the rain held off until the drive home. Made bold by the prospect of new Nadinoo dressness I shed winter’s coat and boots to frolick on the beach.  But no one celebrated winter’s end quite like Gracie dog.

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