Are We There Yet?

The lead-in to the silly season begins here. We don't really do it in a huge way, but I do like the trimmings - the tree and the food. For some reason red and green seem festively-themed, so here is meal number one: roast beef with jalapeno dressing served with radish and edamame salad with horseradish sour cream.  

Roast beef with jalapeno dressing 

Radish and edamame salad with horseradish sour cream

Meal number two is also rocking the red and green theme.

Spicy Thai-style red curry chicken and noodle soup

 

On the morning of Him Outdoors' birthday, we went for a walk around a new-ish track, the Ian Loiterton Track. Named in honour of Ian Loiterton (surprise!), the walk features information boards which explain the history, flora and fauna, and geology of the land. Ian Loiterton majored in geology for his BSc degree at the Australian National University.

Another information board tells us that the first European settlement of Aranda Bushland was in the mid-nineteenth century, when Francis Mowatt was granted land here, in the distyrict known as Weetangera. There was never a homestead in this area, the nearest being at the foot of Mount Painter. Cattle and sheep were grazed, and several old fence posts are still visible on this walk, as well as two farm dams and a low stone wall, probably built to control erosion.

Finneran's Road divides the forested upper part of Aranda Bushland for the woodland and grassland below. It was one of the earliest roads in the district, servicing the farms along the Molongo river, including this area, later called Glenloch. From the 1960s, when the suburb of Aranda was established, the forested slopes behind the houses were progressively excised from Glenloch and added to Canberra Nature Park. Later still, part of the lower grassland was excised to protect a patch of snow gums, rare survivors of the many that used to grow at this level in pre-European times.

"This walk is located on Ngunnawal Country, occupied by the Ngunnawal people for tens of thousands of years. We recognise the special relationship and connection that Ngunnawal people have with this Country. For time immemorial they have maintained a tangible and intangible cultural, social, environmental, spiritual, and economic connection to these lands and waters.

"Within this forested landscape evidence of Ngunnawal occupancy can be found. This evidence includes stone tools, scarred trees, and a nearby 'ring tree' signposting an ancient pathway. Our walk has been designed to avoid recorded Aboriginal Heritage sites, and any Aboriginal artifacts seen must be left undisturbed. 

"The area contains a major creek running south west from Black Mountain, edged on the east by a stee rocky ridge. The predominant underlying rock is the Pittman Formation-Acton Shale, which contains bands of chert, a hard rock used by the Ngunnawal for making cutting and scraping tools. There are also bands of quartz, which also were used for scrapers, though more difficult to shape into fine designs."

As we finished our walk, we were farewelled by this fellow. 

Eastern Bearded Dragon (Pogona barbata)

Later in the day, we went on a tram-based pub crawl for birthday celebrations, taking in six drinking establishments, with several friends and fellow imbibers. I'll write a full post elsewhere, but here are the highlights.

North-side birthday tram crawl

We had planned a Christmas Eve event, but unfortunate events meant we had to cancel. We did have a couple of friends (Dr Kay and Patience Itself - oddly not pictured) drop by to share in the canapes and festive drinks we had prepared. 

Salmon and beetroot bites

Goat-cheese strawberries

Truffle chocolates homemade by Patience Itself

Canapes with rosé sangria

While we had friends here, we were able to share the birthday boy's cake, which is great, as we will be eating it for weeks!

Christmas tree mud cake

Autumn Sunshine and Busy Bees

If I have to return to the office, I might as well pop out to lunch at decent places like Stand by Me in Lyons.

Okonomiyaki

A sunny autumn day makes glorious photo shoot weather for the cats, as Penelope poses among the leaves, and Melantho clambers among the hop vines. 

This weekend's trig was Mt Majura (and there's a second one up there too). We went up the steep way - of course we did. There is an easier slope, by which we descended.

Amazing camouflage on this fellow

At the bottom of the hill/ mountain is Majura Pines, an excellent location for mountain-biking with heaps of purpose-built trails. Him Outdoors was particularly impressed with this bike mechanic station with its pump and spanners. 

As recommended by Design Diva, we went to the Sunflower Maze in Majura Valley while we were in the area. The sunflower maze is made up of hundreds of the big yellow blooms, and it is actually less of a maze than a connection of corridors, down which people wander. It's kind of cute with couples being romantic, kids rushing around in excitement, influencers taking photos, and friends enjoying the sunshine and something just a little different. There's also a section where you pick your own to take home (separate from the 'maze' itself), although we are at the latter end of the flowering cycle and the remaining plants were a little ragged, so we left them where they were. The bees were happy. 

This is also the home of the Majura Valley Farmgate where fresh local produce is available through an honesty pay system. We picked up some free-range eggs and some lemon curd. 

As it is the first of the month, it is clearly time for an update on the bedside book pile (which has got two additions and three completions. I'm never actually sure whether this means any progress is being made, but I am at least reading and learning things. 

On Sunday, I was part of an 'Edwardian Gothic Wedding Decoration Bee'. The Lovely Bonkers' First Born is getting wed, and Calamity Sue was having a shindig to prepare for another shindig closer to the time. Now, I am not known for my sewing prowess, but apparently I can wield a pair of scissors and make a decent cutter-upperer. This is the result of some of my work (there were people with sewing machines and textile creativity who made most of it happen, but I helped - honest!)

We were rewarded with cheese on this delightful board, of which I now finally know the purpose.