Deniliquin: Farewell

Unfortunately the time has come for us to move on and this means leaving Deniliquin and the farm called Kintyre that has become our home and our fabulous family that live here. We've already shared lots of the aspects of farm life in previous posts but to ease the sadness of our departure I have compiled a few more pictures of some of the things we will miss.

Thank you Andy, Kate, Saskia and Zara. We love you all so much and our time spent at Kintyre will always be remembered dearly.

We're going to  miss the big boys working together.

... and the little boy working too.

We're going to miss feeding the chickens...

... and reaping the rewards.

We're going to miss all the animals: Pat the Cat (he's lucky Rob didn't see him scratching Big Red),  Jarah who loves having tea parties with the kids, the guinea fowl who don't have any real purpose on the farm but are very lovely and of course who could forget, Zali the wonder dog who, like in the photo below, accompanied me on a walk along the property boundary most days.

Jarrah

Pat the Cat

Zali Girl

The Guinea

We'll miss lazy Sunday's in town.

We'll miss misty mornings in the paddocks.

Rob will miss carting the round bails around the paddocks
on the tractor.

Goodbye cozy house that has become home.

Deniliquin: Andy had a little lamb

Mum, can I keep her? Pleeeaaase?

Andy has shown himself to be quite the sheep farmer (who would have known). He currently has 85 sheep called Dorpers on Kintyre. When we arrived they were all big as houses and a few weeks off "lambing". From day one, Rob has taken a liking to the sheep and has been responsible for feeding them and moving them around the different paddocks (under Andy's strict supervision of course). These tasks usually involve a ute, tractor and/or motorbike so Jarvis has been pretty keen to go with his dad to 'help out'.

A few weeks ago the lambs started to arrive. It was a tricky start and quite a few died or were killed by foxes. But as the weather turned warmer and the boys went out on nightly spotlighting expeditions (armed and probably dangerous) more and more of the lambs survived. There are several sets of twins and a couple of triplets. They are the cutest little things and the kids (and adults) have taken delight in watching the lambs grow and start to frolic.

The latest addition to the flock has been two alpacas. Apparently alpacas are very protective of the sheep flock and will assist with protecting them against the foxes. Whatever their use, they are awesome, especially when they run.

A couple of days ago, however, we had another fox or maybe dog attack. This time the lamb was still alive so Rob brought her inside and we nursed her back to health and although we tried to reunite her with her mother she has remained orphaned and so has become part of the household. Her name is Gertie Girl. We bottle feed her several times a day. When she first came out of the paddock she lived in front of the fire (we even put a nappy on her) but once she was strong enough she migrated to the chook shed at night time. During the day she wanders around the lawn and plays with the kids.

Rob now wants to have sheep... oh dear, let's add it to the list.

Hay: Shearing Sheds and Windmills

On Tuesday to Wednesday the girls (Sas and Zara) are at daycare and Rob, Andy and Kate go to work so I get to spend three splendid days a week just me and my little man. Usually we just play around the farm or wander round town. But we decided to take a day trip to one of the nearby towns; Hay. Hay is about an hour north of Deniliquin. The drive was beautiful, it is amazing how much the landscape can change within an hour drive out here. The most spectacular thing were the wetlands. Due to the rainfall over the past year, the wetlands are full and thriving with birds, grasses and other life. It was a stark contrast to the golden plains that surround them.

When we arrived in Hay we stopped for a quick snack in a small reserve on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. We then had the obligatory stop at a local park so Jarvis could go on "the big kids slippery dip", which was actually quite big so I had to pretend to be totally cool with him throwing himself down it. Our first cultural stop was the recently constructed shearing shed hall of fame and museum. Jarvis was pretty enthralled by the shears that you could have a play with and all sorts of old machinery (all of which are apparently called tractors according to Jarvis). But the highlight of the shearing shed was the shearing demonstration. It was amazing how quickly a sheep can be sheared and how effortless they make it look. When I say the highlight was the shearing, I should probably be honest and say that for Jarvis, the highlight was probably the windmill. He just stood watching it for ages (note for Grandma, Jarvis wants a full sized windmill for his next birthday).

We then took a look around town and hang on....... Jarvis spotted another windmill. It was actually part of the Old Jail Museum. So we stopped to take a look in there too. It was a fabulous museum full of all sorts of old and interesting things collected from the region. The yard was filled with old tractors, cars and farming machinery, a little boy's dream.

I decided I would leave on a high note; for a few hours anyway Jarvis thinks I am mum of the year. The drive back was almost as interesting as the way there due to the fact that the sun was setting so everything looked golden and glowing. When we got home Jarvis excitedly relayed stories of sheep's wool, windmills and tractors to his cousins, dad, aunty and uncle.

Hotham: Snow Time

Big Red had her first big road challenge. Rob has done some work on the old girl to get her ready for the 4WD adventuring ahead and the steep mountain climb up to Hotham provided the perfect opportunity to see how she was running. The drive to Hotham from Deniliquin is spectacular. The foothils of the mountains are lush and green, the small towns all have a historic appeal to them and ass we started to head up the mountains everything took on a European style. It is very different to the NSW ski fields and well worth a visit for those who haven't been. You won't be disappointed.

As the avid snow goers out there will know, Australia had a fabulous start to the season this year. That said, it hadn't snowed in a few weeks when we set out for Hotham, but snow was predicted and we were excited just to be going to the snow. We stayed in a very cute little chalet in Dinner Plain, which is a small village about 15km from Hotham but still above the snow line. It is slightly more protected than Hotham and has a small ski run for little kids. There are also fabulous bars and restaurants. We went to a Japanese Restaurant called Tsubo, which was extremely good, even if a large number of the dishes used "rehydrated" and "dehydrated" fruits that were surprisingly tasty.

The first opportunity we got, we ditched the kids in daycare, strapped on the snowboards and headed for the slopes. The snow wasn't fabulous but as Rob and I had never been to Hotham before all the runs were new to us and they are all fairly steep so lots of fun was had. We only got one day on the runs but the next day was spent playing with the kids on the small run in Dinner Plain. To tell you the truth it was just as much fun as spending time on the runs. Jarvis and Sas had a go on some tiny skis and we all had a great time tobogganing and having snowball fights.

The drive home took us through Beechworth for a lovely visit and lunch and we rolled into the farm just as the sun was setting. I could get used to this.

Big Red Outside our Chalet

Deniliquin: Pa's Favourite Cake

We were very lucky and had a visit from Rex while we have been Deniliquin. Not only were the kids super excited to see their Pa, but Rex also babysat the kids while we went to a fundraising cocktail party in town. So to celebrate Pa's visit, his recent birthday and to thank him for looking after the kids, I decided to make Pa's favourite cake; Jubilee Cake (an old childhood favourite from Adelaide). I enlisted the help of Sas and Jarvis and set to work. The result was up to scratch (as taste tested by Pa), but personally I think a Jubilee Cake is a bit of a glorified scone. However, Pa and the kids thought it was top notch and that's the most important thing. I've included some photos of the process (lots of spoon licking was undertaken) and the old family recipe, word for word as supplied by Pa.

JUBILEE CAKE (MALIN FAMILY RECIPE)

• One & a half cups of self raising flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 oz of margarine / butter
• 1 cup of fruit (sultanas, peel, currents)     
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon castor sugar
• half cup milk......+  if mixture too dry add 1,2 or 3 tablespoons of water

rub marg / butter into flour well,

add fruit mix into flour

beat egg & sugar, add milk then add to mixture

place in oven at 375 degrees for 25/30 minutes,  reduce heat if necessary

prick with your little wire pricking thing, looking for sticky / moist

if so revealed, put back in oven @ reduced heat for a couple of minutes then turn oven off

grease your cake tray, use a long thin tray, say 10 inches by about 3 inches type of thing

   

ICING:

• Half cup icing sugar
• 2 small teaspoon butter / marg
• few drops of vanilla
• few drops of lemon essence

add by teaspoon, boiling water, small amounts, to slightly flowing consistency

The icing is sort of "drizzled" over cake as apposed to usual knife application. not too much drizzle, just drippy looking.

Deniliquin: Sage Sage and more Sage

On our last visit to Andy and Kate's a couple of years ago the vege garden was over flowing with all sorts of vege's herbs and fruit that andy had been growing. However, drought, winter and 2 kids have seen a slight downfall in the garden's productivity. However, what you can see growing even from the house is the biggest bush of sage I have ever seen and that's saying something because Nonna had a sage bush to die for. You can see about a third of it below. So the obvious thought came into my mind, I just had to make gnocchi with burnt butter and sage sauce. Those of you who have the honour of the owning the Jamkat Recipe Book already have this recipe, but for those who don't have it or don't know what I am talking about, here is my nonna's recipe. The gnocchi is fluffy, the butter salty and yummy and the sage is crunchy and gives it a bit of punch. Enjoy!

(I cheated with the photos a bit and used some from a cooking session before we left.. but the outcome was still the same and they're great shots, thanks Adam)

Ingredients

·       1kg potatoes

·       1 3/4 cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting

·       1 egg, lightly beaten

·       salt

·       100g Butter (salted)

·       10 Sage Leaves.

Directions
Gnocchi

Steam potatoes, whole with the skin still on for 20-25 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer (don't test too much as potatoes will become waterlogged).

When potatoes are ready, and still hot, place each potato in the schiacciapatate (potato ricer) one at a time. This will remove the skins and crush the potatoes at the same time. Crush the potatoes directly onto a lightly floured working bench. If you do not have a schiacciapatate, you can use a potato masher but they will not be as light and fluffy.

Lightly combine the potato and flour with your hands. You can add more flour if needed so start by leaving a little to the side and add more if needed. Create a mound of the potato and make a well in the middle. Pour the egg into the well and the mix it through with your hands. Combine until the mixture resembles a soft elastic dough. You can add more flour, if needed, but be careful not to make the dough too dry as the gnocchi will be hard. Roll the mixture into long rolls about 1.5cm thick. Cut into the desired gnocchi size (they are usually about 2cm). You can roll the back of a fork across each gnocchi to make them look pretty. It is also said that this helps the sauce stick to the gnocchi. Toss each gnocchi through some flour (I keep a small pile of flour on the side of my working space for this purpose.

Place the gnocchi into salted boiling water (lots of salt). When the gnocchi rises the surface they are supposed to be ready, but I like to give them a moment more. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and place straight into the serving bowls. You may need to cook in two batches or more depending on the size of your saucepan.

Sauce

Add butter to pan and heat until butter begins to foam. At this point, add the sage and cook until butter has browned. Serve immediately.

To Serve

Serve the gnocchi topped with the sauce and some shaved parmesan, salt and pepper.

Storing

One of the many wonders of gnocchi is that it can be frozen and when cooked tastes almost as good as preparing fresh. The secret is to get to the stage of cutting and flouring the gnocchi and then placing on baking trays (lined with baking paper) and then freeze them like this. This stops the gnocchi sticking together. Once frozen they can be put into containers or freezer bags to free up freezer space.