DECEMBER FLOODS

At this time when much of Queensland is experiencing widespread and severe flooding I would suggest that my new readers go to my archives and read my posts of October 2009, especially My Spring Garden 8 and 9 posts concerning the control of water flow.

I offer my sympathies to those in the cities who have had their homes flooded and to the many farming families who have lost firstly their winter crops which should have been harvested in the late spring and now their recently planted summer crops. While city folk have lost their homes and possessions and country folk have lost their income I am grateful that there has not been much loss of life.

For some time I have been commenting on weather cycles, mostly in the form of a rebuttal against the media’s portrayal in recent years of weather variations as being the result of man-made pollution. My generation of school children grew up quoting the words of Dorothea McKeller’s poem My Country. www.dorotheamackellar.com.au/archive.asp

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me! Read the rest of this entry »

ALL IN A YEAR

It is at this time of year that I receive a number of Christmas letters from friends detailing the highlights of their year like births, deaths and holidays. Although my doctor, a woman younger than me, has remarked on my age whenever I’ve consulted her on minor matters this year, I had not considered seventy a huge milestone until I attended the funeral of a cousin in June and realised that not only have I lost three cousins but I am now the eldest living grandchild of Hugh and Ettie Mulcahy. As they lived to the ages of 87 and 94 and my parents are still with me at the ages of 95 and 94, I tend to think that when I reach the age of ninety then it will be time for a celebration.

Nonetheless when my children decided to give me a 70th birthday party in April it proved to be a great celebration shared by my family and friends.

Fay and her five children

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ALL IN A WEEK

My post this week has been triggered by a comment from a reader who wrote, “You seem to live the life I would love to live.” Perhaps I do. I feel my life to be truly blessed, but maybe this is because my parents impressed on me at an early age that I must count my blessings – number them one by one etc.  When I wrote Wildflowers, wilderness and wine my editor, Dr. John Cokley, told me that I must direct my writing at an imaginary woman who dreamed of sitting on a terrace, overlooking vineyards while sipping a glass of wine. Such a woman, he said, will not want to hear about two older people struggling with arthritic pain and the vicissitudes of life. Nor should I try to write a book about an older couple using humour to portray their difficulties, like ‘One foot in the Grave’ and ‘God’s Waiting Room’, two wonderful British TV sagas. He told me, “You have missed the boat. The era for those was 1992.”

When you subscribed to http://fayhelwig.com you were promised a newsletter, which is standard for most blogs, but as I’m not trying to sell you anything other than my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine, which most of you will have now read I’ve never felt the need to send out a sales pitch.

So, I’ve decided to write two December posts about the intricacies of balancing my personal needs with those of my loved ones. This first one will be about the nitty gritty detail of what I’ve been doing in the past week. Next week I will write a Christmas letter and give you the bigger picture of my life. Read the rest of this entry »

THE TOWN SQUARE MARKET

As the name suggests, the Margaret River Town Square Market is situated in the centre of this bustling tourist town and I was there on the Sunday of a long weekend. As Monday was a public holiday many Perth and Fremantle visitors were staying in the region. I arrived at the market while most of the tourists were still breakfasting, which gave me an opportunity to converse with the proprietors of these stalls before they had to deal with the rush of customers.

Margaret River Town Square

There was only one person who refused to allow me to photograph her stand. She seemed to think that I wanted to copy her designs, although I explained my purpose. Although her dolls were attractive works of art and each one was an original, her art form was not unique. Here on the Granite Belt at our Market in the Mountains one of the exhibitors not only sells her creations, but is a willing teacher of this art. Read the rest of this entry »

THE FARMER’S MARKET

During my recent road trip to Western Australia with my son Paul to see the wildflowers and taste the Margaret River wines we spent a weekend in the township of Margaret River. I discovered a Farmer’s Market on the Saturday morning, which I found to be a sensory experience. There was the bustle and noise of stalls crowded together, the earthy smells of freshly dug potatoes, the citrus aroma of oranges and lemons on a stall decorated with fresh orange blossom, the free tastes of olives or honey and the visual delight of seeing so many happy stall holders. The thing that was so impressive about this particular market was the happy camaraderie of those selling produce beside neighbours they have known for years, plus the holiday atmosphere created by an influx of weekend visitors from Perth.

Honey and olives

The market was laid out in a open square of grassland between buildings. All these stall owners were well equipped with sun shades, tables and shelving indicating that they were regulars at this market. Clearly there was sufficient demand for their products because in several instances there were different stalls, spaced a little way apart, each selling a similar product.

For instance there were two stalls selling honey, two stalls selling bakery items, two stalls selling free range eggs and half a dozen stalls selling fruit and vegetables.

This indicated to me that every stall holder considered this market provided a good return Read the rest of this entry »



BROADWATER MONSTER MARKET

During the past six weeks I’ve attended the various markets scattered across the Granite Belt district. Yesterday I not only attended the Monster Market held at the CWA Hall at Broadwater, but I also became an exhibitor. On Friday it was doubtful a market could be held as the rain bucketed down over the Granite Belt causing minor flooding.

Water over Mt. Stirling Road

Late Friday afternoon the rain eased and Lolita, my present helpful WWOOFer, was able to assist me to cut bunches of daffodils and Spanish blue bells. We packed my Holden station wagon with two small tables and two old doors, knowing we would have to lay them in first, then place buckets, baskets and assorted other goods over them. This would of course mean that we would be obliged to totally unpack our station wagon on arrival at Broadwater before we could get the tables set up. The alarm clock was set for 5.00am to allow us to leave at 6.00am. I had been told by the market organizer that I could begin setting up by 5.30 am as the market would be open to the public by 7.00am.

As we left home the sun rose over the eastern ranges showing a blue sky day. Read the rest of this entry »

MARKET in the MOUNTAINS

The Market in the Mountains has never disappointed me whenever I have attended it. Last Christmas I went to the market, which is always held in the Stanthorpe Civic Centre, just before Christmas and bought a selection of Italian sweets and a traditional Christmas cake.

Christmas treats

The women who sold me the Italian sweets have a stall at every market which always proves a popular destination for anyone with a sweet tooth.

Home baked Italian sweets

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WALLANGARRA MARKETS 2

When I access the New England Highway at Glen Aplin I must STOP and look for trains before I cross the railway line. It is compulsory that such road signs be obeyed, or I risk a fine and the loss of points from my driver’s license if sighted by a Queensland Policeman. Every time I obediently comply, it makes Eberhard chuckle. Only one day a month will a train appear twice on this line. This is a steam train, the Downs Dasher, bringing tourists from Warwick to Wallangarra for the monthly market. It arrives at Wallangarra about mid-day and departs on the return trip at 2.00pm

The Downs Dasher

Pulling a couple of passenger carriages it chugs its way up from the city of Warwick at the south of the Darling Downs to the border highlands of the Granite Belt, which is the northernmost extension of the New England Tableland.  It’s destination is Wallangarra/Jennings the Queensland/New South Wales border town.  When I took these photos it was true to its name dashing down the slope and across the bridge to gather speed to pull up the far hill.

Off to Wallangarra

In Australia the railways were built and managed by State governments who foolishly could never agree to cooperate. Read the rest of this entry »

WALLANGARRA MARKETS 1

During World War Two it is my understanding that most days 45 trains passed through the Railway Station at Wallangarra . What activity there must have been around the station those days as troop trains pulled in from New South Wales to disgorge soldiers who then to embarked on Queensland trains to head further north to Brisbane and Townsville before taking ships to join the fighting against the Japanese in New Guinea. There would have been numerous trains transporting munitions too as a military base remained in service at Wallangarran until recent years as munitions dump. When we arrived here at Glen Aplin in 1992 trains with diesel engines would pass by once a week to pick up containers of game meat (horse, goat, wild boar) destined for the tables of Europe. Finally it was decided to close the line for economic reasons. What a pity, for this railway line and the Wallangarra station has figured strongly in Australian history. I promise to write more about the history another day.

Presently this huge space provided by the platforms of the Wallangarra railway station and surrounding area is used once a month for a community market. I attended this market to purchase products and promote attendance at all  Granite Belt Markets. While all these markets have similarities, they have different criteria applying to the stall holders. The Wallangarra market was originally begun as a farmer’s market and I expect that when the summer and autumn seasons return there will be many locals selling their produce from the back of trucks or open trailers.

Wallangarra Railway Station

The first attraction to catch my eye was the small train providing rides for the children. This was the  “Dasher junior”.  The real Downs Dasher is a steam train restored by the Southern Downs Steam Railway, based in Warwick. The Downs Dasher regularly steams between Warwick and Wallangarra taking paying passengers on Sunday outings.  See www.southerndownssteamrailway.com.au Visitors to the region can board the Downs Dasher in Warwick for a nostalgic trip up through two tunnels and many deep cuttings onto the border highlands. As they proceed across bridges over rocky ravines they enjoy the spectacular scenery of true wilderness. Passing beside some of the Granite Belt vineyards wets their appetite to undertake wine tours and tastings of these high altitude wines. Read the rest of this entry »

GLEN APLIN MARKET 3

No report on a market would be complete without a mention of plants, herbs, dried fruit and jams, fresh fruit and vegetables sold at such venues. At the April Glen Aplin market I had purchased lettuce seedlings and a trombone gramma pumpkin. Grammas are a sweet pumpkin traditionally grown in Australia to use as a dessert. They are seldom for sale in fruit shops, although I have seen them on fruit and vegetable stands in the Lockyer Valley. I was happy to purchase this one at Glen Aplin knowing I could use the flesh for a pie and keep the seeds to plant in my garden next summer.

The lavender colours of the stall manned by Trish and Don Gaske selling Crystal Ridge Lavender products caught my eye.

Lavender products

Crystal Ridge Lavender sells

Soaps & Skincare
Massage Oils
Lavender Sachets
Lavender Essential Oil
Ageless Crafts
Lavender Gift Packs

Trish gathering lavender

Market raffle

The market raffle of the day featured products from the various stalls. These included several bottles of wine. It was there that I first noticed small packages of Saffron. Back in 1997 when Eberhard and I planned a visit to the Netherlands we were asked if we could locate and bring back some corms for the Saffron plant by a Glen Aplin resident. We were unable to meet this request, but as a gardener I was interested to read more about the product. Read the rest of this entry »