Judy achieves her (60 years) seniority

The Ides of March means it's Judy's birthday - and this year it's a big one!  To mark this milestone Jennie and Wayne hosted an amazing lunch at Murrumbateman for all of us - all Judy's favourite foods were on the menu - and all (well most of) her favourite people were invited too!

It was a HUGE weekend for this family because Sophie was celebrating her 21st birthday too (on 14th March!)

Jennie had the 6 course menu (for 12 people) under control in her busy country kitchen. Three different entrees, scallops and pork belly, duck breast and pickled beurre bosc pears from the garden, beef fillet and stir fried mushrooms ............

I don't know how Jennie and Wayne do all this - they are superlative, utterly generous amazing hosts!

 In amongst all this spoiling there was a degree of (nervous) hilarity about the social distancing policies we've been "ordered" to follow in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic. No kissing or hugs allowed at this party!

 Of course the wines for each course were perfectly matched - including the 2004 Penfold's GRANGE we were privileged to enjoy with that buttery rich, unctuous beef fillet and mushroom dish!

Fifth course (Jennie's delicious raspberry and chocolate mousse cake) was heralded by a great deal of stuffing around getting birthday sparklers lit!

 Which was a bit less than successful in the end despite our best efforts.......

 but, no matter our favourite birthday girl appreciated the effort made .......

Happy Birthday dear Judy!!

 That Clos Jean 2003 Loupiac was wonderful with the cake and icecream, and even better with the final cheese course. One of the many things I admire about Jurgen is his great wine buying skill and his ability to keep track of his considerable collection. 

He bought this wine way back in 2005 when the family was living in SW France (near Bordeaux) for a time. It was a lovely moment sharing this wine as we all remembered this beautiful part of France and the times we'd shared there visiting the L family back in 2005.

Flashback: Us in 2005 - (another) picnic lunch on the banks of La Dordogne in SW France .......

However Murrumbateman was looking distinctly Australian by late afternoon yesterday - but in a good way after the recent drought breaking (?) rain. Jennie and Wayne had moved their sheep into the home paddock to "mow" the grass - before being released into the gradually greening paddocks after months of hand feeding.

The sheep were a great distraction over lunch for the Sydneysiders......

and provided an interesting challenge when we had to leave the property .....

 ... but in the end this mob proved to be very well behaved at gate opening time!

Not the Lobster Lunch

This was the weekend in our 2020 diaries for our Lobster Lunch at Rosedale. But in line with the new world order, we made other plans.....

Like so many other Canberrans on this long weekend we still headed down to the bushfire ravaged South Coast - spending money at cafes, bakeries and other relevant business along the way.....

And we paid a heart rending visit to North Rosedale, to witness the devastation along Yowani Road and other parts of this beautiful coastal settlement.

I couldn't bear to take pictures of Judy and Jurgen's destroyed property. Instead we made our way to the lookout point at the northern end of Yowani Road - where we used to make our way down to the rocky beach at the start of our after lunch walks. The impact of the fires right along the extensive beach cliffs is very evident here.

 ...... but so is the regeneration, after the recent rains.

 And these burnt spiky palm plants are recovering well too ........

 We're pretty sure James and Fiona stayed in this destroyed beach house at the end of Yowani Road one year of the lobster lunches. This is typical of the tragic sights, all along Yowani Road - nothing much survived the fires........

The good news is that for the next year Judy and Jurgen are able to use a house in Malua Bay as part of the recovery process after the fires.

We met there on Saturday afternoon - feeling sober in spirit, but absolutely determined to enjoy "New Beginnings" together.

 With lobster off the menu, we set off to The Sandbar Restaurant on Beach Road Bateman's Bay for dinner. The Sandbar is a one chef's hat restaurant (possibly the only one on the south coast) that "uses the finest produce from the South Coast, employing French techniques and Japanese inspiration". It's a 6 course set menu: Chef's Selection. 

First course was smoked trout rillettes with duck gelee and grape. That's a pickled black berry and zucchini flower on the plate of pebbles!

Second course was scallop, purple carrot and beetroot (and other delicious things)....

 Then prawn, tomato, peach and daikon (topped with peach powder)...

 The fourth course was a spectacular beef tenderloin (buttery rich) with glazed wasabi leaf, caramelised eschallot, bordelaise and porcini veloute YUM!

 I wish I had taken a close up of dessert: Braidwood black truffle cream, red anko frangelico ice cream, cassis, cherry, chocolate soil, buerre noisette, pistachio, Kyoto matcha dust and red vein sorrel - a truly incredible dish (and very rich).

 And followed by a cheese plate of French, Riverina and Gippsland cheeses - what an amazing and incredible meal.... unbelievable really in such a small regional area. I would love to take Haruko here when she next visits us!

Back at Judy and Jurgen's temporary holiday house at Malua Bay this is what we woke up to on Sunday morning - a view from their back deck down to Pretty Bay.

 We walked along the cliff track at the back of the house, around Pretty Bay towards Pretty Point (if you've got a good adjective then stick to it!). We were stunned by how close the fires came to this part of Malua Bay too.

 The Pretty Point headland was devastated by the fires (view looking North towards Bateman's Bay).

 .. and looking South towards beautiful Rosedale......

 Another view of Pretty Bay back towards where Judy and Jurgen's holiday house is.......

 Once again we're struck by the signs of regeneration of the big eucalyptus trees on the headland ...

 

 The Bracken Ferns are coming back with a vengeance, and the grasses and small shoots of acacia (wattle). They'll help hold the soil until bigger plants get established.

 But reminders everywhere of how much has been lost....

 A view of the Malua Bay house... big bedrooms for guests (lucky us!) and what about that deck!  We're hoping the next year will be healing for this region, and for Judy and Jurgen, and the family too.

 Driving back to Canberra on Sunday we took this terrible picture out the car window on the Clyde Mt road... The tree ferns are sprouting like crazy in the burnt forest. It's like a scene out of Jurassic Park - quite surreal, but restorative too!

My friend Irene

I use this blog to record and share those bits of our life that family members might be interested in. There's a lot I haven't shared - and I've never shared much before about my friend Irene. 

I took this picture below over ten years ago in Brisbane - only a year or so after I first started working with her. At the time I took the picture so I could get Julia Gillard (our then Prime Minister) in the frame... but as it turned out I could not have found a better setting for my friend Irene - because she is STRONG and SMART indeed!!

Irene and I worked closely together for over a decade from 2008 - mainly with schools in the ACT supporting them with improving outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. We learnt a lot together, took some risks and achieved a lot too - and became such good friends in the process.

We learnt a lot from our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues - and had fun at the same time. Meeting the trans dressing Sistagirls at a conference in Darwin was a bit of a riot!

Working with the Jervis Bay School and Professor Tony S. provided us with great opportunities to meet elders from the Wreck Bay community and spend some time in this beautiful part of the ACT Territory.

At the end of 2017 my friend Irene was diagnosed with cancer - one of the bad ones we were to learn. So followed surgery and then so many rounds of chemo over the next two and a half years. Irene had to have a shoulder replacement in the midst of all this too - after a shocking fall. Neuropathy played havoc with her usual athleticism.

But by the end of 2018 Irene was back to her usual dynamic self. She'd stayed working, I'd given up, but we still had great times together enjoying everything our beautiful city offers. David and Irene became so interested in the joys of Campbell life they bought an apartment off the plan - only a few minutes walk from our apartment. We looked forward to sharing many evenings like this enjoying our Aspen Island...... and walks around the lake ...

.. and with our other friends too ....

We had a fabulous stay together in Sydney in December 2018 and a big night out at the spectacular Bennelong Restaurant in the Sydney Opera House. Wonderful memories!

But the start of 2019 brought us all back to earth - with really bad news about the progress of Irene's cancer.

Despite this she continued to defy all the doctor's predictions of her imminent demise, launching herself and David and Rhys into skiing adventures (never let a shoulder injury hold you back!) beach stays and European adventures, squeezed in between chemo rounds, scans and blood tests. She stayed working too, and ran our TLC Book Club! A Strong and Smart woman no matter what!

This is one of my favourite pics of Irene - taken in Winter last year, on one of her favourite city walks (at the National Arboretum). Happy, feeling pretty fit, relaxed and in charge of her day!

But even this strong and smart woman knew that time was running out by the start of this year. She and David had moved into their new Campbell apartment in late November and despite Irene having many bad days they were able to fit in a wonderful night out with us in January at our own local French Bistro. It was so good to see Irene able to enjoy the wonderful food on the menu that night and share travel tales and lots of laughs.

Irene sent me these beautiful pics of her skiing in Japan - ONE MONTH AGO! - one last time in her beloved Japan, with her David and Rhys, in her happy space in the snow.

With them all safely back from Japan I took this pic 2 weeks ago in Irene and David's fabulous new light and art filled apartment.

... and we could all see, despite her ever present humour and vivacity, Irene was losing strength, weight and getting closer to the end of this unfair fight.

Two days ago we learnt Irene had moved to Clare Holland House, which is familiar territory for us. She is very drowsy now and on a lot of pain killers and David is with her there pretty much 24/7. Luckily she seems comfortable there.

There are so many people who have loved and been inspired by this wonderful, funny, inspiring, courageous, unforgettable, so Strong and Smart woman. We are so lucky to have met her and shared so many precious times as her friend over the time we've known her.



A sad post script: My dear friend Irene passed away in the early hours of Thursday 5th March. We are grateful that it was peaceful in the end and her beloved David and Rhys were with her.