Saturday, December 01, 2007

In the Kitchen

David has been as busy as ever in the kitchen. Rarely is there a night when a gourmet treat does not emanate from within its slow cooker, ovens, cook tops and microwaves.

Worrying the Onions
Here he is attacking the onions.

Whiting, pan seared with white gazpacho, pickled watermelon rind and watermelon foam
Whiting, pan seared with white gazpacho, pickled watermelon rind and watermelon foam

Thursday Night Dinner
Smoked fish, kipfler potato and mustard seed timbale served with Tat Soi, virgin olive oil and accompanied by a rustic tomato red onion and cucumber salad.

Me and the Buoys

After the tirathlon I decided to take a self portrait with the big red buoys that were on the shoreline. I propped the camera on my hat on the ledge near the beach, set the self timer, ran to where I thought would be a good spot and waited. I did this twice and one of the pictures worked out pretty well.

& here it is.

Me and the Buoys

On Flickr, the photosharing website and online community I appear to be addicted to, I belong to a group that uses Photoshop to transform other people's pictures. It's called Pimp My Pixels. I had done a few pictures myself using Photoshop to tranform a few people's pictures. So I decided to put a picture of me up to be re-mixed. I used the above photo.

The photo was transformed by five Photoshoppers in total. The best one being the one done by US resident Terry, Here it is below.

Triathlon November 25

I competed in the first triathlon of the season on Sunday, November 25. I competed (well . . . I was there) in the Challenge race which consisted of a 600m swim, a 19.5km ride and a 4km run. The swim was good as they've bought new buoys, they're big, tringular, red and easy to see - so that really helped. I did the triathlon in 1 hour and 10 minutes and 46 seconds. I came 191 out of the 231 competitiors who took part in the challenge race and I was 19th out of the 22 40-44 year old age category. Not a spectacular result as the conditions were absolutely perfect and I had done the same distance in 1 hour 7 previoulsy. But I suppose it was an okay outcome for the first one of the season,

Also taking part were some members of the swimming squad who I train with Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at Norwood. They included Graham, Terry, Kay and Penny. Another of the swimming squad, Andrew, did his first triathon ever and completed it in 1 hour 3 minutes! Hmmm . . .

David took the photos below.

(There are more triathlon photos on my Flickr page. Clicking on any of these pictures will take you there. You can see photos in larger sizes there as well.)

Harvey Number 953
Number 953. Set to go.

Start of the Swim
Setting off in the swim. I don't have a wetsuit so I have to 'brave' the West Lake's sometimes cool waters. Most people seem to think that a wetsuit gives you a minute or two advantage in the water.

Harvey Finishing the Swim
Swim over, off to find the bike.

Harvey on the Bike
On the bike. I'd like to say I rode really fast . . .

Harvey Running
On the run . . . well jog . . .

Harvey Finishing
Crossing the finishing line.

Triathlon - Terry, Penny, Kay, Graham, Harvey
Terry, Penny, Kay, Graham, Harvey

Whipped into Shape

As the triathlon season was just around the corner I decided stern measures were needed to ensure that I didn't sink in the swim, crash on the bike ride or crumple on the run. To this end I divided myself up to better make use of the time. This is what was happening at the chateau a month or so ago.

The Coach and the Athlete

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The stick comes to the rescue

The stick has turned out to be a lifesaver for David.

Last weekend, October 5,6 &7, we stayed at the Ridgetop Retreats B&B at Deep Creek Conservation Park new Cape Jervis on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

We planned to do a number of the walks around the park and we had both bought new boots for walking.

We set off on Friday from home, both having taken a day off. We drove to Willunga first to have lunch at a favourite restaurant, Fino. It’s a fabulous place with great food.

We arrived at the B&Bs in the late afternoon and that night David cooked – fish in an almond bread sauce.

The next morning David cooked bacon and eggs and we set off in the car to the place where we’d start our first walk. The walk was to take us from a car park a few kilometres from the coast down a big, big hill to the spot where deep Creek meets the sea. It was quite a steep walk and was rated as difficult and for some of the time it drizzled. We had wet weather gear.

On the second walk we left from the same car park and headed toward a waterfall. During this walk for some reason David’s knee decided to cause him shooting pains. To avoid this he developed a stiff legged walk, a la Captain Peg Leg, to avoid the pains. This is where the stick, much maligned in a previous entry, came to the rescue. It helped him to get to the waterfall and finish the walk. Later that afternoon we sat out on the forecourt of the B&B and watched the birdlife.

David cooked steak with mushroom ragout and sauteed potatoes for dinner.

After packing up on Sunday, we went for a walk around a flat loop near the rangers station.

After that we decided to do the walk down to Blowhole Beach near the outskirts of the park. Again it was very steep and David had to use his Peg Leg walk to negotiate the steep terrain. Dozens of lazing kangaroos could be seen near the car park at the start of the walk. After getting down to the beach we had a feast of potato chips and fruit all the time watched by eager red beaked and footed gulls.

On the way back we met a sleepy lizard and saw the kangaroos again, who hadn’t moved in all that time.

After this walk we drove off to Cape Jervis and saw the Kangaroo Island Ferry dock and then we went to have a look at the Starfish Hill wind farm. A drink at a local pub and then we drove home.

The Stick

The life-saving stick. Here it is enjoying a quiet break near a waterfall.

B&B

The Ridgetop Retreats where we stayed.

Forecourt
A sparkling red after a hard day's walk.

Beach

Deep Creek's rugged coastline.

Waterfall 2

The waterfall, lunch stop on one of the walks.

T-shirt

David in one of his birthday-present T-shirts.

Native Orchid One

There were native orchids everywhere.

Kangaroos

Kangas at the start of the blowhole Beach walk.

Echidna

The echidna I annoyed by taking lots of photos of him.

Dead Tree

Dead tree near the start of the Blowhole Beach walk.

Mini Car Park

The Mini in Deep Creek.

David's Birthday

Yesterday was David's birthday - October 9. He received four T-shirts I designed as a present. He received one of them each day on the run up to the big day which we celebrated with a dinner at Chianti Classico, a very nice Italian restaurant on Hutt Street in the city.

I did all the designs for the T-shirts and had them made up at the T-shirt shop in Hindley Street. I also made up some product tags to go with the T-shirts - for that professional look.

David's Birthday - Four New T-Shirts

David with one of the new T-shirts on and the three others on the couch.

David's Birthday - Number Four

The Railway Crossing T-shirt. He wore this outfit to the restaurant.

David's Birthday - Product Tags

The Product Tags. Created by ChateauGlenunga Designs.

David's Birthday  - Unwrapping

Unwrapping.

Monday, September 24, 2007

True Love


Mini Polish, originally uploaded by chateauglenunga.

Here is David earlier in the day practicing his other passion - tending to the Mini. Here David is placing masking tape over the black plastic parts of the car prior to applying polish to the duco. The car received; a wash; a first polish; a sealant polish, a vacuum and dust; a leather treatment; a plastic treatment and a rubber condition. The car, I assure you, is gleaming and beautiful.

Wok & Woll


Wok & Woll, originally uploaded by chateauglenunga.



David cooking up a storm on Saturday night. Onions and spices are being stir fried to be added to a chopped pork loin fillet, which is then cooked in a Chinese clay pot on the stove top. The renovated kitchen is being well used.