March flew by, somehow! Now it's the tail end of Easter weekend and I'm sitting in my living room, smelling the delicious aroma of ham and split pea soup wafting in from the kitchen. Jeremy definitely knows how to make a good soup! We had five people over for Easter dinner - Jen, Chris and some of their friends from Brisbane, Penny, Tim and Allan. Clare continues to be an easy draw for visiting tourists! We decided to take them on a bit of a brewery tour, starting in the town of Auburn. We went to Hop and Vine, where Chris was very happy with his purchase of a growler:

Then we ventured on to Paulett's followed by Pikes. By this time, we were getting pretty hungry so we had the chance to try the famous wood oven pizza at Stone Bridge wines (which just happens to be down the road from our house). We were able to fit in one last tasting at Knappstein. A pretty good showing, I would say. When we got to the house, everyone was ready for a rest. We sprawled out in various areas of the house and chilled out. Somehow, after a day of beer tasting we were still able to whip up a pretty good Easter feast. Jeremy cooked his first ham, which he bought at a local butcher. Ham isn't a huge favourite of mine, but this one was quite tasty. He glazed it with maple and made a yummy sauce as well. Jen and Chris made a potato bake, a pear, prosciutto and rocket salad and they brought dessert from Muratti's, Jen's awesome discovery in Prospect. I thought I would add to the veggie content and made cauliflower and broccoli with a cheese sauce. Easter seems to be celebrated a bit differently here as compared to Canada. In Canada, Easter was very family focused and we always had a big family dinner, much like at Christmas or Thanksgiving. In Australia, the Easter long weekend seems to be a time when people go away for a little holiday before it starts getting cooler. So, the Australians at our Easter dinner actually all said that they had never had this sort of big Easter dinner before! We were visited in the night by the Easter bilby (aka Jen) which was delightful. Some info about the Easter bilby, from Wikipedia: Bilbies are native Australian marsupials that are endangered. To raise money and increase awareness of conservation efforts, bilby-shaped chocolates and related merchandise are sold within many stores throughout Australia as an alternative to Easter bunnies.[1] The first documented use of the Easter Bilby concept was in March 1968 when a 9 year old girl Rose-Marie Dusting, wrote a story, "Billy The Aussie Easter Bilby," which she published as a book 11 years later. The story helped catalyze the public's interest in saving the bilby.[2] In 1991 Nicholas Newland from the 'Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia' also developed the idea of the Easter Bilby to raise awareness about the environmental damage that feral rabbits cause and to replace the Easter bunny with true native wildlife.[3] The first Chocolate Easter Bilbies were sold at the Warrawong Sanctuary when it was owned by John Wamsley.[4] Bilby manufactures that donate towards Bilby conservation include Pink Lady and Haigh's Chocolates. Cadbury's also produce Chocolate Bilbies, although they do not donate or support any bilby conservation projects. Australian children's book author and illustrator Irena Sibley produced three Easter Bilby books between 1994 and 2000 including the best selling The Bilbies' First Easter, published by Silver Gum Press in 1994. In 1993, Australian children's author Jeni Bright wrote the story of "Burra Nimu, the Easter Bilby". It tells how Burra, a shy but brave little bilby, decides to save the land from the rabbits and foxes who are ruining it. Burra and his family and friends gather together for a wonderful time painting Easter eggs to give to the children and ask for their help. But before they can set off on their journey to the children, they must outwit the rabbit army. As well as the story of the Easter Bilby, the not-for-profit website 'Burra Nimu, the Easter Bilby' contains factual information about bilbies and other endangered Australian species. It is illustrated by Australian illustrator Janet Selby. This weekend also allowed us to get in a few Skype conversations, which is always fun! I Skyped with D'Arcy, Birte and Balin for the first time since Balin arrived! They all looked to be in good spirits and Balin was lovely to Skype with! There was also a very special Good Friday arrival - our brand new niece! We were lucky enough to get to Skype with Hayley, Lance and baby girl only two days after the baby's birth. Hayley seemed quite comfortable with her new little girl, and she was just tiny and perfect - very happy for them!! I also ended up having a quick Skype with Ronan and Adam, who are at Gran's house for Easter weekend and was able to say hello to Gran, Joey, Daniel and Corina. Finally, Jeremy also worked as the on-call doctor for the Clare hospital for 24 hours, starting Friday morning and finishing Saturday morning. He had to go into the hospital a few times during the day for clinics and random call ins. He was there at the end of the night for quite awhile. We tried to go to sleep as soon as he got home around midnight, but 10 minutes later the on call phone jolted us very loudly out of the beginning stages of sleep. The ambulance was coming in with someone who had been found not breathing. Jeremy rushed out the door, took charge at the hospital, and got the situation under control. Luckily, there were no other calls through the night! Hope everyone is enjoying Easter weekend!