July

How did it get to be July already? Time flies when you're driving back and forth between two places of residence, working, trying to write a narrative review, recruiting for research studies, and having fun at the same time! Friday started off with tragic news that resonated across Adelaide and the entire country. I like 'footy' (Aussie rules football) but I'm not hugely into it. Regardless, waking up to the news Friday morning that the Adelaide Crows coach had been murdered by his son at the family home was distressing to the whole city. The Crows game scheduled for this past Sunday was cancelled out of respect for Phil Walsh and instead supporters were invited to pay their respects at the Adelaide Oval. I was actually close to the Oval Sunday afternoon and people were flooding into it wearing their Crows scarves and jerseys. They had to open the gates early because there were too many people lined up outside. Across Australia, football and rugby teams honoured Phil with a minute of silence. There has been a somber feeling in Adelaide this weekend. I had plans Friday night for Polish food and Mary Poppins with friends. The show was extremely well done and was the perfect thing to lift spirits, with the mixture of upbeat songs and the message that family, friends and love are the most important things in life. Saturday evening was the Step into Life (my fitness group) annual ball, supporting the Little Heroes Foundation for kids with disabilities. It was really nice to get all glammed up and spend the night with a great bunch of supportive, caring, and inspirational people. Jeremy drove down from Clare to accompany me, which was lovely. Sunday I had high tea with my book club girls, who are just a fantastic group of ladies. I am so thankful that I have such wonderful people in my life. In the time since my last post, I've gotten up to an interesting assortment of activities. A couple of weeks ago I took a cheese making course with two friends from work. WEA adult education and Udder Delights cheese makers ran a half day workshop to teach the basics of cheese making. We learned about the history of cheese and the science of cheese making. We also made our own feta cheese! We had add starter culture to our non-homogenized milk and then boil the milk to 40 degrees celsius exactly. We poured the boiled milk into a small cooler and left it for awhile, and then added rennet. We left that mixture to sit while we partook in a cheese tasting master class, and then opened our coolers to find that the cheese had turned into curd. We cut the curd into cubes and left it to sit again. There is definitely a lot of waiting involved in cheese making. By the time we finished the class, we had put the curd into 'hoops' (which strangely were cube shaped and not round) and it had begun to solidify and stick together. We had to turn the cheese at specified times over the next night and morning. The end result was actually delicious! I decided to marinate mine in oil, garlic and spices which was very yummy. So I guess I can add qualified cheese maker to my list of talents :) We also had an unexpected spur of the moment visit from my amazing friend Claire, who flew into Adelaide for an interview on last Monday but was able to take the whole weekend off as well and spend it with us. Obviously she wanted to visit 'her' valley, so we went out to Clare and rented a 4 person bike from Fun Wheels Clare. It was absolutely hilarious. We pedaled down the Riesling Trail in style...albeit very very very slowly compared to a normal bike! There were 4 steering wheels, but 3 were for show only. I was trusted with steering for the majority of the trip and I navigated us quite well with no disasters! We stopped in at the Little Red Grape cafe for lunch and did a bit of wine tasting along the way. Jeremy accompanied us on his regular bike and he enjoyed himself as well. Next time, we might get him onto the 4 person one! Hehe.