Winemaking -- The First Step

Hi everyone, this is Susan. I feel a little responsible for keeping up the Down Under blog while my beloved Melonie is in the U.S.

Tomorrow I'm going on a solo road trip. Yay! Anyway, I couldn't bear the thought of all those beautiful volunteer muscatel grapes out the back going rotten (or being eaten by the carroway birds!), so below are some photos of my first attempt at crushing grapes ... all 11 kgs! ... the hope being that I'll have time to take the frozen juice I made and turn it into some organic red wine. Yum! At least, that's the hope!

Picked and ready for washing and de-stemming.

It took some time to get rid of the stems and separate the unripe green muscatels. Hoping the greenies will ripen off the vine and I can crush them, too, in a few days.

Sanitized the bucket, washed my feet, and climbed on in. The first step was the squishiest! Lovely! Friend Sabi turned up just in time to take the photo!

I must admit that around this time, I was thinking about my old life in Seattle, wondering about all my friends working in offices while I was in the Aussie bush playing with grapes! (BTW, that's Buddha's teddy, not mine.)

Super juicy! Got about a gallon after we poured this through some clean muslin. Not bad for free grapes! And the vine is still laden with more yet to ripen. Ho boy, tho, very time consuming and messy!

Now I need to find the right recipe for a nicely alcoholic, preferably dry red. I might wait for Melonie to return before taking next steps. You know, for some extra confidence. It's a bit hot to start fermentation right now anyway.

Say, thanks Karen and Sara for your advice and inspiration!

'Shrooms

Hey hey! Look what's coming up in our woods after all the rain! Beautiful! And no, I don't plan on eating any (although I can't say the same for some of my crazy Aussie friends...)

Not sure if these are hallucinogenic ...

But these definitely are!

A little phallic, eh?

They sure love growing in the cow shit.

Interesting little fella. Kinda like a chantrelle?

Looks like something might hatch outta here.

Frustration with the Australian Nursing Review Board

WARNING! NEW SOUTH WALES BOARD OF NURSING: DO NOT RISK GIVING THIS WOMAN OR OTHER INTERNATIONAL NURSING VOLUNTEERS A NURSING LICENSE IN YOUR STATE!

PHOTOS FROM THE PERUVIAN AMAZON CLINICS

Well, tomorrow I head back to the USA for five weeks! This is a trip that I did not want to make, but I have had nothing but grief trying to obtain my nursing registration in Australia and I need to earn some money ASAP. I applied for my nursing license in May of 2009 and it is still waiting for approval!! The New South Wales Board has found a RED TAPE issue that has put my nursing license on hold. It has nothing to do with my credentials or qualifications as an RN and has put my review for my Nurse Practitioner license on hold as well. Just a little back ground on the issue: I have been a volunteer with Amazon Promise, a US non-profit humanitarian health organization since 1995 and I have spent many months as a volunteer in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. I have volunteered with this NGO and have never worked in Peru as a nurse, but the nursing review board is requiring a letter from a "Peruvian Authority" stating I don't need a PERUVIAN nursing license to volunteer in Peru! NO one so far in Peru or the Peruvian Embassy will write a letter as they have nothing to do with the US NGOs. And frankly, everyone I have spoken to about getting this letter thinks it is the most ridiculous thing they have heard of! The nursing review board has letters from Amazon Promise stating the fact that I do not need a Peruvian nursing license to volunteer in Peru with them, but insist that the letter needs to come from a Peruvian authority. It is so absurd to say the very least. When I have explained to them that I have not been able to obtain the letter, they have actually told me to write to the board stating that I am refusing to submit the required paperwork. grrr.....

Frankly I have had it with this Australia bureaucracy and xenophobic attitude! So, back to the USA to work for Group Health for 5 weeks, then the long flight back here, while I wait for them to review and hopefully wave the ridiculous red tape bull shit! If they won't wave this requirement, then it is their loss on so many levels!

Maybe it will be time for me to rethink what I want to be when I grow up.

Green Visitors in Our House

My photo of the frog in the bathtub

Another day living in the bush of Australia. You never know what insect is going to hatch out next and fill the room at night while you have a light on or what creatures are going to come visiting unexpectedly .... Our home was visited by a Green Tree Frog and a Spotted Katydid!. They must have crawled in through the hole in the bottom of the screen door. The green tree frog was in our dining room about a week ago and had a great visit, then it returned again today. Buddha was barking and I went out to see what was up. The frog was baking in the hot sun just outside the front door. I was worried the frog would get chomped, so I brought him inside and Susan put water in the bathtub so it could get a good soak.We had a fantasy that the frog would just hang out for the day in the tub, relaxing in the cool water, but it had other plans. After a quick escape out of the tub, I brought it into our cooler bedroom. It is now hiding in our bedroom, asleep in the corner. I have set out a pan of water for it and we will let it go tonight when it is cool and let him do his hunting. The frog is so beautiful and we feel honored by it's visit. I hope he stays hidden from the dog. There are good reasons that dogs and cats do not belong outside. We try to be sensitive to the fact that this is land for the native species, not our dog.

Also, last night the beautiful luminescent green grasshopper came flying in for a visit. He flew into the room and I took the opportunity to get some photos. I then sent it on it's way outside. Susan likes to point out that he is not the average brown grasshopper that we get in Olympia.

Internet Facts about the Frog and Grasshopper:

Spotted Katydid - Ephippitytha trigintiduoguttata

The Spotted Katydid is a large insect. Spotted Katydids are also known as Mottled Katydids and Speckled Grasshopper. It is green in colour with brown spots on wings resemble chewed leaf. They live on top of gum trees and feed on gum leaves. Male makes short soft calls at night.

This is my photo, not the internet photo.

Litoria Caerulea

The Australian Green Tree Frog, simply Green Tree Frog in Australia, White's Tree Frog, or Dumpy Tree Frog. The Green Tree Frog is larger than most Australian frogs, reaching 10 centimetres (4 inches) in length. The average lifespan of the frog in captivity, about sixteen years, is long in comparison with most frogs. Green Tree Frogs are docile and well suited to living near human dwellings. They are often found on windows or inside houses, eating insects drawn by the light.

Due to its physical and behavioural traits, the Green Tree Frog has become one of the most recognisable frogs in its region, and is a popular exotic pet throughout the world. The skin secretions of the frog have antibacterial and antiviral properties that may prove useful in pharmaceutical preparations.

Stay tuned for more......

They Say Owners and Their Dogs Look Alike. Hmm... What do You Think?

Even though Buddha is "OUR" dog, really he and Susan have the bond.

Toby was the Weiner Dog I had in the USA.