I planted a garden!

I planted a garden!

I turned this:

into this:

There were drip lines already in place for the other landscape plants around. (Those are all just tall huge grassy plants that aren't very attractive and basically just fill the space.)

You can't believe how full of clay the soil is! I bought a pitchfork and loosened a large circle for each tomato. I pulled out the worst chunks and mixed the rest with compost. It loosened up pretty well and looked like decent soil. I hope it works! I found a Black Russian tomato and another more standard tomato. And I just had to try a bell pepper (called here by its botanical name, "capsicum"). I also planted a little herb garden of thyme, rosemary, basil, cilantro (coriander), lettuce, and spinach (which is really expensive here!). This small area is in the back of our house on the North side. Here, the north side is where all the sun is. On the west side, just off our patio, there is another area full of weeds (the picture above). I am going to clear that too and plant pumpkin, zucchini, and Lebanese cucumbers. Lebanese cucumbers are very good! The seeds are small, the skin is smooth and delicate, and the fruit is very straight. I hope I can grow them in Utah, too!

There is a wholesale plant nursery called Plantmark that you have to have a membership to shop at. Kind of the "Costco" for plants, except I can buy just one at a time instead of bulk quantities. And the membership is different in that it's not really tied to your name, so someone loaned my their card so I could go. I focused on fun Australian native species and got one of each. Okay, not EACH because that would be a lot of plants, but I chose some I liked and that I thought could work in a planter. I put them all in a couple of planters and I can't wait to see them fill in.

And look! The receipt has all the botanical names on it, *in alphabetical order*! How nerdy. I LOVE it! I'm keeping that receipt.

My favorite is the Leucodendron.

This leucodtendron is in a neighbor's yard. Mine is smaller. But look how each stalk is topped with a "blossom" that looks so much like the leaves. Is it a flower? A colorful leaf variation? Who cares! I love them!

I am so happy to have something growing! I'm really very excited about this. I'm sure you're not surprised.

(UPDATE: Here's how the garden turned out this season.)

Youth Camps

Leo and Karly both had a chance to attend youth camps with their church groups in September. I was excited for them to go to some beautiful nature settings in Australia!

Leo's camp was located at Anglesea on the southern coast of Australia, right at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. I can't even describe how in awe we were of the setting! It was beautiful. Cliffs, and waves, and rocks, and beach and water, water, water! I just couldn't believe he gets the chance to camp there for two days.

Pretty rough, right?

Here's Leo's summary of the camp:

"The camp started out right on the beach with a big game of capture the flag. The whole 'field' was about a quarter mile long right at the waters edge. It was a really warm sunny day, and there was no one else on the entire beach. After the game we walked along the beach for about Eumarella Scout Camp. The whole camp looked like a World War 2 training camp. The whole first day we were very active. From the game on the beach to the hike and then to all the games and activities we did that night. We played lots of ropes course games and some other things and then ended it with a Tough Mudder race. Our group went through the whole course in about 33 minutes, which was a pretty good time. We went back to camp and took our cold showers, and that was the end of day 1. The next day was Sunday, so there weren't any physical activities, but a bunch of church-related ones. We had sacrament meeting with a perfect view of the beach. The next day the whole camp did a service activity on the beach. We cut out invasive plants and replaced them with native ones. The whole camp was a very good experience and I'm very glad I went."

Most of the stories I have from camp were things that happened while we were supposed to be asleep. The first night they assigned us all cabins. It didn't end up mattering because most of the guys from our ward snuck in to our cabin and put their mattresses on the floor. There were lots of shadow boxing tournaments and plenty of rap battles. We had made plans to play poker with all the snacks we brought, but no one remembered to bring cards. The second night was Sunday, so it was a lot more laid back. Most of us went to bed early. There were still lots of shadow boxing fights though. The third night was the most eventful. Earlier in the day we had gone on little hikes and found some abandoned houses. We even found an alter for a dead woman and her child on a cliff. We did have to climb over a wire fence to get there, but we didn't tell the leaders that. That evening we went on a walk down the trail to see how far it was to the beach. We were running for about fifteen minutes before we gave up, because we realized we weren't even halfway yet. That night after lights out we decided to try again, but when we got a ways down the trail, we decided to go find a cool lookout cliff instead. We climbed another fence, this time with a couple barbs, and sat on an amazing cliff watching the moon and the ocean for a couple minutes. We ran back without anyone noticing we were gone. In hindsight, we really wish we brought a flashlight, because we couldn't see a thing. Throughout the camp, there were plenty of pranks, mainly played on us. Our shoes were taken and strewn about, we were nick knocked plenty of times, and we even had someone break in and steal our food. The worst prank by far was one that caused half the cabin to sleep somewhere else. Someone had come in and poured water all over half the bunks. We never found out who. The funniest part of camp for me was answering all the questions the deacons had about America. At times I wasn't sure if I should've played along with the stereotype or tell the truth. Overall the camp was a really good experience and I really enjoyed it."

Karly's camp was the following weekend. She wasn't quite so lucky to camp at the beach, but she had a great time anyway. I think it's a good thing she didn't know it was called "Snake Valley" until she got there. There is no such thing as a harmless snake around here. Notice the nice large gap between the floor and the door of her cabin? They didn't sleep very soundly. There were critters and spiders in their cabin. Fortunately none got too close!

It was really unusual for us for these camps to start on Saturday and go through Monday. It was a church organized camp so I guess that's okay to be camping on Sunday? They held sacrament services for everyone, but I think it was hard to keep a Sabbath day feel for most of them.

Karly reported:

"Luckily for me and my friends, we got the cabin with the 2 inch gap at the bottom of the door, and the 1 inch gaps in the windows. There were cobwebs and dead insects in all the corners, and as a person with self diagnosed arachnophobia, it was an anxious weekend. I didn't actually see any snakes while there luckily, and the food was pretty good. We went canoeing in the lake, and went on some nature walks, and did some fun games and activities, and had a lot of downtime. The downtime was good and bad, because it gave me a lot of time to relax and take a breather, but also a lot of time to think about the creatures lurking. On Sunday we had a sacrament meeting in the clearing at our camp, and it was plenty hot. It was a really cool and spiritual experience, as I have never had a sacrament meeting outside of a church building. After that we had some gospel related activities, and the next morning we were off!"

Our Trip along the Great Ocean Road

We went on a drive along the Great Ocean Road back in September. It was still cool weather so we figured we'd just take the drive and see the scenery instead of trying to swim at the beach. 

It was stunningly beautiful. Stunning. I've never seen beauty like this. And I just kept being amazing at every turn. You know those old movies with Cary Grant where he drives a fancy car along a wind-y road along the coast? It was just like that. For the most part, we were driving right along the coast so we could see water most of the time. I kept feeling guilty that Allen was driving and I was in the back going, "Wow! Oh my! That's amazing!" I kept offering to drive for awhile but he seemed happy to keep at it. He likes driving. 

This was at Anglesea.

In this moment I became the old grandma. Holding my purse. Whatever. But the rocks are beautiful. And there isn't a good place to set things down. Okay?

We stopped at a lighthouse. Across the road was a small set of shops where we had some fish and chips. I killed a spider crawling across the floor while we waited. 

This was a Lorne beach. The formations of rock were really unique. It was so interesting to see the patterns made in the magma flow. There were creatures in some of the small pools. We found an anemone in one of them. 

The trees. I'm a sucker for trees. And the trees here in Australia have my heart. Every single day I gaze at them and just LOVE them. They have so much character. And I take pictures. And the pictures don't really capture it. But this one gives some perspective on size. 

This was Apollo Bay. We had the beach to ourselves. It was peaceful and quiet compared to Lorne. But it still had waves that the kids loved to play in. 

Tree. Love.

We stayed at a lovely "apartment." 

When we left the next morning to see more of the Great Ocean Road, I just HAD to stop at this lookout point. In the distance you can see the Ocean, and in the foreground is the green landscape. There are plenty of ranches in this area. We saw lots of cattle and sheep grazing. It really is just so beautiful. It blows me away that this is HOME for some lucky people. 

We stopped at a sign for a rainforest walk. It was so magical. I felt like I had just stepped into the Fern Gully movie. I've never seen plants and greenery like this. I admit I was a little nervous about encountering some creatures or insects that might ruin my day, but the forest drew me in.

Seriously, doesn't this look like she should be wearing a medieval dress? Or maybe fairy wings?

Moss was covering these exposed tree roots. 

This is one massive tree.

Here we finally made it to Twelve Apostles rock formations. They have helicopter tours for about $180 per person. We didn't do it, but Henry was happy to sit and watch a helicopter take off about every 5 minutes while he had some lunch. 

I assume there used to be twelve large rocks. We counted about 8. They are deteriorating. But still, it was breathtaking. The mist is so powerful. When you are on the beach you don't notice it, but you can see it at a distance. 

This was one of those lookout points along the drive that I just had to stop and get a picture of. 

Picture doesn't do justice. I was struck by the vibrance of the greens. They seemed electric. But not really in this picture. 

We stopped at Lorne again on the way back. These Yellow Crested Cockatoos were very entertaining. There were over 25 of them. 

This tree tells such a story with its trunk. These are harsh conditions on the coast, but it finds a way to not survive. And still be amazing. 

This trip was so incredible. I felt SO guilty for doing it while Leo was a camp and missed it all. But Jessica is coming in December so we'll go again and take him along. Apollo Bay was our favorite place and we loved that apartment we stayed in so we know exactly what to do next time. And we'll also go visit the Otway Treetop Walk next time.

Things that mash: music, people, and squash

Last Saturday we had a church event. It was a talent and variety show. It was so fun to see the variety of cultures represented. I wish I could share all the videos, but I didn't ask all those people and parents if I could post them on the internet. But there was Maori dance, salsa and flamenco dance, saxophone and guitar songs, Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, the Nae Nae, BEA-U-TI-FUL Hawaiian dance and disco. And you know this Zumba instructor was so happy to hear familiar tunes. They played Bailando for everyone to dance to. I pulled Millie up with me and tried to keep it small even though I was ready to bust a move! The best part is that everyone was really having a good time. It wasn't a stiff sit and watch the stage and clap thing. The performances were right on the floor amongst us and everyone loved everyone else's performance. At least I was loving it so much that I didn't notice otherwise. They had formed "teams" in advance and each team was supposed to get together and create a performance. Many of them were lip syncs or dances to fun radio tunes. It was very fun and I loved seeing them all come together.

She just oozed beauty. Her face just lit up. I loved watching. 

And the food. SO MUCH. I didn't recognize half of it. I couldn't tell it if was noodles, or meat, or vegetable, or insects, or WHAT. And I was not brave and daring either. I didn't take pictures because I thought that would be weird to have me gawking and taking pictures of blue potatoes or "heaps" of meat (I just did an Aussie phrase there) or seriously some unknown items. But I think there were 4-5 banquet tables packed with food. None of it was dessert. That was in the kitchen and came out after the main meal.

I was wondering what to take for my contribution to the potluck. I wanted to take something a little bit U.S.ish (can't say "American" because that disregards all the other people that live in North and South America). I also wanted to take something that I was good at and could make well with my limited kitchen equipment and lack of familiar ingredients. I have seen a lot of banana bread in the stores and knew that wouldn't be too deviant for their tastes. So I decided to take pumpkin muffins. Some nice stranger answered my FB plea for muffin tins. Another kind Aussie soul.

In order to make pumpkin muffins, I had to buy a pumpkin. An actual pumpkin. It is a very common vegetable to see here, and they usually sell smaller wedges so you don't have to buy the entire thing. That's what I did. I peeled it, steamed it, and mashed it. It didn't have the exact same flavor as the pumpkin I am used to, and it wasn't as orange, but the muffins turned out great and I got some compliments on them. Phew!

At church, we have a chorister and pianist who typically choose what hymns we sing and then tell the bishopric what they are. They also post them on the wall in the back so we can all refer to it and know which page to turn to. So last week the man conducting the meeting inadvertently announces a different opening hymn than the one posted on the wall, which everyone had already turned to in their hymnbook. I looked to see what the chorister would do. What do you think she would do in your congregation?

Well, she and the pianist both just shrugged and turned to the hymn he announced. No hesitation. I thought it was a great sign of respect to the person conducting the meeting to honor what he announced. And then it happened again for each of the three remaining songs in the meeting. He obviously just had a different list and wasn't trying to throw them off. They just respected his wishes without saying, "Bro, you have the wrong list! Everybody disregard that last announcement!"

That, on top of seeing my bishop do the Nae Nae, just add to all the reasons why I'm really happy to be here among these people.