You Won't See This on YouTube

Before the redecorating.

Not every experience in the country is limited to rural type stuff. And this was one of those! I've had an idea about tarting up my bedroom and decided that this week it was now or never. I was pretty confident about my ability to wallpaper a feature wall - that was until I talked to my sister about 'just doing it'! Then all the talk about plumb lines, pattern matching and wall preparation really took its toll.

But - I'm not a quitter and so I started. Let me show some of the highlights of this little adventure. The wallpaper - quite expensive but I didn't need much. First off move the furniture and clean the wall. I must have thought this was going to be an all-night affair because I got the bed ready in the spare room for my use.

All my tools of the trade!

Next, tools. Lovely B-I-L lent me his trusty brush, paper smoother and straight line ruler. Had my own stanley knife (two in fact) and bucket. After sleepless nights preparing for this 'simple task' I realised that I didn't need water troughs because the paper was unpasted and the directions said paste the wall not the paper. So - I'm prepared.

Step one - size the walls. Measured the amount of sizing mix in my best cooking measures and expertly applied the gooey stuff to the walls. Apparently it makes the wallpaper move easier when you hanging it - made no bloody difference when the moment came! Googled how long to leave the sized walls and was happy to find that I could continue wallpapering today. Yay!

Pureed paste.

Next - measured the lengths needed and cut to appropriate size (with a small overhang) on my lounge floor taking extra precaution not to cut the carpet by upturning my carpet door mats. Needed six lengths and pattern matched them all, numbered, lay in order for hanging.

Now - the plumb line. Not a string and weight for this inventive DIYer but a beautiful piece of purple ribbon with two batteries tied at the end. Plumb line confirmed that the walls are pretty square anyway. Next came the glue. Again I made the most of my cooking measures to get the right ratio of paste and water. The instructions said to leave for 30 mins after the initial mix and then beat well before using. Mine was pureed using my newly acquired Kambrook wand mixer.

The beautiful plumb line

And so to the hanging. I took my time hanging one roll at a time and pasting the wall only when each length was ready for hanging. Patience paid off and the whole six rolls were hung without any major errors. Quality control, my sister, gave the thumbs up and the job is finished. What do you think? I'm pleased and even have enough paper left over to do another feature wall. Is this the new career?

THE BEST.........the brilliant job of papering around TWO powerpoints.

THE WORST......could anything else have fallen into the paste bucket? The brush, the stanley knife and the cleaning rag.

I'M LEARNING....it maybe water based but the glue is still sticky when you try to wipe the floor with the cleaning rag. Don't stand still in the laundry for too long would be my advice.

Not a bad job for a DIYer!

Plague, Pestilence and Precipitation

If you want to enjoy some of the best fortified wines Australia has to offer then Rutherglen is where you should be headed. My long time friends Robyn and Neil live just outside Rutherglen on a property where they run their own B & B, Renaissance Farm, and their newly established Renaissance Chocolates factory and shop.

Driving with locusts

That's where I spent Christmas and New Year. Like many people that live in rural areas these guys certainly have to put up with their fair share of Nature's nasties. just prior to my arrival there had been widespread flooding in the area - so much so that the river was out of bounds for Christmas camping. While I was there we were in the midst of a locust plague. They had eaten their way through many acres of crops and it made for some very interesting driving. It was easy to tell those drivers who came from the country! This Christmas if it wasn't the locusts then it was the mosquitoes. These guys were savage and relentless. Multiple repellent techniques couldn't even keep them at bay. As I was leaving it was the turn of the blowflies. And just to really get on your nerves there were the never-ending miniature tumbling weeds that I called Hairy McLairies. Robyn had another name but I can't pronounce it. They blew in on every wind and the only real way of getting rid of them was picking each one up individually. Truly enough to send you mad. Ahh the joy of rural living!!!!!!

Pub in Rutherglen

Rutherglen is very central to many other gorgeous northern Victoria towns. It was a short drive to Beechworth for lunch at a delightful French cafe. This place is very like Bowral in NSW - full of tourists and a shopping haven. All set in a town where the original facades and buildings remain. We visited the famous Milawa Cheese Factory (they now stock Renaissance Chocolates), took in a movie in Albury and visited a fabulous home design store in Wangaratta (Wang to the locals!). This is all within 30 minutes of Renaissance Farm.

All Saints

If it's wine you want - then it's wine you shall have. I thought Hawke's Bay had lots of wineries. This area must be full of as many drinkers as the Bay. Campbells, Bullers, All Saints, Chambers, Rutherglen Estates, Scion - and that's just scraping the surface. What I did find that was a lovely connection with NZ was a building built in the late 1800s that was originally used as a storage facility for Vidal Wines from Hawke's Bay. Go figure! The cellar doors at some of these wineries are stunning. On Boxing Day we went to a concert at Buller's Winery featuring Joe Camallieri & The Black Sorrows and Kate Ceberano. It was a musical masterpiece. These guys were there to enjoy themselves and that is exactly what they did. A crowd of around 1,500 meant a very intimate atmosphere. More like a large party than a concert.



THE BEST......well where do I start. The friends aboslutely!!!! The wine - it never stopped flowing. The food - this area is seething with fine food options both to enjoy cooking with and to dine at. And weather was pretty, bloody good!

Bloody Hairy McLairies

THE WORST....that plague, pestilence stuff. The locusts were annoying although did provide a moment of laughter when we had just driven through a swarm only to see a "cool tourist type" driving towards them in his convertible with the roof down and hair blowing. Would love to have seen the mayhem that swarm caused. And those bloody Hairy McLairies - if there wasn't a fire ban I would have taken to them with a match and dam the consequences.

I'M LEARNING......All all play (eating and drinking) and no work (exercise) means that clothes choices are limited!!!!!!!!

Dieters Need Not Apply!!!!!!

This Christmas one of the great experiences I had was working in a chocolate factory. Not just any old chocolate factory but a BOUTIQUE ARTISAN chocolate factory. I went to Rutherglen in Northern Victoria for my Christmas and New Year to stay with my dear friends Robyn and Neil.

On the packing line

They have been making chocolates for the past few years and in the last year they set up a chocolate factory and shop at their Renaissance B & B. Called Renaissance Chocolates, it's just a great example of passion and ingenuity coming together. During the time I stayed with them I got to help out in the chocolate factory. How lucky was that!!!!! I became the Chocolate Maker's Apprentice. And, from feedback from The Boss, I wasn't too bad at it either. Of course, Neil being a food engineer I got the science lesson behind how good chocolate was made - my fault for asking questions really - and then I was put to work. Intially it was on the packing line - packing orders for a local winery but then I was promoted to putting the backs on truffles and dipping them.

I did this display

I eventually ended up in the shop setting up the chocolate displays and, fear of all fears, serving the odd customer. Honestly the crap that came out of my mouth even surprised me!!!! I burbled away until the chocolate makers could take over and then I scurried back to the factory.

Robyn and Neil have developed their own recipes for fillings that can only be described as truly authentic and intense. If the product description says Tahitian lime then that is exactly what you will taste. The truffles are made from Rutherglen fortified wines and are mouth-wateringly decadent. The couverture used to make the chocolates in Belgium's finest and the inventiveness of some of the ganahces reflect both Neil and Robyn's love of fine food.

Truffles to be backed

Funnily enough - I didn't eat that many chocolates. When you are surrounded by the stuff you are more intent on getting the finished product looking right than you are about tasting the goodies. I did try a few though and so my comments here are all based on good, old fashioned research. My hips are testimony to that.

THE BEST.....seeing a customer buy the very first chocolate bar I made. Being the modest person that I am they clearly got the message how privileged they were.

THE WORST....knowing that every mouthful of tantalizing chocolate was probably going straight to the hips.

I'M LEARNING.......lots really. Tempering chocolate, seed chocolate, dipping, NIPs, ganache. It's all chocolate talk you know - can't divulge too much as I was only the Apprentice.