COVID-19 / Australia / 25th October Update

For the first time in months, our major state newspaper today has not led with a Covid story.

That is not to say it has gone away, but things seem to be under control especially in New South Wales with 6 locally acquired (but not mystery) cases this week and none in Queensland.

Meanwhile Victoria had seen a jump in new coronavirus cases with seven being recorded yesterday. This is due to a cluster in northern Melbourne which led to the closure of two schools.
However the number of active coronavirus cases across Victoria has fallen to just 98, the first time that figure has been below 100 since June 19.
The state’s much maligned tough restrictions have definitely had positive results.
So we remain on the alert but a little more comfortable with the situation. 

Life has definitely not returned to normal.
All governments are concerned that complacency might set in with the lifting of many restrictions so the message is still out there: wear a mask, socially distance and wash your hands.

Locally, the first two now seem to be ignored which is a worry with the Christmas tourist invasion just around the corner. 

We are seeing in other parts of the world, especially the USA, the results of dismissing basic preventative measures.

Some Non Covid News

So what’s happening around our place as summer approaches?

Fence repairs and upgrades continue.

Thanks to Stirls for coming down and helping with some major projects especially the remainder of the southern boundary fence.

We replaced the mid western strainer with a more substantial one and increased the stay length to keep it out of a permanent wet zone that contributed to rotting the base of the old one. A more substantial stay was placed at the eastern end strainer and all the unstable and burnt/scorched wooden posts were replaced with steel pickets. Then the wires were re-strained and tied. It was a full two day job but quite enjoyable working in the bush in pleasantly cool sunny weather. 

It is quite noticeable that, along with the tree regrowth, the bird and wildlife are finally returning. We disturbed a number of wallabies each morning and diverse birdsong was with us most of the day. Even the dreaded Koel has returned.

The fires have also created an environment for many new and interesting plants, apart from the flush of weeds, to grow. Some I have never seen before around here. They have probably lain dormant for decades.

We also made a start on revamping the east and northern house paddock fences damaged by the tree removal by replacing strainers and posts.

The only major project left now is replacing the southern house paddock fence.

The new grass out front is thriving after the occasional day of light rain supplementing the hand watering. Almost time to give it its first mow. The backyard grassing project is still in progress.

The shed rebuild continues. It’s going to be a little bit more fancy than first envisaged due to the builder and the co-driver getting their heads together. I may have to have an eight digit key pad lock installed to keep the fabric overflow from the little house (studio) finding its way over there. It will be nice to get all the stuff currently stored in the carport over there both for aesthetic and security reasons.

The pasture is taking a bit of time to get into its spring flush despite the ground moisture level being quite high. I guess we need some more warmer days to kick things off.

So am still buying hay to supplement the cattle diet. Thankfully it’s recently fallen in price.

Cattle prices are very high at the moment as good rain out west has encouraged restocking after the long drought caused an epic sell down of Australia's cattle herd. Farmers, feedlots and abattoirs are all competing for the smallest cattle herd in 30 years. Australia is now home to some of the world's most expensive cattle.

Not that ours are for sale of course.

So that’s about all our news for now.

Making Bread

This is my 100th post for the year, already over double the normal annual number.

Amazing what a bush fire emergency and a pandemic, forcing one into self isolation, will produce. 

The New York based daughter is making her own bread. They find the normal supermarket offerings there  a bit sweet (I can relate) and artisan breads a little expensive.

So she found a recipe for a no knead bread which she has been encouraging me to try. She has modified it a little by adding oats, flax seeds and pepita (pumpkin) kernels.

So I got all the fixins’ and got my lesson over two days via Skype.

Mixing the dry ingredients with water was very easy. Then it was covered up with GladWrap for 24 hours to let the yeast do its thing.

It tripled in size and was very bubbly.

The next step wasn’t so easy.

I got my instructions and a practical demonstration via Skype ie. “Baking with Kate”, Series 1, Episode 2.

But I think my mixture was too wet and folding it into a ball and wrapping it in baking paper and a tea towel was a real challenge.

But eventually there it sat like a neat parcel for two hours to double in size, which it did, while the oven and the pan heated up to 220℃(425℉) during the last 30 mins.

So then it was a matter of getting it off the baking paper, folding it into a ball again and putting it in the hot pan.

Boy, this was a real struggle. 

It didn't want to cooperate at all, sticking to the paper which began to tear and spreading out all over the place. I fought with it for 5 minutes getting nearly all the dough off and then dumped it unceremoniously into the hot pan and into the oven. No chance of ball folding.

Forty minutes later, off with the lid for another 15 minutes to brown and then out onto a cooling rack.

Actually it didn’t look too bad. 

But in comparison to the daughters (see pic below), not so good.

The big test was next! 

Taste and texture.

After a few hours we cut it in half.

Nice crispy crust, nutty taste but a bit doughy and there were pockets of dry flour.

Oh well, it was a first try.

Next time I will be more careful with the water addition and try to make the dough drier.

But it was really fun to do, especially with the ‘live’ lessons from New York City.

COVID-19 / Australia / 13th October Update

While the Covid second wave surges across Europe and the first wave relentlessly continues in the USA, our figures, though still concerning, have stabilized. 

The state of Victoria still has the highest incidence of cases but nowhere near the peak of their second wave.

It recorded 15 new cases yesterday with no deaths.

NSW advised one new local case in the latest 24 hour reporting period. The state recorded six cases in total, five of which were detected in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.

Queensland has recorded zero new cases overnight, maintaining the active cases in the state to four. 

All other states and territories report zero cases of community transmission.

Melbourne, Victoria's capital has been easing its lockdown for the past several weeks following a decline in cases. But Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews says the number of new cases is not yet falling fast enough to ease all of the restrictions that were promised.

Queensland's border with New South Wales is still yet to open.  

Western Australia's borders are closed to the rest of Australia and not expected to be open until April 2021.

The Prime Minister has confirmed Australia will move “very cautiously” to reopen international quarantine-free travel with a “handful” of countries (New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and South Korea), raising the prospect Europe and the United States will be excluded until 2022 unless a Covid vaccine is available.

Meanwhile our government research organization. the CSIRO, has published new research which shows COVID-19 can last up to 28 days on surfaces like mobile phone and ATM screens.

This is much longer than previously thought.

They conducted the experiment at three different temperatures, 20°C, 30°C and 40°C, with the relative humidity kept at 50%. The surfaces used in the study were stainless steel, glass, vinyl, paper and polymer banknotes, and cotton cloth. These are examples of high contact surface areas such as glass on touchscreens and stainless steel doorknobs.

At 20°C, the virus was extremely robust. They were able to recover infectious material after 28 days from the smooth (non-porous) surfaces. These are stainless steel, glass, vinyl and paper and polymer banknotes.

The length of time infectious virus was able to survive on the porous material (cotton cloth) was much shorter. On cloth, they were unable to detect any viable virus past 14 days.

 

 

 

At 30°C infectious virus did not survive beyond seven days on stainless steel, money (polymer banknotes) and glass. However, on vinyl and cotton cloth, infectious material was not detectable beyond three days.

At 40°C virus was inactivated much faster. Infectious SARS-CoV-2 was detectable for less than 16 hours for cotton cloth. While on glass, paper and polymer notes, and stainless steel it was detectable for up to 24 hours, and 48 hours for vinyl.

So guess the lesson here is keep washing and/or disinfecting your hands, don't touch you face and of course wear a mask when social distancing is not possible or practical.

Pikes Wines Virtual Tasting / Great Success

Over the last week we participated in two of Pikes Wines virtual tastings of their new vintages via Zoom.

The first was six whites; the second, three of their Reserve range, two reds and a white.

Without doubt two of the three bottles of the Reserve range were outstanding. I have a small collection of various vintages of the Merle Riesling and E.W.P. Shiraz which will probably now increase, just a little, despite still very high prices substantially discounted on the night. We only drink them on VERY special occasions. I’ll have to think long and hard about the Cabernet. It seemed a bit ‘green’ or herbaceous to us.

Of the whites we were impressed by the Semillon /Sauvignon Blanc blend and the Fiano which was our non Riesling fave of the evening.

As expected my ‘go to’ Riesling, the Traditionale was excellent as usual. This is such a consistent wine, year after year. The co driver is not fond of Riesling which is ok. More for me!

The Olga Emmie Riesling is made in the German Kabinett style ie. low alcohol (8.5%) and sweet (41g/L RS)

We thought, reading the tasting notes beforehand, that this is not our style and probably wouldn’t like it too much.

We were wrong! 

It was light, aromatic and had enough acidity to cut through the initial sweetness. Great with spicy Asian food.

A big surprise!

This was a great innovation by Pikes to replace the annual face to face Roadshow tastings due to Covid.

It saved us a long drive to and an overnighter in Sydney too.

I tried to sow the seeds of it continuing after all this virus kerfuffle is over and was not met with much resistance from the marketing man, but we shall see.

COVID-19 / Australia / 7th October Update

So how is Australia doing with Covid-19?

New South Wales has recorded its eleventh straight day of zero locally-acquired corona virus cases. There were 11 new COVID-19 cases confirmed statewide on Tuesday, all of them returned travellers in hotel quarantine. 

Victoria has recorded 15 new corona virus cases and one new death in the past 24 hours. The 14-day average for new cases statewide is currently 10.9, down from 11.9 on Monday.

The strict lock down laws in that state are having the desired affect but there is still a way to go.

Australian death toll now stands at 895.

Discussions on the opening of state borders is on going. November 1st is the target for NSW and Queensland.

So all in all, despite the severe economic and social price the country has paid as a result of the tough measures invoked, compared to many others it has to be said we have done particularly well.

But the fight is not over yet. 

With summer and the long holiday period approaching all governments are emphasizing the need for caution and the avoidance of complacency. 

Strict social distancing rules are still in place, even on beaches, and heavy fines apply to businesses and individuals who do not comply.

Last night the federal government handed down a budget designed to pull Australia out of the most severe global economic crisis since the Great Depression thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Here’s a summary. 

Grass

My newly seeded lawn has started to shoot, albeit patchy in some parts, as a result of the warmer weather and plenty of watering.
Got me thinking about grass in horticultural terms and how come you can mow it and it keeps growing.
Maybe I should have paid more attention in the plant physiology lectures at school.
Anyway, grasses are monocots ie. their seeds contain a single (mono-) embryonic leaf known as a cotyledon. There are approximately 60,000 species of monocots.
This makes them distinct from the other class of plants, dicots whose seed has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are about 175,000 known species of dicots encompassing most common garden plants, shrubs and trees, and broad-leafed flowering plants.

So how come you can mow grass and it keeps growing when other plants don’t?
A plant produces new cells in a place called the meristem. The production of new cells together with the enlargement (division) of these new cells is the source of growth in a plant.
The meristem of many monocots is in the "crown" of the plant which is right at soil level.
The meristem of dicots is at the end of each shoot.
Therefore if you "mow" the dicot, you cut off the source of growth and new growing points must emerge from buds along the stem. Dormant buds contain inactive meristems which begin growth when the buds above it are removed.
This generally calls for strategic pruning.

With monocots, since the growing point is at ground level, you can cut the tips of the leaves and the meristem just continues producing new cells which enlarge and push the leaf blade up from the bottom.
Therefore, you can mow the monocot grass but not a dicot, if you want the latter to keep growing, that is.

Cicadas

Cicadas are the sound of summer in Australia.
There are more than 200 Australian species, most of which belong to the one large family, Cicadidae.
Here they spend most of their life underground as nymphs for around 6-7 years.
When the nymph reaches full size it digs its way to the surface and generally emerges about nightfall in late spring or early summer. It then climbs onto a tree trunk or other object and sheds its skin for the last time with the fully-winged adult leaving its old empty nymphal skin behind.

This occurred on our large gum tree (eucalypt) out front a few days ago.

The life of adult cicadas is very short, lasting only a few weeks. After mating, the adult female cicada lays its eggs which hatch into small wingless nymphs.They fall to the ground and burrow below the surface. Here they live on the sap from plant roots for a period which may last several years.
Cicadas are notorious singers. In fact they are the loudest insects in the world. The song is a mating call produced by the males only. 

Some large species such as the Greengrocer/Yellow Monday and the Double Drummer produce a noise intensity in excess of 120 dB at close range which approaches the pain threshold of the human ear.
Many species of cicada sing during the heat of the day.

 

 

 

 

As kids we used to collect them and keep them as pets for their short lives.

Fierce trading went on to see who could amass the most diverse collection.
Many of their common names were initially given to them by children. As a result cicadas probably have the most colourful common names in the insect world. Some of these include: Black Prince, Double Drummer, Floury Baker, and the Green Grocer or Yellow Monday.
Australian journalist Peter FitzSimons wrote in the memoir of his childhood, “the black prince was valued at three cherrynoses, four floury bakers, five yellow mondays or a thousand green grocers.”