Swimming

My childhood summers would make an awesome montage in a film.  A gang of tanned kids playing in gardens, building forts in the paddocks behind the houses and climbing trees.  Our combined families playing street cricket and having BBQs that went from lunch till well after dark.  And then there would be the swimming.

We were lucky enough to grow up with a backyard swimming pool in a street were there were quite a few.  Mum could always tell which house we were at by the echoing screams, shouts and splashes.  My sister and I would spend so many hours in those pools that we would be darkly tanned by the end of the summer.  We were masters at riding a pool pony, could swim multiple laps underwater and were unbeatable at marco polo.  One summer we even taught our Uncle how to swim.  We truly were water babies.

As I grew older I spent less and less time in the pool.  It just wasn't as fun as it was when we were little.  Our firm childhood friends and pool buddies had grown up, gone in different directions and were no long available to play marco polo for hours.  Since I moved out of home the effort of going over with swimmers etc and my annoyance at extra hair washing and drying, has meant that it has been quite literally years since I had been in that pool.

But then this summer arrived with its blaze of heat suited to only one thing - lazy pool afternoons.  For the last two weeks before family dinner S and I have headed up for a swim.  I can see such a difference between us when it comes to the pool.  My years and years of constant swimming mean I'm completely confident and jump right in even though I haven't been swimming for ages.  S has never been a swimmer and he is much more hesitant about the whole thing. 

But we have been having a ball.  Mucking about, playing in the water.  I had forgotten how free you feel in the weightless environment of the water.  I am enjoying swimming laps and feeling that sense of powering through.  And it is just so nice to cool off in this super hot weather.

After hiding away in a drawer for years my bikini is finally seeing the light of day and if this weather continues the way it appears to be I can see many more afternoons in the family pool.  Now just to get a new pool pony!

Have you been swimming this summer? And are there any childhood activities that you haven't done since then that you would like to again?

Icy Poles

If you live anywhere in Australia you will be all to aware of the heatwave we are experiencing.  A cool change has come through today in Canberra, it is only 29.  Yesterday was 37 with strong winds.  The heat, wind, smoke and dust in the air were eerily similar to the scene 10 years ago before the major Canberra bushfires.  It had my hackles up, I felt tetchy and uncomfortable all day, obsessively watching the emergency warnings and scanning the skies.

The hot weather will be with us again by the weekend.  If it isn't accompanied by the wind I will be alright.  I actually quite like the heat.  Sure 37 is getting a bit excessive, but aside from when it is associated with bushfire inducing winds, I enjoy the heat.  Actually let me get more specific, I enjoy dry heat (humidity is the devil's plaything) when I have ready access to an airconditioned house, office and car to provide relief when I need it.  So basically I enjoy brief moments of heat on the journey between airconditioned spaces.  I know, I am a wimp.

But I will say that I really enjoy lots of the things that the heat allows me to do.  I get to wear my new sandals, showing off prettily painted toenails.  I get to wear shorts and skirts and dresses without tights, showing off luminously white legs.  And I get to eat my fill of icy poles, frosty fruits and all manner of frozen confection.  Surely a heatwave is bearable if you can spend it eating icy poles.

How are you surviving the heatwave? And have you been enjoying any frozen treats recently?

Nectarine

After last year's rather pathetic non-summer, Mother Nature has made up for it with this summer arriving with a vengeance.  We have used our airconditioning more in the last week that we did in the whole of last year and I am rediscovering all the lovely light dresses that I haven't worn in ages.  In fact if it hadn't suddenly got stormy yesterday I was actually going to go for a swim, something I rarely do as it has to be scorching to get me into a pool.

Arriving with the heat has been the annual influx of summer produce.  I have seen the mangoes and peaches in the stores for a few weeks now but they seemed to be that pale, early season version.  Today however, the scent of fruit almost assaulted me as I walked into the shop.  The rich, sweet scent that tells you it is bursting with flavour.  Nectarines are among my favourite of the summer fruits, so I couldn't wait to get home and sink my teeth into one.

Standing in the aircon, in a summer dress, with the cricket on in the background, tasting that sweet, slightly acidic flavour - now I truly know summer has arrived.

Do you have a favourite summer fruit? And have you had a "summer is here" moment.

Blackberries

Every February in Canberra, the wild blackberries start to ripen.  Every year in the months leading up to February, I anxiously scan my favourite blackberry patches hoping that this won't be the year that the government finally decides to poison them.  We lost a few good patches this year and yes do I know they are a noxious pest, but they are also such a delicious one.

Last weekend was our first blackberrying trip for 2012 and it appears that this year will be one that we will talk about for years to come.  There are not only an extraordinary number of berries (with plenty still red or green, so there will be picking for weeks to come) but the berries that have ripened are particularly large and juicy.

They are of course wild berries, so they are not the size of ones you would buy in the shops, but they are full of flavour and of course are free!  I estimate S and I picked in the vicinity of 5kg, with only some fairly mangled hands as payment.

Our haul is being put to good use.  The best berries have been frozen for the months to come.  Almost a kilo has been made into sorbet.  We have two large glass bottles full, shortly to become blackberry vodka and there is another large container in the fridge yet to be be assigned to a delicious treat.

If you are new to blackberrying, here are a few tips:

• Only pick from healthy looking plants.  If it seems to be dying, it has probably been poisoned.  The ACT Government has a list on the TAMS website of places that are being sprayed, check your local government site or better still find a friend with a farm!
• Wear long pants and long sleeves of clothes that you don't mind being pulled by thorns and stained with blackberry. juice.
• Wear good sturdy shoes - you are tramping in the bush in summer, there are plenty of spiders, you are stepping on blackberry canes and there is always the possibility of snakes.
• Be prepared for scratches - my hands look appalling right now
• If you are freezing them, freeze them in a single layer on a tray, then transfer them to a bag.  That way you end up with a bag of individual berries rather than a giant clump frozen together.

Summer Love

I don't have a favourite season.  There are things I love about each one, and things I don't.  But on the first day of summer I'm thinking of all the things I love about the hot part of the year.  There are so many, from the coolness of the early morning when the sky is the hard blue that tells you it is going to be a scorcher, to sipping cocktails in the long warm twilight of a summer evening.  Here are a few thoughts:

Summer Fruit - peaches, nectarines, cherries, berries, mangoes that are so ripe and full of flavour that the juice runs down your arms in sticky trails while you eat them.

Long days - daylight for hours and hours.  From the cool of the early morning, through the scorching midday when you retreat to the air conditioning, only to venture out in the long lingering warmth of summer evenings.

Ice creams - eaten fast so that they don't melt, cooling after a long walk.

Bare legs and arms - lily white from winter hibernation, they are released.  Fresh air on bare limbs and bright painted toenails in open toed sandels.

Summer Storms - excitement of thunder and lightening followed by the refreshing cool, clean post rain air.

Picnics - under shady trees in gorgeous gardens, by the lake, or at the beach.  Lazing on a picnic blanket eating delicious morsels while reclining in luxuriant relaxation.

And so much more ...

What do you love about summer?

Airconditioning

Australia - you've got to love it.  Flooding one day, bloody hot the next.  Actually at the moment in some places is is hot and flooding at the same time.  What a country of contradictions!

It is on these very hot days that I thank my excellent fortune to be the beneficiary of airconditioning.  I get to work in it all day and sleep in it at night.  Canberra is better known for our freezing winters, but we also get stinking hot summers, so the ability to be comfortable on days like today when the mercury is in the high 30's is a true privilege.

It is just another of the ways that I realise I live such an easy, advantaged life and I'm determined to appreciate it, not just take these luxuries for granted.

The sounds of summer - Mr Whippy

After a slow start, the Australian summer has arrived in its full glory and it is hot, damn hot.  Yesterday was 37 degrees and even in the shade with the breeze blowing, there was no escaping that heat.

Naturally talk at the BBQ soon turned towards cool things, ice-cream in particular and my friend began to regale us with the story of how the night before she had been walking the dogs with her husband when they heard the siren song of the Mr Whippy van.  In the heat they tore across a major road and through the suburb, lured on by a tinny rendition of "Greensleeves" until at last they arrived at the van and forked out $8 (!!!) each for an ice-cream (he did give them mini free ones for the dogs).

Then with precision timing, as we were still laughing at her story, we heard the fateful music.  Heads popped up like Meerkats, and the ice-cream truck (this time playing "Teddy Bear's Picnic") rounded the bend.  Before he had even stopped the truck the crew were up and running across the park.

There are some things that just taste better, even if you do pay a premium for them - chocolate in the shape of a bunny, grated cheese, a sandwich someone else has made and yes, ice cream out of a truck.  I don't think it matters how old we get, when you hear that music playing, everyone wants an ice-cream.

My productive garden - part 3

Look at the bounty my garden has produced.  I never get past the excitement of picking something from my garden.  It is always full of herbs, but in summer, a bed not much bigger than my desk also gets planted out with as many vegetables as I can fit in a small space.

However, it has been a bit of a disappointing year to this point.  With all the rain everything grew like crazy, but nothing ripened.  The squash were particularly disappointing as they kept rotting before they got to picking stage.  Likewise the black russian tomatoes had just sat disappointingly green on the vine, not doing a thing. 

But what a difference a week of sunshine can make!  Last night I went out intending to pick the few red cherry tomatoes I could see, only to find hiding beneath their giant leaves a veritable army of squash!  And next to them the tomatoes had suddenly coloured up too!  Even the cherry tomatoes were hiding their glory just waiting for a closer look.  There was so much that I was able to bring a massive container into the office to share with my colleagues.

I feel all proud of the efforts of my little garden!  Just imagine what we could all do if everyone turned over a bit of their garden to growing produce.

Fruit Salad

Yesterday I went to the markets at the end of the day. They are only open Thursday - Sunday so on a Sunday afternoon they sell off everything at bargain prices. Everyone of course knows this and they can be absolutely packed, but I managed to get a massive basket full of lovely fresh produce for just $20.

Included in my basket were nectarines, peaches, plumcots, a rockmelon, passionfruit and strawberries which this afternoon I have been enjoying as a very summary fruit salad. All the fruit was just bursting with flavour. It is just a joy to eat and I could feel my body soaking up all the vitamins and minerals.

It truly was a delicious afternoon tea.

The first taste of summer

Today is the first day when wandering around it actually feels hot! Not just warm, hot enough that coming inside to the air conditioning is a real relief. The heat hints at all the summer fun to come and there are other signs pointing the way to a rapidly approaching summer.

Summer by the senses for me equals:

Smell - dusty dry, eucalyptus scented, those days when you can smell the heat before you feel it.
Sight - a hot hard blue sky. That cloudless sky so blue and bright you have to squint to look at it.
Taste - a mango dripping with juice.
Sound - cicadas singing their lungs out, amazing me with the ability of such a tiny insect to make so much noise.
Touch - the sizzle of bare legs on overheated car seats, or those few searing steps on the sand as you sprint into the cool of the ocean.

Along with that heat, today another of those signs of summer arrived - I heard my first cicada!

But even with all those signs of summer, our wet spring still has Canberra the most glorious shades of green. The city mowers are working like crazy trying to keep up, but in the unmown patches wildflowers like Canberra Royal Bluebells have popped up. I can't remember the city looking so wonderful for years.

The heater is off!

A corner has been turned, the switch has been made, it is official - the heat is here so the heating is off!

Ok, it is Canberra, more than likely the heating will come back on at least once before summer really hits, but today in the office we switched to air conditioning for the whole day. It is so warm that even with my slightly reptilian tendencies, I'm not wearing a jacket.

Yup, days are warm and long, summer is just around the corner!