Close Inspection

Before this weekend's rain, I was walking past a local turf and irrigation supply business. What they have done is to take the nature strips and original flower beds surrounding the premises and turned them into lawn samples. For instance, there are couch, buffalo and Kentucky blue grass plots amongst others, the idea being you can read the sign on each plot that outlines the best growing conditions for each grass, have a look at the turf and decide which one is for you.

Now that we are on stage three water restrictions, no one is allowed to water their lawns except for those who have had instant turf installed, whereby they have a six week exemption to water but only at specified times. So all around town are dead and dying lawns and the turf plots at this business were no exception, so you could imagine how stunned I was to walk past and see a vivid green plot amongst all the other browned off ones. Thinking that it must be newly laid and therefore with a watering exemption, it demanded a closer look.

It looked wonderful, all lush and thick, inviting a feel so I walked across to read the sign and touch it. When I got to the sign, I laughed to myself....it was synthetic grass! I suppose if you supply turf and irrigation equipment, you have to find something to sell during a drought. Even though I prefer natural grass, this stuff looks pretty good.

Growing Pains

You know the drought is biting hard when the Potato Sisters, from whom I regularly bought 10 kg bags of spuds for $12 six months ago, are now charging $17 a bag, though to be fair they did point out that summer spuds are a little more expensive.

Instant Karma

Now that Menu for Hope is over for another year, in a nice piece of karma, Ed from Tomato, who helped me with the photos of my cherry vodka prize, bid for and won the selfsame vodka! In an even more impressive bit of karma, just after I dropped off the prize to his house I went shopping. Because it was stinking hot and dripping with humidity, a little visit to Coles Vintage Cellars was in order for some beer and premixed drinks, anything cold and wet. Up to the register I went to pay and the chap serving me asked whether I liked champagne.

Long time readers of this blog know the answer to that one and when I replied in the affirmative, he produced a bottle of sparkling wine from under the counter and told me it was mine - gratis. Okay, it wasn't champagne but it was a magnum....all mine and for nothing!

Habits

I had to come to work today and while I'm waiting for a job to finish, decide to have a souvlaki for lunch. A shop not far from here makes a very good one, but have the maddening habit of slicing off the meat from the spit, placing the meat on the hot grill and chopping all the pieces small. I really like big pieces, so today I asked the person serving not to cut the meat. His eyes widened and he looked aghast. He explained that the shop did this to make sure the meat was thoroughly cooked, because when you have a big lump of meat, some of the interior is at the right temperature for bacterial growth until enough meat is sliced off and the interior meat attains the right temperature to kill of the germs.

I told him he could cook it some more but leave the pieces big. He agreed and the whole time the meat was on the hotplate his spatula was nervously pressed on top. You could tell he wanted to give it the chop and he didn't move an inch the whole time, just an occasional spatula twitch. Well I can report the souvlaki was excellent and I'm still alive.