Valentine Ideas : food for thought or love

Can love thrive on mere fresh air and water? Do lovers necessarily have to spend a fortune on Valentine's Day roses and a romantic dinner? You can't fault them for stimulating the economy while having a good time, can you?

The Wildpear at the Garden Centre in Dural semi-rural suburbia has a quaint and modern ambience, and serves good food at affordable prices. Clean and rich taste, modern Australian-Italian cuisine at its best.

No ordinary fish and chips. Dipped in beer batter with onions and parsley and deep fried to perfection without any hint of greasiness.

Prawn linguine with fresh tomato sauce, basil, spinach and lots of parmesan cheese topping.

Lasagna with caramelised walnuts and fresh garden salad.

To avoid disappointments, make sure you book in advance for "important" occasions that people remember to celebrate and get together such as Valentine's, Mother's, Father's days.

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Valentine's Day : when you're in love

“Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.”

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

“You know you are in love when you see the world in her eyes, and her eyes everywhere in the world.”

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

“Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence.”

For it was not into her ear I whispered, but into her heart. It was not her lips I kissed, but her soul.

- Beautiful quotes from unknown sources

Does the Opposition role dictate that it must oppose?

Rudd's rescue plan has hit a snag but is unlikely to be stopped by the lone opposition Liberal coalition leader Malcolm Turnbull. While the beauty of democracy is that it provides checks and balances, do the Opposition leaders always have to reject government policies especially when they have no viable or better alternatives? Most would agree that Rudd's stimulus package would be more effective than the tax deductions espoused by Turnbull. Turnbull whose background is in arts, law and logging, wasn't known to hold strong views on economic management. Focussing on the minute details, he has certainly missed out on the bigger picture. Bravery could also constitute folly in some cases.

New Year Cookies - Pineapple Tarts

The all-time favourite pineapple tarts are hard to come by at the stores unless one places a special order. Though it may be quite costly and time consuming to make them at home yourselves, it gets the family into the festive mood.

Each large Queensland pineapple priced around AUD3 yields about one and a half times that of the Malaysian variety. Melt in the mouth pastry is softer and more challenging to mould but tastes a lot better than the harder versions. This the result of various recipes I collected over the years from culinary schools, my aunt and in-laws.

Killer Trees - environmental protection versus safety

This was one of the many incidents of falling branches from towering and brittle eucalyptus tress. This branch on the ground measuring 7.8 metres in length was by far the largest and heaviest encountered in recent times. The tree stood only 3.4 metres from the house foundation had always been a worry. As the path is a thoroughfare for entry by the side gate, the falling branch missed me and a child, and possibly passers by, by hours. It was indeed a close shave. A week later, another branch fell. Though smaller and less threatening, it was a cause for great concern. It is the natural characteristic of gum trees to shed leaves and brittle branches especially in summer and autumn.

After battling red tape and strict preservation regulations, we finally got permission to remove the tree. It is forbidden to cut down or even prune any eucalyptus tree without very good reasons as these are native protected species. Approval from the council is mandatory upon application with payment for the evaluation which has been increased to $80 for the first 3 trees.
Much as we love nature and love to protect the environmental and ecological balance, the bottomline is whether human lives could be safeguarded? Whenever it was windy or stormy, we feared for our lives and avoid getting too near to huge and unstable trees.