Locally grown avocados and stone fruits at the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmer’s Market, my husband’s birthday (he just turned 50, young thing), Tour Down Under and the Big Day Out.  These are the January things that have me talking this year.

I dusted off my old Avanti bicycle today and rode over to the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmer’s Market.  It’s just a 12 minute cycle away and is a great way to start a Sunday morning.  Though I should have had breakfast first. I ended up buying almost too much to carry home on my bike. Andrew usually goes with me and we share the load of the veggies and heavier items like olive oil and potatoes. I get excited when I see all that fresh food.  Just as well no one had watermelons on sale.

You wouldn’t think that our dry climate was suitable for growing avocados, but sure enough some guy in the Adelaide Hills gets them to grow in a bit of a micro-climate. Other market winners today; nectarines and peaches.

On Friday I participated in the Tour Down Under’s Mutual Community Tour Challenge with a group from work.  This year’s ride options were 149.5k, 111k or 35k.  Our team had riders in each of these distance categories.  I was in the last group, riding 35k.  Friday was rather warm and the last 35k of the ride was characterised by extreme cross winds  for 23k then a blessed tail wind for the last 12. My goal was to complete the ride without needing to dismount on any of the hills.  I was successful.  It took 2.5 hours but I made it!

Friday was also my young husband’s 50th birthday. We went to our local pub for dinner with good friends Stu and Toni, then on Saturday night Andrew and I went to an Argentinian restaurant in Hutt Street. Very strange crowd in the restaurant.  Some tattooed guys who kept going outside for a smoke and what appeared to be ‘deals’ with people who drove up, parked illegally then disappeared.  The whole dining experience had some disappointments and some highlights. The steaks were excellent as was the Marta’s Vineyard 1999 Malbec. The crème brûlée was generous. The Empanada was deep fried though and the filling tasted like a Bolognese sauce. Not the highlight for sure.

Announcement: I am not going to the Big Day Out this year. I love the web site and poster with the ‘Day of the Dead’ inspired skeletons and paper cut-outs. But none of the bands really excite me. Maybe the Decembrists, but not enough to go for the day (they’re on at 3.45 or thereabouts) or even the evening of a really hot day with a bunch of drunken 23 year olds.

One more January thing – our anniversary – married 19 years and still best mates.  Well done us!