When is an Invitation not an Invitation?

When it involves a former Prime Minister, a book, and a former PM's daughter.

In a recent article in the Weekend Australian Howard's phantom toast to Menzies 17/18 Sept 2011,  Paul Kelly the Australian's Editor at large writes 'John Howard has deleted from the paperback edition of his book the story that, on his first weekend in The Lodge as prime minister, the Howards invited Robert Menzie's daughter, Heather Henderson, and her husband, Peter, for celebratory martinis.'

Now normally I would skip over such an article, and defer to the sport section, but on this occasion, the headline caught my attention.

What toast? What martini? What has Mr Howard being up to this time ?  Telling pork pies?  No he couldn't be!!

Well according to Mrs Henderson, he has.  She has asked him to withdraw this claim in the lastest paperback addition of Lazarus Rising and he has obliged..

Former PM John Howard, hard at work

Apples in England, Oranges in Griffith, Peaches in Cowra, Plums in Flanders

What do they all have in common? They are free.

Down any winding country lane, in any park or reserve in most western countries, you are likely to find free fruit. Fruit that is just hanging around, fruit that nobody wants, fruit that will go rotten if it is not eaten. In many other countries, fruit trees abound in people’s gardens, or in the villages street scape. Jack Fruit in Sri Lanka and king coconut palms come to mind.

Fruit is the stuff of Adam and Eve. Fruit comes from trees - trees themselves that have grown on a whim or a seed. With not a supermarket within coo-ee.

In Kent, you’ll most likely find apple orchards. And on the sides of the lanes, there are usually trees, with branches full of their sweet juiciness. Griffith in the Riverina is Australia‘s undisputed orange capital, with farms to every horizon. Even with the thousands of acres, there are still trees left unpicked, or on farms for sale. Belgium, the land of the golden ale, has thousands of plum trees on the sides of roads. And Cowra? Ask me and I will let you in on a few sweet secrets.

converted Oast House, once used for drying hops. Kent, South-East England

Taylors St Andrews Riesling 2007

Got my mitts around this little bottle of rizza a while ago - it's got some wonderful bottle aged toast characters coming thru  with lemons/limes on the palate, to a backdrop of baked apple on the nose, and rounded lightly toastie edges, a good example of aged riesling.

12.5% Alc. Drink anytime in the next 10 years

thanks to Taylors Estate

http://www.taylorswines.com.au/