Category Archives: Plonk and Tucker

Yarn May June 2023

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The Southern YarnSpring has sprung,
The sun is ris,
I wonder where the birdies is…

They will no doubt be flocking through soon, mostly on their way further north. Thankfully some regulars have stayed around through the winter months – chickadees and nuthatches – and visit our feeders daily.

We took a walk through Kings Park a couple of weeks ago and saw a fleet of pelicans on the river (more than 100). Some were perched on bits of remaining ice. Further along the track, Judy was buzzed by a cheeky chickadee. Luckily, she had come prepared with some black sunflower seeds in her pocket and was soon treated to that unique pleasure of having them feed from her hand. Birds I view this issue is about wood ducks (p.8).

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Yarn January-February 2023

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The first issue of The Southern Yarn is available now, online and in colour, and will be making its way through the post to those still having our postal version in glorious B&W on yellow paper.

Here’s Charlie’s editorial to get you started:

With this first edition for 2023 it is probably worth another reminder of the origins of the DUCW – namely, a bunch of Kiwi and Aussie servicemen wanting to socialize together after making it through WWII and choosing to make Winnipeg their home. This newsletter evolved later, and while sadly those founding vets have all passed on, we try to maintain a nod to their contribution by consistently including an article or something with a military theme – serious or otherwise. So, on p.6, in “Getting to know” there is a piece of history that was news to me until I read of it in the Australian Geographic. The focus is on the secret diamonds, but the bigger picture is the bombing of Broome, WA (I had only heard of the attack on Darwin). It is good to note that the AG journalist rightly acknowledged the critical role of the (Indigenous) Nyal Nyal man who first made contact with the survivors and raised the alarm – as opposed to the Mission Brother, who gets the credit in other accounts.

There are other contributions by my usual collaborators — Jenny, Peter and Judy — and I am particularly grateful this month to Jude McCudden (observations of changes downunder, p.2) and Ed Powell (guest Birds I View observer/writer, p.8). Hopefully they will inspire more of you readers to send in news or links to stories of interest to others. Special thanks, as always, to our advertisers, and Brian Hydesmith who assembles this into its presentable format. Continue reading →

Need Vegemite?

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This from Toby Elson …

“I ran out of Vegemite in November. As you know, Stonewall FF hasn’t been able to get any for a while and I needed my Vegemite fix.

“So, I ordered custom jars from Australia for the same price (with shipping) compared to what I’d been paying locally for the small jars.

“All in, it was $70 for 5 large jars and took 4 weeks to arrive. It was packed really well and fun to have my named jars.

“Sign up at the Vegemite store and get 10% off your first order.”

Thanks, Toby!

And here’s to you, High Tea Bakery!

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Another friend of the DUCW has been featured recently in the Winnipeg Free Press – Sunday May 17 edition, pages A10-11.

Many of you have enjoyed the treats and eats at High Tea Bakery on Portage, which is part Australian owned and has hosted many of us for afternoon tea.

You can see more at this link – you will have to locate the issue in Editions on the right margin – but here are a few snippets to tempt your taste buds. BTW, the Bakery is open for take out, if you’ve got a hankering for lamingtons.

When life gives you lemons, make lemon tarts. Or lemon squares. Or lemon cranberry scones.

Belinda Bigold is the owner of High Tea Bakery, a St. James institution well known for its British-style goodies. On March 17, Bigold, who founded the business in 2003 along with her mother Carol Bigold, sat down with her management team to crunch numbers.

Forced to immediately lay off three-quarters of her staff, Bigold told the remaining employees the bakery would honour any orders still on the books for that week. Then she posted a message on Instagram and Facebook reading, “Closed for now, not forever.” Practically overnight, longtime regulars of the bakery began reaching out to Bigold on social media, wondering how they were going to “survive” the days and weeks ahead without their usual fix of imperial cookies, gingersnaps or snickerdoodles.

Reading some of the comments was really humbling. It was so sweet people took the time to write and let us know how much our shop means to them,” says Bigold who, based on demand, began offering curbside pickup two days a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, near the end of March for people who placed orders online ahead of time. “At first I was thinking the last thing people would need during a pandemic is a cookie. As it turned out, lots of people were looking for a bit of normalcy in their lives, and wanted that special treat that makes Saturday still feel like Saturday.

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