the youngest bungaree

natives of my strange land

yummy food, comfy blanket, and...two bungaree boys with an apettite:
but then they notice my yerba mate, look at the faces they make...huh.

closer, and closer they get. look at the strange savages in their bungaree habitat.

wanting to check out what is inside. no worries though, of course they didn't get any...it is "mamma's yucky drink". Daddy has his coffee, and mamma has yucky :) (as long as I don't have to share there are few things I wouldn't let them call it!)

new shoes makes us happies.

grandma jackson sent these cute clogs to the bungaree boys, oh and they are fun! :)

fun. fun in the sun.

MIA- yes....sorry I am back now.

cherry time

we picked cherries with the langs, here are the cherries...loads of them.

after picking cherries, now it is sleeping time for the baby bungers :)is there room for anything else? we'd better eat them quick!

palo dulce: palolu

Glycyrrhiza glabra (Palodú o Palolu)

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In Spain I grew up eating sticks called palolu (from the spanish: palo dulce), and not just me, but all my friends as well. We would chew on them for hours, days with the ends slicking out of our mouths. Their nectar was potent, sweet and perfect. I decided that since I have a garden now, and I can plant whatever I want to plant I needed to find out what it really was that we were chewing on! I knew it as palolu, but it is known scientifically as Glycyrrhiza glabra. In Spain it is known as "the poor man's licorice" and has an intense and woody black licorice taste. I now use it all the time, since at the Beanery (local coffee shop) they sell it all cut up into little pieces for infusions or teas. I drink that almost every night...but that stuff has been dried and isn't as good to chew on, I want the real fresh stuff. So, I found some seeds...which is a little iffy...but I would love to have this memory to share with my boys.

Some things will always make me ache for my young days, for the free and careless days that I will never own again. All of my childhood memories are from Spain, and there are about 3 people that I can share them with without explaining it all out. Sometimes that gets to me, a sense of loneliness of unshared memories.

What brings you to your youth, smells, songs, games? I think I will do a full post on this including all my childhood memories....I can share them even if I need to explain them right!? I'll let you know how my search for palolu goes!!!

Glycyrrhiza glabra plant

The history of the original bungaree!!

I guess we are not as original as we once thought! We never knew of this legacy, but Bungaree was a hero of his people and a great leader. Here is the definition from wikipedia:

Bungaree by Augustus Earle (1826)

Bungaree

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bungaree (d. 24 November 1830) was an Aboriginal Australian from the Broken Bay area, who was known as an explorer, entertainer, and diplomat.^[1] He became a familiar sight in colonial Sydney, dressed in a succession of military and naval uniforms that had been given to him.^[2][3] His distinctive outfits and notoriety within colonial society, as well as his gift for humour and mimicry, especially his impressions of past and present governors,^[3] made him a popular subject for portrait painters.^[1]

Bungaree first came to prominence in 1798, when he accompanied Matthew Flinders on a coastal survey as an interpreter, guide and negotiator with local indigenous groups.^[2]

He later accompanied Flinders on his circumnavigation of Australia between 1801 and 1803.^[3] Flinders was the cartographer of the first complete map of Australia, filling in the gaps from previous cartographic expeditions,and was the most prominent advocate for naming the continent "Australia". Flinders noted that Bungaree was "a worthy and brave fellow" who, on more than one occasion, saved the expedition.^{[citation needed]}

Bungaree continued his association with exploratory voyages when he accompanied Phillip Parker King to north-western Australia in 1817.^[2]

In 1815, Governor Lachlan Macquarie ‘crowned’ Bungaree "Chief of the Broken Bay Tribe" and presented him with 15 acres of land on George’s Head.^[2] He was also known by the titles "King of Port Jackson" and "King of the Blacks".^[1][3] Bungaree spent the rest of his life greeting newcomers to the colony, teaching boomerang throwing, and begging. He died at Garden Island on 24 November 1830 and was buried in Rose Bay.^[2][3]

crazy, huh!?

beaming tenderness

this is my favourite picture of oliver. he just knows he is cute, and sticks his belly out :) I love it!

bungaree pickin's

We really didn't get to the strawberry patches in time to get the good, huge Oregon strawberries. We came later on when they are little, but still super sweet. J didn't care. He insisted over and over that: "these are the best strawberries we have ever tasted!!" Sweet they were, and now they are gone. Enjoy the pictures though!! :)







Right by the patch they have a hazelnut orchard. Oh, this was a fun, and slightly spooky place. The boys ran around in there for around an hour...good times for bungarees!