Jan Power's Farmers Markets

I finally got a chance to really go and peruse the Jan Power's Farmers Markets in Reddacliff Place, at the top of the Queen Street Mall.  They've been on since the beginning of this month, but I have been on holidays, so I hadn't had the chance to go and really take a look yet.

Running on Wednesdays from 11am to 6pm, the markets have everything from fresh fruit and veges, meat, bread, flowers, cheese and other dairy products, smallgoods and some hand crafted goods.  From what I could see, most of it was very well priced too.

As it was lunch time, I started out with a cheese kransky from the German sausage stand (slapped into a crusty breadroll with sauerkraut and mustard) to munch on while I had a look around.  I picked up a gorgeous ciabatta from the German bread maker (and a cinnamon stick for afternoon tea), some diced pork from one of the butchers, and fresh fruit and veg from some of the produce sellers.  I also popped back down at afternoon tea time to pick up some fragrant roses from the stall out on the William Street end, absolutely gorgeous roses for $8 a bunch.  I think that may become a regular weekly treat for me.

I'm really glad that they've moved to regular weekly markets right in the CBD.  It means I can get fresh, good quality produce at a reasonable price every week, without having to haul myself out to any of the suburban markets on the weekend.

Do check them out!

A Riot of Purple

As you may have guessed by the header of this blog, I absolutely love jacaranda season in Brisbane. Jacarandas just scream "home" to me, even though I believe they are native to South Africa.

I love that gorgeous purple colour, and how they leave a carpet of purple underneath them when they are in flower. Even though they shed blossoms everywhere, and then those said blossoms do rot all over the place, I think they're one of the most beautiful features of Brisbane.

On Saturday night just passed, it was my birthday. I went to Kapsali's restaurant at South Bank with a group of girlfriends (the Brissie Cysters). We were seated at a table outside, right under a jacaranda tree, shedding it's gorgeous blossoms all over the table, the chairs and of course us. Sure, there were a couple of flowers fished out of wine glasses and cleavage as the night passed on, but I didn't mind, they're so beautiful it's worth fishing them out of various places they land.

I've always said, when I get married, it will be under jacaranda trees in full bloom.

There's something special about this time of year, driving through Brisbane (or in my case, travelling on the bus) and seeing that riot of purple all over the landscape. It's stunning.

Incidentally, the photograph I have used for my header comes from Brisbane Images, a digital image collection through Brisbane City Council Library Service. If you go to their catalogue website eLibCat, you can click on the "Search Brisbane Images" button and then use the search engine to find pretty much anything Brisbane related right back to the mid-1800's.