Waltzing Matilda

According to Jesse 'Waltzing Matilda' means to go travelling with a swag. (That's a lovely romantic notion so if anyone knows otherwise - better that you keep it to yourself and leave me to my dreams.)

And that's just what we did over the Anzac Day weekend.

Alec, Sam, Ivy, Roger, Jesse, Louisa, Max and I had three lovely days away in our swags. (Poor Peet was working and studying - making this the second big trip he's missed out on lately.  Tom & Kathleen had already taken my grandchildren and moved to Victoria.)   We drove in two cars to Glen Innes.  Roger insisted on taking walkie talkies and I confess that I mocked him at first but they were such a lot of fun - all manner of teasings and jokes were flying between cars.

First night was at Beardy Creek - a couple of k's outside of Glen Innes - cold, autumnal and practically empty. It was heavenly.  Crisp air, coloured leaves, morning mists, a trout stream nearby for fishing, a fireplace and all of it to ourselves.

Then it was on to Texas which was the motivation behind the trip - well the motivation was the Lee Kernighan song "Texas QLD 4385" - we just had to have a look.  Just quietly there's not much to recommend Texas but it is on a nice river and after a lot of hunting we managed to find a place to camp on a stock route away from the hundreds of camper trailers and caravans that had set up camp in the official camping areas.  Also a lovely camping spot - about twenty degrees warmer I think which meant we could stay up late talking and laughing around the fire and could keep the flap on the swags open at night to fall asleep watching the night sky.  And Ivy even had a bath - and her freshly bathed baby smell made the rest of feel cleaner even if it didn't do much for her.

Waltzing Matilda is definitely the way to go.

An Easter Feast

Easter may be my favourite holiday season - so little work involved - a four day weekend - perfect weather.  We do the usual - easter eggs, usually on Sunday morning - reading the story of the last week of Christ's life, though since we got half way through the story in five hours a couple of years ago I now clamp down on discussion of the scriptures while we read (as Tom said: "There'll be no feasting here!") - and a new book each to ensure everyone has something to read over the break.

This year we added an Easter Feast.  We had rabbit, baby pig, and a young deer in the freezer so we decided to have a 'game day'.  It turned into quite the day.

We started with a trip to the markets for all the extras. Then at around 12.30 in the afternoon we got stuck into filleting and carving up the meat, prepping the veges, setting the table and lighting fires.

And our first course started at about 3 pm - salt and pepper wild pork with a watercress and greens salad and sourdough.  I confess that my first bite of the pork was a bit hesitant - but it was fabulous.

This was Peet's plate - a much larger serve than most!

From there we just kept on going:

Cream and mustard rabbit stew with mash - I think this was my favourite course - at least it's the one I have a hankering to reproduce.

Louisa - aproned up for the afternoon.

Char grilled venison , fennel and pomegranate salad, wood fired pumpkin with nigella seeds and spiced yogurt, roasted quince.

And a bit of walking practice.

Seared and roasted venison with hummus and beetroot mash, mediterranean dukkah (from Sam's Your Inspiration at Home) and mint. I also really loved the hummus with the venison.

Rough mash, fennel, apple and red cabbage stew, salted and garlic roasted venison.

Wild pork ribs with potato wedges.

Baby spinach, brown butter pear and hazelnut salad with roasted wild pork and blackcurrant balsamic.

Flour-less chocolate cake with stewed rhubarb and whipped cream.

We finished eating at around 8pm - so that's eight courses and seven and a half hours cooking - brilliant way to spend Easter saturday. (Peet was there - just behind the camera most of the time.)

The main events

Good things happen to us so routinely that sometimes I forget just how good life has been to us.

If Kathleen and Savannah were in this photo, it would be hanging on my wall - and I'm not a hanging photos on the wall kind of girl.

Peet's formal get up - he might be even bigger now.

Tom's graduation - it was a last minute rush to get him there hence the scruffy jeans look.

First day of high school for Max - it was the first day so he had no idea what was coming - hence the happy face.

Savannah at Eidsvold where Tom had a six month stint teaching.

Ivy's birth day - same day as Max's birthday - what a present!

Still in the hopsital - if you think Alec looks tired you should have seen Sam!

One of my favourite Sunday morning rituals.

Savannah - Gladstone this time.

Ivy - looking at and looking like her father.

Overnight hike and camp.

Sweet, sweet William's arrrival.

Thanks heavens for technology that let us get regular iphone photo updates - it just about killed me being so far away when he was born. 

Savannah was thrilled when Max showed up for William's blessing weekend - the rest of us weren't quite as appealing. 

Jesse - totally in love - and how could you not.

The thing about William is that he has captivating eyes.

And then Thomas moved his family home for a few months - so lucky.

William

Not everyone gets to take their grandchildren to the beach on a hot day - but I did - Roger had to work.   This is  classic Ivy - always curious.

And we've had our share of worries too - sometimes overwhelming and sometimes niggling - but always outweighed by the good, even when I struggled to see that.

So much that is good - so many happy moments - so many people and events that shape us for the better.