Easter 19-22 April 2019

Had toyed with the idea of leaving on Thursday night after dinner, but Fraser was going to a party, so we left on Good Friday morning

Traffic was quite bad - so took us nearly 3 hours to get there

Was just the three of us - me, Justin and Fraser. Mad was working at Coles over Easter

Had some lunch when we arrived, and then pottered around a bit

The weather was lovely, sunny and blue, about 25 degrees, just gorgeous

Justin read out on the hammock, and I read on the chaise longue upstairs - with the door open

Drinks and nibbles on the veranda before dinner

I'd made a salmon curry for dinner, and then we started watching The Highwaymen movie with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, but I was falling asleep, so had to go to bed

Read the Age online in bed in the morning, and then breakfast on the back veranda.  Was a bit cool, but pleasant

Helen and the kids arrived late morning while Justin and I were on the main street - having bought some eggs from David.

I heard Xavier calling out my name and scooting rapidly toward me with Helen and Michaela not far behind

Once back at the house, Justin and I scraped the front door a bit as it was getting shabby, and then he filled it

Had a very pleasant  antipasto lunch all together under the tree, and then we took Fraser to Bealiba - as he was camping there with his friends over the Easter break

Stopped in on Terry's on the way back- and cheekily helped myself to some of his tomatoes and a cucumber

Did some weeding with Xavier when we returned

Alex, April and Sarah arrived late afternoon, got them sorted, and I made a chicken curry for dinner, and let it simmer in the oven, and then more drinks and nibbles on the veranda.

So, we had 2 x currys for dinner with rice of course

After dinner there was musical entertainment upstairs - with Alex being very enthusiastic on the drums

 

 

Sunday morning, and some of us went for a 5km walk before breakfast - which of course included feeding the horses - which came galloping over - have never seen them move so fast

 

Then back to the house for an Easter breakfast of toasted hot cross buns etc, and of course an Easter hunt for Helen's kids

Sarah surprised us by putting vegemite on her hot cross buns, as though that was a normal thing, said she also does it with raisin toast.  The rest of us weren't convinced....

Pottered around again, playing with the kids etc.  Helen left before lunch - as her dog Rose was home alone.

Lunch was another antipasto affair under the tree

After lunch I relaxed on the hammock - it was another lovely day, and read

Michael brought his sister and her kids around to have a look at the house - so I gave them the full tour - thought they would come a bit earlier...I'd planned to start the the dinner at 4, but it was after 4.30 when I started

The plan was my Easter lamb with pomegranates, fetta and mint - - the IGA didn't have lamb shoulder so I bought a leg, and let it cook for 2 hours.  Only thing was I had to brown it in a frying pan first, so didn't get it into the oven til after 5pm

Meantime, Justin, Sarah and Alex cleaned the kitchen windows - there was a lot of dust

 

I'd invited Terry around for dinner (and also 'fessed up regarding the tomatoes and cucumber) - he didn't mind at all, and in fact brought me two big bags of more produce.  1) Tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and basil/mint, and 2) apples.  I said what I didn't use I could give to CWA Ashburton 

Terry arrived around 5.30, and we went up to the veranda for gin and tonics and some nibbles.  Unfortunately, given my later start, we had a few packs of nibbles - while waiting for the lamb.

There was a lovely sunset though

We finally went down stairs and ate after 7pm - lamb was delicious!

Afterwards back up stairs for more music, with Alex on the drums again

 
Not a late night, but a good one, and still quite nice and mild - didn't need jackets

Monday morning, and no walk, just reading in bed

And then, the Rheola Show - was a bit cooler today though

All of our favourites there - woodchopping, vintage tractor pulls, sheepdog trials, etc

Matt & Jeanette 6 & 7th April 2019

Justin and I arrived at Inglewood just before 12, and stopped in at the butchers first, so that we could buy some of their famous Inglewood pork.we weren't sure if we were going to have dinner at the pub or home with Matt and Jeanette.

Onto the house, unpacked, and then a bakery pie for lunch under the tree

Didn't really do much, watered my citrus, took some more of Mum's stuff around to Denise, and read the paper.  We were really waiting for Matt and Jeanette to arrive.  They were coming from Albury, and en route to Adelaide, as Jeanette has a new job there.

They finally arrived around 4.30, showed them around as they haven't been here before, and then off to the pub for G&Ts.  We sat outside at the Royal.  It was a lovely afternoon, sunny and warmish, although it did cool down slightly, so J went back to the house and brought us some jackets

 

Drinks morphed into dinner.  Given that I'd enjoyed my steak so much a few weeks ago, I ordered another one - a Scotch fillet this time.  Wasn't quite as good as my porterhouse...but still pretty good

And then back to the house, and upstairs

Didn't stay up too late, and had an extra sleep in in the morning, as it was the end of Daylight Savings - so scored another hour

Had eggs for breakfast under the tree

And Matt and Jeanette left around 10am, as they still had another 6 or so hours to get to Adelaide

I pottered around in the garden, pulling out weeds, and also breaking off dead branches from a couple of mirror trees in the front garden that had succombed to the lack of water

While Justin had had a hard week, so relaxed in the hammock