so glad we did
2010
Sunday morning
Julian: “Shall we go for a drive and picnic in the country tomorrow?”
Lily: “Oh yes, that’s a lovely idea. I’ll prepare the picnic.”
Sunday night
Julian: “Shall we go for a drive and picnic in the country tomorrow?”
Lily: “Yep, I’ll make the picnic in the morning.”
Monday 9am
Julian: “Are we going for a drive and picnic?”
Lily: “Yeah, the chicken drumsticks are roasting.”
Monday 11am
Julian: “Are we still going for a drive and picnic?”
Lily: “GOodness! Is that the time! Yep, yep. I’ll just get the biscuits out of the oven.”
Monday 12pm
Lily: “I thought we were going for a drive and picnic?”
Julian and Abby: giggle, giggle, giggle, “Hang on a sec, we’re just stopping the zombies from eating our brains.”
Monday 1pm
Lily: “Hey you guys! Come and see the new shower curtain!”
Julian and Abby: giggle, giggle, giggle, ” Oh no! There’s more zombies rising up out of the swimming pool!”
Monday 1.30pm
Lily: “The picnic’s packed and I’m dressed and ready. I’m going for a drive and a picnic in the country.”
Julian and Abby: “Oh no! Wait! Wait! We’re coming too!”
And oh we are so very glad we finally got out of the house and onto the road! What a glorious afternoon – a short but rich and beautiful drive in the country to the south east of Melbourne.
Whilst stopping so Abby could say hi to a gathering of very pretty cows, we met the lovely farmer – Chris – her son, Nathan and funny pup, Sam who took his job as canine cowherd very seriously. They raise Limousin cows for meat and invited us in to pat the cows, chat about the thrill and struggles associated with breeding, raising and selling cows, welcomed us up to their farmhouse to admire the view – WOW! what a view – and invited us back in September to play with their spring babes. What a wonderful country experience hey! To just rock up at a fence, admire the stock and before we know it, have such cheerful generosity extended to us by complete strangers. Awesome!
We then continued along the twisty and picturesque road – we were in West Gippsland – and wound our way down to Moonlight Creek. Such a different environment. Very still and damp, tree ferns soaring amongst the gums, a sweetly burbling creek, and bizarrely enough, a cheerfully crackling campfire with not a soul around. Hmmmm … someone was very, very careless. I know it isn’t the fire season, but how could anyone in Victoria be so thoughtless as to leave a campfire burning in a heavily forested gully surrounded by a state forest and farms.
The light was almost gone, the air was a chill 7 degrees, so we ate our picnic and warmed our hands by the little blaze. Abby had a lovely time poking little clumps of dried moss and dead fern leaves into the fire. Their pretty sizzle was quite magical. When we could barely make out the road, we carefully put out the fire with water from the creek – the amount of steam that came off it was truly extraordinary! Julian and Abby settled into the backseat of the car with the picnic quilt tucked over their laps and around their legs so they could take turns planting rows of vegetables and flowers to defeat those brain eating zombies, and I drove us home. A fair swap since I knitted Abby’s school scarf all the way :-)
Oh it was a good afternoon. So next time you think it is too late to go for a picnic, that you’ll go next week, that you’re immersed in tasks around the house – nah! Almost anytime is a good time for putting aside the everyday and heading off to find and enjoy the out of the ordinary. Cows, farmers and fire. The only things we missed were a thermos with tea, some marshmallows for the fire and for Abby – warm feet. Dope!
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What a treat! Hee hee, loved the lead up to the drive and picnic too. What a VIEW! The cows are lovely, Abby’s haircut is gorgeous and that dog looks like he means business. Hope the zombies left you alone!
How true! It’s never too late to head out, is it? What a funny series of conversations and such lovelt photos as always. How sweet that you were invited back to see the baby cows. There’s something about cows…
So great. Sometimes I manage to get some of that cooking done the day before, but yes, sometimes picnics must be spontaneous!
We always wish we could go visit the cows we see in the fields!
I have to tell you – the first picture of Abby at the gate, I spent moments looking at it, trying to figure out who the new woman was in your life. Now I see it’s Abby and I have to tell you, Lily, I know you want to keep your little girl little, but she looks soooo beautiful and mature in that picture.
May I ask, is your country overflowing with ‘soccer fever’? My 12 yr old son is just enraptured with the non-stop football coverage, and his geography knowledge is growing by leaps and bounds as we pinpoint the various participating countries on our world map.
What loveliness, this post, this picnic. Thank you for sharing it.
i guess knitting socks for abby on the way might have been more apropos? h well, you can always cuddle your feet in the scarf, right? how marvelous about the cow farmers! – yay for late picnicking!
What a glorious day out! Your pictures are really tempting me to pack a picnic lunch and head to somewhere green and nice! Those biscuits… yum!!!
What a glorious day out and a delightful posting!! I so enjoyed reading about you day sprinkled with your cleverness! ~karen
what a fun post!!! love the interplay of pohotos and dialog! fun. fun. fun.
What a magnificent day!!! It was so much fun to read. I can’t get over how tall Abby is getting. Thanks for sharing your lovely day.
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