Category Archives: Wonderful Weekends

Warrumbungle Wanderings

Back in January the nearby Warrumbungles were hit with devastating bushfires, they pretty much wiped out most of the national park, very little flora or fauna survived. We watched each day from home as the smoke billowed up as it continued to blaze.

This weekend we packed up the Muddy Kids, grabbed some lunch and headed up to check out how nature fights back after this kind of devastation. There is a pocket of greenness at the bottom where we set up camp for lunch and explored the creek, it’s almost like an oasis, for as you continue to drive up in to the park the only green is where trees are beginning to reshoot. It was amazing to see.

We reached the only lookout open at the moment and walked the short walk to the top for an awesome view of the park, but it also took your breath away to see how much damage had been done. A definite eye-opener thinking about just how long it will take to fully recover. It is however a geologists dream, a rare opportunity to see the rock layers which are normally under the cover of trees. It was also a good chance for the kids to see what all the smoke and fire they saw back in January was about, allaying some of their fears and answering their questions.

Wordless Wednesday – Loving the Sunsets

The sunsets at home have been nothing short of spectacular, hope yours are as good as these.

Linking up with Trish at My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.

Last Wedding of the Month

Saturday night saw Muddy Hubby and I frock up for the last social event of the month – a Wedding! Now I love, love, love a good wedding. I love checking out the groomsmen, watching the bride enter the church on her proud Dad’s arm, reviewing the bridesmaid’s dresses and the mother of the bride and groom outfits. The bridal cars are always a talking point, and in this case it was Work Vehicles, Landcrusiers, that had the mud washed off and were polished up for the occasion.

I didn’t have my camera at the church, only at the reception, so was able to take some shots of the lovely country decorations, crops in vases! It’s been a common theme at Muddy family weddings to have crops feature as part of the table decorations, Saturday night’s were Wheat, Millet and Sorghum. In the past we’ve had wheat, triticale, barley and we had sheep (toy ones of course) for our wedding. We scored some yummy lollies as the bomboniere, all packaged up nicely and a nice roast meal.

The best bit though, especially at a family wedding is catching up with family. Muddy Great Grandma had 18 of her 19 grandchildren at the wedding and proceeded to issue orders to the photographer about the photos she wanted taken with her grandchildren, then her 5 sons, as she rarely gets them all in the same spot at the same time. It also meant a lovely brunch on Sunday to check out the bride and groom’s new home and catch up some more with family, before bringing the Muddy tribe home for a rest after a big morning, and some really nice quiet family time in the afternoon before we collapsed into bed. We’re not coping very well with the end of daylight savings!!!

How did you spend your weekend?

What’s your favourite part of a wedding?

How has your household coped with the end of Daylight Savings?

Linking up with the awesome Sonia at Life, Love and Hiccups for Wonderful Weekends.

Some Lunch and Weighing Lambs for a Wonderful Weekend

I’d rather ignore Saturday with 6 loads of washing and a broken lawn mower but Sunday made for a Wonderful Weekend. Muddy Hubby fixed the mower for me, so I could finish mowing the orchard, keeping the mozzies down and giving me a clear view of the snakes coming. Then the Muddy Family headed to the local pub for lunch. We set up camp on the back lawn of the pub, the kids settled down on the rug for some colouring-in and lunch, while the adults settled in for a good catch up and tasty feed.

Our local pub has been gradually restored and renovated over the last few years. It’s now a meeting place for friends and family, a place to relax, unwind and have a good time. During the year they host functions, and have family BBQ’s, Sunday was one of those days.

After lunch the kids had fun watching the train go by, playing make believe as trains, planes and horses, while Muddy Hubby and I played with Muddy Bubby and chatted the afternoon away.

We went straight back to work in the late afternoon, weighing lambs for today’s sheep sale. Making sure we had the heaviest to send to market. The girls are getting good at learning how to shift the sheep, keep them moving into the scales and drafting them off into the heavy and light pens. My favourite bit is them getting to spend time with Muddy Hubby and learn all the workings of the farm. I also love to see a bit of fashion in the sheep yards, Muddy Organiser with her silver shoes and pretty dress and Muddy Puzzler with her bright red dress, always a way to brighten up the dusty yards.

How did you spend your weekend? Do you have a local pub that’s good for families like ours is?

Linking up with the Amazing Sonia at Life, Love and Hiccups for Wonderful Weekends

I so want to show you photos!!

But I can’t!
I’m still computerless(not sure it’s really a word!) the computer doctor says it’s able to be saved, thank goodness, but will still be away for a little while. Things happen a bit more slowly in the country.

So anyway, I digress, Saturday night Muddy Hubby and I headed out to the 2828 Dinner Under The Stars. This was the tenth year they’ve held the dinner and I don’t think they’ve had to have it indoors once. Friday night we had 61mm of rain, our road was quite literally a river, the water had nowhere to go except straight down our road. We got all frocked up, loaded up the kids for drop off at Muddy Grandma’s for a sleepover and headed out in the water to make sure we made it to the dinner, whether it was inside or not!

You know what, the sun came out, it shone happily until sunset and kept the evening balmy and lovely. They had gone with an Oscars theme this year, which meant everyone was looking amazing, blokes in suits and bow ties, ladies all frocked up, and excitement in the air.

There were some great photo opportunities, but unfortunately they passed me by! One of the highlights for me was definitely Les Schirato, the CEO of Vittoria Coffee. This is an Australian Company, that sells 1.6 million cups of coffee a day!! They are a family run business and he was utterly charming and entertaining and was happy to have a laugh at himself. You can check out a send up on their ads made by one of our MC’s on YouTube, you just type in ‘Dinner Under The Stars 2012’. Al Pacino made a series of ads for Vittoria Coffee, and they’re the only ads he’s ever done, being a serious actor and all! The YouTube send up is our country version.

What amazed me though was that Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after Oil! This is a legal addictive substance and it is traded worldwide on a phenomenal basis.

The 2828 began as a community building and has grown into an amazing story. It helps the local community and provides traineeships for local Aboriginal students. The Cafe itself is run by community volunteers and TAFE students. The staff are all trained as Baristas by Vittoria Coffee, and it has a great range of giftware. You can read more about the story of 2828 here and if you’re ever traveling through I absolutely recommend stopping for a coffee and a bite to eat!

The Dinner Under The Stars is their major fundraiser for the year and as well as the dinner and dancing they had a number of auction items and Bon bons with prizes. I didn’t come home with anything much to Muddy Hubby’s delight, but I had a great night. I only wish I could show you photos!!!

Do you have a hidden gem like the 2828 in your area?
Is there a highlight on your social Calendar?

Love An Excuse For A Party!

What better excuse for a party is there, than an impending wedding! I got myself all dressed up, waved goodbye to Muddy Hubby and the Muddy Kids and headed off on Saturday to a Kitchen Tea/Hens Party. I had thought it would be a nice reserved affair, it soon got interesting, competitive and lots of fun.

We got to design wedding dresses out of toilet paper, newspaper and garbage bags. Our design had a lovely sweetheart neckline with a long train and pink veil (which we won as a bonus) and of course won us first prize. I learnt some new games and that I’m not very creative when it comes to poetry! We strapped on tennis balls in panty hose and relay raced across the hall, again we were a winner! Can you tell I’m a teeny bit competitive?!?! Then we got offered lovely cake, which I just couldn’t bring myself to eat.

It was a day for female laughter, catching up with friends and even having a champagne or two. I haven’t had a day like that in a while, I came home very relaxed (although that could have been the champagne) and reinvigorated. For me a good girly catch up will recharge my batteries. It was a day all about the bride to be (except I got some bonuses out of it), now I can’t wait for the wedding to have even more fun!