Easter 2008

Phew - Easter flew by in flash and boy did I miss my Internet connection (but my DH didn't)
On the upside I read 2 books, one a 440 page on an Aussie outback mystery drama and the other a Patricia Cornwall horror mystery(no more leaving the windows open)

We travelled 390 kms to Dubbo - Grandpa's 1100 acre farm

with grazing cattle and a few bulls.

Very small by comparison to the large outback ones I read about in my book of 100,000 acres.
A little family reunion becoming a tradition with 16 of our clan and a ringin' DS's friend. Plus a few day visitors one day.My sister in law, nephew and niece traveled from Queensland for Easter.

Our trip there was a good run ... the Sydney SIL & BIL were supposed to follow us because the farm is hard to find in the dark. Then he decided not to wait for us - they left 20 mins ahead of us ....

They don't remember what it is like to pack with toddlers tugging at your leg and unpacking everything as you pack.
Still they got caught in the traffic snarl heading out of town and with our local knowledge we almost caught up to them.

We all met up in Lithgow and after a scout for the best tucker choice we had a hasty non too tasty, dinner at one of the fast food joints and off we went. Next a brief pit stop in Mudgee for a driver reviver break and a b00b stop for the Brothers.
The skies were dark but light, and the night clear (full moon rising), the roads long and only a little windy.The few cars we passed were well behaved but the semi's were passing too close. Suddenly we noticed some erratic behaviour blinkers flashed left and right, we were overtaken by our 'unnamed' BIL ... more flashing blinkers but there was no where to pull over. DH thought it must be one the bikes or the trailer... after a few kms we found a grassy shoulder to pull off the road.

NAH ... Their fuel light was flashing ominously - * empty * hey did you forget something genius .Fortunately we had jerry cans of unleaded petrol for the motorbikes and perilously close to the passing traffic at 10.30pm we poured petrol in ... d'oh ! DH joked it was $2 a litre ... it was almost at $1.48 .

Finally, we arrived and found our room - after much 30 mins of cursing, sweating and crying toddlers plus Grandpa getting uptight at all the ruckus and furniture shifting - moving and swapping one single bed from outside our room to swap with nephew, swap mattresses with nephew, so single bed was same height, remove the bedhead (that the Brothers might topple over) balanced on bedside tables, change queen bed from left to right, move two bedside table to fit the two beds side by side, make the beds, find Pj's and peg the curtains together rearranging we were able to head to bed.

Day 1 - we cooked ,we ate, we washed up, we drank tea, we ate lunch, we ate muffins, we ate snacks, we ate dinner, we drank wine, we sang happy birthday to my SIL - whose 50th birthday was in February. I chased the Brothers and ate most of the day ... the big boys rode motorbikes and drove the paddock bashers, just turning up to eat.That night while movies played I retreated to my room with the Brothers and my book. I missed my blog *sigh*
Day 2 - I caught up on more sleep ... I still dreamed about blogging but
It was the same old ... wash the dishes rinse the dishes dry the dishes and repeat ... eat , eat and eat !
We had a quick run to Dubbo for supplies but the others didn't wait again so we just filled up our tanks we are not as stupid as others bought a few supplies and came back to the farm. The Brothers loved the tractors. I finally ventured away from the food out of my comfort zone and explored the farm with the Brothers and Daddy.They loved the shiny tractor and the old ones too.
Day3 - More of day 1 & 2 . ... with added chocolate.
Plus mending a fence taken down by a branch and checking out a stray bull.
My niece spent the weekend testing out a lot of the recipes given to her for the kitchen tea surprise. Her choc chips cookies were heavenly and her muffins divine.

Someone decided we DH should tow drag the old tractor in the top paddock back to the house paddock.
It had been there goodness know how long (maybe 20-30yrs). Mind you DH a bl00dy legendhad to drive the tractor in reverse about 2-3kms at 5 kms per hour over a rough grassy track, down the hill ... while I sweated it out... heart in my throat and prayed

Then Dh found a few extra props ... a rusty old piece of farm machinery and an old windmill very mangled ? unknown mishap.

Day 4 - repacking especially the mess the Brothers had made took me a few hours while Dh went searching for a missing bull with his Dad . We ate lunch and then it was time to head home back to my beloved computer and blog.... unpack and cook chuck in preheated oven some shop bought but fresh pizza, eat ... settle down with my faithful friends.


Ps. I did pause briefly in memory of 4 yrs ago when I first realised I might be pregnant but was too far from anywhere to buy a test. I didn't know then how it would all end ...

Three years ago at Easter ... I was very depressed. Going there, although another farm, was a very painful the reminder of what should have been. My husband's cousin's partner had also just had a new baby and that was all everyone could talk about ... nothing was mentioned about my baby. I went for a lot of long solitary walks to shed tears.

Two years ago at Easter I was 23 weeks pregnant with the Brothers and I refused to go anywhere away from my OB and hospital.I also started having strong braxton hicks contractions- my DH had thankfully stayed home with me and I got very nervous counting them but it settled down by Monday. I remember being terrified it was too early to save my twins so I did nothing.
We still sent our eldest son who went to the farm with my SIL... I wanted a little peace and he was desperate to go. I was terrified of mishaps and gave my DH a long list of don'ts to tell his sister ( they probably ignored them) - but DS came home in one piece.

This year I am so thankful for my two little boys that I shared Easter all the chocolate with this year but I just realised I forgot to put on their Easter Bunny rocks T shirts over the weekend D'oh ! .


♥

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