Two-up on ANZAC Day!

Nissa flew in the day before ANZAC Day and one of our first morning's missions was to make ANZAC biccies together.

Our free-standing oven had some issues, so we baked about 65 biscuits in the benchtop turbo oven - seven in a batch. Each group only needed about 12 minutes cooking time, so swapping out trays was a bit fiddly but otherwise all worked well.

I've just checked and our Yowah fuel stove ANZAC biccies were made using smaller "trays", though we could fit several trays in the oven at once.

Once all the biccies were baked, we packed up some to take with us for a later lunch picnic.  

Given the public holiday, I planned to pick up some picnic supplies at a large IGA in Boonah, en route to Lake Maroon.

Not long before departure I thought to ask Nick for some pennies.  He was able to find some as well as a scrap of wood - and I printed off two-up rules from the internet.  I printed off two sets of rules, cos the first set talked of three pennies which seemed like three-up, not two-up! 

I'd never played before and neither had anyone else.  We modified the rules a bit, so as to play at our picnic table.  

No money changed hands, only buttons!

Erin wasn't keen to play, so watched our antics while doing her knitting.  

Bandit didn't play either but tried hard  to join in - and his noisy barking added to the hilarity!

Life's a picnic (or a cafe lunch)!

After our splendid January adventures, February was busy getting back into our normal work and school routines.  As always, there were outings but those were not really in keeping with the scope of this blog.  

Nick and I also enjoyed a lovely weekend away - though the focus of that break was his performance at the Songwriters Showcase.

There was lots of rain in March and we took advantage of a dry day for a school hours picnic, fairly close to home.  We dined well on wraps made with leftover roast dinner meat and vegies - and Bandit was happy we'd packed a treat for him also!

A few days later I made scones and packed another lunch for some exploring further afield.  I had thought we might try to see somewhere new but after huge hilarity at the GPS "assistance" we ended up back at Atkinson Dam where we've visited on a few other occasions.  There was a bit more water after all the rain and it was very pleasant to sit watching the little birds flit about.

In contrast to those organised picnic outings we had a wonderful, impromptu adventure this week.  We headed to our local Bunnings (less than 10km up the road), made a small purchase - and then decided it was too nice a day to spend at home, so continued in a westerly direction! 

We didn't have a plan but enjoyed blue sky, sunshine and lots of pretty scenery as we drove along. We chanced on a wonderful lunch spot, the Nash Gallery & Cafe at Esk, with many birds chattering away (and stealing leftovers when they could).

There were a couple of local art exhibitions at the two information centres we stopped at.  We'd called in at Esk at other times but hadn't previously visited The Condensary at Toogoolawah, which caused some discussion as we parked.  It really was a former condensed milk factory - Australia's first!  As well as the exhibition there was a small history display in a former bomb shelter inside the shed - and we looked at that also.

We headed back slowly, poking about in a few opshops and finding a few bargains.  By the time we arrived home in the later afternoon we'd made a 180 km round trip, substantially bigger than our original/planned 18 km quick loop to Bunnings!