Queen Lizzy's B-day

To celebrate the 3-day weekend for the Queen's Birthday, our little convoy of campers headed out towards the Liverpool Plains for a relaxing getaway on a property just outside of Karoona.
We made a brief stop along the way to have a "sticky beak" (look-see) at a late cotton harvesting operation.

 I can tell you now just the smell of a mature cotton "paddock" (field) along with the sites and sounds of a JD picker rolling through a sea of white gold and a module builder rumbling the earth beneath my feet, brought tears to my eyes as I thought of home and life at JGB. Oh, how I miss California farming. I always did find cotton harvest my favorite time of the year on the ranch.

The operator was gracious enough to give Nick a ride on the cotton picker as the equipment gurus (Adam & Ben) and the agrono (me) analyzed the obvious need for adjustments to the picker heads as money was being left behind still dangling on the plant. Yes, "I will forever be a farmer's daughter"!

Our first night was a tad chilly as we awoke to a frosty morning. Thank goodness our campfire was still alive and ready to stoke for some instant heat to warm our bodies and boil the "billy" (pot of water for coffee).

On Saturday our host Scott (owner of the property) and his two children Belle and Tom joined our little cast of campers.

The kids stayed busy riding "quaddies" (quad bikes) all day while the adults relaxed and thought about what they wanted to drink and eat next.

 Our after dinner entertainment came in the form of pest control "spotlighting" (kangaroo and fox population reduction) around the property with the entire crew in one vehicle. Fun was had by all except for maybe those unfortunate critters who met the business end of a 243 or 22 caliber rifle!

Sunday included a scavenger hunt for the kids which I think was a big hit - even when their list included dead bugs, animal bones and roo poo!

Maddi, Belle, Tom and Nick

Girls just wanna have fun and a giggle!


Maddi looking quite "cheeky" !

For afternoon tea, Chef Adwar (Adam) baked up a scrumptious damper and then a tasty beef stew for dinner. Even Chef Lulu joined in on the culinary bandwagon and whipped up a batch of her famous outback apple cobbler for dessert - yummo!

Benjo taking a break to watch another beautiful sunset

Monday came around too fast, of course, but we made the most of our day with a ride through the Doona State Forest.

All-in-all the weekend was a memorable one as it often is when quality time is spent with good friends.

50 Something!

I awoke this morning a year older.

(actually, I still have another day with the time difference - yeah!)

Beautiful cards, text messages , a box from home, Facebook greetings and all sorts of b-day goodies were there waiting to greet me as I brushed the sleep out of my eyes at dawn.

I'm feeling very special today with all the love coming my way from friends and family near and far. I am so thankful and blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

My friend Adam e-mailed a poem he had just written for me this morning. His genius with the pen is truly a gift and always a delight to read. He has defintely put a smile on this birthday girl's face which also brought a little sunshine into this very rainy day.

Thought for the Day
by Adam Lewis

As time will unwind, we suddenly find,
that we’ve come to the end of the week.
With the cold & the wet, the weekend will be met,
by a forecast decidedly bleak.

Though someone will shine, a good friend of mine,
for today is her Birthday you see.
So Lori I’ll say, you’re our ‘Thought for the Day’
with Love & Best Wishes for free.

The ILs (mother-In-Law & father-In-Law) treated me to a scrumptious italian dinner at a lovely little restaurant that had scenes of Tuscany painted on the walls. Our hosts were also the entertainers (keyboard and vocals) that lured me, along with another b-day girl in the crowd, to dance by ourselves (husbands suddenly became shy) to the tune of "Sweet Sixteen"! Too funny!

A late night celebratory homemade chocolate cake was presented and devoured (yummo) in minutes as a another fabulous and memorable birthday came to a close.

Pizza-azzz!

Inspired by a recent episode of Masterchef Australia, Ben and I decided on Monday night to "have a go" at making our own pizza base. I'm sure we'll get better with practice, but we felt our first attempt was a success. So much so that I think I heard Ben say "we'll never have to buy another take-home pizza ever again"!

We had a great time creating our own topping combinations but most of all, eating the results! I even made a dessert pizza that was like an open-faced apple pie - yummo! One thing I've learned from Waddy's create-a-pizza gatherings in Corcoran is that the ingredients you toss on top is only limited by your imagination. Yeh baby!!

Masterchef Benjo!

They may not have looked pretty but they were darn tasty. We'll make sure to get some tips from our friend Troy, the professional pizza-man, on our next visit back home so he can show us how to make an "Awesome" pizza.

The only unfortunate incident of the night was that the oven was way too hot and it cracked my pizza stone in 3 pieces...bugger! I guess we'll have to do as Masterchefs do and try cooking our next pizza on a terracotta tile. Hmmm?