My mum is a nice lady. My folks were down for a week doing dental/optic/skin checks and she offered The Wife and I a child free lunch date. Which we gladly accepted. I put the word out for a good place to eat but quickly realised with it being Fathers Day weekend that most places would be booked or at least crowded. What we wanted was a lazy quiet feed, preferably in a dark corner so I could have a post lunch nap and no one would notice. Nowhere in SEQLD was going to fit that bill on that weekend.
What I had noticed though, on my trips up and down the hills chasing cows was a fantastic little flat area underneath a lone pine tree right at the top of the grassed paddock. It looked like a great picnic spot, all it needed was ten minutes with a shovel to remove the evedince that it was also a favourite spot for the cows to picnic. The thought of a few hours up there eating good food and drinking some bubbles seemed pretty appealing. No designated driver, no travel, just a walk up a steep hill.
That meant some good picnic food. I thought a pear and blue cheese tart would travel well, but be decadent enough to make lunch seem a bit special. Layers of filo pastry and butter, slices of pear and blue cheese and a few pistachio nuts to finish off. It certainly looked good.
There was a bit of a cool breeze walking straight up the slope but for once the lantana did something useful, providing an effective windbreak in our chosen spot. Bubbles were poured, tart demolished, much to the dogs disgust, all with this amazing vista in front of us. For atmosphere, I doubt many restaurants could match it. In Brisbane or anywhere.
A bubbles induced nap followed and we marveled that we'd lived at Lantanaland for five years and never been up here. For serenity, it was hard to match. Kid and cow chasing beckoned and Tally and I ran off down the hill to see if we could rustle up some missing cows. No luck on that side and despite being a bit puffed, the old dog came down the other side for a look. No luck there either but the folks and the family were in the spa so I joined them to soothe the stings of choosing the wrong fork in a cow track.
Sunday was my first Fathers Day. I usually push back against commercial holidays and events but I'll admit, I was looking forward to my first celebration as a dad. The Wife, being the beautiful lady that she is, made pancakes with bacon, strawberries, ice cream and the real deal maple syrup that the folks had brought home from Canada.
"Curtis" also got me a canvas of one of my favourite pictures of him, the little Buddha at sunset. The Wife takes some amazing photos, not only on the proper camera, but she really knows how to get the most out of the iPhone as a camera and uses all the software in it, as well as the little lens kit I got her to full effect.
The day finished off with more cow chasing, this time I ran all the way down the hill to the back fence, Tally scrambling madly to keep up. Letting the cows out is doing wonders for my fitness. If all my fathers day weekends are as good as this one, I'll be a happy man.
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