6 June 2011

A family picnic

We had a good weekend nicely portioned up between productive work, reading, knitting and our family. On Saturday morning I read through some of my book - in one of the final stages before it goes to the printer, and in the afternoon, I made cakes, a roast chicken and potato salad for our family picnic. Hanno picked up Jens and Cathy from the airport on Saturday night and we also said goodbye to Koda, after having her here with us for the past month. She is such a sweet dog but she became very attached to Hanno while she was here and then we had some jealousy problems and a couple of fights between her and Alice. In the end, I was pleased to see her go.

Koda watching Hanno work in the garden.

Sarndra organised a family and friends picnic on Sunday so we all met at the Roma St Parklands. The parklands is an oasis in the middle of our capital city that used to be a rail yard and then lay derelict for a few years. Now it's been beautifully planted with tree ferns and tropicals to resemble a rainforest garden. There are numerous waterfalls and streams and plenty of places to sit or have a picnic. To tell you the truth, spending time there yesterday restored my faith in modern life quite a bit. The parkland was packed with families socialising, playing and spending time together in the winter sun. There was a wedding taking place and a large group of people were playing The Amazing Race, having started in one of the outer suburbs and ending at the parklands. And in the midst of all that activity, children were playing, parents were carrying babies in slings or watching toddlers near the fountains, food was being cooked and eaten and it looked like everyone was having a good time.  Just a few blocks away the shops were packed but here in this oasis of sanity, people celebrated winter and spending time with their family and friends. I was enriched just by being there surrounded by it.

 This is about half of our group.

I also enjoyed socialising in our little spot, reconnecting with Sarndra's friends who I hadn't seen since the wedding - hello Jamie and Steve! and her beautiful mother, Sue, and sister, Cinnamon, and husband, John. Shane cooked the food brought along by everyone and we had a shared table just packed with delicious food that everyone enjoyed. Kerry had to work, so Sunny and Jamie didn't come along, but Sunny sent along some Korean BBQ beef for everyone, and along with my orange cake there was Jamie's vegan apple crumble and Sue's chocolate brownies. Sarndra made the most fabulous Chinese cabbage and noodle salad and along with chicken, meat balls, sausages, potato salad and many bits and pieces, we all ate, talked, ate and talked some more. It was a wonderful day.

Oh! I forgot to add these photos of the park, taken as we were walking to the car park.




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19 comments

  1. What a lovely time it all sounds. I love the name of the sister-Cinnamon.

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  2. It does look like you had a wonderful time; I'm glad.

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  3. Rhonda, Thanks for sharing your wonderful day!
    The park sounds beautiful, the food mouthwatering, surrounded by family & friends
    is the icing on the cake ...
    ~~HUGS~~
    http://blessingtheelements-mi.blogspot.com

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  4. That sounds (reads) like a lovely weekend!

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  5. Hi Rhonda!
    Am so glad you all had such a lovely time; Sarndra mentioned to me that she was organising a bbq and it looks like it was the perfect place and weather for it!
    Hope you have a wonderful week ahead :-)
    Lusi x

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  6. Good that you were able to meet up for a family picnic.The food sounds delicious!

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  7. sounds wonderful miss Rhonda.....and full of calories :) Espy

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  8. I thought my dog was the champion of "sitting up straight" - but I think Koda might have her beat!

    Sounds like a wonderful picnic.

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  9. The weather was just perfect, wasn't it Rhonda? We had a lovely time in Lowood. Not crowded, lots of getting up close and personal with the animals for the kids and a lovely picnic lunch. That warm weather makes me sleepy though so an early night for everyone.

    Glad you had a lovely time.

    Anne @ Domesblissity

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  10. It sounds like you had such a wonderful weekend, and like you I too feel encouraged when I see families out enjoying the natural world!I love to see children come to our farm and run and romp like they've never done before, pat the animals , find insects feed the chooks etc etc. And then go home exhausted but happy with a glow in their cheeks.

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  11. Hi Rhonda,
    It looks like you had quite the nice day :) :) I LOVE picnics and parks. the one in your town is gorgeous.

    That orange cake looks really nice. Whenever you talk about your orange cake it makes me think of the author Jan Karon. She wrote the "Mitford" series...and there's this orange marmelade cake that makes quite a few appearances in the books :) :)

    I'm glad you had such a lovely time...good friends, fam ily and food :) :) Have a great week. love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

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  12. Please post the recipe for that delicious orange cake...

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  13. Sounds like you had a lovely time! And so relaxing!

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  14. Snap!! We did excactly the same on Saturday but up at Mapleton. We're so blessed with these crisp sunny days in Qld aren't we! Perfect picnic weather, glad you had such a lovely time, (we did) :)

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  15. That sounds really wonderful! Btw, when will it be possible to order your book?

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  16. What a lovely family day. Days like these are to be treasured. I loved that there wasn't a scrap of takeaway in the picnic basket too. It is good to be reminded it is not that hard to pack something when we go out. I think I might have to buy a picnic basket.
    Kim
    http://thelittleblackcowblog.blogspot.com

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  17. Lovely weather and wonderful time..the park is so beautiful plus the food and great bunch of friends..life is great!..so happy for you Rhonda:)

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  18. Hi Rhonda!
    Thanks for the mention. Lovely to meet up with you and Hanno yesterday. And I agree, it was a wonderful afternoon with lots of happy people and super tasty food.
    I am unfortunately still fighting this head cold of mine and had to spend today at home. However, I did finally do a post on my blog, and changed (improved) the layout. Come visit! www.littleniteowl.blogspot.com

    x
    Jamie

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  19. This post has a very warm snuggly feel about it. Puts a smile on the face and sooths the soul.

    Vicki
    Trinidad & Tobago

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