Apparently it's an annual event. And apparently rarely involves much music. Ben's family farm is 4 hour's drive from Central Sydney, and right out on a turn-off from a dirt track. By the time we arrived it was 1am.
When we arrived, everything was rather panicked. Lucy, one of Ben's family's labradors, was in a very bad way - foaming slightly at the mouth, yelping and, shortly before we'd arrived, running round the house manically. Ben was holding her on the floor, but after a few minutes decided to drive her into Yass and try to find a vet. They got her into the car, drove to the gate and then came back, as Lucy had gone.
Later we deduced it must have been a spider bite, as Rosie, the other labrador, was up on a bench on the front decking and wouldn't come down. Ben, Clint and Ursh went to bed shortly after this, and Elissa and I stayed up, had a drink or two and played Uno, then went to sleep. It all felt pretty sombre, and we were all concerned for Ben, as we knew he was very attached to both dogs.
The
following morning, I woke up to find a fire burning, fresh bread in the bread machine, and preparations underway to cook a breakfast on a hot plate over the fire. We feasted on bacon, eggs, mushrooms, toast, all cooked in the open air. Clint and I had a
brief lesson in motorcycle use, and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing tennis and boules on the farm's tennis court. The sun came down as we sat in the kitchen, wrapping Moroccan-style kangaroo mince in puff pastry, ready for the wood-fired oven. Ben had also prepared some chicken in a chilli, lime and ginger marinade. We feasted, drank, and played a game of Balderdash, in which I learned that a hamfatter is a word for a bad actor, and not what I suggested it was (thanks to Chris for inspiration on that one, it drew in one of my opponents!).
On Sunday morning breakfast was just as incredible and we packed up and tidied ready to head home. Apart from a little guitar over Saturday's breakfast, flute duets on Saturday afternoon (Christmas Carols in April?) and a guitar-flute duet or two, the music hadn't really come into it, but it's up there with the old Big Band tours as one of my favourite musical holidays. Almost keeping up with Glastonbury in fact...
When we arrived, everything was rather panicked. Lucy, one of Ben's family's labradors, was in a very bad way - foaming slightly at the mouth, yelping and, shortly before we'd arrived, running round the house manically. Ben was holding her on the floor, but after a few minutes decided to drive her into Yass and try to find a vet. They got her into the car, drove to the gate and then came back, as Lucy had gone.
Later we deduced it must have been a spider bite, as Rosie, the other labrador, was up on a bench on the front decking and wouldn't come down. Ben, Clint and Ursh went to bed shortly after this, and Elissa and I stayed up, had a drink or two and played Uno, then went to sleep. It all felt pretty sombre, and we were all concerned for Ben, as we knew he was very attached to both dogs.
The
following morning, I woke up to find a fire burning, fresh bread in the bread machine, and preparations underway to cook a breakfast on a hot plate over the fire. We feasted on bacon, eggs, mushrooms, toast, all cooked in the open air. Clint and I had a
brief lesson in motorcycle use, and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing tennis and boules on the farm's tennis court. The sun came down as we sat in the kitchen, wrapping Moroccan-style kangaroo mince in puff pastry, ready for the wood-fired oven. Ben had also prepared some chicken in a chilli, lime and ginger marinade. We feasted, drank, and played a game of Balderdash, in which I learned that a hamfatter is a word for a bad actor, and not what I suggested it was (thanks to Chris for inspiration on that one, it drew in one of my opponents!).
On Sunday morning breakfast was just as incredible and we packed up and tidied ready to head home. Apart from a little guitar over Saturday's breakfast, flute duets on Saturday afternoon (Christmas Carols in April?) and a guitar-flute duet or two, the music hadn't really come into it, but it's up there with the old Big Band tours as one of my favourite musical holidays. Almost keeping up with Glastonbury in fact...
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