Weekend out at the farm

New photos are up starting here, all from my trip to the zoo last week.

I had a pretty nice weekend with a lot of good food. I went out to the farm with Wendy; friends of hers who have a house nearby were having a little party, no real reason for it. It was this gorgeous warm day (which was hell for my allergies, being out in the country with a lot of grass and flowers) and a clear night. About 8 of us gathered at the friends' country shack where they had a nice fire going. It really is a shack, with corrugated iron walls and no electricity. But they don't live there, they live not far from us in Melbourne and just head out there on the weekend sometimes. There was a whole buffet of food: some yummy dips with Turkish bread, they grilled up some corn on the cob in their husks over the fire, there was lamb cooked in tinfoil and chicken cooked directly on a metal grill over the fire with rosemary and lemon. There was also homemade potato salad and a cheesecake from one of the cake shops on Acland St. We were happily stuffed bunnies with all of that. We sat around the fire for hours, chatting and having some good laughs. It was good to meet some more really great people. It was rather bright out with the half full moon, but I still saw so many stars. I had the southern cross pointed out to me, but it was a bit disappointing, smaller than I thought it'd be. I was very excited when I saw Orion's belt rising in the east. Stars I know! I saw the Pleiades as well.

Sunday was rather boring. It was really warm too, but overcast and humid. I went out rather briefly with Wendy to go to the local dump (quite the experience, esp with meeting some locals who were friendly enough, but definite country bumpkins and the guy helping us only had one arm) and I came back a miserable, itchy-eyed mess. I need to get some better allergy protection and some eye drops... But an aunt and uncle of Wendy's came over in the evening and we had a really good dinner with them, again leaving stuffed. Mmm, good food, and I didn't have to make any of it. =)