Dinner Ladies

The Dinner Ladies: Janice, Chris, Robyn, Lyn, Carmel and myself. We have known each other since our children were in primary school at St Agnes. Our dinner dates have been operational for ten years. We celebrate our birthdays by going out to dinner, throughout the year. Our outings are approximately eight to ten weeks apart. We each take turns to book a venue and buy the appropate presents. The only ones who know were we are heading to are the drivers, so it is always intriguing and fun just guessing all the way to dinner. We usually follow a theme re: some topic that was mentioned at a previous outing; therefore ears are always on the alert to catch a snippet of information that may be used against you at a later date. As well as going away for a weekend at the end of the year we have decided to also celebrate all 40th. 50th, 60th birthdays by going away for the weekend midyear (winter). These ‘away’ celebrations have turned out to be the highlight of the year. This year was a special birthday. Chris turned one of these magical birthdays,???? shhhhh. After searching the internet Lyn finally found the perfect getaway for six ladies who need their own beds, (not an easy feat as most accommodation is designed for couples.) We headed for Ravensbourne and stayed at Sketches in a lodge called ‘Cedar Lodge.’
These are luxury lodges above the Brisbane Valley. They are scattered on the side of a mountain overlooking bushland and a range of mountains in the distance. Absolutely beautiful. Lyn decided we would celebrate with a Christmas in July dinner. She cooked everything at home on Friday and transported it all to the Lodge. We had roast turkey, cooked ham, roast veggies, New York stuffing, John’s sour dough bread and individual plum puddings with lucky coins in each. She also bought all the Christmas decorations, special cutlery and dinner service. If you think she stopped at that, you don’t know Lyn very well. She also transported all the raw ingredients for our breakfast the following morning, She lit the barbeque when she woke up and cooked sausages, bacon, hash browns, (Bill’s special recipe) and tomatoes on the vine served with an avocado and baby spinach salsa. Can you believe it? Needless to say we had an absolute ball. Pictures in the next entry.......