Spring Has Sprung!

YAY! Spring has finally arrived ... Though the weather man tells me our overnight temperatures will continue to be below five degrees for the next week or so. But I've been waiting for winter to finish, so today was a good excuse to celebrate September first with a girly lunch date.

You may remember my Mum's Partner-In-Crime Marg from some of our previous adventures. Well, Mum had arranged to take Marg on a bus trip as a birthday gift ... & it was canceled! So we decided it was a great excuse for a girly lunch road trip. We headed off to Spring Bluff historical railway station 15 minutes north of Toowoomba. Good decision! :0)

This pretty railway station is well worth a visit if you're in the area ... And with the annual Carnival Of Flowers just two weeks away, the gardens are looking so pretty.

This little garden pocket is surrounded by fabulous big trees & quite protected from some of the frosts & freezes we experience on top of our 'hill'.

We had a great chat with chief flower whisperer Owen who was happy to answer questions, identify plants & share his lovely workplace with us. He said our peculiar warm/cold/warm winter weather has caused him a few headaches, with some plants flowering earlier than usual, so he was madly replacing spent plants ready for Carnival judging next week. All of that chatting about garden work made us hungry, so we climbed the steep stairs to ...

The Pancake Cottage. Don't these two look like naughty school girls ready to get into mischief?! :0) we soon found a nice spot on the verandah for lunch ...

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! Pancakes! :0) Absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS!! 

A savoury chicken & mushroom in white sauce for starters ...

And a traditional Dutch pancake that had sultanas in it, topped with apple compote & whipped cream for seconds. We shared two servings between the three of us ... And were still so full at the end that we decided to go for a waddle around the garden to settle it all. :0)

We were treated to the songs & colourful antics of many varieties of birds, including this little cutie that none of us could identify. Maybe a finch? Will ask GB the bird enthusiast when he comes home. :0)

All in all, it was the perfect way to celebrate the first day of Spring ... & I topped it off by popping in to visit Marion at the Quilters Angel where they were celebrating their 13th shop birthday with a fantastic 30% off sale. I was pretty well behaved ... Just some backing fabric & some mix-n-match spots. 

Whatever you've been up to today as you've welcomed the first day of Spring ... Or Autumn if you're north of the equator ... I hope you've enjoyed some time with people who make you smile. :0) OPAMers ... Have you updated your sidebar lists & emailed your tally to me or Sweet Peg? You'd better hop to it! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS