Delightful and Delicious Thursday

Fun fun fun.  To start the day we headed over to Sarah Hammond's, Bre's friend who rode her bike in the Trans America Bike Race and finished 6th.  Bre was dog sitting Flex for the month while Sarah accomplished the 4400 mile bike trek.  Sarah returned home on Thursday and Bre wanted to give the house a quick clean before she got home.

Bre decided to take Flex to the airport to meet Sarah.  It took him a number of kilometers to settle down in the back seat.  Before he settled down he breathed his big dog breath on my neck. Shiver!!!!!  Bre didn't think I could contain the 120 lb. beast so she stayed outside and I went in to find Sarah's other friends.  It was so joyful to see her greeted by family and friends after her monumental accomplishment.  She got a good slobbery hug from Flex, too.

After the little reunion we dropped Flex off at Sarah's and headed back to Bre's so she could change out of the clothes Flex drooled on.  Then we headed to get some sushi for lunch as it was about 1:30 p.m. or 2 p.m. and we hadn't eaten yet.    Starving!!!!!  We each got three veggie sushi rolls which were yummy.  I love sushi.  I'm going to need to start making it at home.  Then we went a couple doors down to another little shop for dessert.  Did I mention we were hungry?

We debated about what to do with the rest of the day.  We talked about visiting Phillip Island to see the animal preserve but that would be cutting it pretty short as it was getting late.  I remembered there was an exhibit at the Rippon Lea Estate which featured costumes from "The Dressmaker".  Marion Boyce designed the costumes for both "The Dressmaker" and "Miss Fisher Mysteries".  Last year this was the location of the Phryne Fisher Costume Exhibit.  The estate was also used as a location for Miss Fisher Mysteries several times including Aunt Prudence's pool

 and the home of the Andrew's in "Cocaine Blues". 

Oh gosh it was a lovely estate.  The grounds went on forever with a small pond, a tree house, a boat house, and a plethora of plant life including a fern house.  So beautiful!!!  We only had about an hour there before it closed.  I wish I'd had another hour.  I may go back if there is a sunny day again before I leave.  The estate is located just a few kilometers from Bre's office and she never even knew it was there.

Bre had a great conversation with one of the volunteers at "The Dressmaker" exhibit.  She showed the volunteer a video on how one of the parts of a costume was made.

Bre has seen the movie and thought it was very good.  We hoped to watch it that evening but it isn't available for rental yet.  I've put it on my list of movies to see.  The costumes were very pretty.  The beading on one of the gowns was exquisite.

After we closed down the museum, we headed over to cake street (Bre's name for the shopping area with all the great bakeries) to get some dessert to take home.  There were at least 3 stores with walls of baked goods in the front windows.  I think I gained weight just looking at them.   It turned out to be a really wonderful day.