And by the end of the night...

The bride was dancing in bare feet.

The ceremony...

Was beautiful... The three little nieces were not flower girls, but they greeted Viki with three roses, which they then carried to the signing table and these were later given to the two mothers and grandmother by the newly married couple ( a lovely surprise).
Vicki looked truly radiant and happy when she arrived with Elliot and of course I got all weepy, but thankfully, I quickly recovered.
There was poetry (ee cummings and an orginal poem written by cousin Carmen Hannay especially for Vicki and Matt). There was music. There were moving vows and a stunning backdrop and a very happy couple, and all in all, everything was perfect.

The big day...

All week we'd been nervous about the weather, but the day arrived fine and just a little cloudy -- perfect for an outdoor wedding up in the mountains. Preparations started early with the usual help from hairdressers and makeup artists (bless them).
Vicki was full of pent up energy and washed her car (would you believe??)
Grandkids Tom and Lucy were to play music at the wedding -- Lucy on cello and Tom on guitar and singing -- rendering a special arrangement of a Nick Drake song. Lovely.
Couldn't believe how beautiful and grownup Lucy looked. Proud Pappy in the background.

And Tom spruced up just fine with a little help from his mum.

Helping Vicki into her dress was such a special moment --she looked so gorgeous.

The wedding week...

The next few days were spent catching up with family and (ours and Matt's) and worrying about the car... shopping and worrying about the car... with parts that kept arriving that were the wrong size.
The wedding was on Friday and the day before was, of course, a busy day, especially as Vicki was doing all her own flowers. I went with her to the flower markets, which was an interesting new experience. This was part of our haul.

Home again, the business of cutting stems under water and de-thorning was all taken very seriously.

Vicki made up vases for the reception, plus her own flowers, as well as corsages for the mothers and grandmother.
She wanted a simple posy of orange roses, and I helped with all the binding which was a lot more complicated than I'd realised, but the result was lovely -- the dots in this photo are water droplets that showed as white in the flash.

On this wedding eve, she also had to take all the items she'd either collected or made to the reception venue at the Powerhouse. It was a big, exciting day.

And our car?
Still not fixed.

Where have I been...?

And where am I now?
It's actually a bit of a saga. The last few weeks have been rather hectic with a deadline, visitors and Easter (including important egg hunt)...

and then the big drive south for daughter Victoria's wedding.
Knowing it was a lo-o-o-ong drive from FNQ, Elliot had our car serviced and we bought two new tyres, then we set off... a night in Townsville first, and then heading south in convoy with son Richard.
We've never travelled in convoy before (apart from our very first trip north many years ago, when we were newly married and moving to Townsville -- when E and I drove in our separate cars. He in a little Austin and me in a VW beetle)
Anyhow, it was just as well we were in convoy this time as we had a breakdown (broken fanbelt) between  Gayndah and Goomeri (IOW, in the middle of nowhere). No, don't believe those stories about fixing a fanbelt with pantyhose. Modern fanbelts are very complicated creatures, connected to power steering and all sorts of things mechanical. Luckily we belong to RACQ and long story short, E had to stay in Wondai while I travelled on to Brisbane with Richard to be in time for Vicki's bridal shower the next day.

This was a lovely event, hosted by daughter Emma, who catered beautifully, helped (a little) by Lauren and me, and with Richard (a former chef) roped in to handle the icing of the cupcakes.

Meanwhile, poor Elliot was still in Wondai. Not sure why he minded, when a friend tells me it's a centre for growing navy beans and the 'baked bean capital" of Australia. :)
On Monday, bride Vicki, terrified her dad might not make it to the wedding, drove out to Wondai to rescue him.

Happy Easter

Fish on Good Friday...

Best Goof Friday dinner ever ... son Richard's seafood paella... cooked over an open fire.

An early Easter wish...

I have three little people plus their parents arriving this evening, so I'm looking forward to a fun weekend with a big Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday. Bought these little guys when I was south a couple of weeks ago, and sister Marg had the bright idea of sitting them in eggshells in the garden as part of the hunt. Cute, huh?

I hope you all have a very safe and happy long weekend.

The book has been sent, my sister and brother-in-law have arrived, so this was sunset at our place...

A new release from Barbara Hannay....

It's April, which is release month for my next book Falling for Mr Mysterious.

Emily and Jude's story received four stars from Romantic Times Book Lovers...

FALLING FOR MR. MYSTERIOUS (4) by Barbara Hannay: After a devastating breakup, Emily Silver goes to Brisbane to cry on her cousin’s shoulder. Her cousin happens to be out of town, but he insists that she stay with his new roommate. Jude Marlowe, a suspense writer, is undergoing treatment for a serious illness, and Emily turns out to be just the diversion he needs. Emily assumes that Jude is her cousin’s lover, and Jude goes along with her assumption since she isn’t in a place to trust another potential lover. This is a funny, heartwarming story with well-rounded, likable characters.

Hope you enjoy this. It was, as always, fun to write. Meanwhile, I have one more day to work on Jess and Reece's story, so it's head down, brain hopefully in gear.