THE FLUTE FARM

 

Friends invited us to an Opera Picnic, the first in the far north of New Zealand.

Our drought was broken a couple of days ago. We had a welcome burst of heavy rain followed by some light tantalising showers, a few of which landed on the morning of the event. With frequent glances skywards, our pleas turned to no rain please this evening.

We arrived at a beautiful large garden called The Flute Farm, the wife of the owner is a flute player, hence the interesting name.

We made our way laden with our picnic delights to a gazebo, joining others similarly engaged. Introductions were exchanged, new friendships made, as we settled down amongst friends to eat our picnic, tastily chosen and prepared by our hostess Marie.

We had an extra guest a cat, who attached itself to us using it’s nose to good effect, establishing the fact we had something tasty and might be a soft touch. It was correct on both counts.

We settled back to enjoy the feast and the company, keeping a wary glance skywards as the occasional black cloud lumbered it’s way overhead. As the feast ended the cat left for where it’s forever home was, well-fed and patted.

We sat back to enjoy the evening of Opera. It was wonderful, we were not disappointed at all. There was a variety of music to suit all listeners. The singers never lost us for a moment and at the end encouraged us to join in. Something several of us was longing to do, so ended a grand evening, to be repeated next year I was delighted to hear. Even the weather answered our request and stayed away, just hope it comes back tomorrow as we do need more rain.

Home to bed and moments before sleep, to relive some of the music, before sleep claimed me. Thank you for a wonderfully magical evening, everyone.

© Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: The Flute Farm