With a different kind of Mother’s Day expected this year, due to many families being apart, we asked some women from the Scenic Rim what they’ll be doing to celebrate this Sunday.
Kay Tommerup, pictured above with her children Harry and Georgia – Tommerup’s Dairy Farm
What are your plans for Mother’s Day this Sunday? I’m looking forward to just taking some time to relax. This will be the first Mother’s Day in about a decade that we’ve not had an event either here on our farm or in the Lost World Valley. On special occasions our family always makes pancakes for breakfast using my grandad Swenson’s recipe – it’s a tradition that started when I was a young girl visiting him during school holidays on his farm in the Gympie region. I would help him milk his Jersey house cows early in the morning and for morning tea we’d often make this recipe for pikelets to have with his homemade butter or rich farm cream. Now, it’s something that has become a tradition for my kids using our homemade butter and decadent Jersey cream. I love that enjoying this breakfast with my kids not only brings back wonderful memories for me, but also will be something they remember fondly of growing up as well.
What do you usually do? For the past couple of years we have run a Mother’s Day picnic on the farm and it’s been the source of great enjoyment and pride for us. The day has the most beautiful family atmosphere – it’s our favourite event on the farm calendar. It makes us so proud and honoured to be opening our farm for the enjoyment of other families. We cap the event numbers at 500 people but despite the numbers it never feels crowded, there’s so much space in the picnic paddocks, feeding the animals and many families take their picnics down the river to enjoy. Having lost my Mum 7 years ago, I love that this event gives me the enjoyment of watching grandmothers bask in the love of their family. My mum & I were very close and I know she would have loved this event – she had an enormous amount of love for her family and put so much effort into making other people happy, always with a beautiful smile on her face. Whilst we’ll miss the event this year, we’re already planning how to make our Mother’s Day Picnic 2021 the best one yet.
What does Mother’s Day mean to you? Mother’s Day to me has always been about celebrating my mum rather than wanting my family to celebrate me. I have the most fabulous kids and I feel so proud and privileged every day to be their mum. Just having time to spend together without having to race off to the next job will be pampering enough for me.
Is there a special spot in the Scenic Rim you’d like to visit on Sunday or suggest for others? We’ll be heading for a picnic down by the Albert River enjoying our own gourmet picnic hamper full of Scenic Rim deliciousness – Our own wood smoked ham and kabana, Arthur Clive’s sourdough with lashings of our Jersey Girl cultured salted butter, Kooroomba Gully Mediterranean chutney, beetroot and crème fraiche dip made with our crème fraiche and fresh beetroot from Valley Pride Produce, Summer Land Camel‘s Persian feta, Peak Vege gorgeous tomatoes and of course, we can’t forget the ice cream to finish. My favourite is the nut brown butter with Greenlee Farm macadamias.
Sandy Pegler, with daughter Emma – Keira Farm
What are your plans for Mother’s Day this Sunday? Emma: This Sunday we will have a special mother’s day breakfast for mum (Sandy), picnic style, in a lovely picturesque spot on the farm.
What do you usually do? Sandy: Normally we would have guests camping and staying in the cottage, this year no one is allowed to stay, so it’s a quiet day for us. However, it is great to have my daughter Emma home for good after living in Melbourne for the last decade. We can’t wait to get back to work on all of our great ideas for the farm!
What does Mother’s Day mean to both of you? Emma: I think it’s just a great day to remind mum she is very much loved and appreciated. She works very hard and deserves to have a special day just for her.
What does it mean to be able to spend some time together? Emma: It’s been great to spend this quarantine time on the farm, having time to enjoy the farm and spend time with mum, and it not just be all about business. We have been able to spend some time really thinking about the future of the farm and how we can get there, we are excited to work towards that together as a strong team.
Is there a special spot in the Scenic Rim you’d like to visit on Sunday? Emma: We will be staying on the farm this Sunday but we have pre-ordered the amazing three-day sourdough bread (that uses a 100 year old heirloom mother starter culture) from nearby Summer Land Camels for Sunday breakfast. We also have a special vintage of sparkling from the Overflow Estate winery that we will be drinking a toast to mum with.
Claire Buchanan, with granddaughter Ava and husband Rod – Beaumont High Country Homestead
What are your plans for Mother’s Day this Sunday? This year because of the restrictions on travel, Rod and I will be visiting my 96-year-old mother in Beaudesert and catching up with all of our children and grandchildren on FaceTime. We have been very grateful for FaceTime the last few months!
What do you usually do? On Mother’s Day we would normally have one of our daughters and one of our sons and their families visit the farm, enjoy a bike ride to the top of the mountain, a picnic lunch and then an afternoon down by the creek. I have five children and 10 grandchildren, from Cairns to Beaudesert.
I am sorry we are not hosting any guests at Beaumont Homestead for Mother’s Day this year. The gardens are very pretty at the moment with lots of flowers and butterflies. We can’t wait to welcome guests back there to enjoy it.
We wish everyone a happy and safe Mother’s Day!
