Christmas Down Under

In my life I have spent two Christmases in the Northern Hemisphere and loved them both. To shop in the freezing cold adds a certain air of excitement to the experience it has to be admitted.  Having said that, I was raised to expect the season to be hot and in my heart that's what really makes it Christmas.

We attended the children's vigil Christmas Mass on Christmas Eve, so we were able to sleep in a little before the family gathering with the gift unwrapping frenzy followed by lunch.

Of course there was Christmas Bush - what respectable household wouldn't have a vase of it on full display?

On such a beautiful day, al fresco was the only way to dine.

Model planes were discussed in detail - they transcend all generations, male generations that is.

After lashings of turkey, ham, vegetables and salads liberally washed down with Moet and wines of the red and white variety, there was the traditional pudding which our daughter made using my mother's recipe.

Or pavlova and fresh berries for those who preferred a lighter end to the meal.  All the more pudding for the rest of us!

Tony admits to having five helpings.

Miss E had been lusting after this style of hat for some time, so when she finally had one of her own, it stayed firmly on her head until she was water bombed by her brothers.

And why wouldn't they be smiling.  Our daughter and son-in-law are off to Rome for three months in the second half of 2015, one to paint and the other to write.

 Our other son-in-law, the father of our grandchildren, enjoys the challenge of me not catching him on camera.  He has it down to a fine art, ducking behind something at the last second, but I am a patient woman.

There was time for a few quick games of Angry Birds before the boys decided enough was enough.

Time for a quick change of garb and to bring out the big guns.

No one was safe - not big sister ...

... nor Aunty Maz.  Grandparents were considered untouchables, as it's not much fun water bombing slow moving objects.

The local water dragon sensibly camouflaged himself until it was all over. 

We really missed our Queensland family and one of these Christmases we will celebrate together, with all seven grandchildren and their parents.

Second Christmas

Yesterday saw Sydney at its best.  While our poor Queensland family and friends sagged under unbearably hot conditions, we were blessed with temperatures in the mid-twenties and beautiful blue skies.  This year it was our two daughters' turn to spend Christmas with their in-laws; and with our son, daughter-in-law and four remaining grandchildren up in Queensland, we had a quiet but nevertheless delightful Christmas Day home alone with my brother as our guest.

Now that everyone was back in town, a belated Christmas was organised.  

Rather than traditional bonbons, our granddaughter created her own version for each guest.

Complete with jokes.  Instead the usual bonbon bang, we blew up the brown paper bags and popped them.

Much to the relief of the turkey population, we opted for ham, prawns and lashings of salad,

with tomatoes freshly picked from the garden.

The pudding recipe has been in the family for over 50 years.  My mother discovered it all those years ago and you simply don't muck around with a formula when it's this good.

My brother gave the boys remote control cars for Christmas, so straight after lunch they gave them a serious workout.

 

Someone borrowed Daddy's camera for a photo duel with her great-uncle,

and someone discovered that there was indeed enough room for cake.

Second Christmas - highly recommended.  Ask any Hobbit.

Friends

Some of our oldest and dearest friends came to lunch yesterday.  One couple had recently returned from a walking tour through England and France, so they had many happy tales to share.

During the course of the meal one of our friends asked what was the main reason for us leaving Brisbane after almost 21 years to return to the city of our birth.  That was a difficult question to answer as it was not one single reason, but a culmination of many.  The hardest and most emotional decision was leaving our son, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren behind, not to mention the wonderful friends we had made over the years.  However, it finally came down to the fact that Sydney always deep down in my heart was the place I wanted to be in my later years.  Here are friends we have known since early childhood or since our children were babies and here is where most of our family resides.

 
It is difficult acclimatising to the colder temperatures, but the Pollyanna in me is still delighted by the bareness of some of the trees in winter, the glorious colours in autumn and the sudden burst of blossoms in the spring.

To complete my day, while we were drinking our coffee the phone rang.  It was a gentleman from India trying to convince me he was calling from Australia.  He knew he was in Sydney somewhere, but couldn't quite recall exactly where.  Then I had a text message informing me that I had won $1,500,000 (US Dollars no less) and all I needed to do was advise my banking details to have the booty dumped into my account.

Oh happy day.

The Quay

Every few weeks we get together with my brother for a feast of fish 'n chips.  It's something like an elongated pub crawl, without the fun of alcohol. However, the company makes up for that.  Today we decided to give Circular Quay the benefit of our esteemed presence.

If you were able to choose a perfect winter's day, today would be the one.  Clear skies were softened by the winter sun and the air was still.

We had completely forgotten it was the last week of school holidays, which was strange because my brother is a high school teacher.  The Manly Ferry appeared to be in popular demand and who could blame them?  We haven't been there in years, so it's now down on our list of places to eat fish 'n chips.

Speaking of which, today's version had to be the worst we have had since we began our quest.  As I sit here typing, I have to block out the upper part of the screen so that my stomach doesn't revolt at the sight.  I will go further to say that it's possibly the worst meal of fish 'n chips I have ever had, half cold and oozing grease from every pore.  I don't know the name of the take-away shop which is perhaps just as well.

I only hope these two little fellows don't succumb to Chip Belly overnight, because they seemed to rather enjoy my cast-offs.

A quick vote was taken and the decision made to walk off the meal.

 There was so much to distract us.  Street art ...

... didgeridoo player with his very modern music ...

... and of course the ferries.  The jaunty older ferries are named after the First Fleet.

The more modern ones are named after Australian female athletes.  I don't know how Olympic swimmer Nicole Livingstone feels about having a vessel with such a broad beam named after her!

What a stunning day and even better, tomorrow is Friday.

Somewhere in the world it's warm

Sitting here in Sydney on a fairly miserable day, I take heart in the knowledge that in that other hemisphere people are basking in the sun, licking melting gelato and generally enjoying what was ours only a couple months ago.

Putting on my Pollyanna hat, I could say if we didn't have winter
we wouldn't appreciate the warmer months.

Imagine how boring it would be if it was warm all year.

Even worse, if it never rained.

OK, I wouldn't mind a little rain now and then.

Maybe I should move to Hawaii.

But then I would miss the changing colours of the trees and the beautiful winter flowers.

So I'll embrace these winter months and appreciate the joy of each season.

At least until I can feel some warmth in my bones again.

In the meantime I have been kept busy with the first of the new season's designs.  You can find them here or here. Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying and appreciating the wonders of the season.