Christmas shenanigans - and a bereavement

We got back from Hobart in good order.  Freyja and Simon had a couple of days in Melbourne. Austin and Tatsuki (but not Kaori who couldn't get the time off work) arrived from Japan for Christmas and New Year. Lindsey and I did masses of Christmas food shopping. Freyja and Simon came back from Melbourne and arrived back at the house with Julia and her partner Travis, arriving just in time for ...

... The Christmas movie marathon!  Ali came too.  At one stage Austin, Freyja, Julia and Ali shared a house.  It was a Christmas movie marathon housemate reunion!!  Julia's sister Lucy came up later in the evening, just in time for ...

... Roast lamb, roast pork, roast potatoes, roast vegetables, green beans, asparagus and YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS.

The evening was enlivened by the fridge apparently dying.  Not entirely convenient when it was packed full of Christmas goodies.  It turned out it was a blown trip switch.  Fortunately, the culprit was not the fridge, or the dishwasher, or the freezer.  It was the hood over the stove so we don't have a fan or a light.  But we do have the dishwasher.  Phew!

Jim managed to fall in our bedroom and has the most spectacular graze down his side, a hole in his t-shirt and a grumpy back.

The movie marathon came to a very abrupt end when Sam the Great Dane collapsed.  Sam has been noticeably fading over the past few weeks and over the past couple of days has been somewhat dejected.  It was very clear that the end was not so much in sight as nigh.

He was, though, still with us this morning and made himself comfortable on our bed.

In the meantime, the early morning activities progressed.  Rupert didn't eat much of his breakfast and a cheeky magpie hopped onto the backdoor step and started pecking at it.  It ran away when I went to investigate.  Lindsey and I pottered off to do other things.  When we came back the cheeky magpie was in the kitchen on the draining board helping itself to remnants of last night's dinner!  It was Very Unimpressed that we had interrupted it and flew to the other end of the room to try to escape through the long windows.  Alas - they don't open.  Eventually it flew onto the lights over the snooker table and stopped to consider its options.  From there it could see the open door and off it flew. It had a lengthy conversation with its colleagues on the back lawn about its adventures.

Not what you expect to see in your kitchen on a Sunday morning.
Photo by Lindsey

Emily's housemate is a vet. She was, however, down at the coast for her Christmas holiday. She very generously drove up with her mother to aid Sam on his way. It was a gentle, peaceful end for a peaceful, gentle dog.

RIP Sam and vale.  Good boy.