(Mostly) Thursday

We were up at Rupert and Hugo's place on Wednesday night.

For most of the night, Hugo slept across the bottom of our bed and Rupert slept on Lindsey's bed.

For most of the night it was very windy. Things went bang in the night. Lots of times!

For a good part of the night there was a baby elephant wearing tap shoes, dancing in the roof space. Or that's what it sounded like. In all probability it was really a possum.

All of this meant that every now and then one or other of the dogs would start barking, which started the other dog barking and both dogs would leap off their beds and rush about, looking for the originator of the noises.

It was not a restful night - although at least Rupert wasn't trying to squish onto our bed and I had a space.

Jim, of course, slept peacefully through it all.

Thursday morning saw Jim and me heading down to our place nice and early, to await the arrival of the district nurse for Jim's shower. The nurses can come any time between 8:00 and 13:00 although they usually come mid-ish morning. Generally they ring around 30 minutes before they come but sometimes they only give a few minutes notice. It seemed wise to pack Jim in his pyjamas and dressing gown into the car and have breakfast at our place.

The nurse came, Jim was showered and dressed and he and I headed back to Hill House to play with Rupert and Hugo, make lunch - and wait.

Until Lindsey, and Freyja and Simon arrived and we could all have lunch together.

On Wednesday, I had been out to Delacombe and bought lots of potatoes and vegetables. I had chicken and cheese sausages and some vegan sausages. I had zucchini from my garden and tomatoes from the Yendon tomato farm. It made a mighty feast. Well, mighty for a lunchtime. Then Freyja and Simon went home. We went home. And Lindsey was left with all the dishes 😄

Thursday was a good day, despite the wind and the elephant in the roof keeping Rupert, Hugo and me awake overnight.

Jim's Wednesday carer is now being funded by the Commonwealth Home Support Service and so he will have a new carer. She wasn't available on Wednesday so someone else came as a substitute. This is one of the two substantial improvements on the private arrangement I had with another provider. Under the new program, if the regular carer can't come, they will send someone else. And it is considerably cheaper to have a commonwealth funded carer.

It is possibly just as well that Covid shut down the aged care facility that Jim was going to this weekend. A large volcanic eruption off the Tongan coast has created tsunamis around the Pacific Ocean, causing havoc among the Pacific Islands and alerts right around the ocean. Including, late yesterday, a marine tsunami alert from Lakes Entrance and east along the Gippsland Coast. There wasn't an actual land tsunami there but it would have been a bit disconcerting to have been staying in the Marlo Hotel and to be waiting to hear if we needed to evacuate. Much less fraught in Mount Helen which is quite some distance from the coast, and in any case is nearly 500m above sea level

A Weekend in January

Lindsey and I made our first market visit for 2022 on Saturday, at Zoo Drive by the lake. There weren't as many stalls as usual, although that is not unusual in January. People on holidays, weather, covid all keep stall holders away. Nevertheless, I got eggs, peas, tomatoes, other useful things.  Lindsey bought cherries, raspberries and blueberries which she generously shared with us and with Stella. The mushroom farm is closed for a summer holiday, so we called at Wilson's on the way home. I thought I was well stocked up for the week with vegetables, although I notice that although I have lots of tomatoes and mushrooms, the vegetable bowl only has two onions and a handful of green beans left - and it's only Tuesday!

I woke up on Sunday morning to the news that there had been a fire at the Midvale Shopping complex in Mount Clear. It had apparently started in and gutted the tobacco shop, which only opened a matter of weeks ago. It then spread to the gym on one side and to the bakery on the other. The bakery is a family owned business which I use all the time. They make excellent bread, fabulous pies and lots of other interesting bakery goods. They posted a notice on Facebook to say that they would be closed indefinitely, while the damage was assessed and then repaired.  The chicken takeaway shop, an empty shop and the post office were all affected by smoke damage and will also be closed for a time. That is a whole row of shops taken out of action. Fortunately, the butcher is on the row that sits at right angles to the damaged row, along with a smoothie shop, a defunct Subway and the fish and chip shop. They had their turn around ten years ago when the fish and chip shop went up in flames and were undamaged this time. The IGA is completely separate and was also unaffected, thank goodness.

On another matter, I have made many attempts to get to Marlo, at the mouth of the Snowy River in Gippsland over the past couple of years.  I had planned a road trip to Sydney in 2020 after our abridged trip to England, going inland via Albury and Canberra and returning via Bateman's Bay and Marlo (a small, out of the way place, but you know - Marlo!). Various lockdowns meant I had to postpone and finally cancel the road trip. I decided that we could still go to Marlo for a long weekend, it being within Victoria and so not subject to interstate border closures. Again, that plan also had to be postponed and then cancelled because of various lockdowns and travel restrictions. I was supposed to go to Hobart for my birthday weekend in December. Nup! No casual travel to Tasmania.

So Freyja and I decided that we would make a long weekend trip to Marlo this coming weekend.  Some weeks ago we booked for her, Simon and me. I booked Jim into a local aged care home for respite care for the weekend. I mentioned it to him every time we drove past the place, which is in Mount Clear and opened perhaps 12 months ago, so that he wouldn't be surprised when I dropped him off on Friday.  Lindsey organised a VERY complicated roster for looking after Great Danes and ginger and cream cats based on everyone either being away or working that weekend. We were all set - and there are no lockdowns or travel restrictions expected, despite the amount of contagion rampaging around in the country. I borrowed a couple of books from the library for Weekend Away Reading.

Yesterday, as I was filling in the paperwork for Jim's weekend, I got a phone call from the aged care home to say that they had been visited by covid and were locked down, so no respite care available. They couldn't find an alternative in Ballarat but could offer Jim a place in Torquay. Torquay is about an hour and a half south of here and not on the way to Marlo which is about 6 hours east of here - so not really convenient. Also, I want him to go to Mount Clear so we can see if they like each other. It's only 2km from here and I'm looking for somewhere he can go for respite and eventually into permanent care if that should become necessary.

So no weekend in Marlo. Sigh! Freyja, Simon and I have decided to try again in the autumn - although I wonder if we might get past the eagle eyes of the covid dogs by heading west rather than east. They're obviously watching my attempts to get to Marlo. Maybe they won't notice if I go to Port Fairy instead 😂

In happier news, you may remember that I bought an oak bookcase which arrived just before Christmas. It needed assembling and I found the Handy Girls in Delacombe and booked someone to come and put it together for me. She came yesterday. I'm glad she did it, it would have definitely stretched my flat pack skills! I am very pleased with it. They are out of stock in the place that I bought it, but when they come back in stock I might buy another one for the other side of the window.

Storms

As I was driving home from work on Wednesday evening, I noticed big black clouds up ahead of me, which were lit up from time to time with bolts of lightning.

My phone was sounding multiple alerts for flooding in and around Ballarat.

As I drove up the hill near Gordon, I overtook a truck. It flashed its lights when I pulled back into the inside lane. I pondered this - I knew I hadn't impeded it and I couldn't think of anything else I might have done to upset the driver. Then I noticed that the driver was flashing the truck's lights at all the vehicles that were overtaking it.

I figured the storm I could see up ahead might be a big one. Truck drivers know about these things.

And then I drove into it!

There was lots of rain, lots of lightning and lots of thunder. It didn't last long, though. By the time I got to Warrenheip I had gone past it and there was just light rain.

It caught up with me, though. I hadn't been home for half an hour when the storm arrived at our place. The thunder reverberated around the soon to be housing estate across the lane.  The lightning was very bright. The rain was very heavy. Brandy and Whiskey don't usually worry about storms but Whiskey retreated under my couch when a particularly loud clap of thunder sounded.

The storm rumbled along for most of the night and there was still distant thunder when I got up at about 5:30.

Thursday was dry and mostly sunny for most of the day, until mid-afternoon when I was considering going out along Yankee Flat Road to see if the egg farm had any eggs at their gate. I changed my mind when I looked across the housing plot and saw big black clouds heading our way. I brought the washing in instead and got inside just as the first drops of rain reached us. Then we were engulfed by another storm. Not quite as intense as Wednesday's but there was plenty of lightning and thunder to keep us amused.

View from (inside!) the front window

The view of Thursday's storm from the front door. Most unusually, the cats showed no interest in going out through the door. Usually, when I have it open they view it as an invitation to go through it.

And then it went away, as suddenly as it had come.

Yesterday we were spared the thunder and lightning and just had the rain, almost tropical on occasion. And it's too early to tell what today will bring - although it is misty and damp as we speak.

Fortunately, the rain, thunder and lightning were not accompanied by lots of wind so the power didn't go out. The roof didn't leak. We were nice and watertight. Although I think the gutters could do with some attention. The gutter over the front porch was cascading with enthusiasm during the heavier bouts of rain.

An hour before this, the courtyard
was drenched with rain

In between rain downpours, I managed to harvest some veg for dinner. The zucchini are still quite small but are, in my view, rather delicious when you pick them as babies. The carrots could be a bit bigger but they needed thinning.

Sidling cautiously into 2022

I notice that for the past few years I have started the January blogs with "feasting/eating/partying as we mean to go on". In 2020, I had no real idea that this was likely to be problematic. There were rumblings of a weird virus somewhere in China but I wasn't paying close attention. There are often rumours and alarms about passing weird viruses and other doomsday scenarios which turn out not to be particularly worrisome. In January 2021 it was obvious that covid was going to be an ongoing issue and that feasting/eating/partying were definitely going to be problematic. I was hopeful, nonetheless. In vain, as it turned out. Feasting and partying were problematic throughout the year, even if eating was an ongoing activity 😆

In January 2022 it is clearly unclear what is likely to happen in the next 12 months. Some say that the pandemic will wear itself out during this year. Others are less optimistic and foretell it continuing for 12, perhaps 24 months, maybe even longer. I have decided that "seize the day", "embrace the moment", "live in the now" is the way to go. If I can feast today, then feast I will. If not, then I will wait until I can.

So we farewelled 2021 with the seafood feast at Hill House. We welcomed 2022 with a quiet day on January 1st. Our friend Pat came to lunch on Sunday the 2nd. Lindsey and Ian came to a Leftovers Party on Monday 3rd. We have definitely started the year as we would like to go on, but covid is running rampant throughout Australia and the head medicos are talking of "sensible restrictions possibly looming" and really - who knows.  Certainly not the federal government, which appears to have completely lost its grip on anything "sensible".  Feasting and partying may not be as frequent as I might wish this year.

In the meantime, Mother Nature is trundling along, largely ignoring the human agitation with pandemics, viruses and restrictions. The vegetable gardens at Tani may be small but they are verdant and productive. We are harvesting broad beans, zucchinis, raspberries and herbs. The lemon trees have flowers, portending lemons next year. The peas are coming along. The pumpkin plant has tiny pumpkins. Brandy has been leaping onto the carrot box and squashing the carrots but I think I have managed to stop that and the carrots are beginning to stand up again. The sweet corn plants are reaching to the skies. The potato plants are thriving. Likewise the tomato plants. So far so good.

I've moved the tiny bird bath to the back fence, where it is settling in well with the hollyhocks.

All seems well in the gardens

Starting the year as we mean to go on:
New Year's Day lunch
stir fried vegetables, noodles, lemon myrtle and ginger
with left over crayfish on top

New Year's Day, 2022

It's hard to know whether we were farewelling 2021 in a style which perhaps it didn't deserve, or welcoming 2022 in a manner which we hope, if a bit forlornly, to carry on.

Whichever, when Ian let Lindsey know that he had sourced crayfish, prawns, scallops and rockling and did F&J fancy joining them for dinner, F accepted with alacrity.

Lindsey and I were together at the time. We were making our final visit to the mushroom farm for the year. They are closed now for a short summer break. We went to Avalon and bought another bird bath to accompany my Christmas one. You can't have too many bird baths if the summer is going to be hot - and so far at two days it has had more 30+º days than the whole of last summer. We went and bought new blankets and doona covers for Lindsey's place. We went to Uncle Dan's but they didn't have what I was after. So we went back to our respective homes for the afternoon.

Ian did a mighty job with the seafood. He wrapped the scallops in prosciutto and cooked them on the barbecue. He battered the rockling and fried it with chips. He barbecued the prawns. The crayfish we had au naturel. I'm not sure anyone had much of the salads! It was all very delicious and a proper celebratory meal.

Then we went home. Jim went straight to bed. I definitely didn't see the old year out and the new year in. I think I lasted until around 10 or 10:30 then I too went to bed - and slept remarkably well. Perhaps that is a harbinger of good sleeping to come in 2022, although that seems improbable.

I couldn't find the Brandy Cat on Thursday afternoon. I hunted high and low, in the house and in the backyard. I checked all his favourite sleeping spots. And then he moved slightly and I found him, squished    in behind the plant box with the sweet peas, next to the fence.  I guess it was the coolest spot in the backyard, although the veg area, under all the trees always seems to me to have a green coolth about it.

Jim is starting the new year as I assume he intends to go on:

Happy New Year,
says Jim.
Beer with breakfast, please.

Discombobulation

It is surprisingly discombobulating (isn't that just such a fabulous word) when you are expecting to go to work and then find that you are superfluous to requirements.

Last Wednesday I had the usual email description of what Jim had been up to while his carer was with him. It's much like the daily reports you get when your child is at daycare - X had some apple for morning tea, played nicely in the sandpit, had a sandwich for lunch and a nap in the afternoon. I get told things such as: Jim and his carer have watched lifestyle shows on the television, Jim has walked up and down the hallway for exercise and had cherries and chocolate during the day and ate his sausage roll and salad for lunch.  Last Wednesday the carer also mentioned that she would be away this week so wouldn't be able to come. This was a bit disconcerting at not much notice.

I arranged that I would come in yesterday for a short day, mostly to cover the lunch breaks. It was also decided that I would call at around 9:00 before setting off and see how things were.  If it was very quiet, perhaps it wouldn't be necessary for me to go. It seemed to me to be highly unlikely that the phones would be quiet on the first day back after a four day break. So yesterday I dressed in my work clothes, prepared a cold lunch for Jim, got organised and, as planned, rang at 9:00 to see what the phones were doing.

I was surprised when the phone was answered by a receptionist who never works on a Wednesday. She was very surprised when I said who I was. We exchanged pleasantries, discussed our various Christmas activities and then I asked whether I was expected at work. Well no. That was why she was there. The practice manager had told her that Jim's carer wasn't coming so I couldn't come in and could she cover for me please. Just as well I had rung to check.

So I changed into my summer At Home clothes (which is to say shorts and a t-shirt) and wondered what to do for the rest of the day. I had done all the things I had intended to do before leaving for work. What else to do? I wandered around aimlessly for a while and then decided to do some of the things I had planned for Thursday.

I carried on with my mini-Kondoing of the house. I put away the Christmas decorations, which I don't usually do until the 2nd or so of January but I couldn't do the Kondoing while they were up. As is the way with these things, I seem to have created more mess than order but I can see order lurking in the corner. I did some things in the garden. I took some stuff to the op shop and some of the soft plastics to the Redcycle bin and the glass to the bottle bank.

In the end it was quite a productive day. But now - what am I going to do today 😂

Stella has gone home after her long weekend in Mount Helen. Freyja has made another trip to the covid testing station, having been pinged as a close contact after a work colleague had tested positive. Her visit this time took 3 and a half hours instead of the 30 minutes it took the day before  Christmas Eve. The prime minister has announced a re-definition of close contact which will standardise policy across the states and territories. It has yet to be ratified by the premiers and chief ministers but he explained it at length anyway. I think I must have not been listening closely enough because what he said didn't make much sense to me. I haven't worried too much because the premiers and chief ministers may well amend it. And I'm sure it will all become clear in the long run. I'm sure!

It's warm and sunny this morning. It's supposed to be a lovely summer's day. I intend to enjoy it. (But would it be ungrateful to think that I wouldn't mind a bit of rain on the garden? Perhaps overnight!)

Christmas Weekend

The result of Freyja's covid test didn't come through until 06:00 on Boxing Day morning, so they weren't available on Christmas night.  My nephew and his family couldn't come when they were "pinged" mid Christmas afternoon. So a smaller group than we were expecting (and the group was smaller anyway than usual with other people overseas and interstate).

But it was a good day even so. Jim and I went up to Hill House mid-morning and had bacon and egg sandwiches for brunch. We had a quiet present exchange. I spent the rest of the morning making a pumpkin lattice and a pastry Christmas tree, filled with tapenade.  I must say that my tree looked more like it had come out from the Wild Wood rather than Santa's workshop but it tasted ok

We do a "Secret" Santa for whoever is going to be there on Christmas night.  It's not really secret in that we know who has given us the present when we get it, but we don't know who is buying for us until then. Jim and I had my 19 year old vegan niece. I trawled around the internet looking for a festival, or an adventure or something that fitted the $100 price tag. I ran across the Vegan Grocery Pantry and discovered that they do a 3 month gift subscription of a mystery box for exactly the right money so I ordered one for her. I knew that I had missed the cut off for the December delivery but decided that it would make a perfect present anyway. I could give her a Christmas card which said she would get a box in January, February and March. A few days later they rang me to say that they had a spare December box and did I want the subscription to run from December instead. I was very impressed with their customer service.  Anyway, it arrived a few days before Christmas. Her parents intercepted it and gift wrapped it and brought it with them so it was there for the Secret Santa exchange. It had some really nice things in it. She was particularly excited by the squirty soya cream.

Our Secret Santa gave us a small, cast iron bird bath which fits perfectly on our tiny patch of grass out the front

It was a good evening and, as is becoming the practice, Wendy drove us home after dinner and stayed at our place overnight, then she and I went out to the Amazing Mill Market on the highway for a wander round after breakfast on Boxing Day morning. Wendy went home on the train.

Freyja's negative covid test meant that they could resume their Christmas plans. So they came to Lindsey and Ian's place for Boxing Day lunch. I made another pastry Christmas tree, following the cutting instructions more carefully. It looked less like it had come out of the Wild Wood and more festive this time! You could really fill it with almost anything. I have another recipe which looks very similar but is filled with chocolate hazelnut spread.  But you could fill it with Vegemite and cheese, I reckon, or fruit mince, or almost anything. And I can't see why it needs to be a Christmas tree either, apart from the branches making a good pulling, sharing dish.

A quiet day yesterday. I made a start on turning out the spare bedroom. There were bedding and things in the wardrobe that haven't been used once in the three years we have lived in this house. I decided that someone else might find a use for them and cleared the wardrobe out. Once the op shops open again and I can deliver the boxes of stuff, I'll do a proper tidy up and reorganisation of the room. Then I'll turn my attention to the study and gradually make my way around the whole place.

It's the last day today of the extended, four day Christmas weekend. I am meeting Chris for a coffee in town mid-morning then Jim and I are going out to lunch with Lindsey, Ian and Stella.  A good end to the festive period.

Stella, Christmas morning

Tony's memorial bear, Christmas night

Not quite sure how we got Jim out of this chair!

Christmas Morning

 It's 7:00 on Christmas morning. It's cloudy and still this morning, with occasional hints of sunshine. It's not supposed to be as warm or as sunny today as the past couple of days have been. Perhaps I'll be able to wear one of my Christmas jumpers this evening.

I went down to Mount Martha after lunch on Thursday to collect Stella and bring her back to Mount Helen for a few days.  Jim stayed up at Hill House while I was gone.  I couldn't take him with me - by the time you've put three adults and two walkers in the car, there wouldn't be room for anything else.  I'm not sure you would even fit two walkers as well as three adults. Anyway, he was quite happy at Hill House while I was running up and down, and Lindsey made chicken kievs and roast potatoes for dinner.

On Christmas Eve, Lindsey went to work. Ian washed all the sheets at Hill House, ready for tonight, then he went to get his Christmas seafood order.  I went to the mushroom farm to get Lindsey's and my Christmas food orders. Then I went and collected Stella and brought her down to our place for the day.

I had ordered a cook along box of Christmas food which arrived just after 4:00 in the afternoon.  They had emailed me instructions for a stress free Christmas morning, preparing the cook along box for Christmas lunch.  In fact, I wanted it for Christmas Eve.  Lindsey and Ian came down and joined us for dinner. The cook along box was quite fun but I don't know if I'll buy it again. I didn't make all the little salads they suggested and instead used the ingredients to make a big bowl of coleslaw. I added extra green vegetables (including broad beans and tiny zucchini from the garden) to the table. I added prawns to supplement the small lamb shoulder and small rolled turkey that came in the box. They only sent two potatoes which is clearly not enough for even one roast potato aficionado, let alone 5 (the box was intended for 2-3 diners). Stella says that I didn't look at the recipe cards before preparing the food. Not quite true.  I did look at them and I followed their instructions for the lamb and turkey. I just didn't follow their instructions for anything else.

What they sent was all delicious and the flavours were lovely. I just don't think I really needed their input for a Christmas menu. I think I'll stick to their international cuisine offerings in future.

Christmas box, before I unpacked it

Freyja and Simon were supposed to join us for Christmas Eve and then at Hill House tonight.  Alas, Freyja woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat, a headache and a runny nose. This probably wouldn't have prevented her coming in the past. She says she didn't feel so ill that she couldn't have partied. Under the current circumstances, however, it would have been slightly reckless. We don't want our Christmas weekend to become a super spreading event! So she went and had a covid test and they will come to visit when she gets a negative result. Christmas celebrations can be extended over many days.

Jim and I are heading up to Hill House later this morning for brunch, then the rest of the family arrives later this afternoon for the evening celebrations. But before then I shall have a quiet couple of hours pottering around. Until Jim gets up and shatters the peace 😂

Merry Christmas, one and all. I hope you have happy celebrations

A Festive Sunday Lunch

At some point in 2020 the Australian government managed to annoy the government of China. This resulted in lots of trade sanctions, including a boycott of Australian wines and seafood. Other things, of course but I didn't particularly notice them.

I'm not sure what supposed reason the Chinese government came up with that meant Australian wines and seafood couldn't be imported into China.  I'm sure they came up with something other than that they were annoyed. The end result was that there were lakes of wine and mountains of, mainly Western Australian, seafood languishing.

The rest of the world came to the party and bought up lots of wine. Australians are also more than happy to drink Australian wine. And we are definitely happy to eat the seafood.

The sanctions are still in place. Western Australian seafood is still not going to China.  This is good.  It means that we can have it. And rock lobsters, which often retail for $80 or $100 when the bulk of them are going to China are considerably less expensive when they are staying here.  Still not cheap, you understand, but nowhere near as expensive. Woolworths was selling them for $24 each on Saturday.

So I bought some for Sunday's luncheon party, which Irene, Gillie, Chris, John and Flora were all coming to. And I put the rock lobsters onto a platter with scallops, salmon, oysters and prawns. I made a big bowl of salad and I made roasted baby potatoes with garlic, lemon and lime pieces, sprigs of thyme and olive oil flavoured with lemon myrtle. We had local cheeses, fruit, Christmas biscuits and chocolate Santas after.

People seemed to enjoy the food.  It was a lovely afternoon, despite the weather. Saturday had been a beautiful day. Monday was a beautiful day. Sunday was cold, wet, windy and gloomy.  Ah well. The company was warm, friendly and sunny and that's all you need.

Jim enjoyed it but it did rather tire him. He took himself to bed at around 6:00 and didn't get up until after 8:00 on Monday morning!  Brandy and Whiskey coped with the arrival of Flora, mainly because I shut them in our bedroom just before Flora arrived. 

Today has been almost the perfect summer day. It's been lovely and warm, but not too hot. There has been a light, gentle breeze. The sun has shone. The sky has been blue. You honestly couldn't ask for better. So I went out to the mushroom farm to do a bit of early Christmas food shopping. I dropped into Delacombe for the supermarket. I went to Formosa, the garden centre. And I've finally sorted out two of the garden pods in the back and planted runner bean plants and yellow and green bean plants, which I've been nurturing from seeds. I've put crushed egg shells around to see if that keeps the snails off. If not, I shall deploy chemical weapons! Brandy and Whiskey have been indolently lying around in various sunny spots, watching me. Or not, as the case may be.

Jim has decided that he doesn't eat raspberries (this attitude might not last - he was eating them last week!). This means I don't need to share these raspberry drops so I just eat them as I wander past. 

Somehow, the birds don't seem to have discovered them, which is slightly odd because there are lots of birds that potter about along the back path, where I am slowly growing a raspberry hedge. So far I have two boxes of raspberries. I think I might move the blackcurrant and rhubarb plants in the autumn and keep planting raspberry canes until I have a hedge right along the back path. The blackcurrants don't like it there. They're getting a bit leggy. Not enough sunlight, I suppose.  They're in quite a shaded spot. The rhubarb doesn't mind being in a shaded, dappled light.

Early summer in the back yard

The poppy plant that prevented me
putting the orange tree in its final
resting place.
There are five more small ones coming along

Teeny tiny zucchinis coming along nicely.
This is already shaping up as a better
growing season than last year, although
the summer may yet hold unpleasant surprises.

The Birthday Strikes Back

My usual practice is to let Christmas into the house on the weekend after my birthday. This can be a bit problematic if my birthday falls on a weekend but generally I get the Christmas decorations out on the Saturday or occasionally the Sunday after.

My birthday was last Tuesday so on Saturday I Decked the Halls, as it were.

On Sunday, my birthday struck back!

Freyja and Simon were in town over the weekend, looking after Rupert and Hugo while Lindsey and Ian were in Sydney. We had arranged to go out for lunch on Sunday. When Freyja asked what I would like for my birthday I asked for an apron and a bunch of flowers. My aprons are mostly more than 5 years old and are beginning to look a bit tatty. I've bought a couple of new ones but you can't have too many nice aprons. And flowers are always a pleasure.

Freyja and Simon turned up with an enormous bouquet of native blooms, a magnificent "presentation" apron (one which you would wear after your guests have arrived and well after all the messy kitchen stuff has been finished), a lily plant in a pot and some spice rubs from the native spice shop in Buninyong, birthday gifts from all my children, in laws and grandies. The bouquet was so enormous that the only container I have that it would fit in is my large Christmas jug, which the silver and blue Christmas sticks were in. And so my birthday struck back.  It wasn't finished yet! The flowers moved into the Christmas jug and the sticks moved into a different jug and moved from the lounge room side table to the wood fire in the dining room

It's just as well that the flowers turned up after I had got the Christmas jug out of the cupboard, otherwise I wouldn't have remembered it and would have struggled to find anything for the flowers to sit in. I might even have gone out yesterday and bought a new jug!

Then we went out for my birthday lunch. Freyja had found a number of options for me to choose from and I had selected the Summerfield Winery out past Avoca. I had chosen it because it serves pizza on Sundays and my birthday pizza plans had been thwarted when the local pizza shop was closed. Plus, it had vegan and vegetarian options, and it had an option that Jim would enjoy. Also, it's a nice drive out that way.

Even nicer, because Simon drove so I could enjoy the view and also enjoy the rather nice wine that they produce. It was a glorious day, the pizzas were magnificent, the location was lovely and the company was genial.  A great birthday treat.

And now my birthday is really done and I can turn my attention properly to Christmas.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

I ordered a two door bookcase online a few days ago. I wasn't expecting it to arrive until sometime after Christmas. To my surprise, it turned up yesterday - in two boxes. My flat pack assembly skills have improved over the past year or so but not so much that I would tackle an oak bookcase. I shall see if I can get a local handy person to come round and put it together for me. Otherwise, Freyja and Simon might have to be deployed on Christmas morning.  Last year a cardboard cat castle, this year an oak bookcase 😂