So Christmas rushed past and we’ve now hurtled through the first week of January.
Time to update the blog and share the highlights of our festive season.
Tess had two weeks off from her ‘real’ job. We absolutely relished having her home.
For the past few years, I’ve pulled out the tripod and instruction manual for my camera, setup the self timer and taken a ‘family shot’ on Christmas Eve. Certainly records the fact that the kids are growing fast.
We woke to an abundance of gifts from Santa Claus on Christmas morning and then (I’m not exactly sure why?!) opened our presents to each other in a very orderly fashion.
We enjoyed a roasted suckling pig for lunch with dear friends and of course ate way too much dessert meaning that dinner on Christmas night was a non event.
There was backyard cricket and plenty of pool time.
A typical Australian Christmas.
We ventured North for Boxing Day in Granddad’s aeroplane. Certainly an efficient and comfortable way to travel a great distance quickly.
It was lovely for Mum and Dad have all their Grandchildren together on the bank of Natal Creek. We dusted off the little yellow boat and water skied until sunset. It was thrilling to watch the next generation master two skis. Andrew astonished us all. With one pull he was up and away and skiied the full length of the lagoon. Marvellous fun. After spruiking about my skiing some twenty odd years ago, I then had to put my money where my mouth was. I was thrilled to pop straight up on one ski and do a couple of laps. Absolutely exhilirating!
And then it was home again, home again, jiggety jig.
For we had to feed the little black pig!
While we spent most of our time at home over the holiday period, we donned our Sunday best and headed to “Toorilla” for a delightful lunch on New Year’s Eve. We feel so blessed to have such good friends and for our children to have so many little mates. I do love how bush kids play so well with all ages, from 2 to 22.
My ‘never fail’ rain indicator has almost faltered the past two weeks. In the days after Christmas it blossomed heavily, normally a sure sign of an impending deluge of rain.
While the clouds have built and rumbled and we can almost smell the rain, it seems the ‘proper wet season’ is yet to come. Brief showers and occasional drizzle have teased us almost every day yet have hardly laid a puddle.
No wet weather interruptions have meant that we’ve been able to power through some cattle work while we had Tess’s help. Don’t think she minded one bit!
There has been plenty of riding and a few cattle rotations into fresh paddocks. We also found time out to visit Clairveiw Beach. The tide was well out, but that certainly didn’t dampen the explorer’s enthusiasm. Nothing like a little sand between the toes to remind us of the holiday season.
And with that, Tess returned to Brisbane and the festive season drew to a close.
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