A Big Hello and Happy New Year to Everyone!

What a lovely relaxed Christmas we had this year.
I did get my cooking done and I did manage to make my first plum pudding ever. I think I had never made one before as I use to find them a little too rich. Now that I'm older though I find them quite delicious with a good dose of custard and maybe a dollop of cream...yum!
I love making the Christmas cake and giving it a nut topping that is glazed with warm apricot jam. The cake sure didn't last long! We all enjoyed unwrapping our gifts including Poppy who was so delighted with her new squeaky ball, she didn't put it down all day.
I'm afraid that I have been in a very relaxed mode since the end of Christmas and so I have been neglecting all my blog friends way too much. The computer being in constant use by other house members and the slowness that seems to come with children playing internet games doesn't help either.

Anyway, I just stopped by to wish everyone a happy and creative New Year.

It has been so wonderful to "meet" each and every one of you and I have enjoyed reading your blogs so much. I can't wait to see what marvellous things you all get up to in 2008.

What have I been up to....you may ask?

How time flies! In a matter of a couple of very short weeks the kids finished school (all on different days), there was a year seven graduation, a review performance and so many more engagements that I care not to think about them for fear of feeling exhausted all over again!

And all the while the rain fell and the grass grew. It seems(not seems...I really have been) mowing grass twice a week to keep up with it. Please believe me when I tell you that I am not complaining however as it is so nice to have green lush grass to mow.

The garden has been a seething mass of life as it has been warm and humid. There is so much life everywhere. It has been so wonderful to see the number of butterflies this summer. Sometimes I just sit and watch them as they flutter all about in that ever so magical way they have about them. It's not only me that has noticed and appreciated them but also my Sam. He just this very day said, "Mum. Aren't the butterflies nice? They're magical like in a storybook or something."

Somehow Christmas has appeared on the horizon, that is not so distant now, as fast as a bare-footed person on a bed of hot coals! I have slowly been putting a few things up with much encouragement from the kids. I am really looking forward to doing Christmas dinner for the family, including John's Mum . We often have it elsewhere and so I don't get to be host much. I have a wealth of recipes rattling around in my head and when the time comes (usually the last minute) I will decide what to do and hopefully everything will come together.Basically, I just like to stock up well on everything and make the decision as the mood takes me.
Over the next couple of days I will be doing my mad last minute rush for gifts, some cooking and some more decorating. I hope everyone has a very Happy Christmas full of family, friends and happy memories.

A Beautiful Afternoon.

The weather has been so kind to us of late. A very delightful 20-25 degrees and rain every week. The garden is growing like mad and if I'm not careful to keep up with maintenance, it might just engulf everything in its path! Oh what a joy to be gardening in a garden that is growing and thriving for once after such terrible drought conditions.

There is so much beauty in the late hours of the afternoon that I can't stop taking photos. There is not a day that goes by that I am not grateful for this beautiful place that we call home. Of course, it's much easier to feel like this when everything is green and the temperature is near to perfect. Having said that, even when the climate is being a little cruel, it's still a nice place to be. My cute little shetland, Timmy, is always very curious when I'm getting around with my camera. I think this time though, given the time of day, he was hoping for a carrot. He's quite a spoilt boy! I'm often undecided whether I'm being kind to feed him his daily carrot or whether I'm killing him with kindness.....given his rather large stomach! Late Sunday afternoon with chainsaw in hand, John chopped down four of the five scrabbly old wattles that we had left there for shade until some of the more desirable trees we had planted had grown. It felt like some sort of cleansing. SO good to be rid of their very ugly appearance. The whole area looks so much better.

This is some of the pile of branches we cut. We are slowly working through the pile with secateurs and saws making smaller piles of usable fire wood, mulch and a mass of medium sized sticks to help with water control near the dam (which is usually empty and leaks badly). It feels like our little quest for the environment to be using this very valuable biomass and not just adding to the greenhouse gases by burning it all.

An enjoyable week's end to everyone......Angela.