Done

It wasn't the worst of days but it wasn't the best of days.

There were no harsh words. There were no uncomfortable conversations although it came close.

My tension levels were through the roof and still haven't really subsided.

I love Himself to bits. He is my best friend and I cannot imagine life without him. I know he loves me and would do anything for me but there is a glitch in his matrix that brings out something when he is around certain people. I could see he was trying but that pot was stirred. Fortunately the others had the kindness to ignore him. 

Or maybe I am over-sensitive at the moment. 

I have written and re-written this post and will leave it here.

At least we had none of this ...

 

Random stuff

Does anyone else find the days between Christmas and New Year a rather blurry mess of nothingness?

The cool change came through but the house was still hot and I stayed in bed way longer than I should have.

Himself took the dogs for a walk and his phone rang. It was the number from the aged care facility that MIL lived in until her death early this year. I had a brief visceral reaction thinking what has happened until I remembered it all happened in February. It turns out MIL had $107 left in petty cash. So we went and picked it up. I stayed in the car and all Himself had to do was go up to the front desk, collect said money and leave. They wanted him to do a RAT and wait for the result before they would let him walk less than 2 metres inside the building. In the end they gave him the money through the front door!

Three tested slightly positive yesterday. Today the test line appeared before the control did. He is not well. I have tested twice as I am not feeling 100% but weather will do that to me. I did contact the brothers with the information and gave them the option to cancel tomorrow. Other Brother is happy to come, we are waiting on Dr Teacher. I will test again before bed and first thing. Mrs Other (ie fave SIL) has a heart condition and I don't want her to get sick. The problem is everyone is rather vague about the incubation period of this virus so we don't know when Three is likely to have picked it up and if he was potentially contagious when he was here on Saturday.

When I was at the deli getting cold meat for tomorrow's lunch there was a family there at the same time. One of the deli dudes placed some sliced salami on the counter in front of us all and said try this. They did. They took the whole lot and walked off with it!

My vege garden is looking a bit sad. That is to be expected considering the time of year and my initial plantings were all a bit of an experiment. I planted some strawberry plants that want to take over the vege pod. I don't know if they will just keep sending out baby plants or if I will get a mass of strawberries. Peas have been a real loss this year and I put it down to the crazy weather. I will pull them and plant lettuces in their place as that spot also doesn't get as much sun and lettuces can cope with a bit less than those veges that flower and set. My zucchini plant is like something out of a horror movie. The beans I planted are doing well. I need to rethink some of my herbs. My tomatoes are still a bit of an unknown quantity. Those that have set are a bit deformed but I will put that down to crazy weather. We'll see what the newer ones do. Carrots are great. Once this week (tomorrow) is out of the way I will redo everything and plant for late summer into Autumn. And the spuds should be ready to harvest as the greenery is dying right down.

If I plant nothing else ever again I will plant carrots for the grandkids to harvest and take home for the reindeer on Christmas Eve. That made my Christmas.

I will be back tomorrow with the results of the family get together. 

Bleh

I am still in shut down mode. 

It is disgustingly hot (I told you it wouldn't be long before I was complaining about the heat!) and I really just turn into a blob of mushy nothingness at this time of the year regardless of the weather. I wish I had invited the brothers for next week when I usually start to perk up but it is done now.

Three has had a faint positive Covid result. I was almost tempted to use his photo as an excuse for getting out of Thursday but I would have to reschedule so I might as well get it over with.

This is such a shame as I used to love getting together with my side of the family but things and people have changed over the years as they do.

Himself got up early and took the dogs for a walk. He kindly turned on the aircon in our bedroom when he came back as it was starting to warm up and I was planning another lie in. 

The control said 18*C but the unit itself was set to heat at 27*C. SOMEONE obviously felt chilly during the cooler months and decided to use the aircon rather than get up and rug up. Once I am up I don't generally go back to bed so up I was. 

I spent the day on the computer, doing word puzzles, knitting and playing scrabble. 

The minimum temp tonight is forecast to be 26*C. This is obscene. It is currently 36*C at 7pm. Tomorrow we (read Himself) will be shopping for lunch on Thursday and making a potato salad. I will give the house a quick going over and melt elegantly until the cool change comes through. It will inevitably come with a significant drop in barometric pressure so I will feel off and very cranky.

Be grateful you don't live in this house.

Done and dusted

Yesterday was lovely. We sat outside and played move the umbrella to chase the shade. We drank lovely drinks and ate delicious food.

I gave the Mermaid the zucchini I grew just for her. She is almost vegetarian so this will be well used. 

I gave her the socks I finished knitting at 11 am on Christmas Day - and then found a dropped stitch that I had to fix. I have no idea how long they will last but they fit so I can repeat the process - hopefully without the numerous frogging and tinking I did with this pair! She has very wide feet which I was able to accommodate.

We came home and played a game of scrabble (it is getting to the pointy end of the year) and had leftovers from Christmas Eve. I wonder if I could ever get sick of cold chook, ham and salad.

I sat and watched telly and knitted (yes I am a glutton for punishment and have started a pair of socks for Himself). Mother Nature turned on this sunset ...

... and then gave me this ...

Today I slept in. Like REALLY slept in. I did have to get up and let the dogs out because Himself had a blocked ear and vertigo but instead of staying up I went back and dozed on and off cos I had promised myself this luxury. (And might have had a few too many adult beverages yesterday).

I then faffed around on the internet and was, once again, so grateful for the blogging friends I have made this past year and a bit. It is a wonderful community.

Himself went to the supermarket for dog food and dinner for us. He came home saying we would have BLTs if I could bake some rolls - so I did. 

Another couple of games of scrabble (one all but I am 4 games ahead as we race to the finish line), some relaxing knitting (no pressure), watered the very dry garden and now I am having a glass of red before having dinner and then watching the last two episodes of Wednesday.

So many thoughts running through my head around Christmas and the expectations thereof - hopefully I can remember for future navel gazing content.

On Thursday we have my brothers and their wives for lunch. 

Breathe, Sparkling, just breathe.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From my family to you and yours. May you be surrounded by love and laughter. Or immersed in peace and tranquillity. Whatever rocks your boat.

Christmas Eve

Welcome

Ready and waiting

Excited girls waiting to open their presents.

Old enough to know what this present stuff is all about

"Best cousin friends ever"

Zooming with the NSW family

 Brothers rocking the man bun thing

Jinx supervised the girls while they were eating.

The local fire brigade escorted the bearded one around all the parks in the suburb.  

                                                

There is always at least one dog lover in every crowd

                                               

Someone was less than impressed.

 

Post Santa face (she wouldn't even wave goodbye)

You're welcome.

Finally

I wrapped the kids' and kidlets' presents. Must be done with a glass of fizz.

The tree was assembled. It will look better tomorrow, I promise.

Himself went to the shops. I asked him to grab a couple of chooks for tomorrow (along with some ham and other cold meats) and he decided he would order them for pick up tomorrow. I'm not sure if the chook man actually laughed but we now have two chooks in the fridge for tomorrow. Himself was told if he wanted a chance of getting a chook tomorrow he would need to be there at 7 am and no guarantees! The chooks will be served cold so I see no reason why buying them today was an issue. Three dropped over on his way to his in-laws for their regular Friday night dinner. It was lovely to have a chat with him on his own. 

We played a couple of games of scrabble and someone (not me) didn't want to put the lasagne in the oven when someone else (me) suggested it would be a good idea. He is head chef so I am not rocking that boat but dinner will be very late tonight!

Tomorrow I will do what has to be done before the kids get here then I will enjoy the first family Christmas chez nous in a very long time.