You are invited......

To join Top and me

here at Arias

 tomorrow night

when we

celebrate

our 40th Wedding Anniversary!

(I was of course a child bride, barely legal!!!!)

at first we had thought to eat

at the chef's table

until I realised it was not big

enough to fit you all in!

 and also you would miss the view

of Sydney Harbour!

we will start with champagne here and enjoy

the lovely sea breeze 

then when we have all arrived we will wander in here

and let Chef Matt Moran

feed us!

 figs and asparagus are really beautiful at present

and just look at this piece of steak.

I may have to share some of this with someone else

as I need to leave room for desert

and as I could not make up my mind

which desert to offer you I chose a few!

you could be led to believe that I am a fan of figs...not true

this dish just looked so beautiful I could not leave it off!

I am, however,  a chocoholic and

 will not share a bite of this with anyone

in fact I may even have to have this one as well!!!

I have watched Matt Moran on Masterchef and his 

food always looks so beautiful...I am getting really excited

about this and of course

seeing you all there!

so

until tomorrow

Goodnight

P.S.  in reality we are going for lunch to a  very nice restaurant about 100ks from here!! 

the 12 days of an Australian Christmas....

After six weeks of Christmas everywhere I look

it has just  plain disappeared,

to hide away until next year

but

I am not finished with Christmas

for me it lasts until the eve 

of the epiphany January 5th

our Christmas decorations

 stay up until the twelfth day of Christmas

a tradition that has always been in my family

and thinking about that reminded me 

of one of my favourite Christmas songs

The Twelve days of Christmas

so I borrowed an

Australian version from

jaybees entertainment

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me A kookaburra in a gum tree On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Two cockatoos, and a kookaburra in a gum tree On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to meThree parakeets.........Two cockatoos, and a kookaburra in a gum tree On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to meFour great galahs,Three parakeets,Two cockatoos, and a kookaburra in a gum tree On the fifth  day of Christmas my true love sent to meFive opals black......(etc fill in the rest yourself  otherwise  my fingers will seize up!!!!) On the sixth  day of Christmas my true love sent to me Six 'roos a-jumping........ On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to meSeven emus running....... On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to meEight koalas clinging......... On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to meNine wombats waddling........ On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Ten dingoes dashing....... On the eleventh  day of Christmas my true love sent to me Eleven snakes a-sliding....... On the twelfth  day of Christmas my true love sent to me Twelve goannas going....... image via Rebecca Hamby with thanks you can see her here On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve goanna goin,  Eleven snakes a-sliding, Ten dingoes dashing,  Nine wombats waddling, Eight koalas clinging,  Seven emus running, Six 'roos a-jumping,  Five opals black, Four great galahs,  Three parakeets, Two cockatoos,  And a kookaburra up a gum tree. and all the images are from Google images Goodnight

Tis the night before Christmas... almost!!!

I am a little early but I want UK daughter to see this before she leaves!!!

For Katie,  Lucas,  Lisa,

Because I am not with you tonight to read it

may it bring back memories of Christmas Eve's past


and for all those
wonderful people
 I have met over the past 12 months
 I share this Christmas tradition

Twas the night before Christmas,  when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.




The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.





The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

           all paintings here by: Miss Jessie Willcox Smith 

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
 But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all,
 and to all  a
good-night!"

It's supposed to be summer...!!!!

Today is the

20th of December

it is practically

mid-summer 

We have the fire going

our winter woolies are

out of the mothballs

and this is the Perisher Valley

                                                                                                                                               Snow report from here

Did I hear someone say this was going to be the

the third warmest summer on record?!!!!

Can they tell me where please?

Maybe we will have white Christmas too!!!!

The moon is out tonight 

and I am sending lots of love

to Jane here

are you? 

Goodnight

a tale of two communities...!!!!

Living in a country town 

is quite different to living in a large city

there are the obvious difference

like the lack of traffic 

fewer choices

(if you actually want them)

more choices

(when it comes to fresh food)

and so the list could go on

but this is not about those sort of differences 

it is about the community (as in the people) difference

Here we know nearly everyone

some by sight,

some by name,

some by business,

some by friendship,

some by love.

In the big Cities if you know your neighbours

you are probably doing quite well!!

But

The point is that because we know every one,

when good luck strikes we know about it

when bad luck strikes we know about it

when things are hard for them we know about it

It makes us a tight community

and in the hard times 

we all come out to help

The Blog community is like living in a country town

you get to know everyone

some by sight,

(on others blogs)

some by name

(from their comments)

some by business

(their Etsy stores)

some by friendship

some by love

we know your up and your downs

 your joys and your hard times

in sickness and in health

your troubles and your families troubles

So

today I visited

Simone at

honey and fizz 

and learned about

Jane from

my pear tree house.

most of you are already pouring out your love to A-M

and I have another friend

who is suffering

so wouldn't it be nice and in true Christmas spirit if

we all follow Simone's advice

"What if each night you look at the moon for, say, 15 seconds and send positive thoughts to Jane and to others who you know are going through harsh times?...

•What if you post this concept on your blog or speak to your friends?...

•What if your followers blog this concept and speak to their friends?...

•What if hundreds of women look at the moon each night and send off their thoughts?

•What if women needing support received these hundreds of thoughts?...

You see, we all have the same moon, don't we?..
Girl power.
Can we do it? 15 seconds a day? Pay it forward?
I say we can. It can only help. It can connect us all. It can be global..
So what do you say?...
Start blogging the concept girls or make a pact with your friends"

and fellas you can do it too

 we don't absolutely need to restrict this to the ladies

and to my dear, dear friend

if you are reading this, know that all my love and prayers

go to you both and I am sending power via the moon

and to all a

goodnight

Christmas viewing... upstairs and downstairs

Christmas this year is

just the two of us

so it will be

a midnight service

a drink and then bed

Santa is not calling here this year

 we are cooking a traditional

hot Christmas lunch
regardless of the fact 
that the weather prediction
is for the high 90's

so we will probably eat late

and then 


we have saved the last episode of

Downton Abbey

for the evening

                                                                                                          image from here

UK daughter purchased the DVD set the day it was

released in London and brought it with her

on her trip home

we have eked the episodes out

trying desperately to make it last

                                                                                                                                                             image from here

If you get the opportunity to watch it on the TV

well and good but if you don't get English shows

                                                                                                                                                          image from here

then go and buy the DVD of the series,

a classic upstairs, downstairs tale,

because it is very classy viewing in a time

when most of the stuff we are expected to watch

is just pure junk!

The cast is wonderful the writing superb

The writer is Julian Fellowes who wrote Snobs

which I will now have to back and see if I can get into it this time.

Of course when we have finished it

we will have to wait even longer to see the second series

as this one probably won't appear here until well into

next year.

Well I guess that's what you have to expect when

you are to impatient to wait!!!!

The mossies are about to lift me out of the chair

so I am off to spray lots of

airogard all over myself and hit the sack

Goodnight

anniversary.... and things to do on a rainy day!!

Little  ole  flibbertigibbet me

has stuck this out for

one whole year
and 105 posts


! ! ! ! ! ! !

so what do you do
when
 it rains day
 after day
 after day

                                                                        for those who asked,   Maggie is in remission at present

you find someone to tease

that's what you do on rainy days

first, you ask nicely

then you push a bit

until she tries to push you off

and finally you accept the inevitable,
and your place on the lounge 


and you both nod off
 dreaming of a day when there is no longer any rain, 
 the park is no longer under water 
and you can, once again, stretch your legs


everything in the house is currently under dust sheets
as we have a particularly nasty type of mud
it is red!

It does not wash out!

it does not soak out!

it does not bleach out!
and the dogs,
who know
 they are not supposed to play in the house,
 are just plain

 bored silly




Now can I do another year?


Goodnight

rain, rain go away.......!

After yesterday's post 

I thought you might like to see

some of our local bridges

                                                                                                                           all photos courtesy of the Liberal

4 lanes not exactly in passable condition

The debris becomes a huge problem

our dam is now 120 percent full

down to 6 percent this time last year

and it is more than 4 times the size of Sydney Harbour!

They had to release the floodgates yesterday

or the dam was in danger of going

and that would mean the loss of our town!!!

an extra 400 megalitres a day isn't going to help the flood situation

further along the river though!

and not for all the tea in china would I attempt to drive across here!

******

The rains have started again!

we are expecting 3 fine days between now and Christmas

I have never hoped that the weather bureau was wrong quite so much before!

Goodnight